Lesson 2 - Team Assignments
This week we discuss how the teams will work together and client relations. This week you need to meet as a team - there will be class time provided for the meeting. In addition the PM needs to contact your client and set up a meeting.This meeting needs to take place before February 3rd. If possible try and have a date nailed down by 9/4when the Project Mangers meet next week.
Every week I provide a recommendation of what each team member should be doing titled the "to do" list. These recommendations will be listed near the top of the lesson. There is also a link to this section found at upper left corner of the page.
TEAM MEETINGS
This week you will begin to establish a sense of
teamwork and bond as a group. I have posted a teamwork
guidelines page which may prove helpful. Please
review it. It has been my experience that teams
that meet regularly in the beginning of the semester
communicate much more effectively during the entire
semester and have fewer problems. I realize that
you each have busy schedules, however i urge you
to meet in person, once a week or to meet online
using a chat room or instant message interface.
As the semester progresses you may need to meet
less and less as you become more cohesive as a
team.
A crucial issue which needs to be resolved this week is a communication plan for the group and client. Discuss these questions
1. How often do you expect your teammates to check their email?
2. How often will each team member email the group?
3. How often will the group meet in person
4. How often will the client be updated regarding the project?
5. How quickly will the client respond to the team's email?
6. How quickly do you expect your classmates to respond to your email?
7. How will team members handle work or personal crisis?
Here are my recommendations:
Project managers send at least 3 emails per week, one reviewing what each person should be doing this week, another asking for updates from the team, and a final summarizing the update responses so that everyone is aware of where everyone else is.
Team members should response to classmate an email within 24 hours of it being sent. A response is important, even if you only state "got your message and am working on it" or" I have not done anything this week" you need to respond to classmate email.
If you are feeling left out of the loop regarding team communication, feel free to take initiative and send out a note to the entire team or your PM
If someone on the team experiences a problem caused by work related or family such as an illness, the need to leave town, or a family crisis they need to contact their team and the instructor immediately. Even if all you do is send an email which says "I am sick and will get in touch when I am better", you need to let us know what is happening.
If a teammate is not responding to email, missing face to face meetings, or not returning phone calls, please email your instructor and document the communications in a timeline.
The client should be given 3 days to respond to email. When a face to face meeting is required allow at least one week to set up the meeting. Interview your client and observe their behavior, they may respond more effectively to phone calls or fax. Send an email or call the day before the meeting confirming the meeting.
If your client is not responding to your email or is unable to schedule face to face meetings contact your instructor.
Have all team members compare schedules and see if a pattern can be established for most team meetings. For example; team meetings every Wed. afternoon, or in lab before class. You can also establish communication patterns such as project managers will send email status reports on Mondays and Thursdays, 4 way phone calls will be held every Saturday at 1pm. Whatever works for you and your group.
CLIENT MEETINGS
Before we send you off to meet
the client I have found it helpful
if the team meets to discuss what
will occur and to establish who
does what. Here are the steps you
need to follow.
1. Meet as a team to determine roles and review who will do what at the meeting.
2. Create a list of questions which the client needs to answer. This questionnaire will be the major agenda item for the first meeting. Refer to you instructor's simple example of a client questionnaire and review the more complete example used by the TLT team or another excellent example created by the DAAC team. Feel free to personalize these questions to meet the needs of your team and client. In addition I have included some agenda examples which may prove useful as a model for your agenda.
3. Call the client and identify yourself as the representative of the Web design team from Santa Rosa Junior College. A comment about how enthusiastic or excited you are wouldn't hurt. Explain that the initial meeting can take between 1-2 hours. Mention that there are questions you will be asking them and mention you will send them the questions at least 3-5 days before the meeting. Suggest that they start working on the answers to the questions before they meet with the team. Remind them to bring all the existing materials that they would like to use at the web site. Encourage them to surf the web to find 2 -3 sites they like or dislike.
Set a time and place for the meeting - usually their office, however if they do not have Internet access or if they work from their home, the campus will be better option. We recommend you do not meet the client in their home. Plan on arriving 15 minute early and have a plan for what to do if one of the team is late (ie... we will wait 10 minutes and then proceed without you.)
4. Once the meeting time is established inform your team.
5. Send the client the questions before the first meeting (email, or fax)
6. Send the team and the client a confirmation email the day before the meeting
7. Bring the client a printed copy of the Team and Client contact information. This is a piece of paper you leave with the client so they can keep it for future use. If you do not have the client's complete contact information or if the client adds new contacts, simply make a note of it. The PM will create a web page which contains this information and place it on the web as a part of the project web site. Teammates will refer to this Web page when contact information is needed. An example of a Web contact page can be found here.
8. Bring the client calendar and review it with the client. This document is an overview deadlines that affect the client. In the link above I have provided a generic calendar which you can use as a starting point. I recommend you put in specific dates and elaborate on any item you feel may need additional explanation.
9. During the meeting mention that their are several Web pages which are used to prepare the client for the process ahead. verify that they have read these documents, if they have not just ask them to read them or provide them with printed copies. I ask you to do this because some of the clients were not at the first meeting I held in January or August and may not fully understand the process.
10. Set up the time and place for the next meeting
One more thing...
One of the most significant challenges of the course is to reconcile your personal goals, the class requirements, and the needs of the client. Most of our clients are very excited and enthusiastic about working with you on a Web site, they are also fairly uninformed about the web, Internet, and technology. Your job is to educate them, listen to them, and give them what they want. You may not be able to work for the client who was your first pick, but with the right attitude all the clients will be able to provide you with a positive experience.
DEALING WITH TEAM AND
CLIENT PROBLEMS
If a problem arises here
is the chain of command for dealing
with it.
1. Discuss the problem with the person involved. I would recommend a face to face or phone discussion rather than an email discussion. It can be hard to discern tone of voice or mood in an email message.
2. If the problem persists bring it to your Project Manager and ask them for advice. They may talk to the teammate, send an email, or advise you on what to do next.
3. If the PM needs advice or if their solution has not helped then send me a note. Include your phone # since I may want to talk to you on the phone.
Please note - there is no problem with your contacting me for advice. I do not deduct points, or think less of you because you asked for help. It has been my experience that problems are easier to handle when they are small, so deal with them early rather than letting them fester for months.
To Do Items
- Project Manager
Gather contact information for your team. Help the group establish a mailing list or phone network. Determine times when all (or most) members can meet with client and as a group. Contact client and set up a meeting this week or next. At the meeting you will need to give the client a print out of:
- Team and Client Contact Information (view example)
- Calendar of client deadlines and milestones you can use my client calendar as a starting point. Make sure you stress dates when 40%, 80% and 100% if data is due.
- Project Planning Worksheet (view examples below)
- Client Introductory Questions
- TLT: PM Jeri Hastava
- DAAC: PM Cathy Clary
- Petaluma Arts Council: PM Linda Drexler
- Hospital Chaplaincy Services: PM Kristi Anderson
- RESBDC: PM Lani Hink
- RESIF : PM Irina Runneals
- Heritage Homes : PM Steve Fontaine
Please note that the examples shown above are attractively displayed as web pages. Your documents can simply be Word documents or email messages. The appearance of the information is not important, the content is what matters. I am using examples from the Tomorrow's Leaders Today project site created by Jeri Hasatava, you will see more samples from this site as the class progresses. Please use them as models, but do not feel you must copy the design or layout.
- As project manager you can either create all these items, or ask teammates to assist. You are ultimately responsible for the items listed above, however asking the programmer and designer to either make or help you make the Project Planning Worksheet will ensure that their questions are answered. If the content developer assembles the team contact information they may feel more connected to the group. Resources for creating both of these documents can be found in the links section.
- Designer
- Review prior projects we have done in this class for examples of Web sites you feel are well done, and within your skill range. Create a web page with links to various web features, such as rollover navigation, pop out navigation, a opening page collage, a splash page, a flash animation, second level page headers that change on each page and second level headers that remain the same. Remember, do not show the client something you cannot do .I call this a designer sampler.
- I have created a sample page you can use as a starting point for
- Here are examples of samplers made by designers from previous classes.
- Next find organizations which are similar to the one you are designing for and select features of the site you feel are useful or distracting. Pointing out the good and the bad can be helpful to the client.
- When you meet with the client they may already be very Web savvy, or they may their own ideas on what the design should be. ,Even if it seems your preparation was a waste of time, it is a good thing. If you don't use this sample page on this client you will use it on another one. later in your career.
- If you have any questions which you feel the client needs to answer during the initial meeting (color scheme, logo, look and feel) make sure they are included in the Project Planning Worksheet.
- Programmer
Many clients are not sure what programming they need. The say things like "make it interactive" or "allow for user feedback", but no one ever says I want Javascript and Perl Find examples on the web where a form that writes to a database, or sends an email.
- You will create a programmer sampler which displays various options for the client to review.Here is my programmers sample page.
- Here is a list of previous programmer pages
- Asking clients if they want forms is usually more effective than asking them if they want to use a PHP script. Popular features include calendars, slide shows, forms which send email, or scripts which access databases and either display the data or write to it. If the client asks for a programming function which you are not sure you can deliver, tell them you will research it and get back to them in 2 weeks. It is OK to say "we can't do that" however many students like the challenge of pushing themselves to apply their programming skills in a new area. Find out where the site will be stored and contact the system administrator for the server to make sure they support the code you intent to write.
- Content Developers
Complete whatever jobs are assigned to you by the Project Manager. Brush up on your table code, server side includes, and cascading style sheets. The designer and project manager may decide to use these html tools so make sure you know them. Get to know your teammates. If during a team meeting someone uses phrases you don't understand, stop them and ask them to explain. You are not required to understand how to write a "cgi script written in Perl", however you need to know what it does and what your role is in implementing it.
- Entire Team
Get to know each other. Remember everyone is confused, excited, nervous and busy. It takes a while for a group to feel comfortable with each other, so give everyone the benefit of the doubt. The more you know about your client and their needs, the easier it is to design an effective web site. This week we will concentrate on asking the right questions so that you can begin to formulate a strategy for the project.