I started out being grouped with strangers. At first, there were challenges as we lack working relationships. We soon learn the essence of working in a group after being through a series of major events below.
It all started with a taped meeting 1. Upon evaluation, weaknesses are evident and strengths are identified. I have identified my mistakes such as forgetting to note minutes and choosing an inappropriate meeting timing. As a result, the meeting was fairly effective.
In preparation for OP1, my group had constant meetings. I realise that agenda is a vital component. I used to put less emphasis on agenda and it ended with teammates staring at each other blankly thinking what to do during meetings. An agenda enables the team members to come prepared.
OP1 was the downfall for my group. We were caught unprepared in terms of attire and preparation. Most preparations were catered for our project and not for the presentation. Thus, slides were made briefly and not even a rehearsal was done. It ended dreadfully. I account this catastrophe to ineffective organisation and time management.
In meeting 2, we decide first to review and write down expectations for an effective meeting in consideration to past mistakes. Reviewing the imaginary video, I reflected myself handling criticism more professionally and being more engaging during the meeting.
As we prepare for another OP, I realise that wiki is another huge help during our many meetings for our CELC Project. Wiki is just like an online notepad to place your minutes, questionnaires, interviews. Most importantly, it’s a notepad that is visible to the team to read and make changes. I benefited most in terms of organising the wiki (I love organising things) and also the convenience to come to meetings empty-handed.
OP2 was indeed like a wedding. Apart from dressing like a groom (it was my first time in 21 years dressed in office attire), my CELC group rehearse our scripts as diligently as taking our vows. Slides were continuously improved just like changing to fresher flowers for the bride. I had a splendid OP2. I learn that attire, preparations and excellent slides contribute to a good OP. Also, I’m improved in weaker areas like confidence and speech fluency.
Oral defence is like being trialled for a crime. For that, I prepared myself by reviewing every minute details of my project and preparing reasonable answers for my actions. During OD, I learn to answer question spontaneously and respectfully. I also realise that giving the judges (invigilators) the direct answer will actually stop them from interrogating you further. That’s the beauty of the 7C which is the last thing I learn.
It was a memorable journey for me in NUS. I’ll definitely miss this module.
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Dear Ferrino,
ReplyDeleteFirst, I want to tell you that working with you is a pleasure. You are always humorous and your humor is also what I like most of you. I still remember you sharing your experience of using wiki to me.
Your post, as always, is interesting with many comparison. You surprise me by comparing the oral presentation with a wedding and you as the groom and the slides as the flowers.
I also realize that you has improved a lot since the first meeting. Gradually, your strengths overcome your weaknesses. I find a lot more that I have to learn from you, such as how to put 7Cs into practice.
Hopefully, I will have another opportunity to work with you in the future again.
Cheers,
Dam Tuan Long
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ReplyDeleteDear Ferrino,
ReplyDeleteActually, I didn’t find the wiki very helpful. To me, it’s more of a platform for the tutors to see what we have done. Most of our discussions were done face to face, via msn or via text messages.
The only useful feature that I find on the wiki is that it allows us to store our meeting minutes there. So, problems like someone not receiving the minutes because their mailbox is full won’t occur.
The learning curve of the wiki is also pretty steep. I think that you find the wiki useful because you know how to use it. The rest of us were just fumbling around, not really knowing how to utilize the wiki fully.
You gave a pretty interesting of OP2 with the wedding. I can see the link between them, but I hope you are better dressed for your wedding! :)
All in all, I’ve also really enjoyed this module and hope to work with you again.
Regards,
Russell
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ReplyDeleteDear Ferrino,
ReplyDeleteThis is a very detailed reflection. I like it very much and I hold the same view as yours towards many points. Yes, it follows the 7Cs by the way.
I also learnt that a feasible and rigorous agenda is extremely important for a meeting, because it will significantly improve the efficiency, or in another word ensures the efficiency. There was a huge contrast between the effectiveness of the first and the second meeting of my team, mainly because we didn’t manage to write a good agenda for the former but had one for the latter. Without a well written agenda, we were not only unable to prepare ourselves well for the meeting, but unable to come out with a feasible decision after the meeting as well.
I bet your team had a similar experience as my team, didn’t you? See, by doing reflections, now we all know the importance of writing an agenda before meeting. This is the power of this module. It teaches us how to improve. This is also one of the reasons why I will miss it a lot.
Regards,
Shiyan
Hello Ferrino,
ReplyDeleteA narrative and very interesting read you have here. Interesting similes keep the reader interested.
I think the others have more or less said what I wanted to say about your post. I second the opinion that Wiki, howsoever convenient it is, is not very feasible because it doesn’t have any direct advantage over emails and chat, which we currently use. As the Wiki doesn’t show any direct advantage, there is no incentive in spending time and effort in learning it and switching to it.
Working with you was a fantastic experience as your humour never ceased to be funny. The ‘Singaporean’ joke was a classic one!
I feel that your presentation skills are very good and we all have something to learn from you there. I commented about it on Russell’s latest post. Please go and read it. No point writing the same thing here.
Cheers,
Anuj