NEW. Training coming soon.
The following are some tips and ideas for managing the work of Tiger Teams, Spec Teams and the deliverables being requested-- prioritization of user stories, statements of work/assignments, spec writing, reviews, managing meetings, and creating models to communicate goals (workflows, story relationships, teams, etc).
Link: [DOCUMENTATION & SPECIFICATION TEMPLATES]
Spec, Research, & other Teams
Managing Meetings (Spec Team lead and SA)
- Best Practices for Virtual Meetings
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<A href=" http://www.cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2010/10/13/how-to-host-an-effective-virtual-meeting/" mce_href=" http://www.cdlib.org/cdlinfo/2010/10/13/how-to-host-an-effective-virtual-meeting/" target="_Blank"> "How To Host An Effective Virtual Meeting"</A>
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<A href=" http://www.facilitate.com/support/facilitator-toolkit/docs/Great-results-virtualQA.pdf" mce_href=" http://www.facilitate.com/support/facilitator-toolkit/docs/Great-results-virtualQA.pdf" target="_Blank"> "Getting Great Results from Virtual Meetings"</A>
- Always communicate meeting agenda and goals in advance
- Maintain Meeting Minutes to capture discussions & brainstorming (can be annotated into specs)
- Document your decisions
- Utilize a "parking lot" to keep discussions from going off track- come back to these issues at a later date
- Due dates- assign and communicate due dates for any tasks
- Time-limit brainstorming & discussions in order to accomplish meeting goals
- No meeting ends without assignments, next steps
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<A href=" http://www.doodle.com" mce_href=" http://www.doodle.com" target="_Blank"> Doodle.com</A>
Managing (leveraging) Resources
- Ask your Tiger Team for Help
- Use the (historical) OLE Functional Specifications Facilitators Guide for team startup
- Use your Kuali OLE distribution list for discussions- this saves all emails to KIS team page archive
- Define leads for tasks (spec writing vs modeling vs data requirements vs testing)
- Make assignments vs requesting help, as needed
- Celebrate decisions and accomplishments
- See [Teams & Collaboration Lists] to see who else is working on specs & collaborate overlaps
Managing Deliverables
- Maintain all team documents in your
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<A href=" https://docs.google.com/a/kuali.org/open?id=0B4DWNTr-9s9XZDBkOGNmZDUtZjJkOS00NDNjLTg0MjUtMjllNzhlZmI5YWVi" mce_href=" https://docs.google.com/a/kuali.org/open?id=0B4DWNTr-9s9XZDBkOGNmZDUtZjJkOS00NDNjLTg0MjUtMjllNzhlZmI5YWVi" target="_Blank"> OLE Google Docs</A>
- Start with a schedule and a plan
- (sample gantt of work- coming soon)
- Developing Workflow and Dataflow Models for Specs
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<A href=" https://support.google.com/docs/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=185180&topic=29442&rd=1" mce_href=" https://support.google.com/docs/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=185180&topic=29442&rd=1" target="_Blank">Google Drawings-</A>
- [Gliffy Diagrams]
- Visio (if license)
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<A href=" http://alternativeto.net/software/microsoft-visio/?license=opensource" mce_href=" http://alternativeto.net/software/microsoft-visio/?license=opensource" target="_Blank"> Open Source Alternatives</A>
- Microsoft Office
- Word
- Powerpoint
- [Balsamiq\- Wireframes] (user interface design)
- Use the OLE Documentation & Specification [Templates] (user story spec template, whitepaper template, models, data requirements, test scripts)
Tiger Teams
Please refer to tips for spec teams, and also use the following ideas and resources as applicable or helpful to your efforts.
Planning-Organizing- Managing-Reviewing
- Prioritization of User Stories
- This is an iterative process- work with Core Team and Scope Team
- Leverage other Tiger Team leads to find the optimal process
- Use the work that's come before- prior specs, investigations to guide prioritization
- KISS- get some spec teams started, then evaluate as you go
- Utilize the [OLE:OLE Roadmap] for priorities in planning
- Statements of Work/Organizing Assignments
- Formulate SOW's for each spec team (see [SOW template & samples])
- Use the SOW as a template for thinking through assignments
- Leverage your Tiger Team's expertise to get this started
- KISS- you don't have to know everything, but can draft Goals to assist team efforts
- Managing competing priorities
- (sample gantt timeline- coming soon)
- Stagger spec team starts- have multiple teams going, but stagger them to manage spec writing vs. review periods and re-prioritization
- Start Spec Team #1
- Start Spec Team #2
- Complete Specification reviews for Team #1
- Start Spec Team #3
- Complete Specification reviews for Team #2
- ...and so on...
- Specification Reviews
- Leverage the expertise of your Tiger Team
- What's missing in specs? (initial Gap Analysis)
- What's in specs that needs more details? Send back to spec team with comments.
- You don't have to rewrite the specs- leverage your Subject Matter Experts on spec teams by giving them feedback
- Keep it moving- use email distribution lists to facilitate offline work and assignments between meetings
- Gap Analysis
- "You know what you know"- now use it!
- This is iterative process- things will get missed
- Testing, other specs, and other teams can often identify anything you've missed
- Be critical, be thoughtful, but avoid "analysis paralysis"
- Technical tasks and needs, as identified
- Utilize your Technical Council member to lead technical investigations
- Contact TC members on other Tiger Teams or the Technical Council distribution list for more support
- Talk to Core Team, Developers- facilitate joint efforts & understanding
- If you've identified a critical technical need or roadblock, maybe someone else has too- communicate with other Tiger Teams & Core Team
Other Tips & Resources
- [OLE:Specification Best Practices]
- Specifications Checklist
- Have fun!