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Thursday, October 9, 2008
sun set at 11:51 PM

Reflections...

It is always nice to take a break and look back at how we started out yes? Looking back at the project, everything had been fast paced and efficient, leaving little time to really enjoy the process. However, for my case, after sitting down and putting all my assignment due dates aside, I realise the project have actually been a very enjoyable ride thus far. Even till now, I am still unable to explain our group dynamics of how amidst our busy schedule, we never fail to get our things done on time. This has always been a problem in many of my previous group projects, where teammates fail to cooperate and always having the thought that “other members will do my part for me anyway”.

In the reflection of the group project thus far, I definitely benefited from a positive learning experience. Some of the key factors that drove me to this conclusion include that of efficient planning and effective communication. In the planning system of our group, we adopted flexibility in the delegation of workload. Thus, in the event of upcoming tests, group members will cover up for each other to let the affected member "study in peace". This system may sound as if the job boundary is not clearly stated (due to ambiguous delegation of workload) but it works wonders for us. This is mainly due to team members being self motivated and dedicated to finish the scheduled portion of work. This system also allowed us to work at our own pace and thus working more effectively as compared to working under stress. Effective communication in our group prevented misunderstandings from happening. Most of our group meetings are held in a face-to-face situation where we can readily understand each other through our tone of words and body languages. We hardly like to discuss major issues online, unless they are simple instructions which we used Emails to convey. With these two key learning points, exchange of ideas was enjoyable and the moods of our meetings were always light-hearted.

Thus, I had overall been having a positive experience in handling this project and am able to understand myself better through effectively communicating ideas between project mates. I have also learnt, through understanding myself better, ways to improve several of my weaknesses such as my hesitant nature in decision making or inability to verbalise my chain of thoughts concisely. Lastly, I am very thankful to Lyon and Tiffany for being such wonderful teammates in this project. I do hope that I have been as good a team player in their eyes.

6 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Great post...You should try out http://www.grouptable.com

It will really improve your group's communication and organization.

October 10, 2008 at 8:31 AM  
Blogger Brad Blackstone said...

Thanks, Junrong, for this honest and critical look at your project work. I could easily sense when speaking to your team that each of you was playing an important role in the process. Now I look forward to seeing the final product.

I appreciate you taking the time to reflect.

October 11, 2008 at 7:20 PM  
Blogger Pei Rong said...

Hi Jun Rong,

It's a very hectic and stressful week right? The introduction, literature review, findings and interpretations...and TESTS..OMG.

So glad that we have almost gone through the worst part of the project. Now is only the final editting of the report.

I agree with you that it is important for group members to be cooperative and help one another when necessary. Especially, when our mid terms clash with the completion of the drafts. I have met people who give excuses for not doing their part for the project, leaving all the work to the other team mates. I'm glad my group members this time round are not like them! You too?

In addition, as I have mentioned in Joyce's blog, we are lucky to have meetings held in class. In this way, we can communicate face-to-face and not face-to-computer. I believe there is no time for us to meet outside class due to our hectic timetable.

In conclusion(haha, sounds like the report), I'm glad you had a great time working with your team mates!

October 12, 2008 at 4:47 PM  
Blogger Tiffany said...

Dear Junrong,

I totally agree with you on the aspect of our group being able to get things done on time despite the little meet-ups that we had.

To a large extent, I agree that due to us being motivated, we have managed to communicate effectively and handle ourselves well under the stressful situation.

I really enjoyed my experience in working with you and Lyon and without you both, the project wouldn't be possible. Thank you so much for the effort!! Last but not least, we have only 2 more days to D-day so let's do our best to tie those loose ends and make the project a successful one! :)

October 12, 2008 at 8:59 PM  
Blogger joyce said...

Dear Jun Rong,

After reading your post, I gathered something about you and your group members and that might give you some insight to 'explain your group dynamics..'. :) And that is you and your group members are all very responsible people!

I feel that it is always good to have face-to-face discussion when doing projects to facilitate bonding between each member.

October 18, 2008 at 12:51 AM  
Blogger Lyon said...

Hi Peirong,

Yes I feel that having the meeting in class really took a lot of load off us. We did not have to come up with extra time to meet up with each other. I am glad that the project seems to be a good experience for everyone. It is not easy to have a good project experience (:

Junrong & Tiffany,

Thanks for being such great teammates and helped cover my ass when I had CAs... But I think I still flunked them all!!!

October 18, 2008 at 2:51 PM  

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