“To communicate is to speak”. “Team work is about working together as a team”. These were my shallow concepts of communication and teamwork. After going through twelve weeks of this module, my perceptions were utterly changed. I learned how much more there was to communication and teamwork.
CG1413 Project
This was my favourite project of the semester. However, the entire process from day one was not smooth sailing. We had problems coming up and agreeing on a topic. Each one of us was in favour of a different topic. So this instance made me realize the difficulty in working in teams. A team has to have a common goal and has to work for consensus. We finally did agree on a topic.
Furthermore, over the course of the project, I had the tendency (sub-conscious) to not pay full attention to my members’ ideas or opinions when I felt strongly about mine. I was in fact violating one of the principles of communications and teamwork- Paying attention to the message people have for us and being receptive to new ideas and opinions.
CG1102 Project
Although, this was not a favourite, I learned quite a lot about myself through this project. I understood my roles as a team member. There was initially a communication barrier between me and Tuan Vu but I remained tolerant and respected the individual differences. During meetings, I realized my weakness was my contribution, in terms of content. As a member, I had to provide inputs. Also, there were disagreements on certain tasks and ideas. So this is where constructive criticism and use of EQ came into play. I had to explain to my members (occasionally) why their approach may not be viable and at the same time refrain from disrespecting or dismissing their ideas.
What I have learned
(1) Non-verbal communication is as important. This was amplified during the two Oral presentations (OP). Eye-contact, gestures and body language have a considerable impact on our messages for others.
(2) OP :
Strengths: Eye contact, good pronunciation & time management
Weaknesses: Confidence and energy
(3) As a team member :
Strengths: Encourage and prod fellow members, sensitive and tactful, Respectful of opinions
Weaknesses: Lack of inputs, not placing trust on members
(4) The 7Cs - My first two posts were not concise but I gradually improved.
(5) Dishing out criticism(constructive) is tough but neccessary. Without criticism, it is hard to make progress.
To conclude, I hope to hone my strengths and minimize my flaws that I identified during the course of the module and apply it during my stay in NUS and if possible in the working world.
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I would like to Thank Ms Goh and and all my fellow classmates for a pleasurable and fruitful 13 weeks. I wish all of you the very best in the semesters ahead.
Time to close the CG1413 story book..
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
Close The Story Book
Posted by Ganesh at 8:19 AM
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8 comments:
Dear Ganesh,
I like the way you paragraph your post. It is neat and concise (definitely a great improvement from the first post). I also noticed the significant improvement for your Oral presentation skills. I was impressed that you have taken a huge step in trying to make your presentation more interesting.
As humans, we tend to be more protective of ourselves, similar to our ideas and thoughts too. Through this module, we realized that this behavior is not always desirable. Thus, willingness to listen plays an important role in solving the problem.
No one likes to be criticized. That is why giving constructive criticism is really a hard thing to do. That the reason for us to practice giving constructive criticisms in the blogs first. Then, after we are similar with the ‘art’ to giving suggestion, we would be able to do it face to face.
Here is a suggestion for you to improve further. Be more proactive; take the initiative to see what you are doing for the project. Instead of waiting for things to happen, make it happen. I am not saying that you are not interested in the projects. It is just that you need to engage more with your teammates. But I could already see that you are trying to improve on this part. Keep it up and I believe that you will be a better team player.
Good Luck to your Finals!!!
Regards,
Kevin Lin
Hi Ganesh,
As your group mate for the CG1413 project, I had the opportunity to work with you over the past 2 months. I have found you to be a highly motivated and dedicated individual, always willing to lend a voice to the team. Your strengths in being critical and providing regular constructive feedback were definitely an asset to the team. Together with you and Xiangyu, I believed we outdid ourselves and performed beyond expectations!
As one of the better speakers in our class, I felt that your ability to maintain composure and poise was commendable. However, you could have done better by stepping out of your comfort zone, instead of going on the safer route. Doing so will make your presentation more exciting and impressionable.
Nonetheless, I did have similar sentiments as you. Being opinionated might have its flaws too. Sometimes, you were overly persistent in your ideas which might have inadvertently invoked negative reactions from the others. CG1413 had taught us to be conscious of how the others feel. What you could have done instead was to gather opinions from us while being sensitive and tactful at the same time.
And like Kevin, I liked the way you have presented your blog post - Concise and systematic, with neat headings. You might not have a clear set of criteria in your evaluation, but the level of critical thinking you have exhibited made up for that absence.
Finally, I absolutely believe that you have the potential to perform better individually, and as a team player.
It has been a pleasure working with you! Hope to work with you again in the near future =)
Regards,
Justin
You have been a great writer.
I loved your storybook, which had became my once-a-week must-read readings.
I could see that you have learnt a lot while writing this book, evident from the way you started writing it to the way you ended it. Its a good ending, but i believe you have the potential to be even better.
Looking at what you had learnt, i realised that you have acquired a high level of knowledge about yourself, your strenghts and flaws. But i believe you could, go deeper and try to seek resolve for all this flaws instead of listing them.
Well, good luck in your examinations dude!
Hi Ganesh,
Thank you for being my group mate for the CG1102 project. It was good to have you in the team. You brought great ideas to the team and was really a good writer for reflections. :)
Perhaps in the future, you could be more outspoken (I see that you are hesitant in giving your opinions sometimes too, like myself) and try to volunteer to do work.
Also, I think we need to work better in our communication. Like what Tuan Vu wrote on my blog, sometimes, we assumed that the part was already done by the other members, and we did not care about it until the last minute.
Hope that we could all improve on our mistakes and weaknesses. Good luck for your examinations and I hope to work with you again in the future!
Hi Ganesh,
It is interesting to see how your blog posts have changed through the semester. This is especially so with the formatting. With the increase in your usage of headers and points, it's much clearer what each section corresponds to. This shows that you have taken to heart what has been taught and paying attention to everyone's criticism to constantly improve yourself. Good job on that! =)
However, I would like to remind you that when using points, you should maintain the format of choice, which is something Ms. Goh has been reminding my team several times already. For example, in "What I have learned", your second and third points have mini-headers, which is different from the rest. This is a small point which is easily forgotten by many, including myself. (At least when we write, not when we review others =X )
Overall, the huge differences between your first post back at the start of the semester and the last post shows how much you have improved and changed according to what you have learnt.
Congratulations and good luck for the finals!
Rayner
Hi Ganesh,
I enjoyed reading your posts. Your posts clearly show your gradual progress over these 13 weeks. Starting from post1, which was not very clear and concise to post6 which is so beautifully written and structured. You have made significant improvements with regard to your writing skills.
You have identified your strengths and weaknesses in the post which is desirable as you know the weak points need to work upon. Since you know your strengths, it is important that you make proper use of them to your advantage.
During the presentation, you were clear and managed to convey your message effectively. You also showed good knowledge of the content and made an effort to use non-verbal cues properly. However, there was lack of enthusiasm which failed to grab the interest of the audience. So, you should try to be more confident.
After watching your meeting videos,
I think that you should be more open to new ideas. You should also share your ideas with your team rather than being a silent listener. It is normal to have conflicts in a team as everyone is different. In such situations, adopting a calm attitude and resolving the issue peacefully is necessary. You should also try to take initiative to do work. Being a team leader in future could be a good way to explore your skills.
This semester I didn’t get a chance to work with you. However, I would like to work with you in future. I think that you have the potential to do really well and you should continue to work upon your weak points.
Good luck for exams!!
Thanks
Best Regards,
Nitika
Kevin: Thanks for the suggestion. I agree I have to be a little more proactive. Instead of waiting for the leader/members to initate discussions, I can make that first move.
Justin: Yes being opinionated can be a bad thing but I do not really mean to be like that. It is just that sometimes when I feel quite certain about my opinion, I tend not to pay close attention to other opinions. I do not disrespect them however. I guess I have to work on it. Thank you for the suggestion.
Byron: Yes, I feel I have improved too through the suggestions and criticisms from all of you. Thank you.
Jing Mei: Yes, I was hesitant too as I lacked the confidence. You and Tuan Vu are excellent programmers so sometimes I felt my inputs were not going to be of use. I guess I have to work on that as well. Thanks and it was nice working with you.
Rayner: I agree, I need to observe some form of consistency in the way I paragraph my posts and also the symbols I use. Thanks for pointing it out.
Nitika: Yes, I should perhaps take up the role of a leader in the future and expand my range of skills. Learn and understand the differences between a member and a leader. Thanks for the suggestion.
Once again, Thank You to all for the comments and suggestions. It has been a pleasure knowing you all!
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