Creating Your Project Team
  1. Once the instructor has assigned you to a team, meet as a group and introduce yourself to your teammates. As a way of getting acquainted, you might share the information you included on your student background form.
  2. Your first group challenge is to decide on a team pizza. You need to come up with a kind of pizza that everyone on the team would enjoy eating. (No half and half pizzas). This will probably require some discussion, negotiation, and compromise. This is your first chance to practice group problem solving skills.
  3. Create a phone list so everyone has the name, e-mail address, and telephone number of everyone else. You might also exchange class schedules and find an available meeting time outside of class.
  4. Create a team name and a logo. It can be serious or silly. You can also create a motto, team cheer, and so on. For example,
    5.                 Name - Serendipity Software
                    Motto - Software by Coincidence
                    Logo - a pair of dice

                    Name - Darwin Software
                    Motto - Evolving to meet your computing needs
                    Logo - a portrait of Charles Darwin

                    Name - The Weathermen
                    Motto - Software by Storm
                    Logo - thundercloud
  5. Use your imagination and have fun.
  6. If your team has not been assigned a project, review the project descriptions and discuss which of the projects your team would like to tackle.
  7. Review the project job descriptions.  Construct a tentative list showing the main job(s) each team member will be assigned.  It might also be helpful to refer to the project deliverables.  You will have a week to adjust this list before committing to it.
  8. E-mail to the instructor the results of steps 2 - 7 before 5 p.m. today. (If applicable, include the name of the project you have chosen). Use this Team Roster format.
  9. Create a name tag for each person on the team. The name tag should display the person's first name (or nickname) large enough to be read by someone six feet away, and also the team name, and optionally a team logo. You can purchase plastic name tag holders at the bookstore. Starting at the next class, we will wear our name tags in class, during lab, and during all project related activities.
  10. Designate a team webmaster/webmistress to obtain an account on the Waldorf machine. Create a team home page by customizing this template. (Technical tips.)  Inform the instructor of the URL to your home page so he can put a link to it on the class home page. Note: your home page must be viewable with both Internet Explorer and Mozilla.
  11. Begin work on your project plan. If time allows, review the project plan and be sure everyone understands it. The team manager is responsible for executing the project plan exactly as written.  If anything is not clear, write down your questions for the instructor and bring them to the next class meeting.  There are some incomplete sections of the project plan which your team needs to discuss and fill in (e.g., Tools List).  These items must be approved by the instructor before the end of the second week.
  12. Before the end of the second week your team should develop a Project Vision and team expectations and post them on your team web site.



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