Reflections on the Midterm
As in any group effort, there were and are all levels of performance by the different members of the group. With our group, the same individuals that seem to always rise to the occasion, again, rose to the occasion. Of the five members of our group, one took charge of being the person to control the blog postings, and of making sure all things involved in the blog process were handled correctly. Of the remaining four, another person took charge of manually recording our conversations and transcribing our ideas into laws and our country's regulations. The remaining three of us , mainly verbally contributed ideas and made suggestions. I am sure this scenario caused our team to put more onus on the two more active members, and resulted in their doing more than their share. I know that I personally did less than my fair share, which I also submitted towards the last minute. On a scale of 1-10, I would put my performance at 4-5 when compared with our top two.
In our group, I cannot think of a person to remove, unless it would be me. I have a difficult time hearing, and always seem to be lost in both our group discussions and in the class in general. That and I am totally at a loss when it comes to current pop culture, movies, music, electronic devises, and personalities. In other words, when I do manage to hear whats being said, I have no idea what is being talked about. However that is my problem, and should not affect anyone else. But if a certain type of person could be added, it would be helpful if that person were a bit assertive, without being an ass, above average intelligence, without being a smart ass, organized but not anal, and have perseverance.
For rating the basic workplace rules,on a scale of 1-10, I came up with the following order of importance, with 10 being the most important.
10. Showing up: Of all the points to consider, showing up has to rate right up there. It would seem pretty difficult to accomplish anything, if no one showed up. Even if most show up, and 1 or 2 don't, it would cause a hardship on those attending that wont have the project contribution to work with, of those that fail to show.
9. Handling conflict among group members: I rated this the highest, because if your group is in constant turmoil, and is not in control, it is very difficult to get anything done.
8. Doing your fair share: This is only fair if everyone does do their fair share. It is not right to burden others for your lack of effort.
7. Responding timely to email and communicating effectively with other members: As with doing your fair share, responding timely, allows others to do their job, especially if they have to interact with, or respond to, something that you have not produced yet.
6. Being present in the group--not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting: A group meeting, especially in a class with numerous other groups, is hard to concentrate in. By adding phone calls or texting, it makes it that much harder to interact and, to be aware of all that is going on in the group meeting.
6. Being present in the group--not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting: A group meeting, especially in a class with numerous other groups, is hard to concentrate in. By adding phone calls or texting, it makes it that much harder to interact and, to be aware of all that is going on in the group meeting.
5. Being on time: This is only fair to others in your group, allowing them to perform their tasks.
For me the 5 following rules, make for an effective group:
1. A group, by it's nature, needs a designated leader, who will be the ultimate arbitrator, and who has the final say. With 4 or 5 group members all trying to have input at the same time without control, you have chaos.
2. Whenever possible the group should try to reach a consensus on a set of stated goals and, a defined purpose. Numerous people working on their own pet projects, without a group focus will lead to a Hodge-podge of poorly related information.
3. Each member needs to have an assigned task, if not more than one task. Making a person responsible for a task, exerts pressure on that person to perform, or be exposed in the group, as less than reliable.
4. Each assigned task must have a deadline for completion in order for the project to develop a flow. If a person that has a task that is required at an early stage of the project, and is slow in producing results, then the entire project is delayed, and the delaying effect is snowballed to accentuate the problem.
5. The group needs a final editorial authority to present the finished product. This can be a single person or a committee. However if it is a committee, remember that the previous 4 rules will apply to their work assignment.
3 comments:
I think it's very mature and objective that you are able to honestly critique yourself. I do agree with cell phones. When they are used for research its good. But too many people get on their phones and start talking which pulls away from the group. It seems like your group is very effective and knows what each players strong points are.
Hi Earl,
I find your review extremely helpful. Thank you! It is very well-done, with some constructive criticism and irony. It looks like you just organised some set of chaotic thoughts that some of us could have. And you should not criticise yourself - your maturity and experience bring a lot to our group. Just believe me. Thank you once again!
What a contemplative piece on your project. Well reasoned and said. Good Job!
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