Team Roles

Whenever you work together in your teams, you should be aware of the different roles that make your team efficient. Often, such roles are assigned implicitly. In this course, we define and assign roles explicitly and you should try different roles regularly.

Each week, each team member can have one ore more roles. As a start, we define at least the following roles:

Developer:

• everybody is a developer, during each unit
• contributes to the technical work

Facilitator:

• makes sure everybody is heard
• makes sure everybody participates
• keeps focus

Timekeeper:

• guides the creation of a time plan for the week or day
• keeps an eye on the time
• ensures progress "Ok, let's move to the next task!"

Delivery:

• delivers final outcome for that unit
• makes sure you agree on what to deliver (also called definition of done)
• checks that delivery is okay

Reflection:

• observes the team
• keeps track of team process goals, follow-ups
• makes notes
• guides through entry into team reflection document

Make sure that you switch roles each week, and that everybody has each role several times during the course. These are the base roles we see as necessary and helpful. Start with these. During the semester you may evolve role definitions as you see need for it.

Rules and Guidelines

The course is organized so that you can determine many details on your own. But teamwork and the relatively complex deliveries require that you coordinate your work with yourself and also the other members of your team. We therefore formulate a set of rules and guidelines that you should follow, and that should make everything easier for everybody.

• Make a week plan. During class time on Monday, make sure to organize your week so that you know when you meet as a team and when you need to hand in which delivery. In most cases, the 4 hours on Tuesday should be sufficient for the week activities, but sometimes you need extra time for the semester project deliverables.
• Use a calendar. Don't use your brain for stuff that is easier to organize in a calendar. Also, use the invitation feature integrated with email so that everyone receives the same calendar event, and can confirm it.
• Always hand in the deliveries. There is no reason for not handing in the deliveries on time. In case you cannot finish them for some reason, or have doubts, contact the course responsible but deliver anyway, with a short comment explaining what was the problem.
• Keep everyone informed. When you make appointments for teamwork, always inform everyone, and agree on a channel. Ideally confirm via calendar invitations, as explained above.
• Manage your working environment. Sometimes it may be difficult to get a perfect room for your team, and you may need to improvise. Try different solutions. Sometimes, a whiteboard is okay, another time a single paper on a table may be enough, or you all look at the same shared editor on your individual laptops. Be aware of which tools you use so that you can work focussed together, and make sure this works for everyone.
• Work without distractions. When you work, in team or individually, then focus on your work and nothing else. Take breaks as you need them, and plan breaks together when you work in teams. Don't sabotage your own focus or that of others by browsing through other stuff, even if you think that you can multi-task. (You can't.) If you need something to keep your fingers busy, start doodling on paper or take more notes!

Talk English

Depending on the number of exchange students, most teams will have a member that does not speak Norwegian. In this case, the working language is English.

• Don't worry about the quality of your English, it will only get better.
• Have all conversations in English, not only when you speak directly to an English-only member.
• If you don't know an English term, falling back to Norwegian is fine. In that case, lookup a good translation so everybody has learned something.