Blog blog…

Individual Report – eLearning Project Design

The Project and Team Process

At the beginning…

My initial thoughts about this group process were “This is going to be a complete disaster and I cannot wait for it to be over”. I had had very bad experiences with group work before, I was not happy about who was in my group and I was convinced that I would end up angry and doing the whole assignment on my own with minimal help from other people. This however was not entirely the case, for various reasons which will be identified in this report.

The team…

At the start of the project our group allocated tasks and responsibilities to each group member. These were based on the Team Roles Test and proved to be very valuable throughout the team process. They were as follows:

-          Jess was a Brainstormer, therefore we made her responsible facilitating the creative process.

-          Brett was the Peacemaker, therefore we allocated him the task of group mediation duties if any conflicts or arguments arise

-          Faye was a Team Worker, and we asked her to assist other member with task related enquiries and to act as a motivator

-          Rena was the Thinker, so we thought it would be appropriate if the ensured that group tasks and ideas were practival and focused on achieving project goals.

There were three Coordinators, so we divided this role into three components:

-          Jenee would be responsible for editing and quality control of completed tasks.

-          Carrie  was esponsible for coordination of group meetings.

-          I was responsible for coordinating the completion of work tasks and collecting and uploading information onto the group Wiki

We also identified how we would communicate, how often, and what standard of work we wanted to achieve. I liked this. I had not really done anything like this in a group assignment before and I liked that we had made things clear from the beginning and could refer back to our team agreement if people didn’t do what was required of them. This did happen when people didn’t check the discussion board or show up to group meeting.

Furthermore, I think that giving everyone a role gave each team member a sense of responsibility for the role that they played the team. I personally, often take charge of group assignments and coordinate everything and it was good to have established at first that other people can also take on this role which took the burden off me as I knew that the work would still get edited and meetings would be run even if I did not personally ensure that this happened.

Forming, storming, norming, but not quite performing….

Based on one of the weekly blogging questions, I identified the stages of our team process based on Tuckman’s Model. I wasn’t sure if this model applied so well when the group members already know each other and have all worked together before.

The forming stage was when we all completed the Team Roles Test and when we wrote up our Team Agreement. At this stage we were able to discuss what each others strengths and weaknesses were and set standards for what we expected of one another. We got to know each other and each others roles in the team and come to a consensus about what we will achieve an how, so everyone was clear and comfortable with the project.

The storming stage was the initial group task that we completed where we saw how we all worked and adjusted our own behaviours to suit the team. By this I mean recognizing who contributed where and who didn’t and what needed to be done to deal with this. Perhaps some people were a bit annoyed or confused at this stage. I personally was a bit worried about the Wiki because I was trying to set it up and utilize it and other people were not using it. However, we then established that the Wiki would be where we preset our final product instead of using it as a collaborative communication tool, which I was fine with. At this stage my role changed slightly as I was solely in charge of the final document in the form of the Wiki,

We then got more comfortable with the way our team functioned and with the modes of communication we decided to use, we were more clear on who is doing what and delegated more, without worrying that work wouldn’t get done. This was the norming stage. However I don’t think we ever really moved on from that stage. Noone in that group, including myself had much interest in the project, for various reasons

The result…

The result was (a) we successfully completed all of the requirements of the group project to a satisfactory level (in my opinion) and (b) it was done smoothly without tears. I think the Wiki looks great (www.greengroup.pbwiki.com), and considering that noone was given the burden of completing a large proportion of the work on their own, I think it is done to an acceptable standard. I feel that this work really is a representation of how our group functioned. This is in contrast to other groups where I have spent hours doing other peoples work and the result was actually my work not group work. We did this one as a team.

What Have I Learned

What did I learnt about myself in this team…

-          I don’t like teamwork, in general

-          I always end up being the person who puts the final project together and edits and makes sure everything is where it’s supposed to be

-          I get excited at the beginning of the project, then I get bored, restless and distracted, and then I focus again at the last minute

-          I think I can get a little bossy and like things to be done my way

-          I am quite detailed and thorough when I work but also need to see the big picture, that is why I am good at editing the final product

-          I do know how to step back, chill, and have done faith in other people, but only when I try really hard to do this

-          In this particular team, I was much more laid back than in previous group work (because its the last assignment in the last semester and I didn’t care so much), but I didn’t redo things if other people didn’t do a good job, and I was happy just letting people do their own thing and doing my bit well but not taking on any extra work. And it seemed to work well, there was no tension, no stress, perhaps we will not get as good a mark as I would like but that doesn’t bother me at all to be quite honest

What did I learnt about others in my team…

-          It wasn’t the person who I expected to be the most hard-working that actually ended up doing a lot of the had work

-          Certain people who are difficult to work with were quite easily managed by giving them small tasks that they were most suited to completing

What did I learn about teamwork in general…

-          Arrogant, bossy or lazy people are all better than stupid people

-          Working with stupid people is inevitable in the real world so you better get used to it

-          Strategies for dealing most effectively with different type of people. Everyone has buttons which can be pushed in the right way and everyone is manageable to a degree and its about doing the best with what you have and not stressing that the team is not perfect.

-          Teamwork is unavoidable and often in the workplace you do not get to choose your team

-          I also learnt how to do things concisely, efficiently, quickly and to the point, as noone in my group was very interested in spending a lot of time in the assignment and we all wanted to get it over and done with but still do it to a reasonable standard. So we had quick snappy group meetings and manageable dealines.

Strategies for the Future

Strategies for the team…

• Making things clear from the beginning, which involves:
  • Setting clear objectives, that everyone brainstorms together and agrees on
  • Setting clear rules for what behaviours are and are not acceptable
  • Identifying roles and responsibilities for each team member so they know what is expected and agree to it and take ownership of their role
  • Setting out procedures for how to deal with bad situations
  • Creating a document which can be referred back to so people can be reminded of what they agreed to and will feel

• There also needs to be a good mix of personalities within the team, with team members having varied team roles. It is no good having a whole group of logical thinkers who are good at attention to detail. But it is also bad to have no such person on the team. Whoever selects the team should have a fair understanding of the personalities they are about to put together.

Strategies for myself  

Most of the strategies I have identified in order for my to function well in a team have been based on all of my team experiences throughout university. They are as follows:

• Not being too bossy and overbearing and wanting things done my way
• Being more understanding and open to not only other people suggestion and ideas but to other learning styles, other methods of working, other attitudes towards grades and other personalities
• Relaxing a little bit and being more positive – as I am quite negative when it comes to group work
• Instead of getting mad at people who produce work which is not up to my standard and then redoing it for them and being bitter because I have had to do so much work, I can motivate them and point them in the right direction so that they can do it themselves.
• Do my part well, be available, communicate and make sure people don’t have a problem with me because then I have earned more respect and am able to motivate people to work harder

Overall, I think that normally this type of group situation, where I am forced to work with people who I do not like on such a lengthy project would have driven me insane. However, the fact that this is last semester and I was not so worried or interested in perfection and just happier to cruise along and trust other people a little bit more, I actually learnt some useful strategies for future team work. I was in a group I didn’t like, who I didn’t think could produce quality work, and I wasn’t in the mood to take charge and do the work myself. And the world didn’t come to an end. We did it, together and we did it well. Good work guys.