adding manpower to a late software project makes it later team leader I’m writing to address some concerns regarding our — group project. With only 2-3 weeks left, it’s clear that we’re facing significant challenges in terms of project viability and technical development. Currently, our project lacks the necessary components to be presented as a prototype. While we have functional elements such as the …. and the …. server for entry storage, there are several critical components still missing for our cloud-based diary platform to be fully functional.
I’d like to address some specific concerns regarding attendance and contribution:
A and B, there has been a severe lack of attendance and contribution from both of you. I haven’t seen any code or YAML files from either of you in our GitHub repository, and your absence from group meetings and classes has been noted. I don’t think it is justifiable at this stage in the process to be missing from group work and not contributing.
A, I understand you’re working on the …… service for user authentication, with the starter code I already provided, but I haven’t received any updates. B, while you mentioned working on the …. and security encryptions, I haven’t received progress reports or heard from you in a while.
As for me, I’ve managed to set up a …. server on Kubernetes, but I need assistance in connecting it to the document pages, which are still under development. C, it would be very helpful if we could collaborate on this during tomorrow’s class and afterward.
Given the current situation, I propose that we prioritize the technical aspects of the project and focus on developing a working, rudimentary deployment and CI/CD pipeline. This approach will ensure that we address the most critical requirements by the project deadline even if we can’t do all that we promised.
I urge everyone to attend tomorrow’s class and the weekly meeting at 12:15 in the lounge. I don’t think we can afford any more absences or lost time. We must come together as a team to salvage and make this project a success.
Let’s regroup tomorrow to strategize and allocate tasks effectively.
Hi Dr. Ngo,
I am completely fine with permitting the use of our letter as an example for future student groups.
Quite frankly, I’m not sure the letter worked in fixing our technical issues, but it did make it clear to the group members who weren’t contributing that they needed to increase participation. A did start attending more meetings (even though their contributions did not increase). B had family issues but at least they was there for the presentations and did her part on some HTML files. I think that issues like this should be addressed relatively soon in the project to avoid what happened to us. If group members aren’t contributing, that’s an issue to address in early February or March because all the work adds up in April/May and you don’t have time to think about equality/contributions, you need to finish the project.
Overall, I would say the letter helped, but it was sent a month late, and that part is my fault when it comes to the group dynamics of this project.
A, Since returning from Spring Break, we have devoted a significant amount of time and effort towards developing our project components. During this time, we have taken note that the amount of effort from your end has been below expectations, and we have concluded as a group that this needed to be addressed formally. First, we have taken note that you have been absent every class session other than our Midterm and Presentation date since returning from the break, during which we have had many discussions about what each member will focus on for the project, and learning relevant information in lectures that we will help us in completing the project on time.
Our group has arranged work sessions in advance for both our presentation poster and technical report, both of which you were not present for and made no attempt to make up the work missed in those sessions. This was apparent this past weekend for our deliverable 2 work session, for which you made no contribution towards editing our poster, writing Chapter 3 of the report, or developing any of the project components in our GitHub repository. Along with this, we have received very little communication from you regarding what you have been working on or what times you plan on dedicating to working on the project, which has become very concerning for us as the final project due date approaches.
Our wish is not to blame you for the shortcomings of our group’s progress, but to inform you that we are aware of your lack of effort and expect much more from you for the remainder of the course. This includes attending class regularly, being present for future project work sessions, and clear communication regarding what you will work on for the project.
If you have any concerns or objections to this, then we would be happy to have a team meeting to discuss further. Thank you for reading and we hope to see you in class this week.
Best,
I gladly give my permission to use the team member performance letter I wrote as learning material for future students. I found that writing the email directly to the team member as opposed to you (the professor was BCC on the group email) was the best way to address the performance issues without creating tension within the team. Approaching the letter this way ensured that the team member understood the seriousness of the situation, while also not feeling blamed or denounced by the team. The purpose of the letter was to motivate the team member to be more active in the project and not to “throw them under the bus”, and I believe that this method successfully conveyed that message. I am happy to say that after the letter was sent to the team member, they were very professional in apologizing for their shortcomings while also working very hard for the remainder of the course to be present in class and make notable progress in their assigned project tasks. The group member also was present for all the remaining work sessions we organized for the project, and we were quickly able to move forward from any dynamic tension and focus on meeting our project goals. Overall, writing the letter in this manner provided the outcome my team was looking for when we decided to address the situation, and I would highly recommend that future students approach performance issues like this in a similar way.
consideration of their course loads and the holidays] - Housekeeping rules regarding team meetings/interactions - Team tools/processes preferred - Assignment of roles and responsibilities
Hi …,
We are writing to let you know that we’re the WCU team who will work on your project this fall. We are very excited to work on this project and to get started. We would like to schedule a Project Kickoff Meeting with you next week. If possible, we would like to schedule an hour as there is a lot to learn and discuss. Here is our availability.
Tues. Sep. 3 – 10:00am to 11:00am or 3:30pm to 4:30pm. Wed. Sep. 4 – 12:00pm to 1:00pm or 1:00pm to 2:00pm. Thurs. Sep. 5 – 12:00pm to 1:00pm or 1:00pm to 2:00pm.
Please let us know:
We will send a meeting agenda to you the day prior to the kickoff meeting.
Our team is: abc def …
Thank you very much for the opportunity to work on this project. We’re looking forward to working with you.
Best regards,
Greetings everyone,
On behalf of the team, I want to say we’re excited to collaborate with you this semester on the upcoming project. We would like to set up a meeting with you to introduce ourselves and discuss the project requirements and introduction.
The teams availability is as follows:
Please let us know at your earliest convenience what dates and times work for you.
Best regards,