This reflection is a chance for you to look back at the semester and reflect on your experience, both in terms of what you did and how it went. I also ask that you reflect on what you have learned about yourself as a team member and your presentation skills. This will help me gauge what you have learned in this course, and it should also give you an opportunity to practice “talking points” that may come up during a job interview.
Below are some questions you might consider. While you do not have to address every question, you should demonstrate that you have given some time and thought while composing this reflection. At the very least, in addition to any questions marked as required, you should address one positive aspect, one negative aspect, and one improvement from each of the three sections.
- [required] How would you rate the quality of all project deliverables (app, presentation, writeup)?
- [required] Are you proud of what you built? If so, what in particular lies at the root of this? If not, why not?
- [required] At the beginning of the project (Phase 0), how clear were you on what you needed to do to implement the project? How well did you know the technologies that you ended up using in the project?
- [required] What was the most rewarding part of the project? Was there anything you did that could generally lead to that happening again in future projects?
- [required] What was the most frustrating part of the project for you?
- How did you try to address the frustration?
- Was there anything that could have been done to avoid this frustration?
- How can you avoid it happening in the future?
- (Note that if there wasn’t anything frustrating for you about the project, you don’t need to invent a frustration just to answer this question. Instead, comment on what you and the team did to have such a smooth and satisfying experience.)
- [required] If you could go back in time and give yourself one (or more) piece(s) of advice for this class, what would it be?
- What advice would you give to future students taking this class?
- What advice or considerations would you offer to future PMs from your phase (include which phase it was)?
- Did you follow an agile development process? Explain what and how you did it.
- What things did you change throughout the semester (for example, in each phase) based on previous phases?
- What was your individual and your team's "velocity" by the end? Specifically, how much work could you and your team accomplish in each phase (state this in whatever terms you were using to score feature / user story priorities and difficulties). Was this consistent over the phases, and how did this change throughout the course?
- How did your actual performance relate to your original proposal? What was the original project plan / scope as presented by the client? How did this change through the semester? How much of your plan did you accomplish?
- How were your interactions with the members of your development team?
- How were your interactions with the client?
- Did any requirements change or become clarified as the project progressed?
- Were there any problems? How did you resolve conflicts/frustrations?
- What was the most rewarding part of working with your client?
- How were your interactio* ns with the other teams? Was there anything notable about the members of the other development team(s) that you would like to comment on?
Consider your project and the in-class group activities.
- [required] What was your most important contribution to the project? Provide specific examples as evidence.
- [required] What have you learned in this course? Provide specific examples as evidence.
- [required] How do you think what you learned and/or practiced in this class will affect your future …
- project management?
- personal productivity?
- team collaboration?
- [required] What is your greatest strength as a team member? How did you demonstrate this strength, and what benefit did it provide the team / group?
- What is your greatest weakness as a team member? What was the impact of this weakness on your team / group? What have you tried to address it?
- Did you make any mistakes in this course? What have you learned from them?
- What is something you improved upon in this course? What were the steps you took to improve this dimension?
- For you, what is the most important quality in a teammate? What is the most frustrating quality in a teammate? How could you deal with a teammate exhibiting this frustrating quality?
Consider your PM presentation and feedback.
- [required] Watch the video of your presentation. (I know, this can be painful. I empathise, but I assure you that this step is vital in becoming a better learner and presenter.)
- [required] Read over your reflection. What additional observations do you have?
Also comment on:
- What went well? What do you think was your greatest strength?
- What did not go well? What do you think was something you want to improve?
- Describe at least one way in which you could improve your presentation skills (content or delivery).
- [required] Based on the feedback you received, what are you planning to do differently in your next presentation?
- [required] What did you do well during the Q&A? What can you improve on for the future Q&A?
- What was the best part of putting together and preparing for your presentation? What was helpful?
- What was the most challenging part of preparing for your presentation?