Assessment 3 - Group Work Assessment

• Class schedule in ICTPRG Announcements
• Groups have been assigned
  • I'm part of the _Compiler group
• Project manager responsible for organising team
  • Need some sort of share drive
  • Everyone is responsible for the quality

Assessment Task 3

• "Getting your groups going"
• Assessment task 2 is about advising a client on an issue
• 3 documents
  1. Project Plan
  2. Project Logbook
  3. Meeting Agenda and Minutes
• Free online version is different to the paid version
• Use the free version?
  • State it in the documentation

Requirements

• Well-structured
• Comprehensive (for the 3 tasks each)
• Collaboration and teamwork among group members
• Potentially distribute the manual

Project Plan

• Team Members
  • From announcements (lecturer provided)
  • Allocate teams to jobs
• Goals
  • From assessment guide
• Plan and prioritise tasks and timeframes
  • Setting dates for things due
• Team workspace
  • Onedrive/ google drive etc

Content Creation

• Going to document parts of office 365
  • Not creating comprehensive office 365 documentation
  • Only 4 components:
    1. Excel
    2. Word
    3. Powerpoint
    4. OneNote/OneDrive
  • 3 functions for each component
    1. Open/Create file
    2. Save file
    3. Do one task

Project Manager

• Keeps everybody on track

Design and Formatter

• Doesn't need to be anything fancy, only needs to look comprehensive
  • No errors, easy to read, easy to follow

Review and Editing

• Ensure what's written actually works.

Testing

• Part of Review and Editing

Project Logbook

• Done by each member
  • This is a personal journal about how you contributed to the team
• List team members
• How you contributed to the team
  • What skills you brought to the group
  • What you contributed to meetings
  • How you collaborated
    • Email, whatsapp, google drive etc.
  • How you assisted other team members

Meeting Agenda an minutes

• The lecturer would like to see at least 3 separate minutes
• Minutes follow a particular format
• Not just for keeping notes on what happened
  • Used for keeping a legal account of fulfilling duties
• Includes
  • Date/Time
  • Chair (Usually project manager)
  • Minute taker
    • Chair and minute taker should be different people
      • Segregates duties
    • Chair runs the meetings
    • Minute taker should be independent (not self-serving)
    • However doesn't matter if the chair + minute taker since groups are so small
• Responsibilities for minutues
  • Review minutes from last meeting
    • Refreshes everybody on what was said last time
    • Allows people to acknowledge that things in the prev meeting are "True and Fair"
  • Review Actions from previous Meetings
    • Shows that you're following on up on things from the previous meeting
    • Allocates accountability
  • Updates
    • Talk about issues
  • Actions
    • Things that need to get done
  • Feedback
    • Extra information/talk about updates, actions and review

Goin Over Alexanders Version of Final AT3:

• Basic design
• Automatic template for creating table of contents
  • Whenever created, just update automatically
    • Right click -> Update all
• Headings
  • Correct level of headings for each section
• Screenshots
  • Help show what the documentation is about
  • Include some graphics such as arrows to help highlight things
• Alexander did more than required in his project
• Expecting to see about 10 - 20 pages total

Summary for AT3: What's required

• Get groups together
• How we want to interact
• Project manager find out inactives
• Have at least 3 formal meetings with 3 minutes
• Project manager does project plan
• Other 2/3 people do the work
• Check work is good
  • Ease of reading
  • Grammer
• Give to a person who isn't great at computer to verify it works
• Everybody responsible for the whole document

Alexanders Stereotypes of People in the IT field + Tips to Being Successful

• Seen a lot of technically good people
  • Not good at their social skills
    • Didn't play the business game well
• Business Definition:
  • Group of people get together to make money
  • IT is a cost center
    • We may help save money, sometimes make them money
    • We don't make money directly for them
      • We make their jobs more efficient + easier
• Who is the Customer?
  • Everyone is your customer
    • Anybody who needs your work to be successful
  • Could be:
    • Your manager (They're a customer)
      • Need to do work well and efficiently since they pay you
    • Business person submitting a help desk ticket
      • Although internal, they're requesting something from you
    • External customer
      • You're directly doing something for somebody who's paying for your services
• Rules for success (effective communication and respect):
  1. Don't make people feel inadequate
     • Try not to use technical language so they know how to speak
     • Even if an issue is clearly their fault/from negligence
     • You have power in talks
       • You understand things that most people can't understand
       • Speak in plain English
     • Communicating using technical language to a non-technical business customer != communication
     • The business has a right to know what is going on with their equipment, systems, software, and communications
       • Business people have feeling like they're dependent on you
       • This will lead to you likely getting sacked
  2. Frontline IT Staff are often the focus of frustration and hostility. They get blamed for IT issues.
     • Don't take it personally
     • Learn to diffuse and redirect
       • Convert frustration from "business vs IT" -> "us vs the problem"
     • Don't promise something unless you are 100% you can do that
       • Always allocate more time than necessary e.g. "I'll probably get this done in a couple days"
       • Only promise if you know you can deliver
     • Let them know you're on their side and you're going to try and help them
  3. Leave the customer feeling good after interacting with them
     • Don't do little white lies just to make them feel good
       • Trades long term trust for immediate diffusal
     • Always thank them
       • Especially for communication about problems and issues
       • "Thanks for the phone call so I can fix this"
       • "Thanks for letting me know about this"
     • Find a reason to praise them for something, anything. Make it sincere.
       • Treat them as a human first, business person second
       • Can work even on most senior/difficult/stressed people
     • More communication -> more information to help solve issues
       • Human elements of jobs are a large part of the job
     • Reduce risk of assumption
       • Only fix the issues that they communicate, not what you think is the problem
     • More enjoyment at work & less isolation
       • Especially in small businesses
       • Need to find excuses to talk to the business people
         • You'll need to find out what's actually going on with the business
       • Try to find ways to create relationships with people
     • Find experienced mentors
       • Can be inside the IT department or outside of it
         • Can talk well about you at senior level
         • Can help create relationships/contacts
         • May help you find a better job (for better pay etc.)
  4. Professionalism
     • Act dress and talk appropriately for the business
       • If there's a dress code (or unspoken one), dress like the business
     • Understand the culture of the business you're in
       • Become part of it
       • These aren't friends or family, they're customers
     • Be absolutely reliable & have integrity
     • Attend social functions and meetings
       • Go to them anyway
       • Have some goals in each of these
         • Find out who the people are in the business
           • Who they are
           • What they know
           • What they do
       • They have a purpose in a business
         • Helps build repport
     • Don't fight the culture/try to change it
       • If it's toxic, ask why you're working there
       • If you're senior, do it gradually and respectfully
     • Be reliable and on time
     • Will pay off in the long term
  5. At some point you'll make a mistake (and it may be a big one)
     • It'll happen to you
       • Real test is how you deal/react to it
     • There hasn't been a single networking engineer who hasn't brought down a network
     • Apologise immediately to anybody you may have hurt
       • Show accountability and tell them why it's down
       • Doesn't allow people to fester as you show integrity
     • Doesn't give the opportunity to remember or focus on your mistake
       • Don't bring the issue up again
       • You already apologised and need to just move on
     • Make sure it's your mistake first
  6. Summary
     • You are in a reputation building phase
     • It's more than just your technical skill
       • Without the technical skill, you can't do your job
       • You need to also have work for your customers