Lessons from 2021

What could have been done better

• Following actual project management methodologies like Scrum and using a tool like Jira.

• Defining the requirements upfront rather than relying on developing ideas on the go.

  • The requirements didn't need to be perfect, they just needed to give enough structure to know what direction to work towards.

  • We would be able to focus on the problems we want to solve with the project.

  • After defining more solid requirements, we can then have testing and documentation, important for handing over the project to future students and keeping the project alive.

• Setting up a CI/CD pipeline would have kept the app production-ready at every step in development to save all the headaches.

  • This should not be much of a concern now though; with the current setup, there's little manual work to be done in deploying a new version of the app to production.

• Having efficient and engaging meetings and producing more artefacts such as minutes.

  • They should have been focused on problem-solving and decision-making that cannot be done individually. They should only involve people who need to attend or are interested.

  • Otherwise, whenever it's necessary to update the team about something, it's more effective to do that in writing via asynchronous standups on a communication platform with organised channels.

  • Meeting times should be capped.

• Giving everyone a small, self-contained, mini-project that played to their strengths as opposed to having many people work on the same problem. It’d help everyone take ownership of a small part of the project, which is often motivating and feels good. Some project ideas: https://compclub.atlassian.net/l/c/49QRSrqA.

• Setting SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, time-bound) and being more firm about the deadlines of work assigned.