diff --git a/COGS108_TeamPolicies.md b/COGS108_TeamPolicies.md index 63e459a..3425bed 100644 --- a/COGS108_TeamPolicies.md +++ b/COGS108_TeamPolicies.md @@ -1,6 +1,6 @@ # COGS108 TEAM POLICIES -Teams sometimes struggle to function as a team rather than a few individuals doing work and everyone else barely helping. The goal of this document is to help you make it more likely that your team works together. +Teams sometimes struggle to function as a team rather than a few individuals doing work and everyone else barely helping. The goal of this document is to help you make it more likely that your team works together> ### Organizing a team Teams need structure. If people know the structure then they can meet expectations. @@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ Give your team structure in these ways 4. Set expectations around tasks. Will there be specialization (leadership, facilitator/communicator, programming, research, etc)? Or will everyone do a bit of everything? Or a middle ground, where people specialize but rotate roles each week? How will tasks be assigned to people? How can your whole team see the list of current tasks and see progress on them (GitHub Issues, Kanban board, Trello, Google spreadsheet)? 5. Make a plan, set a schedule/deadline for each planned item. Keep it updated as the plan changes. 6. Make a set of policies about what you will do when someone is struggling to deliver something they promised to do. How should a struggling person contact the group? How soon after they start struggling? How will the group allocate effort to make up for the issue? -7. Post these expectations somewhere for all to see. Most of these are supposed to be part of your project proposal, but it may be helpful to have these in a shared document or something like the #Rules channel on a Discord server +7. Post these expectations somewhere for all to see. Most of these are supposed to be part of your project proposal, but it may be helpful to have these in a shared document or something like the #Rules channel on a Discord server. It is very helpful if you address all of these topics in your first meeting! @@ -39,8 +39,6 @@ When someone expresses a criticism of your ideas or work try to understand why t It can be very helpful if at least one group member with high emotional IQ tries to take on the role of facilitator... someone who can translate between different cultures... someone who can try to make the quiet people feel safe enough to talk, and who can kindly remind the talkers that they should allow other people time to express themselves. - - ### Dealing with conflict Group work isn’t always easy - Team members sometimes cannot prepare for or attend group sessions because of other responsibilities, and conflicts often result from different skill levels and work ethics. One way to improve the chances that a team will work well is to agree beforehand on what the team expects from everyone else, and also how you will deal with problems. Reaching this understanding before problems happen helps.