Scrum Basics week 2 journal

This week, you collaborated with your team to define a Sprint Goal and to decompose tasks. In your journal, discuss the following:

• What went well this week?
• What challenges did you face this week?
• What can you do to improve team performance next week?
• How can you apply Scrum principles in your professional life?

What went well: Same as last week! The creation and interaction with the Trello board - It was super easy to make a second board which ported over the content from the first board. I think I may have found the way to select the same type of access permissions that are available in Google Drive files, such as "View only," "Comment only," or "Edit" - I think it depends upon inviting members via email, rather than using a share link. 

What went not-so-well: One of our four team members didn't show up to join us at all. And when we needed clarification and elaboration from our Product Owner, Dr. Parikh was nowhere to be found. This left our entire team floundering with very little direction. 

Room for improvement: If the first week asked us to get the entire project into a “Done” status, then the second week should not assign us to continue to work on that same project. If the second week is meant to continue on the same project, then we should not be expected to plan the entire vacation to “Done-ness” within the span of week 1. 

Practical uses: This question is the same as it was last week. Nothing about Scrum or my professional life has changed in the span of a week. So my answer remains the same: 

My professional life does not currently have any context for Scrum, as my current role works on a day-to-day performance to judge our metrics. We don't have any projects to implement at my current job grade. In the future, once I finish my degree and transition into a Software Development role, I anticipate that this will change, and these Scrum principles will be much more relevant. In the meantime, I can foresee these being useful in the context of my roles on staff for various conventions, using each year's convention as the scope of a single project. 

Scrum Basics week 1 journal

 This week, you worked on meeting with your team and learning to use Trello to create a Scrum Board. In your journal, discuss the following:

• What went well this week?
• What challenges did you face this week?
• What can you do to improve team performance next week?
• How can you apply Scrum principles in your professional life?

Your journal entry must be between 300 to 600 words. Though APA formatting is not required, it is important to cite any resources you may have used in APA Style.

What went well: The creation and interaction with the Trello board - It was quite easy to create and customize. I appreciate the option to invite members via email, or to generate a link for them to use for joining. I do wish it had the same type of access permissions that are available in Google Drive files, such as "View only," "Comment only," or "Edit" - But then, maybe it does, and I just haven't found them yet.

What went not-so-well: One of our four team members didn't show up to join us until the day the project was due. In a completely remote course format like ours, it's a little more difficult to hold somebody accountable, although it's not too very different from an in-person scenario where the group member just doesn't show up for class. Now that we're all keyed in, though, I think things will go a little more smoothly and we'll be able to hold each other accountable.

Room for improvement: Having looked ahead to next week's group project components, it looks as though we'll be working with assigning specific group members to take ownership of specific artifacts from the product backlog. I believe this will help with improving performance, as will cut out the ineffective wait-time where we all hover and make sure each group member has weighed in on every topic.

Practical uses: My professional life does not currently have any context for Scrum, as my current role works on a day-to-day performance to judge our metrics. We don't have any projects to implement at my current job grade. In the future, once I finish my degree and transition into a Software Development role, I anticipate that this will change, and these Scrum principles will be much more relevant. In the meantime, I can foresee these being useful in the context of my roles on staff for various conventions, using each year's convention as the scope of a single project.