Project Design Reflection
Introduction
Friedrich Nietzche (in Robbins et.al , 2001, p 270) said ‘ Madness is the exception in individuals but the rule in groups’. While I believe my team work experiences weren’t as chaotic as the previous quote implies, my reflection does highlight the fundamental differences between the team process from the beginning to conclusion of the project, the group dynamics and the challenges that were faced in regard to both contribution and work output. From participating in this team process there is some essential learning and reflection about my own behaviour in a team work setting and what strategies I can implement in the future to ensure that I work both effectively and to my full potential next time I am working in a team situation.
The project and team process
·In The Beginning
As I suspect is often the case, our team began highly motivated, co-operative and idealistic. My early reflections of the team comment on the cohesiveness of the team and the benefits of developing a uniform team agreement – “I think the team process has worked quite well so far with most people putting equal effort into the finished agreement.” (Weblog post ‘Agreement’ 21/8/2006). Much of our team agreement was based on the idea of an equitable workload and fairness to other team members by keeping regular checks of the discussion board and email.
· Group Dynamics
Something I observed early on and at first thought was to do with how unfamiliar the team was with each other was how hesitant and strained having meaningful group discussions was. From my point of view I think most group members were shy to voice what they really felt about how the group was moving forward with fear of offending or creating conflict with whoever had made the suggestion. “Another difficulty may be that people are hesitant to throw around ideas and talk things through for fear of offending or being confrontational. In my mind talking about an issue and putting your point of view across is just another way to come to an answer which isn’t necessarily your own, its not always about what you argue for being right, its just looking at it from another angle.”(Weblog post ‘Agreement’ 21/8/2006). While I thought this may be an early phase in the team work process this aspect was something that endured for the life of the project.
· Challenges
“In terms of the progress of the assignment delegating tasks seemed to be an effective way to cover the workload. However, I feel that our team meetings tend to be not as effective as they could be firstly because some team members don’t come and secondly because we don’t spend enough time working out everything that needs to be done before delegating tasks. This tends to mean that some components of the task are overlooked. I’ve learnt so far that it is much harder to work in a group with people you are less familiar with. I think because you don’t know each other very well you are less likely to provide constructive criticism and discuss ideas and approaches you just want to get in and get out as quickly as possible. I think this is the difference between group work and team work. At the moment we are operating as a group. Group work seems to be more like everyone does their own little bit and then adds it together for the final product i.e. the outcome is the output time by the amount of group members. Team work on the other hand seems to be a more inclusive process where everyone works together to achieve the outcome which is far greater than that of the individual output x by the amount of team members.” (Weblog post ‘Challenges’ 11/10/2006).
· Contribution
From my observations over time on my weblog, contribution was less equitable towards the end of the project. “Overall the team is working well together, however some are working harder than others. Some aspects of the agreement are beginning to not be followed such as individual weekly reports and checking the discussion board on UTSonline as regularly as we agreed upon. This is something that we will have to discuss in upcoming team meetings.” (Weblog post ‘Moving on to Module Two’ 11/9/2006). It has become clearer over the past week or so that some team members are working harder than others. While initially this can be quite frustrating I think it’s important to understand that everyone has different desired levels of achievement and different ideas about how much effort they need to put in. I think this has particularly become more obvious recently because there are times when extra work needs to be done to more forward and only a few people are putting their hand up to do it. (Weblog post ‘Week 5’ 25/9/2006)
· Work Output
The overall standard of work output from everyone in the group is of a high standard and looking over the wiki I am very happy to be part of such a good group. Despite many of the challenges and uncomfortableness that has been spoken about previous the final product still came together in the end. I think this is very common with most group tasks, the work always ends up getting done even though there can be some stress along the way.
· Looking Back
Looking back on the team process I can see that the negatives we encountered as a team are as important in terms of learning as the positives. Some aspects of the team process such as meetings and delegating tasks etc may have been more productive if tackled in a more collaborative way but that is something you will only learn with experience.
What I have learned about my own behaviour in a team
“The team work process for me has overall been quite a challenging experience. I have learnt a lot about myself and also about other people. Firstly I think it is important to remember that when you go into a team work environment there are lots of different approaches team members will take to completing team work. I also think it is unrealistic to think that the team work process is the number one priority for each team member. As with any aspect of our lives there are many outside influencing factors that both directly and indirectly affect our performance.
Primarily what I have learnt about myself working in a team environment is that while I don’t need to have absolute control over how tasks are completed I do like to have some say and input into how things are done. I also feel that I have a tendency to disengage and become unmotivated if from my point of view the group is working ineffectively or not to their full potential.” (Weblog Post ‘Team Work Reflection 29/10/2006).
“I’ve learnt a lot about my role in a team during this process. Primarily I’ve learnt that I tend to take on various roles throughout the life of a team project, sometimes taking a leadership role and other times sitting back and contributing what is required. I’ve noticed that I am more effective working with people I engage with and feel comfortable with and am more likely to work at a high standard.” (Weblog post ‘How do I Function’ 16/10/2006).
Strategies to implement in the future to ensure effective participation in a team
There are a number of strategies that are beneficial for me to adopt to become more effective working in a team as identified in numerous weblog entries. “The implications of this for me in the future are quite clear. It is essential for me to develop strategies to get to know and feel comfortable with other team members I work with in the future. This I feel will create a more harmonious supportive working environment which I find more conducive to hard work. The other implication is to determine how I can work effectively even if I don’t relate well to other team members. This is probably one of the hardest strategies to develop and is something most people probably struggle with.” (Weblog post ‘How do I Function’ 16/10/2006). Of key importance is:
· Actively engage in relationship building activities with other team members to avoid feeling unfamiliar with whom I am working with.
· Acknowledge the outside commitments and priorities of other team members.
· Develop practical strategies around team agreements on equity of workload, quality of work, communication amongst the team etc.
· Stretch myself to not be as confined to the Queendom Brainstormer role (Weblog post ‘Talking about team roles’ 13/8/2006) I tend to feel comfortable in.
Conclusion
The team process thought the project design task has provided much insight into the different attitudes throughout the project, aspects of group dynamics and the effect on the overall work output. It has also brought to the fore reflection on my behaviour in a team working environment and what particular strategies are needed to be a more effective team worker in the future.
‘Working in the framework of the project design process has been very beneficial for me. Not only have I been able to gain a deeper understanding of the different components of project design I can see the wider application for these tools.
In many learning and development roles either e-learning specific or otherwise I think it will become more important to have sound project management skills. While this includes the utilization of scoping and objectives documents, gant charts and risk management analysis I also believe the people management and team work skills are just as, if not more important.’ (Weblog post ‘Project Design Process’ 6/11/2006).
