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| 1 | +# During an iteration |
| 2 | + |
| 3 | +During an iteration, there is a variety of tasks related to the |
| 4 | +management and completion of the iteration that you and everyone else on |
| 5 | +the team can or should do. This document describes what those might be |
| 6 | +and how to do them. Most of this document is relevant to all members |
| 7 | +of a team, but some are specific to the team lead. These specific sections |
| 8 | +will be indicated with a comment like "if you are the team lead". |
| 9 | + |
| 10 | +## Task priority order |
| 11 | + |
| 12 | +If you are the team lead, after the iteration planning meeting you need |
| 13 | +to set a priority for each issue in the iteration. The priority is |
| 14 | +determined by how important or urgent the task is to the iteration aim. |
| 15 | +Keep the distribution of priorities as even as possible. If all items |
| 16 | +are high priority, then no item is high priority. And that doesn't help |
| 17 | +guide the team to knowing what to work on next. |
| 18 | + |
| 19 | +While issues themselves are given a priority, there is also a priority |
| 20 | +in overall tasks (not issues) you and the rest of the team should focus |
| 21 | +on: |
| 22 | + |
| 23 | +1. Respond to reviewer comments on your own pull requests. |
| 24 | +2. Respond to issues where you are tagged/mentioned (`@`). |
| 25 | +3. Review pull requests from others. |
| 26 | +4. Work on your assigned highest priority issues. |
| 27 | +5. Respond to comments and questions in issues, unless it is a |
| 28 | + discussion issue, where the assigned team member will seek out and |
| 29 | + request your comments. |
| 30 | + |
| 31 | +## Assigning issues |
| 32 | + |
| 33 | +All todo items related to an iteration are put as issues on the board |
| 34 | +during the planning stage and many will be unassigned. Throughout the |
| 35 | +iteration, you should self-assign the unassigned issues that you would |
| 36 | +like to work on. Here are some guidelines for self-assignment: |
| 37 | + |
| 38 | +- Only one person (in general) should be assigned per issue, so that |
| 39 | + the project board can be kept organized and so that each issue has |
| 40 | + someone who is responsible for it. However, anyone can help with the |
| 41 | + issue. |
| 42 | + - If a given issue might need input or help from another team |
| 43 | + member, coordinate with them if need be by `@` mentioning them |
| 44 | + in the issue instead of assigning them. |
| 45 | +- When assigning yourself issues, keep in mind your own availability |
| 46 | + and time constraints, including days/hours required for other |
| 47 | + projects or events and any upcoming days off. |
| 48 | +- Issues are given priority labels and, in general, try to self-assign |
| 49 | + higher priority tasks first. |
| 50 | + |
| 51 | +Aside from assigning yourself to issues, if you see that something needs |
| 52 | +to be done, create issues as needed. |
| 53 | + |
| 54 | +- If the issue is relevant to the current iteration, then add it to |
| 55 | + the *current iteration* project board and others can self-assign as |
| 56 | + desired. |
| 57 | +- If the issue isn't relevant to the current iteration, don't add it |
| 58 | + to the *current iteration* project board but instead to the *issue |
| 59 | + list/backlog* board, and we will save it for future iterations to |
| 60 | + work on. |
| 61 | + |
| 62 | +## Tasks unrelated to the iteration's aim |
| 63 | + |
| 64 | +In general, tasks you work on during the iteration should support the |
| 65 | +overall iteration goal. However, there are times when you might need to |
| 66 | +work on tasks unrelated to the goal of the current iteration. For |
| 67 | +example: |
| 68 | + |
| 69 | +- Whenever a decision is made, create a decision post about it as near |
| 70 | + to the time of decision as possible (or before making the decision). |
| 71 | +- Whenever a team member learns something and feels like it would be |
| 72 | + useful to share with the team, create a learning post about it as |
| 73 | + near to the time of learning as possible. |
| 74 | +- If tasks from the previous iteration are "In Progress" or "In |
| 75 | + Review" at the beginning of a new iteration, finish them during the |
| 76 | + next iteration. |
| 77 | + |
| 78 | +## Meetings |
| 79 | + |
| 80 | +<!-- TODO: This might be more appropriate in the meetings 'chapter'. --> |
| 81 | + |
| 82 | +Meetings are times when tangible work isn't being done, but they are |
| 83 | +useful for brainstorming things, coming to a consensus or agreement on a |
| 84 | +decision, or for briefly updating others on progress. So as much as |
| 85 | +possible, limit the amount and time spent on meetings, and use them for |
| 86 | +what they are most effective for. Here are some guidelines for having |
| 87 | +meetings during the iteration: |
| 88 | + |
| 89 | +- Have brief but regular update meetings to discuss progress, next |
| 90 | + steps, and any struggles or barriers (with the work or the |
| 91 | + iteration/process), as well as to potentially present a demo of the |
| 92 | + progress made within the iteration. |
| 93 | +- Schedule multi-person impromptu meetings as necessary and as |
| 94 | + relevant for a given task or issue, for instance a code review |
| 95 | + meeting or a discussion meeting. |
| 96 | +- Plan meetings on knowledge sharing or for code reviewing when, for |
| 97 | + instance, a new and more technically complicated feature is added or |
| 98 | + a new tool is used in a pull request. For the author of the pull |
| 99 | + request, they will need to do a bit of preparation beforehand for |
| 100 | + the meeting so that it runs smoothly and is an effective use of |
| 101 | + time. |
| 102 | +- Be mindful that not all team members are automatically relevant for |
| 103 | + all meetings. Think about who might benefit or contribute before |
| 104 | + sending an invitation to the entire team. |
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