Reflection on own teamwork and communication throughout the semester

At the commencement of the second semester, I was hoping to learn a lot of new things due to all the interesting modules that were allocated to us. The collaboration of CG1102 and CG1413 particularly interested me as this was the first time it was being implemented. We started with learning how to interact effectively in inter-cultural groups in CG1413 while the building of programming concepts went parallel in CG1102. We were eventually teamed up differently for the two big projects that were to be taken up this semester and it was made sure that each team had people of diverse cultures.

                                                             They said they can do it!

For our CG1413 project, we took lack of awareness of diet having an impact on global temperature as the problem to be solved. Kai Ren proposed this topic and was chosen as our team leader as he had all the knowledge on this topic. The submission of proposal fell amidst the Lunar New Year festival when three of my group mates were unavailable. We needed to conduct meetings to discuss the structure of our project. It was a tough call for me and Kai Ren. We could not contact the others. Teamwork requires empathy so without complaining, Kai Ren and I met to let the work go on. Later when everyone returned, they resumed their respective jobs and showed high level of commitment till the end. Most of our communication was via e-mail and Skype. We decided on designing posters, constructing displays, conducting questionnaires and interview, sending blast emails, asking permission from the concerned authorities and conducting a food exhibit. I was in charge of designing posters and food stall in particular and contributed to the displays and questionnaires with other team members. However, the food stall could not be conducted due to limited time and budget. We uploaded our plan in the wiki and the Gantt chart helped to keep us on track. Due to the effective task allocation among the members, everything went smoothly and our target was accomplished without any major conflict.

                           A team works like this, they need to communicate to not let it fall!

My CG1102 project required us to grab concepts taught in the lectures and implement them in our weekly labs. The main aim was to design an Inventory control and Monitoring System. Our team leader, Jei Sern was considerate and focussed. He was smart enough to have known the strengths and weaknesses of the three of us and divided the tasks accordingly. Throughout this project, there were certain conflicting instances. Jei Sern did not like the idea of Long changing the functionality design but they resolved it through effective communication. Jei Sern would always set an internal deadline. Due to my workload from Hall activities and the CG1413 project going parallel, I missed the deadline twice and felt that he was agitated at my irresponsibility towards work. I realized this and talked to him about it. I assured him that though I missed the internal deadline, I would never let the whole team suffer by missing the actual deadline. I think this conflict was a consequence of different working styles. We used to meet up to discuss the labs every week and also video tapped two of our meetings. Later Jei Sern came up with the idea of communicating over emails and hand phones to discuss any problem regarding solving our parts.

I gave two presentations in this semester. Oral Presentation 1 was to introduce our CICMS design to the tutor. My team received praises for our visual effects and Ms Brenda liked my presentation style. The second one was with 'Friends of Green', our group name for CG1413 project. I think I could have done a better job if I had not blanked out while presenting.

Working in teams was a whole new experience for me this semester. Three of my core modules namely, CG1102, CG1413 and CG1108 involved teamwork. I learnt how to conduct a formal meeting, how to work in teams and how to communicate effectively to resolve conflicts. I am grateful to Ms Brenda and all my teammates for their contribution and support. I hope to implement the skills and values acquired from this module in my life ahead.