Agile and Feedback Reflection

1. What have you learned about the use of agile vs. waterfall in software projects?

   We have learned intimately how both processes work. At the very beginning of our project, we originally decided to split the entire project up among the four of us. We quickly learned that this was not a good approach to completing the project. Each of us came to the realization that there was functionality that we needed to access in earlier sections in the project so that we could move forward with the rest of the project. We changed our work assignments so that each member had a completed a small section of the first part of the project, and then we moved on from there. We were able to use each other's ideas and code this way, and we were able to test better since could test every method properly from beginning to end.

2. How did you and your group approach project management in this project (what tools did you use, how did you hold each other accountable, etc.)?

   We met in person almost every day to discuss what we had accomplished and what we needed to still complete. We functioned better when we communicated more. We used Slack to communicate when we weren't at school. This was helpful in letting other team members know what methods we had completed and sharing that code in order to help other teammates complete their portions of the project.

3. What role did you take on in the project?

   I think that I developed a strategic thinking role over the corse of the project, especially towards the end of it. One of the downsides of our approach to completing the code was that our individual contributions were spread out over many files in many different folders. At the end, another teammate and I decided that we need to merge many of these files together and organize the folders so that individual pieces of code could be found easily. This helped us when we had to present our code to our instructor. We were easily able to locate our code and the tests for the code due to our reorganization efforts.

4. What changes would you make to your approach in future team projects?

   I think that we should have communicated better. We could have updated each other as to our current status perhaps every hour or every couple of hours instead of daily. I definitely did not live up to this. This would have allowed us to avoid drastic merge conflicts in Github. I also think that we should have worked as a group more often, in driver-navigator roles. Perhaps if we did more work together, it would have been easier to complete work separately especially when we were working on difficult and complicated sections.

   This project was hard to plan for since we did not have much of an idea of what the project was or what we needed to do at first.

5. How does retro function in a team project?

   The retro allows us to reflect on what went well and what we could have done better in the project. There are benefits for both the entire group and for each individual. As a group, we can get proper closure on the project. For each individual, we can review what practices made the group project successful and what made it a bit more difficult than it needed to be.

6. In your team retro, how did you engage in the feedback process? What principles of feedback did you use in these conversations?

   First, we all complemented each other on what each of us did well in the project. This was a great, positive way to start off the retro. Everyone contributed in some way, and I am glad we acknowledged each other in that regard. We also told each other what we could have done better. Thankfully, there were no conflicts among team members, but we did share what we thought could have gone better. Everyone mentioned that we could have communicated and shared information better and more frequently. We made sure that this feedback was specific and actionable. We agreed that we should have met or communicated several times each day in order to keep each other updated on our respective statuses.

7. How would you describe your ability to communicate feedback? How has this experience affected your communication skills? How do you want to improve in your ability to communicate feedback?

   I think that I am very good at communicating compliments and affirmations. I am always very specific and mention certain instances where teammates were very helpful. However, I think that I need to improve on communicating feedback or constructive criticism. I always try to keep in mind what we learned in the PD session: that feedback needs to be positive, framed in the first person and not trying to blame other people, and given in specific and actionable ways. In order to improve, I will have to use these tips more.