Task 2.3 asks us to write a blog entry discussing the nature of your team. Do you have a good team? Why? What makes a good team, what will you have to do as a group to be effective? How will the team make the decisions? How will you work together, how will you communicate?
Our group consists of myself, Archana, Kaviness and Abdur Rehman. Having worked with two out of the three other members, I knew this was one group I would be comfortable with; something I believe is important in every group as it helps avoid the 'awkwardness' that can halt progress.
Initially (with some people in the class still not having a group) we actually debated whether to add another group member or not. Yes, this was the first decision-making we did as a group. Unfortunately it was a 50-50 agreement. Half the group did not mind having another member as it meant more of the workload would be split up amongst us. Moreover, they said, we won't be at a disadvantage to those other groups that do have 5 people. The other half on the other hand were more concerned with how this could affect the coordination within the group; "the greater the number, the harder the coordination", they said. Plus, as this was someone none of us had worked with, they questioned the quality of their work. Or whether even they will do the work!
Because this decision affects the group as a whole and their 'comfort' levels, we ended up having to decline said person.
This is what a good/effective group should be able to do; communicate and compromise. And I am glad that we managed to resolve that in a civil manner.
Hopefully future decision making will also be done in a similar manner (as a group) and hopefully differences in timetables and schedules will not be a huge problem. Even if it does, we've made sure that we are able to reach each other through phone, SMS, email or chat :)
