Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 1 INFO 324 Team Process and Product Week 9 Dr. Jennifer Booker College of Information Science and Technology Drexel University Introduction
Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 2 Agenda Change and Creativity Brain storming as a technique Trackers
Brainstorming A team based approach to spark creativity –Problem solving –Idea generation Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 3
Value of Brainstorming Positive potential –Quickly broaden a set of ideas –Spark creativity via interaction –Build team participation Negative potential –Results are not used –Real intent is manipulative Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 4
How to Brainstorm - Prep Setting - Good time, location, and right people in the room Focus – have a specific purpose –Clearly defined deliverable Plan – know how the result will be used –And communicate that at the start Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 5
How to Brainstorm - Prep Roles –Facilitator – to get the best result –Scribe – to capture the result accurately and completely Materials –Opening statement of the topic, deliverable, and plan for use –Ground rules for participation Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 6
How to Brainstorm – Doing it Bound the time – and keep it relatively short Stay focused on the topic Relax – the goal is to be creative Respect and record all ideas without criticism Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 7
How to Brainstorm – Doing it Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop8
How to Brainstorm – Doing it Build on comments of others –Requires careful listening Avoid negative or limiting comments Avoid analysis and evaluation Ensure that everyone participates –As evenly as possible Aim for concrete, actionable items Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 9
How to Brainstorm – Creativity Techniques Opposites –ideas for worst possible solution to a problem Constraint removal – ideas if constraint X were removed (cost, time, physics) Constraint addition – ideas if constraints were very tight (cost, time) Etc. – there are many of these Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 10
How to Brainstorm - Afterwards Take input seriously Follow through with plan for use Pick the best ideas –Assign people to accomplish these ideas Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 11
How to Brainstorm - Afterwards Brainstorming can foster creativity and set direction Don’t confuse brainstorming for product Most of the actual work is done after the brainstorming Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 12
How to Brainstorm - Afterwards Most projects are done in teams, but most of the actual work is done by individuals –Team process must address the individual Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 13
Reading Assignment Brainstorming – to-run-a-brainstorming-meeting/ to-run-a-brainstorming-meeting/ Project team startup – er_relationships/working_in_teams/successful _team_start_up.aspxhttp:// er_relationships/working_in_teams/successful _team_start_up.aspx –Hint: readings are fair game on the next test Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 14
Trackers Problem: lots of work items floating around in projects. Team needs some way to keep track of it all Types of items include –Bugs –Feature requests –Support requests Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 15
Trackers Browsable list of items Basic search support –Finding particular topics –Finding items by status, age, assigned person, etc. Ability to assign, update, and track items History of items completed –Part of project analysis and tracking Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 16
Trackers - Demo Source Forge Old interface – 989 Source Forge New interface – s/ Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 17
Class Activity: Brainstorm! Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 18
Currman Feature Requests Currman is a curriculum manager –And an empty shell for an open source project From the Summary: “Currman provides features for students to help them understand the degree, and track their progress through the program.” Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 19
Brainstorming Activity What features should Currman have for students? Brainstorm to generate feature ideas Record them –Etherpad –Feature requests Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 20
Corner Office New York Times interview series – –Mostly CEO’s –Many tech companies Lots of interesting comments on leadership and management –Being successful, getting hired, etc Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 21
Copyright by Gregory W. Hislop 22 In Your Future... Assignment 9 – last one! Test #2