Personal Blog #4

Today with team training, we learned a lot about the dynamics and the inner-workings of a team that is going to work well together and thrive. I learned a lot of things that I haven't really thought about before and it was a real eye-opener; definitely a good training for the class as a whole, especially for those that don't do well in groups.

The biggest thing I find that does apply the most is that teams need to have clear objectives and roles in the group: if people aren't clear on what they're are doing, there can be a lot of redundancy and a lot of overlap with projects which can lead to wasted time and resources. A group that can brainstorm, plan and develop effectively together, will always utilize the time and resources effectively.

Another lesson that I took from the training is that creating an environment that is free from judgement and is an open-space for brainstorming and outward thinking, allows group members to thrive and feed off of each other. Also it helps to prevent a very detrimental aspect of group work: Group Think. The shared thought that you are all on the same page and takes critical thinking and constructive criticism and throws it out the window. It's something that will degrade work quality and create a false-sense of progress and success. It's something I work hard to prevent and so I always make sure to feel the room and make sure everyone is contributing to the discussion; no matter how wrong they may think their idea is, it needs to be heard and could lead the way to further discussion in the group.

The training today was a great addition to the course and I feel the students group work is going to benefit greatly from what they learned in the training.