Introduction
Collaboration is essential to success in any team project. Throughout the process, every team member brings unique skills and perspectives, contributing to the overall progress. One of the most important aspects of teamwork is recognizing that effort estimation, task management, and reflection are integral components of effective project development. These elements help with progress tracking and ensuring everyone’s contributions are accounted for and valued.
Approach to Effort Estimation
Our approach to estimating effort within the project involved recognizing both coding and non-coding tasks. Each team member would assess the time they believed it would take to complete their individual tasks. This often included initial research, design thinking, and understanding how to approach the coding itself. While we were able to base our estimations on prior experience and knowledge of the project, it’s important to note that every effort estimation was just that—an estimate. We learned that the process of estimating time and effort is inherently imprecise but still useful in setting expectations and guiding the workflow.
Results
Looking back at the accuracy of our estimations, we realized that there were a variety of outcomes. In some cases, our predictions were nearly spot on, while in other situations, we either underestimated or overestimated the amount of time required. However, regardless of how the estimations turned out, the effort and input from each team member were crucial to completing the project. Some tasks took longer than expected due to unforeseen challenges, while others were completed more quickly than anticipated. In all cases, every team member’s contributions ensured that we kept pushing forward, learning, and adapting.
To track our progress, each team member would note the time they began working on a task and track how long it took to complete. This practice helped maintain transparency and ensured that everyone could reflect on their individual efforts while also giving insight into how we as a team could improve our overall performance.
Reflect
Reflecting on both our estimations and the actual time spent, we can see clear areas where we succeeded and areas where we can improve. Despite some of our estimations being off, the process of tracking our efforts helped us gain a better understanding of the challenges each of us faced. More importantly, it allowed us to see where our strengths were and where further practice was needed.
Tracking time and reflecting on our performance as a team is not only valuable for personal growth but also for strengthening collaboration and improving future project planning. Even when things didn’t go as expected, having a clear record of the time and effort invested gave us the tools to learn and grow together. Ultimately, we can be proud of how every team member contributed, ensuring that the project continued to progress and that each task was completed successfully.