Week 3 - Individual Assignment

This week we had to do our first assignment as a team. With working with all these different people, with many different personality types, can prove to be a challenge. We had some good times, some bad times, and even some funny times. The first challenge was everyone having a clear understanding of the assignment. The team members who had a clear understanding went right off and left the group members who needed some more clarification of the assignment. This caused the team not to be on the same page. The Learning Team Charter will help keep this from happening again because the team put this problem on the Charter. We could see very early on that the problem existed and we took care of it and we added to the Charter. The second problem we ran into was everyone not equally participating. Some team members wanted to jump right in and knock the assignment out. So, they started contributing right away. Other team members messed around until the Charter was almost completed. I do not know if this was because they did not understand the assignment, they did not have the time, or just laziness. The Learning Team Charter will hopefully keep this from accruing again. The team added this to the Charter under most every section. The team wanted this to be clearly stated, so that it does not occur again. It is never fare when one or two team members do all the work for the entire team. It is very important for every team member to contribute equally. The third problem that the team had to deal with was deadlines. When the assignment posted we all agreed on a Friday deadline. Well, not everyone was getting their work completed and tuned into the team on time. This made it hard for the rest of the team members because our work is done and we are just sitting around waiting on the other member’s work. It was very frustrating. The Learning Team Charter will prevent this from happening again because the Charter clearly states the rules about deadlines. Now, I am not saying every team member has to do the work right away. We all have different schedules and commitments. I am saying that everyone needs to follow the rules in the Charter and turn all work in by the set deadline. The final problem that the team had to deal with was everyone not agreeing on the finished Charter that was going to be turned in. This proved to be our greatest challenge as a team. We wanted to make sure everyone was happy with the Charter. It is harder than you think to please so many different people. The Learning Team Charter will help keep this from happening again because we put in the Charter that we all have to compromise, and agree to go with the most popular finished product. In conclusion, I believe that the Learning Team Charter will be a great way to keep everyone accountable for their own work and own behavior. If all team members follow the Learning Team Charter we will get along better, we will be on the same page, we will complete all work by deadline, and the team experience will be better for all involved.