If everyone was fully committed and remained that way team projects would be much easier to finish, but the reality is that life will happen and some members will have to drop out. People will get developer jobs, personal emergencies will occur, etc.
This reality should not be seen as a negative, but as a tremendous opportunity to level-up your confidence and ability to adapt. It is because remote team software projects are so challenging that they can be such powerful learning experiences. This is especially true in a world of technological acceleration where an ability to persevere through challenges and learn quickly is highly rewarded.
Chingu Voyages require the following from all participants, regardless of their role.
- Commit to finishing the Voyage. If you start a Voyage you should make every effort to finish it.
- Be active every week. Every week you should be doing some combination of the following: communicate with your team-mates, learning & working on tasks, some github activity.
- Be open and tolerant of other ideas. Use the Voyage to expand your knowledge rather than to just build on what you already know.
- Be open with your ideas and thoughts. Innovation doesn't take place in a vaccum.
- Complete a Weekly Check-in so Chingu can assess the health of teams and provide ongoing support.
Anyone can write a function, but developing a modern complex application requires a team. Working in a team requires a mix of hard and soft skills. Successful teams are made up of individuals who:
- Are kind to one another and respectful of opposing ideas.
- Understand that disagreement doesn't mean you have to be disagreeable.
- Ask for help when they need it, provide help to those who ask for it, and don't assess blame when someone else makes a mistake.
- Commit to attending team meetings and pair programming sessions.
- Life Happens! Events sometimes occur in peoples lives that will prevent them from honoring a commitment. As a team member, make sure that you notify your PM as soon as possible if a situation arises that forces you to leave the project or makes it impossible for you to meet your deadlines.
Project Managers have the same obligations as other team members, but as leaders they must also:
- Motivate the team to accomplish the goal at hand rather than acting as a dictator.
- Ensure that everyone on the team has the opportunity to voice their ideas and concerns.
- Maintain the team backlog and task board
- Report information and status to the Chingu organization at the specified intervals.
- Notify the Chingu Management team if a situation arises that makes it difficult or impossible to complete your committments to your team and project