Personal Reflections

Aidan Colosimo-Petrasso

Personally, while reflecting on the group, everyone was quite kind and thoughtful towards each other, but it took some time to work each other out due to each other's introverted ways. The way tasks were assigned worked quite well, and everything was completed when they were meant to be and to a high degree of standard.

There were some small challenges; for instance, the file structure in teams was a little messy and hectic at times with so many different tabs for different things. Another thing was we are all so kind that we have a little trouble being critical towards each other without feeling bad for doing so. Another way we could improve is that we should have set up something like a master task list early on because personally, I found having something visual with everything that needed doing on it to be extremely helpful.

Overall, the group works very well together and seems to be willing to move the earth to help each other out and help each other learn. The communication between each other was well done, and everyone knew what they needed to get done and also knew that support if needed.

Gesina Sands

Reflecting upon my perception of the group, I would say that it has so far been a positive experience. Everyone in the group has a friendly attitude and were easy to talk to during team meetings. I felt as though everyone was respectful of each other during team chats as well as in meetings, and everyone’s voice was able to be heard. Team members would c heck on each other’s well-being, as well as offering help and guidance.

Elements that presented small challenges were perhaps not having all of the processes and management techniques in place from the get-go to keep to all the deadlines. I think we needed better visualisation of our overall timelines to keep the group on track. We were at times very idealistic about how much we could achieve in certain time frames. I think for our future assessments, extensive use of detailed timelines, checklists, and Kanban boards will eliminate the challenges in this area.

Further areas where we could improve as a team is to divide larger tasks into smaller groups rather than assigning one person to large tasks. This is a way to challenge each other’s work in a constructive way when co-writing a document or an element of the project. This, in turn, helps us to sharpen our skills and improve faster.

Overall, the group is very conscientious and willing to help each other to achieve our collective goals.

Liane Wong

Personally, my overall perception of this group was mostly positive. While it took a little longer for everyone to understand each other’s personalities and habits due to our introversion, I felt that everyone genuinely desired to complete the work to a high degree. Although there were some hiccups regarding deadlines and miscommunication, tasks were then assigned in a proper manner and completed on time. Due to varying skills and talents, the group could have discussed more about individual strengths and weaknesses. Regardless of this, it was great to see mentorship and general offerings of help being asked and given. I believe that group members learn best this way.

The general attitude and mood was positive and uplifting. Even though there were physical limitations, I felt that bonds were created through this groupwork as everyone participated frequently. I was genuinely encouraged by the fact that we had similar struggles in our daily life and that I am not alone in this course.

As a group, I felt that we can improve more by encouraging critical thinking. For example, when Gesina and I worked on an essay together, we challenged each other’s thought processes and debated about topics which helped expand our knowledge. Having a colleague co-write resulted in a better-written essay than if it were to be written solely by one person.

Purdey Eades

As a group, we came together early; we identified each other through interactions on the Canvas and quickly bonded over our shared enthusiasm to learn. Despite a tendency to be introverted and many similarities across the team, we soon discovered we all came from various backgrounds and had a range of strengths to bring to the team. Each team member has been very generous with their strengths and lifted the overall expertise in the group.

Because we bonded so well socially, I think we missed an opportunity to clarify some outcomes early on. A few assumptions were made, which created confusion in the last couple of weeks of this assignment. However, with lots of open communication, we were able to get back on track relatively quickly.

One of the challenging and surprising things was the Microsoft teams. It was hard to keep up with the chat of 5 team members working across four different time zones. Throw in various other work/caring responsibilities, and it was easy to miss a whole day worth of conversation. Conversely, the document collaboration tools worked exceptionally well as we all worked on multiple documents. We did not have one single experience of a lost doc!

I’ve learned that study groups are different from work groups in that people don’t come in with preassigned roles. In a work group, you will generally have representatives from different parts of the organisation that logically take ownership of specific tasks. In the study scenario, that is not the case, and it would be helpful to put more effort into assigning roles at the start.

Samuel Drew

Our group ‘Fully-Developed’ quickly formed, and all members were very motivated to get into assignment 2. The use of Teams was an effective communication and collaboration tool as feedback was easy to give and receive. The was group was cohesive, supportive, and considerate towards each member.

The team’s use of the file/channel structure was quite organic, becoming quite complex, making it difficult to find some files. The same sort of problem was encountered with the use of the chat and discussion channels. When many people were contributing, it got complex and confusing to follow at times.

My surprise came from the working format, with people of different backgrounds, in different geographical locations and different IT strengths in an online environment. This sounded like a recipe for disaster, but we worked efficiently, as we all got along and supported each other.

Working ‘on’ the group is just as important as working ‘in’ the group. Meaning, it is important to get to know each member of the group to build trust and understand everyone’s expectations. This helps to work out how to use each member’s strength for the benefit of the group and be inclusive of each members learning journey.