Honestly I felt I had a pleasant learning experience working with my group members Shaun and Matthew. The aspect of my learning experience I would be writing about is our success in teamwork.It was a pleasant journey without encountering any significant problems. I believe that this was due to the initial mutual understanding three of us shared with regards to the project. Whenever there is work distributed, both Shaun and Matthew would produce quality work and made much effort to go throught the various comments given to improve.
Active involvement in the project was another contributor to our success in teamwork. I am thankful to be working with Shaun as he would always be finding out the progress of the project through sms or email and giving directions on what needs to be look into. I reminded myself to be a supportive member and be positively influenced by his active involvement. His perfectionist attitude came across demanding at times but I learned to see it as a reminder for myself not to settle for anything lesser than the best especially when I am capable of it.
Clear communication played a vital role in ensuring things get done. I do not remember any moment where we were unsure of what was expected from each of us. We were also able to communicate our constrains like other term tests and projects and able to work around these restrictions. The work was quite well distributed and there was not a lot of last minute work we had to rush.
This experience became an evidence displaying the vital importance of the factors above. While I seek to bring these points into my next project group, I acknowledge that these are merely ideals and there would be a need to manage expectations whenever a group of people come together.
5 comments:
Hi Peng Siang, I agree with your point that sometimes we will not get our ideal project group and there is a need to moderate expectations. For example, some people do not share a mutual understanding to be actively involved in a project and do not bother to communicate with their project partners.
I once worked with 2 boys who were the most terrible project partners possible. Both came late for every lesson or did not come at all and refused to contribute anything to the project. I was stuck in class presenting everything on my own. When I asked them to do any work, they would yell at me and tell me that "only 1 person is needed to do the work--me". If I showed them anything I did, they would criticize everything and ask me to redo. Every sms, call or email to get them to contribute was not heeded.
I almost cried. So what did I do in such a situation?
I told my teacher who failed their class attendance and late assignments and told them that if they continued slacking off the project, they would fail the module. Both of them were so intimidated that they started practising good teamwork and communication principles. They did their fair share of the work and did not dare to bully me.
In conclusion, the only way to communicate with uncooperative and uncommitted team members is to get the teacher/boss to communicate with them.
Hi Peng Siang,
I agree that there would be a need to manage expectations when working with a group of people, especially when they are strangers to you. I have done several group projects thus far, and every group has its own unique way of working and communication methods. Certain groups prefer to assign different sections of the project to each member while other groups prefer to work on the same section together. Personally, I think that the former is more efficient while the latter would produce something more objective as it included everyone's opinions.
I have worked with Shaun too and yes, he is a perfectionist. It's pretty stressful at times, but I suppose everyone in the group just wants the best for the project. Therefore, it is important that all group members should maintain a positive attitude towards the demands of any group member. Having said that, it does not mean that one should always comply to others' demands. Hence, it is crucial that group members communicate their thoughts and opinions freely and objectively, so that everyone is on the same page.
Hi Peng Siang,
Clear communication in your group is indeed evident! I could tell that interaction within your group was fluid and open. This I am sure, would have played a major role in facilitating a flow of ideas and voicing out of differences in opinions. In addition, I agree that managing expectations, as you mentioned, is also essential in building an effective team. When a team is first formed, everyone would have their own level of expectation and goal to work towards. If this is not managed well, every group member would be heading towards different directions. This might eventually lead to unhappiness and unnecessary disagreements. However, good management would mean unanimously fusing all these individual expectations into a common and shared goal. By doing so, every group member develops a sense of direction and the group would head towards the same destination. This would definitely enhance and foster team work.
Thanks, Peng Siang, for your systematic and insightful reflection on the factors necessary for success in teamwork.
Regarding your comment about Shaun's "perfectionist attitude" coming across as "demanding at times", I'm really happy to read that you looked at it very positively and reminded yourself "not to settle for anything lesser (less) than the best" especially when you are capable of it. That's a positive attitude that everyone should adopt!
I can see from your project mates' blogposts that all of you sincerely enjoyed working with each other.
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