My Reflection

To begin, I'd just like to say that for this class, as a team, I realized that we are interestingly a mix of tactical and creative. As much as we have a clear cut goal (objectives of the class), we are expected to be creative when we need to think outside of the box, such as making recommendations. I also appreciate the fact how there is obvious reciprocal interdependence between our team members. This compares tremendously with my other three modules where we are explicitly pooled interdependent (Thompson 75). I feel that reciprocal interdependence is most effective as well as more enjoyable to work with. I feel that the team members are constantly working with each other and there is much more personal interaction.

At this time of the semester, while I believe our team is no longer storming, we should be approximately at the beginning of the norming stage. The earliest "critical" event that I occurred was my absence from lecture and the very first official group meeting about two weeks ago. I personally felt it was especially critical because I feared that my group would misinterpret my absence as me being an exchange student "free-riding". I did not want to gain a bad reputation in the group from the beginning with a bad label. Therefore, after gathering myself that day from the difficulties of the night before, I immediately responded to the meeting minutes e-mailed. I provided instant feedback in hopes to make an attempt to make up for my absence. My team was very understanding of my situation and was pleased to receive my feedback and once again be on the same page as the rest of the group.

Another "critical" event of our team development I noticed was the natural self appointment of certain roles. After our first official group meeting, Adi seemed to naturally step up as a facilitator, always making sure the team was focused and directed to the agenda. To sidetrack a bit, an agenda is very important as mentioned in Making the Team, "Members need a clear sense of where they are going and how they will get there" (Thompson 35). We remain time efficient, rarely wasting time and energy. With an agenda for every meeting and group outing, the whole group remains focused and productive. Li Juan was also another individual who explicitly stepped up to the role as the secretary, maintaining the notes for the team. I seemed to establish myself as the proofreader, making final changes to our written assignments. Though these are only unofficial roles and responsibilities established early on, it is important to note how naturally accepting the team was to individuals stepping up. No conflicts arose and in general, every member of our team was very compromising. We are all fairly compromising, however, since we each are comfortable enough with each other to speak out loud if there were a problem or an inconsistency observed.

Most recently, a "critical" event would be our drive from NUS to NTU and back. With Weiyang driving and our group cuddled closely in a car, there was some more personal bonding time. Even though we were discussing our project the majority of the ride, we also had time to bond a bit. I believe that for the team to be most effective, we should not only be able to talk to each other about schoolwork, but be comfortable to talk about other little matters as well - like friends. Business comes first, but friendship is welcome as well.

At this time in the car, we also provided team performance reviews and feedback, which I believe is a crucial factor in enhancing team performance. We also set a goal to consistently have group performance appraisals after each meeting to continuously evaluate ourselves as we grow and develop as a team. Reviews and feedback force us to reflect on what we have done