Many feelings went through my mind when I saw the number of words on our survey report. It was almost the equivalent of a honour thesis report. Indeed, the number of words is not an accurate representation of the quality of a project. However each letter and word represented the amount of hard work and time we had spent on this project. Over the past few weeks, we had been staying up through the nights to rush through a quality report. It did not help that we had to prepare for our continual assessments as well as meeting the deadlines for other projects, in addition to having a member less.
However, working in a pair has its advantages as well. For instance, we did not have to contend with too many ideas. While the lack of ideas may hinder the progress of a project, too many differences in opinion may lead to the wasting of valuable time. The communication lines were also made easier since we only had to correspond with each other rather than accommodating another member’s schedule. Work was distributed down the middle and the constant reviewing of each other’s work ensured a consistent quality throughout. Most importantly, we felt that it was a happy collaboration because both of us were able to bring across our ideas to each other effectively. Finally, embarking on this research project also enabled me to appreciate the organ supply shortage in Singapore better and not to take my health for granted.
Someone once mentioned that teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success. I certainly cannot agree more to this.
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6 comments:
Hi Ho Teck,
It is indeed a tough job for you and qiyuan to complete a thorough survey research project which runs on a very tight schedule. Fortunately, it seems to me that you and qiyuan have made good use of the strong interpersonal relationship between the two of you to overcome all obstacles when doing the research project.
Knowing that the two of you are good friends, I think the advantages of working as a pair together would definitely overwhelm the disadvantages. Naturally, communication between two good friends will be easier and clearer. This, in turn, leads to more efficient and effective task allocations within the team of two.
Working with an old friend indeed makes the collaboration between the two friends much easier. However, one must bear in mind not take this working relationship for granted. If any dispute or conflict during the collaboration is not resolved properly, it would cause a strain in the friendship which is irreversible. Good friends are hard to come by. Do cherish this friendship for life.
Sometimes, fewer members are better than more. On the surface, it would seem that your group is disadvantaged with “one less brain”. (Talk about organ shortage. Haha.) However, not only does the quality of a report counts, the “quality” of group members is equally important as well. Personally, I feel that when a group member does not put in his fair share of effort, other members of a team are often affected emotionally as the amount of workload increases in order to produce a same piece of work. This is at times made worse by excuses made from team member(s) who fail to produce timely and quality work.
For me, I tend to use nonverbal messages to communicate unpleasant messages, as I feel uncomfortable saying it out in words to group members. Since there was no such problem between the two of you, I am sure you will produce a report that is comparable or if not better than a group with three members.
Hi Ho Teck,
I believe in this case the partnership was complemented well; both of you knew each other well before the commencement of the project. As such you could both work well with each other such as sharing ideas and work effectively. While you both may have had to work harder, I'm sure there is also more to be learnt from the project, as you would have had to cover more areas of the project with less one person in the group.
Mei Ling
Hi Ho Teck,
Firstly, you proved me wrong when I said that best friends and projects do not mix! (The playful side of Jimmy simply cannot resist the temptation not to say that perhaps you two were not that close anyway!) Personally, I felt that it would be quite difficult to maintain harmonious relationships with my friends while I also needed the power to organize the efforts of them to further the goals of the team. It is really tough balancing affiliation and power. When I would normally do is when rejecting ideas for new projects, I tried to be cautious and relied on rational persuasion to let my peers understand the reasons or constrains for doing so instead of just insisting on the team using my way. How do you go about achieving that Ho Teck?
Secondly, I believe that you two were a great team as both of you shared information and ideas freely, were accessible to each other, demonstrated the desire for information and feedback and make time to listen to the other team mate. This definitely benefited the group as you were both clear of what the other person was doing; there were no overlaps in the work done by the group.
The team is like multiplication. You will get a value greater than the sum of the parts, but any zeros in the team will get you nothing! Great job with just two people in the group!
Jimmy
ES2007S Group 2
Perhaps the greatest single stumbling block to real communication is the one-sided nature of speaking. Most of us think of "communicating" as a one-way process. Two monologues do not make a dialogue, however. Exchange between you and your targeted prospect is the key to effective communication. So, listening is an active pursuit for selling your ideas.
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albertjames
Social Media Marketing
Hi Jimmy,
I like your comment: The team is like multiplication. You will get a value greater than the sum of the parts, but any zeros in the team will get you nothing.
A team is only as strong as its weakest link. I always believe in team dynamics. Having someone I whom I share camaraderie with in a project group, certainly makes the workload lighter and gets the job done faster.Perhaps you may have to review your point about balancing affliation with power.
Till then, take care.
Ho Teck
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