Forem: Jim Medlock

Building your Backlog

Jim Medlock — Thu, 07 Oct 2021 12:36:24 +0000

Sprint 1 — Thursday

Sprint 1 is the busiest and most confusing time in your project. There’s a lot to learn and get done. So much so that it can feel like you are “drinking from a firehose”!

Did you catch the fact that deciding on a project and defining your MVP includes building a task backlog?

The backlog is your continually evolving set of steps the team follows to reach your MVP. It’s evolving because Agile methodology, unlike waterfall methodologies, divides the project into iterable Sprints that are focused on refining the backlog, designing, developing, testing, and deploying small units of functionality.

Each unit of functionality is built on the functionality deployed in the prior Sprint. Agile lets the team focus on “doing the right thing at the right time”. Refactoring is a byproduct of this since you’ll be continuously adding and improving.

Finally, remember that part of being successful is to review and refine your backlog as you discover problems and identify new features in each sprint.

Before you Go!

Chingu helps you to get out of “Tutorial Purgatory” by transforming what you’ve learned into experience. The experience to boost your Developer career and help you get jobs.

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

What did your Team learn from your Project?

Jim Medlock — Wed, 06 Oct 2021 12:32:17 +0000

What did your Team learn from your Project?

Sprint 6 — Wednesday

Photo by John Schnobrich on Unsplash

As your project winds down in the final sprint it’s time to reflect on what you’ve learned.

A big part of learning isn’t just “doing”, it’s also reflecting on what worked, what didn’t work, and how you can use this knowledge to improve. This is the core of continuous improvement.

Team projects are just one step on the path to your goals. Make the most of them by pausing to take stock of what you’ve learned.

Use the following questions as a start and modify or add your own to tailor your process of reflection to — YOU.

What went right?
What went wrong?
For each thing that went right or wrong a.) Why do you think it went right/wrong? b.) What could be done to make it go better? c.) For anything that went wrong how could it be detected and corrected sooner?d.) What would you do differently in future projects?
Was there anything you or your team did that was counterproductive?
Did you establish a personal connection with your teammates? Did you achieve a State of Flow with them?

Before you Go!

Chingu helps you to get out of “Tutorial Purgatory” by transforming what you’ve learned into experience. The experience to boost your Developer career and help you get jobs. And it’s Free!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

The Finish Line is in Sight!

Jim Medlock — Tue, 05 Oct 2021 12:20:50 +0000

Sprint 6 — Tuesday

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Something software development projects teach us is the importance of balancing the three parts of the Agile “Iron Triangle” — resources, time, and scope. This differs from the other methodologies because it’s focused on adaptation and quality instead of predictive schedules and cost.

This might sound odd, but it’s actually good to encounter problems with resources and time that required you to adjust your scope during a project. While we don’t want Developers to experience stress over their projects, dealing with problems is a great way to reach a new level of maturity as a Developer and to prepare for a new job.

The problems you encounter on projects such as those you find at Chingu are the same as those you will encounter on the job. Teammates leave or are pulled away to other projects, requirements change, issues and unknowns arise that must be dealt with, and sometimes there are disagreements within the team.

What distinguishes senior members of a team from others isn’t what they know, but how they deal with problems and how they use them to make the team stronger.

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

Is your project finished?

Jim Medlock — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 12:03:47 +0000

Sprint 6 — Monday

Photo by Brett Jordan on Unsplash

So, you are entering the last Sprint of your project and you are almost done! But are you really finished?

For a project to be truly done you need to ensure that the following have been completed:

All of the features you added to your definition of the minimum viable product (MVP) must be completed
All features should function as expected and shouldn’t have bugs or unintended side effects
Your readme should be up-to-date and accurately describe and provide guidance to those who will be maintaining or contributing to the project.
The app must be deployed to a production server and tested before releasing it to users. (If you’ve been following the Agile Methodology this is something you should have been doing at the end of each sprint)

Although the final Sprint in a project is one of the most stressful and brings a lot of pressure to release the final product it’s also important to resist the temptation to release before it’s ready.

It’s one thing to trim scope to meet a deadline and quite another to release a defective product.

Remember that one of the most valuable assets to any development team is the relationship you’ve built with your users. The last thing you want to do is to release a buggy product that surprises your users and damages the relationship you’ve worked hard to build with them.

Being “done” is different than being “perfect”. But, what each should have in common is they must deliver tangible value and meet user needs.

Once you have finished you should also take the time to reflect on the experience individually and with your team, and take the time to Celebrate your Success!

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

Turn what you've learned into experience for jobs!!!

Jim Medlock — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 13:20:04 +0000

🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️🧗‍♀️ Level up your web development skills like designing, building, and deploying projects in a team!

💥💥💥 Boost your knowledge and hard skills, and also "soft" skills like Agile methodology, teamwork, design, etc.

🚀🚀🚀 Join us in Voyage 35 starting on November 1 on a 6-week remote project team to boost your Developer skills to land your dream job!

The Last Mile is the Hardest Mile!

Jim Medlock — Sat, 02 Oct 2021 12:40:52 +0000

Sprint 5 — Saturday

Photo by Kayvan Mazhar on Unsplash

There is an old saying that “the last mile is the hardest mile”. This is true in just about any activity you start, whether it be a home remodeling project or your Software Development Project.

But when the going gets tough, remember why you started — the satisfaction of creating something tangible out of nothing, to build up your expertise, and possibly to create a project you can show when interviewing.

Achieving the goals you started set means you have to cross the finish line.

It’s often the case that when problems and difficulties arise you’ll experience negative thoughts. Such as “I should just give up!” But don’t throwaway all of the hard work you’ve put into your project by not finishing. Even if it’s not perfect see it through to the end, reflect on the process, and adapt to make the next project better.

And don’t forget that once you have finished take the time to reflect on the experience individually and with your team, and take the time to Celebrate your Success!

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

Are you eliminating or creating Technical Debt???

Jim Medlock — Fri, 01 Oct 2021 11:57:54 +0000

Sprint 5 — Friday

Photo by Sigmund on Unsplash

As you come to the end of a project you may start to encounter the effects of technical debt. In other words, the cost of rework that’s incurred from an earlier decision to take an easy approach rather than one that would have been better, but potentially longer or harder.

It’s important to keep in mind that in this context refactoring is not the same as rework resulting from technical debt. Refactoring is simply improving the internal operation of an app without changing what the user sees. Rework is more extensive, costly, and time consuming since it usually requires re-design on or more components.

Refactoring code isn’t the same as re-working code

If you have encountered the effects of technical debt that’s a good lesson to learn from! This is among the most valuable, but also one of the hardest concepts to understand in project management — waterfall AND Agile.

Some tips for avoiding technical debt include:

Understand the apps architecture and the impact different parts of it have on performance and functionality.
When a feature or change is proposed use your understanding of the app to determine what the costs are for different implementation options.
Evaluate the risk of implementation options against different app factors — functionality, performance, security, impact to deadlines, etc.
Using this data have the hard discussion with the team, customers, and management on risks vs. benefits of the various options.

Based on these it’s okay to defer correcting a technical debt issue, but it’s NOT okay to ignore it! When you encounter the effect of technical debt document it immediately! Treat it as a bug and open an issue documenting it so it won’t be forgotten.

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

How does your team communicate bad news?

Jim Medlock — Thu, 30 Sep 2021 11:50:57 +0000

Sprint 5 — Thursday

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

Teamwork is based on communication that leads to effective & efficient collaboration. But it’s not just about telling everyone what they want to hear. It’s about providing information they need to hear.

Part of being a good teammate is being able to deliver unwelcome news and provide feedback that may be uncomfortable.

The key to having difficult conversations with the team or your teammates involves:

Being respectful & empathetic
Realizing that communicating is more about listening than speaking
Removing ego and emotion from the conversation
Continually asking yourself “ will this improve the team and our ability to meet our goal? ”
Viewing these types of conversations as a win-win instead of as a zero-sum game

High performing teams understand this and work just as hard at communicating as they do on coding.

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

Teamwork requires Trust, and Trust starts with Charity

Jim Medlock — Wed, 29 Sep 2021 13:46:54 +0000

Sprint 5 — Wednesday

Photo by Katt Yukawa on Unsplash

Conflicts that come up within a team are usually thought of as being the result of either a disagreement on a decision or direction, a misunderstanding, or both.

But if we explore deeper the real source of serious conflict isn’t from either of these. It comes from how we interact with our teammates and from how we view disagreements.

Resolving disagreements aren’t zero sum games where there is a winner and a loser. The goal should be to find an equitable resolution where everyone’s argument is heard and fairly evaluated. This leads to a “win-win” result even everyone doesn’t get what they want.

Disagreements don’t have to be Zero Sum games

But even more important is how we treat each other even if we don’t always agree. The best resolutions are always the result of treating one another with respect, listening, and focusing on finding the best resolution for the team and the project rather than the resolution that feeds our ego.

Discussions should be frank and honest, but also respectful — we should all show charity to one another. We may think we know what’s best, but we won’t really know if we aren’t listening to opposing viewpoints and the motivation behind them. This doesn’t mean you have to give up your principles. Only that you give others the opportunity to express their opinions and to be heard.

Finally, keep in mind that no one will die from an incorrect decision in a most projects. The impact of any decision is you and your team will learn something valuable.

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

What are your teams issues telling you?

Jim Medlock — Tue, 28 Sep 2021 12:37:44 +0000

Sprint 5 — Monday

Photo by saeed karimi on Unsplash

You’ve learned it’s important to listen to what your teammates to be a high functioning team. But, has it occurred to you that issues and problems you encounter are also trying to tell you something?

As Developers we think about issues and problems only in terms of ” bugs ”. But they are also anything that creates resistance or friction that reduces progress or productivity.

For example, an application that requires users to enter dates & times, but doesn’t automatically recognize the timezone they are in which forces the user to manually convert them to a common timezone is a source of friction and aggravation. It creates frustration and resistance on the part of the user, plus it’s highly error prone.

Another example is a team who creates a new team meeting schedule in each sprint. As we all know, finding times to meet for a remote team is a time consuming task. Finding a common time to meet that’s generally suitable for all team members and scheduling it once as a repeating event is more efficient.

Remember! Lasting progress isn’t a big bang , it’s incremental!

This is why your team retrospective is important. It’s the time you set aside in each sprint to discuss what worked well and what didn’t work well so you can build on successes and take action to correct what isn’t working so well, no matter how trivial they may seem.

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

Putting trust in your team & your processes

Jim Medlock — Mon, 27 Sep 2021 11:41:55 +0000

Sprint 5 — Monday

Photo by Coasteering on Unsplash

The final two sprints in any project are the most stressful. If you didn’t realize it before, it’s at this point you realize that time is the worst enemy of any project. However, you’ve also learned that teamwork and following a process, like Agile, helps you meet your objectives even when time is short.

In the last part of any project it’s important to continue following your process and to work together. As deadlines approach and you are rushing to complete features and fix bugs there is always a tendency to start hacking. Namely, to make changes outside of your process and team, and often randomly and without thought.

REMEMBER that your greatest resource is your team

It can be hard to be open about concerns, issues, and to ask for help. We might view this as a weakness or a failure. But, It is a sign of maturity, strength and results in saving time, while increasing what you learn.

So, as tempting as it may be to start hacking away with “guns a blazing”, rely instead on your teammates and your process.

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io

What’s the best way to contribute to Open Source?

Jim Medlock — Sun, 26 Sep 2021 13:02:07 +0000

Hacktoberfest is almost here!

Grow your career with Hacktoberfest@Chingu

Hacktoberfest is an annual event that allows developers like you to be recognized by contributing to Open Source and creating four PR’s on GitHub or GitLab during the month of October.

It’s a great way to refine your skills, work with other Developers, and get swag at the same time! You can get more information and signup to participate here.

The PR’s you create on public repos will be counted as long as the follow the requirements established by the Hacktoberfest team.

What is Chingu?

Chingu is an organization dedicated to helping new and experienced Developers transform what they’ve learned in schools and universities, bootcamps, and in online courses into experience. The same experience sought after by employers.

We help you transform what you’ve learned into experience

We do this by:

Organizing 6-week long remote team projects (what we call “Voyages”) where teams learn and use the Agile Methodology, “soft” skills, and technology to design, develop, test, and deploy a web application.
Matching developers together in weekly Pair Programming sessions to provide experience in this valuable technique.
Sponsoring an active online community where Developers can network with each other to get help, advice, and have a little fun.
Backing an open source project, the Chingu Quiz, where Developers can gain even more experience through a long term project.

How can you contribute?

Three ways you can participate in Hacktoberfest are through:

Participating in a Chingu Voyage 33 or 34 team project

But even if you aren’t a member you can participate by contributing to these Chingu projects that are open to any developer at any skill level:

Chingu Resource List project
Chingu Quiz project

The Chingu Moonshot team has been hard at work on the Chingu Quiz Open Source project and is inviting you to join them and contribute. Here’s how:

Review the project’s Readme, especially the Code of Conduct and Contributing sections.
Scan the project issues, select one you find interesting, and start developing!

Celebrating Your Success

Share your success in social media each time you complete a Chingu Quiz PR and/or when you complete Hacktoberfest so your fellow Developer’s can help celebrate your achievements!!! (You can tag us in Twitter @chingucollabs)

And…we’ll also award a special Chingu Certificate to everyone who completes Hacktoberfest in one of our projects.

Share your expertise to level-up!!!

Before you Go!

You can learn more about Chingu & how to join us at https://chingu.io