ings I had previously. The main difference between this meeting and my other meetings is having an agenda and following it closely, as the usual meetings I had were rather messy and unplanned. This meeting also made me realized how much time I had wasted in my previous meeting by not having an agenda, as I find this meeting much more efficient. One of the most important differences between having an agenda and not having one is that with an agenda, we know clearly the flow of the meeting and also the preparation needed before it. For example, in this meeting, we were to prepare for it by reading the lab manual to gain a clear understanding of what is required. For our meeting, everyone prepared for it. Thus, we were able to progress fairly quickly, and were able to finish our meeting on time.
During the meeting, everyone gave their views and contributed to the project. However, as two of the members attempted to start the project themselves, which we were not asked to, they dominated the meeting whenever we go into the technical details. The last member who had not attempted to start was not able to contribute as much, but made up for it by questioning our reasons for choosing our design. In the end, we came up with a design that is a mixture of the two that we had.
To conclude, I would like to emphasize the importance of the agenda. This includes the preparation that is required before the meeting, as well as following the plan in the agenda. Whenever possible, we should also prepare more for the meeting, as we could have underestimated what is required, so it is better to prepare more and be on the safe side.
Leonard Lim (C06)
Hi Leonard,
ReplyDeleteIt seems that most people are finding it weird to have a recorded meeting. Well, everyone has their first experience, don’t they?
I am surprised that before the meeting, there are already 2 possible solutions ready. However, don’t you think it defeats the purpose of working together as a team to come up with the solution? With 2 possible solutions ready, the third teammate may just slip into groupthink. It is not exactly good if any of your members slipped into groupthink as your team may not be able to see the disadvantages of the solutions.
In addition, if one of your teammate is not feeling well, does it helps to have a common online platform for communication? Suppose that you are feeling very ill, how likely is it that you will go online to communicate with others? In my opinion, it will be easier to contact me via my hand phone when I am feeling ill, compared to using online messengers.
Li Hua
Hi Leonard,
ReplyDeleteI also felt very uneasy when the meeting just started as I was distracted by the camera and could not focus well on the meeting in the beginning, but I was glad things went well soon after, as the meeting carried on. Your first paragraph clearly described what you are going to cover in your post and it provides an insight for the reader to gain their attention, this is indeed a good practice.
Next, being prepared for a meeting is important as team members will be able to take part in active discussion and provide their own viewpoints and opinions if they had done research on their own, before the meeting. This minimized time wastage during the meeting too.
A meeting will not be fruitful if not all members of the team are present because everyone has the responsibility to know that is going on and how is the project going. I feel that in your case, the “missing” group member should have taken initiative to contact your team, instead of your group trying to hunt him down constantly. It is our responsibility to remain contactable and in the event where we cannot, we should inform one of our teammate and not simply just disappear.
Lastly, a agenda is essential for a meeting and they allow group members to prepare their own work before coming to a meeting, which is a very important aspect of a meeting. Overall your post is well structured and clear and I find it very pleasant to read through.
Jason
Hi Leonard,
ReplyDeleteFrom this post you have highlighted alot of possible problems prior to organising the meeting. Quite clearly, when a group member start doing the assignment ahead of the rest of the team it creates a tricky situation. For your case it turned out well, because your group avoided the other outcome: choosing and rejecting of ideas. Depending on topics, this outcome can be a very undesirable and torturous decision-making task to undertake for any teams, but fortunately your group saw it in a different way.
Setting of time and date of next meeting can be a tricky affair too, but one advice about it: it is not wise to decide exactly when the next meeting will be, because schedules are subject to changes. Instead choose a range of dates for the next meeting, like that particular week when you would like to have a meeting. Then as you are nearing the week, give a short online discussion on choosing a day when everyone is free and after confirmation of dats, send the agenda.
Lastly, it is right to place more emphasis on the agenda, as it determines whether the meeting will be successful or not. Equally important, the leader should also stick closely to the agenda to prevent digression from the topic of discussion.
Well done!
Hi Leonard,
ReplyDeleteI am sure everyone had a similar first experience video recording our meetings, what matters is how we are going to draw our focus back to the topic at hand and learn to become more accustomed to the camera as time progresses.
I agree that the meeting might be more efficient if you already have sets of codes done up before the meeting was conducted. However, I would feel that your team member, the one who did not do up a set of code, may feel left out as he/she does not feel a need to participate in the coding of this assignment. Since it is already done up.
I feel that having a common online platform might help your situation, however it is not a good solution to your problem. If the person is ill and unable to be contactable, it is not likely he/she will be accessing the online platform either. And in the case that a certain member in the group does not appear or remains un-contactable, regardless of any platforms you set up, if the person does not take the initiative to inform the team members of his absence, you will not be able to find him either.
But generally I feel your meeting is well organised, and the agenda should have been well followed. Good job.
Regards,
Cherlia
Hi Leonard,
ReplyDeleteYou mentioned that sometimes you spoke too softly or moved out of range of the camera. I felt that that these could have been solved if you had positioned the camera properly. In addition to your point where it felt weird to film, I empathize with it. I felt overly self-conscious and sometimes did not act as I normally would have (and that need not be for the better too). However, there is always a first time for everything, and I felt that it would be an unforgettable experience.
I was slightly confused over the fact that you had created the code before the meeting, I felt it would have made the meeting useless, as the meeting is meant for you to decide on how to work on it together. However I agree that communication is important as the team members have to support each other and if one does not do their work right, it may cause the rest problems too. I also agree that the most important objective of any meeting is to clear the agenda.
I am glad your meeting went well, looking forward to your next post.
Kimberly