# Leading a Team for INTEX: Challenges and Growth

Published: 2024-12-10
Author: Vin Jones (https://vinjones.me)

Leading a team for our first **INTEX project** was one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences of my academic journey. Our team of **four developers** was tasked with building a full-stack solution for **The Turtle Shelter Project**, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. This involved **normalizing a dataset, implementing a database, and developing a website**—all within a short timeframe.

This article explores the key challenges we faced and the lessons I learned while balancing leadership and development responsibilities.

## Managing a Team of Developers

Taking on a **leadership role** in a technical project was a new challenge for me. With a diverse team of developers, ensuring effective collaboration was crucial.

- **Task delegation**: Assigning responsibilities based on each team member’s strengths and experience.
- **Communication**: Keeping everyone aligned through regular check-ins and clear documentation.
- **Problem-solving**: Navigating technical roadblocks while ensuring progress toward our deadlines.

Balancing these responsibilities with my own development tasks was a learning experience in time management and adaptability.

## Data Normalization and Database Implementation

A major aspect of our project was structuring the **dataset** provided by The Turtle Shelter Project. The raw data was **disorganized and redundant**, requiring careful **normalization** to improve efficiency and integrity.

We designed and implemented a **PostgreSQL database**, focusing on:

- **Optimized schema design** to prevent redundancy.
- **Efficient indexing** to improve query performance.
- **Scalability considerations** to accommodate future data expansion.

## Building the Website and Integrating Tableau Dashboards

With the backend in place, we shifted focus to developing a user-friendly **web application**. Our stack included:

- **Node.js & Express** to handle API requests.
- **Live Tableau dashboards** for real-time data visualization.
- **AWS Beanstalk Environment** for quick deployments.

One of the biggest technical challenges was integrating **Tableau dashboards** into the web app securely while ensuring they remained **dynamic and accessible** to different user roles.

## Developing the Admin Portal

To empower The Turtle Shelter Project’s team, we built an **admin site** with key functionalities:

- **User authentication & role-based access**.
- **Data management tools** to allow updates without technical assistance.
- **Reporting features** to provide insights into key metrics.

This additional functionality ensured that the nonprofit could continue using and maintaining the system after our project concluded.

## Lessons Learned

This project taught me valuable lessons about **leadership, software development, and teamwork**:

- **Effective delegation** prevents bottlenecks and improves efficiency.
- **Clear communication** is key to keeping a team aligned and productive.
- **Technical leadership** requires balancing coding with managing people and tasks.
- **Always, always, always** make it as easy as possible for your client to find what they need (we didn't have a direct link to the admin page)!

## Conclusion

Leading the INTEX project was a **challenging but rewarding** experience. Seeing our project come together—a fully functional **database-driven website** with **live dashboards and an admin portal**—was incredibly fulfilling.

More than just a class assignment, this experience provided real-world insights into **managing a team, architecting a full-stack application, and delivering a solution for a real nonprofit**. These lessons will continue to shape my approach to future projects and professional endeavors.