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

    Use your imagination and have fun.
  5. Review the project job descriptions.  (Consult with the instructor of you have questions) Construct a tentative list showing the main job(s) each team member will be assigned.  You will have a week to adjust this list before committing to it.
  6. E-mail to the instructor the results of steps 2 - 5 before end of lab today. Fill out this Team Roster form and include it as plain text in your email message.
  7. After the instructor receives the above roster, he will create a Trac web page for your team.  The site should be available by next class meeting.
  8. 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 during lab, customer meetings, management meetings, and all project related activities outside of the classroom.
  9. If time allows, review the project plan and be sure everyone understands it. There may be parts that need modifying or customizing for your particular project.   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.  These items must be approved by the instructor before the end of the second week.
  10. Begin creating ideas for team project. Read the Project Scope document for the constraints. By the end of Friday lab you will need to have your written project idea approved by the instructor.
  11. 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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