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DTR_guiding_questions.md

CAREFULLY READ ALL THE INSTRUCTIONS BEFORE STARTING THESE EXERCISES!

To start this assignment:

  1. Click the button in the upper right-hand corner that says Fork. This is now your copy of the document.
  2. Click the Edit button when you're ready to start adding your answers.
  3. To save your work, click the green button in the bottom right-hand corner. You can always come back and re-edit your gist.

Purpose

You will be a contributor in several paired/group project throughout your Turing career working on complex technical challenges. You may be surprised to find out that < 1% of failing projects at Turing are due solely to technical definicines - in fact, the majority of failing projects are due to intrapersonal/team issues. In order to set yourself (and your teammates) up for success, it is critical to clearly communicate and set expectations with your teammates.

Before every project kickoff, we ask students to participate in a exercise known as Defining the Relationship (DTR), where you will work to set realistic expectations with your teammates around workflow, communication, etc.

However, prior starting Mod 1, it is crucial for you to reflect on what works for YOU! Obviously, this will change over the course of your Turing career as your learn more about your strengths and weaknesses, which is why this will be used as a living document.

Words of Wisdom

As you work through this document, avoid the following pitfalls:

  • "I'm flexible!" or "I'm down for whatever the group wants to do!"
    • This is typically where problems start. You actually DO have preferences and opinions - it's better to communicate these from the get-go rather than have trouble come up later.

Collaboration Styles

  • Pair Programming: This method involves working with your teammate(s) side-by-side/virtually on the same machine and writing code together. A common approach to this is to use a Driver-Navigator approach, where one person is giving direction on what to type and why (Navigator) and on person is actually typing the syntax (Driver).

    • Benefits: reduces opportunities for missed communication, allows all team members to contribute, great for when all members are learning a new concept, allows for more natural brainstorming/sandboxing
    • Considerations: more time consuming, more difficult to delegate tasks/features

  • Divide and Conquer: This method involves different team members each taking a small part of the feature/project to work on more independently and then rejoining at an agreed upon day/time to fit all the pieces together.

    • Benefits: faster workflow than Pair Programmimg, easier to delegate tasks/features
    • Considerations: requires excellent asynchronous communication, issues can arise when trying to combine features/work, more independent workflow (makes brainstorming/sandboxing more difficult)

Guiding Questions

For this initial exploration into what you bring to a team, try to avoid thinking about your TECHNICAL skills. Your answers to these questions should apply to any project/team that you work on:

  1. How would you describe your preferred working style?
  • Supportive, planned, and detailed oriented. I like to come up with a plan that the whole team can work with. I like perfection or as close as I can get at my current state so I expect the same from my teammates. If someone is having trouble I prefer them or myself to check in with other teammates to know what's going on. I know that people don't always agree on everything and thats why I like to sit down and discuss about why something is not working. Tell everything as it is. No beating around the bush becuse problems arise easier that way.
  1. What strengths do you bring to a team?
  • After years in the military and working in a team oriented enviroment, I consider myself myself a stong team player. I'm dependable because I'll always finsh my part. I'm here to help because were only as strong as our weakest link. I try to stay organized. Open minded and open to differnt approaches to a problem.
  1. How do you prefer to handle disagreements that come up? Trust me, they will come up! -I already stated it up in the first question. If a problem comes up I prefer to sit down and evaluate what is it that is not working and why. Then with the whole team I like to come up with a solution that we can all work with even if someone doesn't agree 100%
  2. How do you communicate best? What tools do you need to communicate well with your teammates?
  • I communicate best face to face, a phone call or a text. I like to have small talks regurlarly to see how everyone is progressing and if we're meeting our deadlines.
  1. How do you prefer to make decisions as a team?
  • Turn decisions into actions by defining the problem we have at hand, overcoming biases and assumptions, and assigning some type of responsability to each person
  1. What do you need (resources, environment, communication) to do your best work?
  • I need a concise and clear goal. Teammates help meaning answering a call or text if needed. I need a relaxed and quiet enviroment but i've also learned to worked through chaos.
  1. What scheduling constraints do you have? What are your preferred work times outside of normal school hours?
  • I see Turing as an investment and its only 7 months long. I'm free whenever someone needs me and i'll communicate to them if life does not permit it.
  1. How do you prefer to receive feedback? How do you prefer to give feedback?
  • I like people to start by telling me what it is that I'm doing wrong or if I need to improve something. I like it to be clear and not try to sweet talk me.
  • Same way I like to recieve feedback is the same way I like to give it.
  1. How do you want the group to solve problems when members run into blockers on the project?
  • First try to solve it with only one other member of the team to not interfere with productivity and if they can't figure it out then we can sit down and solve it with everyone involved.
  1. What are some potential life things that could affect your ability to focus, and what plan can you come up with to approach those moments?
  • I am very family oriented so sometimes my family might need some of my time or help. I can always stay up a little longer to get done what needs to be done.
  1. Quarantine is tough, so it’s important to make note of our mental/emotional state when working with others. How can we make space to check in on each other’s well being, in addition to the work that needs to be done?
  • With all of us being stuck inside I think it's really important to check on eachother often but also give eachother our space, you just have to get to know the people around you and how they function to know what approach to take.
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