It's time to reflect!

The Group Work

• What have I contributed to the group project?

First of all, I have been updating the agenda of all our meetings as well as recording down the homework for each of our team member. Besides that, I was also in charge of researching about a world without oil. I felt that the National Geographic scenario planning videos helped me alot. It was particularly difficult for me to imagine living in a world without oil as from my research, I found out that everything we use everyday relies heavily on oil. Whether we know it or not, our lives are fueled by oil. I found out about different renewable resources that we can use, sustainable agriculture, or cutting down our dependency on oil right now so that we can soften the impact of a post-peak oil world. 

Also, I recommended a few of the outcomes that we could do. After several discussions with my team members, we have decided to present our findings through a mockumentary. An advantage of a mockumentary is that we can keep the audience entertained without compromising any of the relevant information that we want to convey through our video. Moreover, I have also helped my team members create a Gantt Chart which helped us in organising and delegating our work as well as making sure that our project would be completed in time before the deadline. 

• What would I do differently next time?  Why?

I would definitely make sure that we, as a group do not over plan. Over planning wastes time and might kill our ideas for the mockumentary as well. We fumbled too much on how we should present our information as well as the information that we are including in the mockumentary. This process was too lengthy and unnecessary so I would make sure that this does not happen again in our real Group Project. Also, in dealing with passive group members, I should be more engaging and inclusive at every part of our discussions. As a group, I feel that we should not leave anyone out and we must ensure that everyone clearly understands everything before moving on.

• What have I learnt about working together?

I have learnt that in a team, there is no 'I'. We must always listen to what others have to say and at the same time, cannot be shy or hesitant to pour in any ideas/ recommendations for the benefit of our group. I have also learnt that we must be frank to voice out any problems we see in the project or any problems that we are facing. By voicing it out, our team members might actually have the ability to help us. Effective communication is what keeps a team going. And without communication, there is no team.

• What has been good/challenging about working as part of a group?

Working in a group has its advantages. We can effectively share the workload and discuss our ideas together before presenting it. For example, in our group, our brainstorming sessions made me realise the different ways/ perspective that we can use to interpret a situation. It gave me new insights to how different things can be viewed in different ways. Working in a group also hones up our teamwork and leadership skills, which is not possible in our individual project. We learn how to become better leaders and team members.

However, working in a team is also challenging in the way that we must ensure that everyone understands and reaches the same ground before proceeding. This is quite difficult because everyone has their own views. But of course, we must learn to persuade others as well as be willing to compromise to create a win-win situation for our team. 

What have I learnt doing the project?

• What have I learnt about;

• deciding on and planning a project?

Deciding a project is crucial as we must ensure that each of the team member is passionate about the project in order to make 'our project' work. Planning is also essential as well because before anything can be done, we must all sit down and plan our project. Without planning, everything will go haywire and they might be a big possibility that nothing can be done. Planning helps us define our goals, stay on track, and lists down everything that needs to be done in a particular timeframe. Planning is the skeleton of our project.

• planning and producing research?

Planning research is perhaps one of the most challenging part of being in a team. This is because while researching, we must ensure that no repetitive data are researched because it wastes alot of time. And sometimes, we might not know that we are researching on the same things. With GoogleDocs, this is no longer a problem because we can clearly see what each of us are doing and prevents researching about the same things. I easily get off track while researching, given the amount of information that are available through the internet. I have leant that I must shortlist and be selective of the sites that I want to obtain information from. This by to done by making sure that the site/ information provided is reliable and not biased in any way.

• reading and presenting my ideas?

Well, I feel that the most important part to this element is to present logical and relevant ideas to our team members with justification. The other members might not be familiar over what we have researched about so clear explanations really helps to clear up confusions and misconceptions.

• time management?

Everyone is different so how we spend our time is also different. Team time management is very different from an individual's time management. To me, time management is detrimental to working in a team because if one in the team does not manage time properly, then the progress of the whole team would be disrupted.

• What would you do differently to develop these skills?

I would be more thorough in my research. Sometimes I tend to go off-track while researching so I would definitely make sure that I do not waste time doing unnecessary research.

• How did I approach my individual contribution?

I did all the work allocated to me and I also contributed my views as much as possible. I also accepted feedbacks and criticisms about my weaknesses and worked hard to improve them.

• What are the most valuable points I have learnt?  Why?

I have learnt that being in a team, I must be voluntarily active. Besides contributing ideas, I must also listen to others for they might have better suggestions and ideas. I have learnt that communication is very important when working in a team. Time management is also crucial because the rhythm of the team will be disrupted even if one member fails to keep up with deadlines.