Teammate Review Instructions

In order to enable continuous improvement, both as a team and individually, it is critical to gather quality feedback. Such feedback should point to both strengths as well as areas for improvement. As part of the feedback collection in this course, you will be asked to provide individual reviews of your teammates, generally via an online form. Here are the instructions to follow in filling out that form.

1. What the Various Ratings Mean

On the teammate review form, you will have to rate each of your teammates (as well as yourself) based on a multiple-choice, scale from Terrible to Excellent. The precise meaning of each option may not be obvious, so here are detailed definitions for each to help you in making the right selection.

1.1. Productivity and Contribution Ratings

Here is what the various ratings mean with respect to productivity and contribution:

• Terrible: Teammate has contributed nothing (or almost nothing) to the project.
  • If you give a teammate this score, you must give specific, detailed comments describing the events and/or pattern of behavior that led to this score.
• Poor: Teammate has contributed something, but it was clearly below expectations in terms of quantity and/or quality.
  • If you give a teammate this score, you must give specific, detailed comments as to the ways in which the teammate’s contributions were below expectations.

• Acceptable: Teammate contributed the bare minimum. He/she was generally responsible in completing his/her tasks, but is definitely not impressing anyone with his/her work.

• Good: Teammate did a very nice job in completing his/her tasks. You are pleased with his/her contributions.

• Excellent: Teammate clearly went above and beyond what was expected in a significant way. This score equates to proposing that the teammate receive an A&B point for his/her extra contributions.
  • If you give a teammate this score, you must give specific, detailed comments as to his/her contributions that went above and beyond the work assigned to him/her.
  • You should typically only score one or two teammates as Excellent. Otherwise, it will probably look like you’re not giving an honest, high-quality review.
  • Do not count work that is already being rewarded with A&B points in your assessment toward a rating of Excellent. For example, video creation and demo-booth operating are tasks that are already rewarded with A&B points.

1.2. Communication and Professionalism Ratings

Here is what the various ratings mean with respect to communication and professionalism:

• Terrible: This rating covers bottom extremes in terms of quantity and quality. A teammate with this score may have engaged in little or no communication, missing all or almost all meetings. Alternatively, he/she may display highly offensive and counterproductive behaviors in how he/she treats fellow teammates as well as the team’s customer.
  • If you give a teammate this score, you must give specific, detailed comments describing the events and/or pattern of behavior that led to this score.
• Poor: This rating points to serious issues with communication and professionalism. A teammate with this score may be engaging in some communication, but it is really an inadequate amount. He/she may be frequently late to meetings, or not participate well during them. He/she may display inappropriate or disrespectful behaviors in how he/she treats fellow teammates as well as the team’s customer.
  • If you give a teammate this score, you must give specific, detailed comments describing the events and/or pattern of behavior that led to this score.

• Acceptable: Teammate displays the bare minimum for acceptable communication and professionalism. He/she has occasional lapses—for example, being late for meetings and/or disengaged from the team—but is doing just enough right to prevent it from being a problem.

• Good: Teammate does a very nice job with communication and professionalism. You are pleased with how well he/she communicates and how professionally he/she behaves.

• Excellent: Teammate clearly goes above and beyond when it comes to communication and professionalism. This score equates to proposing that the teammate receive an A&B point for the extra effort that he/she puts into communication and professionalism.
  • If you give a teammate this score, you must give specific, detailed comments as to the above-and-beyond effort that this teammate puts into communication and professionalism.
  • You should typically only score one or two teammates as Excellent. Otherwise, it will look like you’re not giving an honest, high-quality review.
  • Do not count effort that is already being rewarded with A&B points in your assessment toward Excellent. For example, serving as Project Coordinator is already rewarded with A&B points.

2. How to Provide a High-Quality Review

Here are some key criteria to keep in mind when providing your reviews:

• Be honest. Avoid inflating or deflating a teammate’s score when applying the above standard. For example, it looks very suspicious to give many or all teammates Excellent ratings—especially if the comments justifying their above-and-beyond contributions seem vague or weak.

• Focus on observable facts. When you provide comments, focus on facts that are or were somehow observable. “Just the facts, ma’am.” Do not attempt to mind read or hurl insults. For example, don’t call a teammate “lazy” (which is tantamount to mind reading). Instead, describe what was expected of the teammate and the ways he/she failed to meet that expectation.

• Refer to the Individual Assignment Specs. The individual assignment specifications provide a great way to establish what was expected of a teammate. Use them in justifying whether a teammate did more or less than what was expected.

• Positive comments appreciated. Feedback has a tendency to focus on the negative; however, it’s also quite good to describe when teammates are doing things right.

• More is more. Thorough comments show that you are going out of your way to provide a high-quality review. The more you can say the better.

3. How the Reviews Will be Used

Here are some key ways that the reviews will (and will not) be used:

• Hints to the Instructor. I will use the reviews to make me aware of possible issues on the team and to clarify what happened during the iteration. For example, when I review the task-reporting and pull-request data for an iteration, the review comments may help explain why the data look the way they do.

• Scores ≠ Grades. I will NOT translate any of the scores you give your teammates directly into grades. Grades in the course are based on an independent assessment of the work that students produce and are in no way affected by the opinions of teammates. Thus, for example, if you honestly think that a teammate deserves a negative score, you can give them that score without any feelings of guilt that your score will hurt their grade in the course.

• Kept Confidential. All scores and comments will be kept confidential. If a score/comment reveals an issue that might be good to discuss with the team, I will first discuss it with the person who reported the score/comment to make sure that it is discussed in a way that they are comfortable with. If they do not wish for their comment to be discussed, I will respect their wishes.