Postmortem Production and Doc

Thinking back, on the time I have spent studying production and documentation, the things that really stand out, to me, is the level of documentation that most teams require. It surprised me that most teams can stay on target, without over documenting their progress. Simple documents, such as sprint logs, and Trello builds provide the most effective help, when staying on task.

Over the last seven weeks, I have had the greatest pleasure, working with a team using these documents, and progressing through their project, with ease. Each week, they hold multiple stand-up meetings, and ask for feedback from the team, on hurdles they are facing. With the help of the Trello builds, and communication lines staying open, blocks have been kept minimal, and production has stayed on target.

Now no project is without its downfalls. This team’s biggest downfall is staying focused and keeping distractions to a minimum. While the production has stayed on target, and has not fallen behind, it only shows that this project could accomplish even more, should the distractions be kept to a minimum. There was an instance where the team thought the project was on target, until a reminder was given, that a major milestone, and progress report, were coming up. Suddenly team members were pulling extra time, to make sure the project was ready for presentation.

What I learned from this experience, is that it is not enough to point out a team’s shortcomings. A plan should be discussed, with the leaders, to ensure productivity stays at a consistent rate. Communication should always be open, not just between the project leads, and project owner(s), but also among the team members. The project leaders need to know their team’s strengths, weaknesses, and schedules, to best prepare the team, for the project.

The biggest takeaway I gained from this class, is that every team deals with production differently. While some rely heavily on the documentation aspects, to keep them organized, others do not need as heavy documents, and rely more on the level of communication, within the team. Feedback should be provided regularly, as well as effectively. Good feedback should provide positive feedback, mixed with suggestions, on what can make the team more efficient.

This information will help me to innovate my goals, as a creator, by helping me build stronger, more effective teams. The level of documentation will be easier to adjust, and projects will be much easier to plan, and pitch, because of the information I have gained, from these studies.

Another important aspect, of this class, is the ability to network, with a variety of team members, and learn how the team composition can change rapidly, but a good team can blend people into the mix, efficiently, and effectively.