Our group have come a long way ever since we decided to investigate the decline on the vibrancy of hawker food in Singapore.
In contrast to the numerous theoretical lectures in which communication was one sided (lecturer to students), the numerous small group meeting requires all of us to make full use of interpersonal communication skills learnt during class. I thank Dr Radihka for patiently answering all of our questions regarding the group proposal and my proposal group for making this module such an enjoyable one for me.
In team Apollo, although all of us were from the same faculty (science) but we were unable to find a common timeslot to hold a meeting. However, but we took every opportunity during lesson time to constantly give updates and to clarify any doubts that we had on the part that we were working on. Such two way communications allowed each of us to be clear on the objective of the proposal so that we can work together to accomplish each stage of the proposal in a timely manner.
During the course of writing the proposal, it was inevitable that all of us, at some point in time, were too busy to complete the assigned part of the proposal on time. However, because we constantly give each other updates about our assignment deadline and the dates of our CAs tests, we were able to avoid misunderstanding thus preventing conflicts within the group. I think that this is one reason why it was important to have an appointed group leader within the team. This is so that there can be accountability within the team to ensure that each of us is doing our part in the writing the proposal.
Finally, in the process of writing the proposal as a team, each of us contributed in a manner that is to our best of ability. For instance, ynovvne having studied statistics modules, volunteered to do the surveys questions and to interpret the statistical data. Whereas for me, having took SSA 2204 (Nation building in Singapore), understood the cultural importance of street food. As such I volunteered to frame the background understanding for the proposal. By contributing our individual strengths and talents, we were not only able to eliminate and/or compensate for weakness in the team, but also created an environment of trust where we respected each other’s capability.
In conclusion, I believed that our team exhibited positive team dynamics. Not only did each of us contributed to the best of our abilities, but we took every opportunity to prevent misunderstanding from happening by practising good interpersonal communication skill.
I'm curious to know specifically what interpersonal skills you applied in your group assignments to prevent misunderstanding
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ReplyDeleteHi Dinglong,
ReplyDeleteIt was evident that your group displayed positive team dynamics as there was good flow of communication between the three of you and you guys maximized every available time after class to discuss on your team’s project. Moreover, all of you voiced out your CAs or assignment deadlines, which may hinder the progress of this project. This is a good strategy as I find that knowing your teammate’s schedule can help in allocating work and adjusting your expectations. When one knows that a teammate has an important CA to study for, he or she should not put too much pressure and place too high expectation. Placing your expectations too high will only lead to disappointment and may even lead to a conflict.
Having read your group’s proposal and heard your group’s presentation, I felt that your proposal was rather convincing, probably because of the strategy you all adopted when assigning the work. This is a very useful takeaway, which can be applied in future when we step out into the working world, as we will be meeting people from different educational backgrounds. Through teamwork, we are able to learn from one another’s strengths and make us become a more effective communicator.