Three things I'd say to a team to help hold them together:

If anything goes bad, I did it.

If anything goes semi-good, then we did it.

If anything goes real good, then you did it.

-- Paul "Bear" Bryant



"The best job goes to the person who can get it done without passing the buck or coming back with excuses."

--Napoleon Hill

Friday, April 9, 2010

Post #6 Reflections on Personal Teamwork and Communication

I admit, I did not thought that learning teamwork and communication could be such an intricate process before starting on this module.

Teamwork use to be a very simple idea of working together, dedicating workload and then merging everything together for one final presentation or talk. But throughout the CG1102 project and CG1413 project, I had seen how difficult it is to work together, especially when the dateline seemed so near.

A team is made up of individuals; hence, opinions differing from each other are unavoidable. I started the module not knowing how to deal with difference in opinion, and came out understanding that each opinion had its own advantages and disadvantage; listing out each opinion and comparing or combining the opinions is the only way to come up with the best solutions.

Throughout the journey, our team had our quarrels and miscommunications. There were also times where I felt that some of my teammates are irresponsible and insensitive when they asked me to come for meetings on Sundays and only sent the slides to me at the very last minute, oblivious to the fact that compilation is still needed. Some things I learnt is that deadlines have to be set earlier than the actual date you wished to see things done, and not get agitated over some insensitive comments or requests, vice versa.

In order to achieve a goal as team, working together in harmony is a must. There must be trust within the group, yet that trust must be supervised lest it gets misused by another; I have learnt how to work with people, trusting them, yet making sure that my trust is not betrayed. With that said, I should always make sure that I do not betray their trust either.

After watching the two presentations and the meeting videos taken, I realised my communication skills were way inadequate. I could not express myself enough for them to be persuaded into using my idea or be convinced that my idea will work. But after these lessons, I did learn that the essence lies in knowing and applying the 7Cs of communication (Clear, Concise, Concrete, Correct, Coherent, Complete and Courteous). A presentation done, which fully complies with these 7Cs would leave the audience feeling complete and probably more interested to hear more from me. This, would be something that I definitely want to achieve in life.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear Byron,

Since the semester is coming to an end, it is good to know that you have a better idea of what effective team communication is. Since I am not in the same team(s) as you, I may not be qualified enough to comment about your teamwork skills. But judging from your post, you mentioned about your teammates being irresponsible. Although such situations are not desirable, you can take it as a ‘test’ to work on your communications and conflict resolution skills. There are definitely going to be times when things do not go your way; learning how to face and resolving them is the key to improving yourself.

I am also a firm believer that trust is very important in a team (as mentioned in my older post). With trust, the team would be able to do their share of the job knowing that every other member is also doing theirs. Trust needs to be earned, through respect and being responsible. One wrong mistake may cause your teammates to distrust you.

One suggestion which I think is very important in teamwork:
Show more initiative. Do not wait for things to happen, instead, make it happen. It is a very important trait that every leader should have. The journey does not end here; continue to practice and I believe you will definitely can become better.

Good Luck to your Final Exams!!!

Regards,
Kevin Lin :)

Ganesh said...

Hi Byron,

Firstly, it was a honestly written post. While reading it, I got the vibe that you were unhappy with certain incidents that occured over the course of the two projects. It is good that you noted and realized why you were upset with your team. Setting deadlines is vital because without deadlines everyone will start procrastinating and in the end no one will get the job done.

Also, conflicts occur due to clash of opinions and beliefs. When such an instance arises, the right thing to do is to consider each opinions/idea and analyse the viability. We must do it as a team and be open about it. Also, it is important to regard the member's feelings when you think his/her idea would not work out. Putting it in a nice manner wil be good.

Overall, I think its good that you have learned and understood the root causes of the problems that you encountered. Together with the skills that you have gained throughout this module I am sure you will handle such situations with ease.

Best of luck for the upcoming exams! :)

RaX said...

Hello Byron,

It seems that you've had an eventful experience this semester with the various group projects. However, it's probably for the best since experience is the best teacher. Now that you've experienced all these, you can take precautions in the future, as stated in your post. However, you probably could have started taking action this semester instead of just letting it slide.

For example, you mentioned that you've experienced problems such as Sunday meetings and late slides. Perhaps you could have gotten the team together to discuss this and thrash out the reasons against having Sunday meetings. After all, not everyone stays within a few minutes journey of NUS. If someone is unhappy in the team, it lowers the productivity of the him/her and thus affecting the quality of the final product/result.

Finally, it's good that you listed out the points that you learnt and your weak points. However, it might have been better if you also included what you're going to do. But this shows that you've learnt something about yourself and how you've improved. =)

Good luck and best wishes for the finals!

Rayner

P.S: There are some parts in your post where you used the wrong tenses. It might help if you read through it before posting to spot these errors.

nitika said...

Hi Byron,
I do agree with you that in the beginning we didn't realize the importance of this module. This is because we never knew that working in a team is totally different from individual work. CG1413 is a module which made us learn skills which would be useful throughout our lives whether we are studying or working.

While working in a team, trust is of utmost importance. We should understand each other and co-operate with each other. The team leader should super wise the work and keep track of the whole team. When different people work together, it is normal to have conflicts. As the same time, it is necessary that the conflicts be resolved peacefully (Tutorial sessions about resolving conflicts taught us how to handle such situations.)

Your presentation skills were better during the second presentation as I felt that you were more confident. You answered the questions politely and in a calm manner during the Q & A in spite of a lot of questions from the audience. However, verbal skills could further be improved. Overall, you have improved upon your presentation skills.

I think that you should improve upon your writing skills and practise the 7Cs. I came across a few typos in your post which should be taken care of.

Good luck for your exams!!

Thanks

Best Regards,
Nitika

nitika said...

Hi all,
I made a typo in my comment. I would like to correct it.
The team leader should super wise the work and keep track of the whole team.

--The team leader should "supervise" the work and keep track of the whole team.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Thanks

Best Regards,
Nitika

Starion said...

Hi all! Thanks once again for commenting on my blog.

However, i still do not know what are the grammar and tenses error in my post. My english is just barely adequate for a good essay, and i would really appreciate it if you could tell me what has gone wrong directly.

I do agree with a few points you guys have listed. Things such as initiative for leaders, as well as effective conflict resolving seems particularly important. I will try my best to be the best leader as possible to my fellow coursemate, in order to train up myself to be a good leader in future.

Once again, thanks alot for being there to support me through this CG1413 journey. I hope you all will continue to excel and prove yourself capable of being a charismatic presenter.

"To live, is to learn. And to learn, is my life"
-Byron

Preethi.sougoumarin said...

Hi Nitika,
It feels good to see you share your different views on effective communication.You had mentioned that the team leader should supervise and take responsibility for the members. But how can a leader be responsible for the acts of all the team members. Isn't it a difficult task to direct them towards the desired result? What can a leader possibly do when their members are irresponsible?
Nitika,from your experience can you suggest some traits a leader should possess so that the leader can co-ordinate the efforts of all the members to get excellent results.
All the very best!! Looking forward to more posts relating to effective
communication.
Thanks.
Regards,
Preethi