My strengths in working with others are my abilities to motivate team members, establish an effective and open dialogue with them, and not taking advantage or trying to get a ‘free ride’ off others work. I always appreciated my team’s feedback on my ability to be open and upfront with them, as I consider it an imperative part of successful group work.

I motivated group members by setting concrete timelines and objectives at every meeting, and oftentimes after class. In my midterm evaluation, a team member wrote “When working towards strict deadlines, Eric has done a very good job of voicing to the group that we all need to set a certain goal for ourselves that we want to have done by either the next class or next meeting”. When we set goals and timelines, we felt responsible to each other, and I tried to always hold my teammates accountable and asked that they do the same for me.

From day one I established an open dialogue with my group, and made it clear that my feelings weren’t easily hurt and that I would always prefer a harsh but honest assessment over a kind, inaccurate one. I think this set the tone for our group; two of our members weren’t very comfortable voicing concerns at an open table, and when I talked to them about it one on one, I believe I convinced them to become comfortable with it for the benefit of the group. By the end of term they would speak right up when they disagreed or saw something headed in a direction they didn’t like.

My midterm peer reviews said, “Eric is vocal and a good communicator”, “Eric is a great communicator”, and “I think you do a good job at the inquiry aspect within our group. You are always questioning people to get to the bottom of their thinking and reasoning no matter what the topic is…when someone says something you don’t automatically discount it or immediately accept it, which I believe helps us…”

I am not afraid of hard work, long hours or doing distasteful jobs. I have mentioned that I did the majority of writing and all editing in this group project. It is something that comes easily and naturally to me, but not to my fellow group members. It was something I was happy to take upon myself to help the group, and I think I did an excellent job at it.

Our team worked best when we would ‘divide and conquer’ research or other work, then spent the next group meeting editing each others’ work together until it conformed to all of our individual ideals. When we split tasks, I NEVER went first, I always allowed my group to take their preferred topics and often ended up with the ‘worst’ or dullest topic. This was ok with me for two reasons, because no individual ever took advantage of it, and because I knew that I was capable of near any task, so why complain just because it was a bit more difficult? I ended up learning a lot personally by doing this. I don’t believe my team ever felt I took advantage of their hard work, and I don’t feel that they ever took advantage of mine.

By the end of class, I felt I had a very good understanding of each of my team members. We spent so many hours together, struggled through many dark moments of near-panic, shared victories and eventually triumphed over the group project. I am genuinely friends with each one of them, whereas ten weeks ago we were strangers at a table struggling to find three things we all had in common (we all have iPhones, we all love seafood, and we all have siblings). I could empathize with every one of my group members in some integral area of their life, and this was a big step for me, as I usually struggle to see others’ points of view.

One of the main points of my LDP was being a ‘team player’, that is, putting the team’s needs ahead of my own and being willing to model the way when it was needed. In peer reviews, teammates said “He is a team player and willing to take on any challenge”, “When facing difficulties regarding our needs statement, Eric has always been the one to take it on himself to edit and re-craft our statement to make it better”, “Eric displays great initiative and leadership…he is never one to complain and he always brings a positive attitude to group meetings.”

It felt good to have my teammates recognize my efforts, as modeling the way is what I focused on most this term, and what is hardest for me.