Reflection on principles of communication/Teamwork on programming and problem-solution projects

Well in CG1413 and CG1102, I discover a lot of things about myself and the important of communications in teamwork.

Before I started these 2 modules, I always thought that teamwork in programming can lessen the burden of my assignment, but actually that might not be always true. Sometimes the given lab project is very big and is difficult to divide the task since the task are very related and me and my teammate don’t want the written code to be very different from each other. So in our team, some of my team does more work and some of my team does less work. I m the team leader in my CG1102 group and I take the responsibility seriously, so mostly I had to do more work for most of the lab. The work for this lab project is more compare to my lab project last sem where it was individual lab.

During my days in my CG1102 lab project, I found out that is very hard to have a good communication when working in team. There is one time, when my teammate asks me for permission to change the code of the program so that it work well for his code; I thought that he only change minor part of the code so I allow him to do it. But in the end, he changed on how the whole code function and lead to some errors to the project we are working on. This cause more work for the other teammates to go and debug all the errors. If I ask clearly on what he going to change at that time and suggest another better way to deal with the problem before allow him to do so, then this accident won’t happen.

For my problem-solution project that is CG1413 project, I found out that teamwork can sometimes be really helpful. There is one time, our problem-solution project proposal hasn’t even started yet, the deadline is already over one day and most of my teammate didn’t know about it, only I and one of my teammate noticed it. We try to finish it together during that night by dividing the task; where he will be doing the proposal and I will be drawing the GATT chart for the proposal. In the end, we manage to finish it very quickly and upload it into the NUS wiki. From that experience, I notice that teamwork can sometimes be very effective.

I think that i contributed quite a lot for my CG1102 project in the team. I written 2 lab report, design and implement a lot of the program code, and even help to check my teammate with their work. I also contribute some idea to the team when we design new method for the functionality of the program.

For CG1413 project, i think i didn't contribute much to it. I help the team draw charts, take some part of the project to do presentation, help them to draw GATT Chart and contribute some idea to the team. I think that i could contribute more than that, if i wasn't busy with CG1102 project. I feel sorry for my CG1413 team, i hope that they will forgive me.

Reflection on Oral presentation 2

On 25th of March 2010, we had an oral presentation for CG1413 problem solving. This is my second presentation in NUS. Because we are presenting in 5 person group, so each of our presentation part is not long, this make me don't have to speak a lot in class.

Team Reflection
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My teammate Andy, is a strong speaker. He speaks very loud but clear, and manage to present his point well. But the content of his presentation a bit lack of humor and too much facts and points. I think that he too serious when he presenting in-front of the class, he should relax a bit.

My teammate Joon Wai is doing quite well in his presentation, his presentation has humor, contents are clear and concise, and his face don't show nervous when he in front of the audience. But i think that he can improve on his presentation by showing more face expression when he presenting.

My teammate Annie is doing fine with her presentation. When she speak in-front of the audience, we can know that she really nervous. But still, she manage to overcome her fears and present her point until the end. This is very good.

My teammate Corn is also doing fine. But i think he went a bit too fast with his presentation. But still, he able to present his points in clear and concise way.

Individual Reflection
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Before i enter NUS,during my school time in Malaysia, i am not really a person who is good at presentation. I am the most quiet student in the school and every time there is a presentation, i always do very badly.I always get nervous all the time when i come out and face the audience. Because of this, i always can't talk right and can't think of what to say. I think the lack of communcation with my school friends is the main reason i feel nervous.

In my school, my teachers never taught us about communication and how to do a good presentation. Even for my English teacher, she worry more about her students grades instead of other non academic stuff that is important to students.This is also another reason why i do badly in presentation.

It is hard to believe that a person like me that is very bad at presentation can change into a good speaker in such a short time in university. I am proud of myself because i am able to change my weakness into a strength.

Reflection on meeting 1

During the Wednesday 10 of February, I and my CG1102 teammate had conducted a meeting in one of the Prince George Park meeting room. The meeting is about how to design a CEG hypermarket and present it. Our lecturer wants us to record the meeting process, so we have to find one camera man. The camera man sacrifice some of his time helping us records the whole meeting and don’t even involve in the meeting. If the meeting takes about 3 hours, I will feel very sorry for him because he has to waste 3 hour with us. In addition, when I was talking in the meeting, I feel uncomfortable when the camera keeps pointing at me. Maybe that is my personal problem, I don’t quite use to getting recorded.

The meeting went on very smoothly, and we manage to finish it quite fast about 17 minutes. Everyone knows their role in the project and will finish it by this Monday, where Monday is the deadline that we set to make sure everyone complete their jobs. I think short meeting is a good thing, because it doesn’t waste a lot of anyone time in decide or conclude something. I also think setting a deadline for a job to be done is also a good way in making sure everyone will do their work on time and not wait for the last minute when we about to summit the report.

In my opinion, I think one meeting is not enough for the CG1102 project meeting, because we cant compare or check whether every team member are doing their role correctly. If there are some problems in the project, we can discuss it during the second project meeting too. So I think second meeting is essential for making sure the CG1102 project complete smoothly.

Resolving interpersonal conflict

What is interpersonal conflict? Interpersonal conflict basically means one or both persons relationship are experiencing difficulty in working with each other. It usually happen when two people have different goal, needs or styles of working. Conflicts usually have negative impact such as anger, sad, confusion, etc. During this time, each person decides whether to ignore the conflict or confront it directly. The successful resolution of conflict will improve the relationships, whereby bad confrontation like scolding, name calling, or blaming will destroys the relationship or make the team goal harder to achieve. The way you confront the conflict is very important. In my opinion, for a successful conflict resolution, it depends on some personal ability.

1) Stay Calm.
By staying calm, we can think properly and speak properly without using the wrong word. Few wrong words in resolving conflict will lead to more serious impact on the conflict and will lead to a road of no return. If you cant stay calm in that situation, i think you should get out of there and go to someplace that is relaxing to calm down, then go back to resolve your conflict.

2) Control emotions
Don’t let your emotion control you, when u resolving conflict. Emotion will guide your mind in doing something that will make you not so angry or sad like scolding, blaming or name calling. This is definitely bad when you try to reduce the conflict.
So EQ is a main key in solving conflicts. We must start train our emotion quotient well, to handle situation like this.

Resolving interpersonal conflict is tough job. It needs courage and skill in order to work it out nicely. When we confronting the conflict, it tests the true quality of our relationships and improves our mutuality and interdependence.

Observation of team behavior: intercultural and interpersonal communication

What is intercultural and interpersonal communication ? Intercultural communication means understand how people from different places and cultures behave, communicate and understand the world around them.Interpersonal communication means the process of giving and receiving information between two or more people. In a project team or group usually consist of different people from different culture and countries. Communication is what hold the project team or group together.

My blog group consist of 4 Singaporean and 2 Malaysian including me. Is hard for me to communicate with my group-mate since my English proficiency is very poor, and i feel shy because of it. I know that if i don't say anything or start communicate with them,i will face potential problem in the future. I always smile every-time my blog group member started talking to me, to make sure they don't feel uncomfortable. In the beginning of the blog group days, i always add some humor in my conversation to improve my relationship in my group. I will feel a bit nervous when people look at me and i look at them in the eye.Since to have effective communication, this is a must for me. So i use alternate ways by looking at people nose when they talk to me. I will try my best in effective communication.

My blog group are all very friendly, but most of them are quiet. Although our group don't have diversity of culture, but each of my group mate has their own uniqueness and behavior. We usually use nonverbal communication like smiling to show that we are fine. When it come to discussion, my group mates Andy and Joon Wai will always willing to lead the discussion.In our discussion, all of us in the group including me are willing to share our knowledge with the whole group, that actually very good. I very satisfies and happy with my blog group, is very comfortable when working with them.

Communication and teamwork: why they are important for me?

What are communication and teamwork? Communication is all about the process of transmitting our information to other people. Teamwork basically meant how well a group of people manage to work together. In the technological world today, many projects are completed by team. Teams are very important to make sure the projects finish successfully. Teams involved in many activities like develop a product, solving a problem, or any other kind of work related. For a successful teamwork, there are many elements that are important. Communication is one of the key elements for successful teamwork.

Teamwork is important in our workspace. We will be able to do so much more is one of the good reasons for using teams. It is important because it can complete something that is impossible for just one person to do. No task is too hard when we have good team that willing to do anything just to achieve success. The most important thing of using teamwork is achieving something more than one person could do alone. Effective teamwork also helps us exchange new knowledge with other team member and fosters a strong team member relationship.

In order to achieve good teamwork, communication plays an important role in forming good teams. Communication allows the teams to know more of each individual’s idea and their point of view. In order for our team to work effectively together, we need to practice communication in every team. Initiative of communicate need to be taken by the entire member in the team for a good communication. A fail team is when they are not actively communicating.

Communication is also one of the most important elements in successful relationships. We all know that communication is necessary to maintain any relationship loving and strong. Relationships are essential to us, no matter what age, nationality or sex, without it, our life will be boring, empty and lonely. But with relationships, lives can be fun and fulfilling. Relationships can be good, but can also give many headaches due to bad communication skill.

Teamwork is a foundation for a strong future. In order to move ahead in the world, understanding the importance of teamwork is essential. In any team building activities, this should be inside. Discuss about how the team feels about teamwork and what it means to team members as individuals. Knowing the how important of teamwork is a must to ensure that good and effective teamwork.

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Jeisern.