This week, we have been working on our second proposal draft. The feedback we got on the first one was eye-opening. Our organization was terrible and we had a lot of extra words and sentences that we didn’t need. We cut out everything we could find that was not important and elaborated on our stronger points. As we worked, I tried to encourage others to participate and to keep our group’s ideas related to the overall theme of our project. After all of these weeks working together, we have become a much more efficient and effective team.
Posts Tagged ‘ldp
16
Nov
Second Proposal Draft
09
Nov
Proposal and Prototype
Over the weekend, our team put together the first draft of our proposal. This was a very challenging process because we had to figure out a way to all work together to put our ideas into one concrete document. We had a long discussion to narrow down our ideas and figure out the details. It was very productive, and going into the week, we had a good idea of what we were trying to accomplish. My role in writing the proposal was to write the conclusion and to edit everyone else’s work together to make it a single, flowing document. My writing skills as an English major were put to the test. I had never attempted a task like that, and I learned a lot from it. I experienced some very challenging situations throughout the editing process. I was constantly worrying that I would offend my team members by correcting them or by making changes that they did not approve of. I did my best, though, and it was a valuable experience.
We had our team member evaluations, as well. I found it very challenging to pass judgment on the other members of my team. I do not like the responsibility of telling people what they are not good at. That is something I hope to change by learning how to constructively criticize without offending people. I was pleasantly surprised by the feedback I got from my group. For the most part, they seem to appreciate my contributions. However, I need to work on encouraging other members to participate more.
On Wednesday, we set up a prototype news room. Watching how people spent their time there was far more valuable than we anticipated. One of the participants was from France, and he watched some French news. We had not considered the fact that the business school has a large number of international students. They may want to see news from their home countries in their own languages. American students may also want to see foreign news because it is presented differently in each country and it helps to create a balanced view on different topics. At first, we had envisioned this room as a quiet place, but as the participants saw stories that interested them, they discussed them. These discussions led to the participants sharing related stories with each other and following up what they heard on other internet sites. The observations we made in the prototype will help us to improve and shape our project.
02
Nov
Week 5 Blog Post
This week, we had a presentation. I do not like presenting and I usually get really nervous. This time, I made sure that I really knew the material and I made up a note card that had just the right information on it so I could look down and remember what I needed to say next if I forgot. That helped me feel more comfortable and when it came time to actually present, I did I lot better than I have in past presentations. I stepped out of my comfort zone and got better at something that I usually dread doing.
Our group also got to see where we were in relation to all the other teams. We have been frustrated lately because we have been confused about defining our problem but it was good to see that we were not the only group in that same situation. We also got to see how other groups have overcome similar problems in their processes. We will use what we learned from the presentations to improve our project.
Throughout the weeks, my role on this team has changed. I have become more and more active. I often find myself trying to facilitate the ideas of others and make sure that we all stay on the same page. As a group, we tend to jump from one topic to the next very frequently and I have found myself trying to bring people back to the question at hand. When we divided up the proposal assignment, we decided that I would be the one to edit it and try and make it flow and make sure that it all fits together. In a sense, that is what I have been doing when we meet as well. We come up with ideas and I try to bring them together with the need statement. Everyone’s role changes a little bit each time we work together, but this is a role I have taken on a few different times now.
26
Oct
Week 4 Blog Post
On Wednesday, I volunteered to be one of the presenters for our group on Monday. Normally, this is not something I would volunteer for. I hate speaking in front of an audience. However, I decided that it would be good for me to face my fears and try to become a more effective speaker.
I also met with a tutor about the memo assignment. My biggest mistake was that I did not define the need well enough. When someone reads a memo, they will ignore even the best solutions if they do not feel that there is a significant need for them. I need to make the problem clear and compelling so that I can persuade my audience to see its importance.
Our group decided that the problem that we want to address in our project is that students in the LCB seem to be generally unaware of current events. We believe that students that pay attention to the world around them have a better chance of being successful because they have the ability to connect what they learn in class with what they see in the real world. As our group begins to come up with more clear solutions to our problem, sometimes we lose sight of that. Sometimes we get so excited about the solutions we are coming up with that we forget what is most important. We would like to use some kind of edgy, innovative technology as a solution, but it may be that something low-tech would be more effective. When we get too focused on the technology, I try and remind everyone to make sure that we do not lose our sense of direction and forget about the problem itself.
12
Oct
Week 2 Blog Post
This week, I found the memo writing assignment to be very interesting. It is very likely that this is a skill I will need to have when I begin my career. I learned how to communicate effectively and appropriately depending on the audience. I also learned how to add skim value.
I also learned about the design process. Before this class, I thought that designing just meant making a product aesthetically pleasing. In reality, it is shaping a product or service to fit the needs and desires of the customer. Through innovations and feedback, one can shape any product or service to make it better and more desirable.
Our group met for the first time to make our team agreement. The main goal that our group has is to get a high grade. It will be a great challenge and possibly a source of strain on the team. However, it will drive us to excellence. Since my Leadership Development Plan involves learning to inspire a shared vision, I will work on keeping the team dedicated and focused on this goal.
Our team agreement also includes rotating roles throughout the term. This will help us be a more effective team because we will all have a sense of empathy toward the people in the other roles. We will all have an understanding of what the other team members are trying to accomplish and that will help us function better. When I played football in high school, our coaches had us switch positions sometimes. It gave me an appreciation for the hard work that the other players put in and also gave me a better understanding of how I could improve the process when playing my normal position. I look forward to seeing what we can accomplish.