Reflection on teamwork and communication process

Effective team work and communication were the prime focus of this CG1413 module. I would like to take this blog as an opportunity to share how I had contributed to communication and team work over the course of this module.

Team Work:

My humble opinion is that team work is not just about volunteering to do the lion’s share of the project. It has more to do with completing the tasks assigned to you in the best possible manner. That is what I believe I had done for the CELC project and the CG1102 project. I completed the statistics part of my groups CELC project and the CG1102 project to the best of my abilities.

During CELC project and class discussions I tried my best to be as receptive as possible to other’s comments and when I saw a flaw in one of their points I tried to put it across to them in the nicest possible manner. I believe this was a sign of effective team work as I had tried to help them without offending them.

During the CELC project presentation when one of our points was deemed unsatisfactory we tried together as a team to help explain to the panels that there was nothing wrong with the point. In my opinion that was probably the biggest stage where our group’s team-work really showed.

Communication:

Of all the knowledge and skills that I have learned thus far in my short stint at NUS I believe that this would probably be the one that would stand out for me. I have learned through this module the various modes of communication and also how to use effective communication to solve interpersonal conflicts. (Although such conflicts didn’t rise I believe I am more prepared to handle them now)

I have learned that effective communication involves various aspects such as body language, tone and hand gestures, and not just the traditional use of words and language to communicate. Thus when I was in my group meeting (CG1102 and CG1413) I tried to smile more often, maintain eye contact whenever I was communicating with someone and also be punctual for all the team meetings. Although these are all simple actions which may not seem like communication, I have to say that the results are instantaneous and heart-warming.

One more important aspect of communication that I have grown to appreciate through this module is that communication has to be done frequently and honestly. That is probably the easiest way to develop mutual trust and bonding. Thus when we were in a group meeting (for CG1102 and CG1413) or even other discussions I tried to consciously carry this out.

The presentations for CG1102 and CG1413 were great opportunities for me to communicate to a large audience. I believe I have improved upon this part of communication through these two presentations.

Apart from that during class when Ms Brenda asks question I tried to communicate more often to ease the process of learning. My belief is that if I contribute something (regardless of value) then it can only serve to encourage others to follow soot as well. As a result we can have a more interactive class and learning won’t be as monotonous any more.

Conclusion

Communication seems like the catalyst that would encourage teamwork. I am glad that I was able to improve upon these two valuable traits through this module.

Personal Reflection on CELC Project Presentation.

I am glad to take this opportunity to do a personal reflection upon my part of the CELC problem solving project presentation.

Positives:

Improvements made - It was heartwarming to see that I was a lot more comfortable presenting this time around and I had maintained positive eye contact throughout my presentation.

Q&A-I was able handle some of the questions that were thrown at us by the (unforgiving) panel. Knowing my own personality, I was pretty surprised that I answered those questions because I am usually not that kind of person. This was probably down to the fact that we had done extensive research on the project topic.


Negatives :

Q&A-On the other hand, I also felt that I had hastily answered some of the questions. If I had thought through these questions then I would have answered them in a more resounding manner. Well nevertheless it was a learning experience for me.

Taking Over-I should have summarized what my previous presenters had covered before embarking upon my own presentation. If I had done that then there would have been a better flow to our presentation on the whole.

Tone-At times, when harsh criticisms were thrown at our solutions and our problem statement, I realized (from the video) that I had an inappropriate (angry) tone. I am still mystified with myself, as to why I got so upset. It could be because I didn’t expect my classmates to go so harsh on us or maybe I was just stubborn that there was nothing wrong with our presentation.
Looking back now, I am glad that my classmates went harsh on us as it has enabled me to see the flaws in our project as well as improve upon my answering tone when things get rather bleak.

Body Language-My body language was in appropriate at times during the Q&A session. Actions like folding my arms, leaning against the wall and putting my hands inside my pockets, made me absolutely livid with myself (while watching the video of my presentation). Although on a saving grace I can claim that it was an awfully long Q& A session, I still feel that it is not right to do those things (especially in a group presentation, considering that my friends’ marks are at stake as well)
Conclusion:

After the reflection somehow it seems like I had a lot of flaws in my presentation rather than strengths. I suppose the reflection had served its purpose in bringing out the true nature of my presentation. I hope to improve upon these flaws for my future presentations.

My group had its first CG1413 programming meeting last Friday (120210).


What went well during the meeting?

Since my group had two C++ programmers with a commendable knowledge on programming, things went really smooth as we didn’t have to get stuck on any coding problems. As a result more time was available for planning and enhancing our design. Ideas flowed and we were able to complete the task swiftly. Personally it gave me an insight on how more experienced programmers think and I was able to pick up a few tips and tricks from them.

What went bad during the meeting?

Having two C++ programmers in our group seemed like a double edged sword to me. Though it helped speed up things, I felt that they were a little too quick for me. They always seemed two steps ahead of me in the way the think about the code and planning for it. As a result I wasn’t able to contribute much in terms of the program.

Initially for this meeting we were unable to find a suitable venue but with the help of one of our Teaching Assistants (Mr. Achudhan) we were able to find and book a proper meeting room.


My Role during the meeting:

I was tasked to prepare the agenda and take down minutes during the meeting.

Agenda:
The agenda was pretty easy to make as we had already discussed informally on what are the possible things that we need to address during the meeting pertaining to the project. Finding a template for the agenda was a problem at first but after scouring the internet for more than an hour I was able to find one.

Minutes:
In order not to forget what we had discussed, I took down the minutes as and when the points came across. When I took a look at the minutes the following day I was pretty surprised that we had actually discussed on so many points and some of them were even obscure to me. At that instant I knew how important minutes were in a meeting.

Conflict..

“Change means movement. Movement means friction. Only in the frictionless vacuum of a nonexistent abstract world can movement or change occur without that abrasive friction of conflict.” was a comment made by Shaun Alinsky, an American writer and community organizer. It was an amazing comment, regarding conflict, where he explains the inevitability of conflict in this world. Yes! Be it big or small everybody has to go through the process of conflict. How one reacts to a conflict is often determined by one’s innate personality and level of maturity.

One such personal conflict that I went through at a young age was as follows:

It was primary 6 and it was my first year in Singapore. I was still trying to get into terms with the new culture and lifestyle and blend in. It was like any other afternoon in primary school where we were queuing up to go back to class after lunch. On the way to our classroom I wanted to drink water and so I went over to the water cooler. As I was drinking from the water cooler I felt someone pushing me away. When I turned around to look I saw this Malay boy from my class called Farhan. I was never fond of Farhan as I always felt that he was some sort of school bully because of the way he looks and behaves in class. It was only natural that I got angry because of my perception of him and immediately shoved him away. He got pissed off and a clash of hands soon evoked. Before anything could get serious our classmates had to step in and pull us away.

(Please feel free to share your insights on this conflict scenario. Probably a week later i'll comment on what happened after wards in the scenario above)

Culture

Culture - Some say that it is the lens through which we view the world around us, while others deem it to be the behavior, beliefs and characteristics of a particular social, ethnic, or age group. There are so many definitions for Culture that Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn, two American anthropologists, compiled about 164 definitions of "culture" in their book” Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions”.

With so many cultures around the world it is common to see many practices by certain cultures being misinterpreted by others. I would like quote an example where a particular culture has been misunderstood.(I do not mean to offend anyone with this example)

Example:

It is a common sight to see Indian workers holding hands when they walk along Little India* or when simply standing together with fellow workers. This action has often been deemed by many as an exhibition of homosexual behavior. As I am an Indian myself , I have been asked countless number of times by my peers about this phenomena and frankly I was as clueless as them until my Secondary School history teacher explained this action to us. These workers are from villages and sub urban areas of India and to them once someone is their friend they treat them as their brother. They don’t feel that it is wrong to hold a brother’s hand and instead they see it as an expression of affection and friendship. They are unfazed by the homosexual taunts that they frequently receive, as to them as long as they are not homosexuals at heart there is nothing wrong with holding hands. Personally I find their argument valid. If we were to categorize physical contact between people of the same gender as homosexual behavior then hugging one another should also be deemed homosexual behavior. It is a common sight around Europe, to see men hugging each other and it would certainly be absurd and ludicrous to call them homosexuals. (While saying that I would definitely not want to hold another guys hand while walking)

I believe that from this example we can draw two very important lessons. Firstly, before we judge any culture it is very important to familiarize ourselves with the culture and judge objectively. Secondly, the other subtle lesson is that we shouldn’t always generalize that every one from a certain culture would practice all the behaviors ,beliefs and characteristics attributed to that culture(just like how my friends expected me to know about the holding hands incident) because there is always that element of individual choice and preference.

-The End-

*Little India is a predominantly Indian populated area in Singapore, where many Indian, Bangladesh and Pakistan construction workers can be found.

Communication and team work: what are they to me?

Communication

I believe that in this 21^st century in order to be successful, one must be able to communicate well. Communication doesn’t just involve the ability to speak to a targeted audience. As a matter of fact, you can be born mute and still be able to communicate well. So what is communication exactly? After looking through the tons of definitions, from the reading materials, it seems that communication is a process which involves transfer of information. The several models of communication which we learned are very enriching but with the advancements in technology we may have to rethink these models. The video link below is a simple testament of that.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLEEiQZOYDs&feature=related

Team work

Team work is a quality that can be seen in almost any industry (sports, military, politics etc) and it is a quality that works well in tandem with communication. One of the key components for team work to thrive is to have good leadership. A good leader is one who is dedicated, competent, inspirational and most importantly has good command and control. Command and control is only possible if one is able to communicate well. Hence a good leader has to be able to communicate well. Apart from that if you have team members who are able to communicate and socialize well it would help build team spirit and productivity. So it’s not really surprising that employers and institutions nowadays are willing to pay vast amounts of money to retain employees who can converse well and work as a team.