Case study 2 --- team dynamics

Firstly, great sympathy to the biz student Jeremy, for his screwed-up teamwork. Life is full of unexpectedness and wish he had stepped out the nightmare…

My first impression of this team is that they are way too ambitious! They even dared to change the topic for a few times, my team just extended our assignment 3 topic for the ease of continuity and a better execution. Their ideas are quite large but lack a strongly bonded team to implement them well. Anyway, let’s get started with the questions.

1.      For an application to really find its niche and spread ‘virally’, idea is the ultimate decision factor. A good idea never lacks good execution as investments will be drawn, which in turn draws talented people. However, on a smaller scale like our CS3216 class, since our ability and resources are rather limited, execution matters more. To execute an idea well and make it really work becomes the priority, even though the idea might not be that engaging and have a big marketing potential. Personally as a developer, I would rather do something that is executable within my ability constraint.

2.      Facebook is a great social networking platform. The good thing about it is that it positions itself just as a platform, with good API and SDK provided to outside developers. As probably the largest human network on this globe, it holds enormous raw human network resources yet to be exploited. It can’t do much as a single company. Hence it decided to release an API to developers around world (excluding some funny countries) from which they will have access to the human network resources. But Facebook encounters problems with profiting, indicated by its stock price drop.

3.      Both of the two app ideas are too ambitious for CS3216 final project. They are game applications and won’t interest people without good graphics and animations. Especially for Another Life, if 3D computer graphics with good modeling can be implemented, with similar effects to the NUS Second Life, it’s going to be really awesome. But this is way too ambitious in the time frame of 5~6 weeks, even for professional developers. People don’t really want to live a virtual life via plain text and pictures. This also holds true for Fan Gang. They all need lots of aesthetic effects to attract people. Besides, based on the reading and the attached feature list, I found that both the two apps involved too many features for their initial version, which made the implementation hard to control.

4.      There is no yes/no answer to this question. It quite depends on the situation. If the team members really have confidence and a mature plan, and sufficient working hours, they can definitely change to a new idea mid-way. If not, sticking to the original idea might also be deadly because they don’t really know how to proceed but to linger on. So the key is to formulate the idea well from the beginning.

5.      Problems:

·         Poor team bonding

·         Untamed ambition

·         Accommodating each other

A good team should be full of discussions and arguments.

·         Poor commitment from the members

·         Role of project manager is mission

The team could have done better if firstly they had chosen an idea properly. Apparently they lack developers, yet they decided on such difficult projects. Secondly they should have been fully committed to the team with valuable discussions and arguments. They should have expressed how they felt about the team directly within the team, rather than to Dr. Colin. Besides, in such a case where the teammates are not cooperating well, it’s better to elect a project manager who overviews the whole project and gives commands.

6.      Firstly they consulted Dr. Colin, twice. Secondly, they held immediate meetings to deal with the problem after the consultation. Lastly, they carried on till the last poster presentation day and didn’t not give up and run away.

7.      Take a good sleep and write a meaningful reflection blog on the next day, with clear description on how we reached the stage and what are the lessons learnt. If can’t fall asleep, I might call my team mates and cry them a river.

8.      Again…this depends on what the personal problems are, to determine whether they can be excused for not being able to deliver on time. If it’s a guy who was unable to commit well because his girlfriend insisted him accompanying her for a beach trip, well, I guess it’s time to kick him out. In the meanwhile if he had a reasonable excuse, the team should be notified earlier and come up with a solution.  

9.      The biggest key point is to form a group with members who can fully commit themselves to the team project. In this case, idea may come in the second place. Besides, business/marketing people tend to think more out the box and the developers should have enough communication with them on what can be done. In addition, a person must play the role as a coordinator well within the team, a project manager role if necessary. Lastly, if the team really blew up with no measures to take it back, it might be the time to stop and find another way to end it, for example, by a good pitch on the idea on the final day. As a quote says, “it is difficult to hold on, but it is as difficult to let go. But strength is never measured by holding on, but by letting go”.