I have learned that there are some advantages to each but overall agile is the more often used method because it has the ability to be much more dynamic. This means that changes can be made quickly and on the fly rather than having to completely restart certain portions of the work for minor changes
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.)?
Our group used a kanban board to help us keep track of what needed to be done and who was doing what. During the build out of our functionality we used a "divide & conquer" style to get small chunks of the code written at a time. When we convened again we would help eachother work through problems or alter our code to fit with other changes. We held eachother acountable by all agreeing on who would work on which portions and being honest with eachother if we coudln't get our share done each day.
I took on the role of a strategist for our team by helping everyone work through problems and offering suggestions or thoughts on how we could make things better.
In future projects I'd like to really draw out a solid plan before beginning large chunks of work. I don't think we did a great job of that this project and I think it caused us to run into more bugs which slowed us down quite a bit. We don't have to completely draw out overy aspect right away but I think it would help to take a pause from coding once in a while to regroup.
I think part of the problem that I mentioned in the last question is that when we held retros we often didn't sit back and discuss our next plans in a broader sense or how we are feeling about things overall. I have learned that retros are an important thing because they allow you to do exactly that.
In your team retro, how did you engage in the feedback process? What principles of feedback did you use in these conversations?
The giver of the feedback was open and honest and provided feedback in as nice a way as possible. The reciever of the feedback didn't take anything personally and asked for more clarification if needed. We really tried to listen to eachother before jumping to conclusions and to take feedback in a constructive way.
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 I am okay at giving feedback but I have a serious personality and I think sometimes my feedback can come off as a little blunt. I think that since I'm naturally serious when it comes to work it can be a little hard to sound really nice all the time. I'd like to improve by taking note of when my feedback might come across as a little too harsh so that I can hopefully rethink how I say things in future interactions.
These are great reflections; I appreciate how you've articulated your process and lessons learned to take into your next group project as well as help you continue to prepare for interviews, nice work!