The meaningful conflict I've experienced recently happened in a group project this July.
I was taking a program called "NUS summer program 2008" organized by NUS entrepreneurship center. The participants were from various countiries(mostly Asia) and they were devided into 8 groups that have 9 people each. Each group were supposed to make a presentaion at last day.My group members were six Chinese, two Japanese and one Pakistani (she was leader). The main problem was that we could't meet all together and have sufficient discussion about the presentation.
We had lectures in the morning and company visit in the afternoon every day, it means we can make enough time only at night. We had short talk about the presentation topic in the lunch time once but it was not until 3 days before that we tried to have a detail discussion, until then the development of ideas were depend on each members.
Although we were suppoed to meet the common room in PGP at 8 pm , only 4 members showed up and the rest didn't come. As a result, we could't make a wholesome discussion nor the work distribution. To make matters worse, we made same mistakes and only 5 members showed up despite the rearangement.
How come we made such a easy but crutial mistakes?
I think there were three reasons for this.
The first one is that not all members had a cell phone and we have relied on the face to face information exchange and not able to check where each members were. Consequently, misunderstanding about the time and location of the meeting were took place based on the failure of conveying the acculate infomation to all the members. The lack of English skills might influence badly for it as well.
The second reason was that each members have thier own cultural back ground. For example, some people (like US) are really punctual but others are not (like Italy, Brazil) ,in general. It was the case for us as well. Also, most of the people are tend to be together with people from same country especially Chinese people. In our group, Pakistani member, who was our leader, spent most of her time with Pakistani people of other group.
The third reason is that not all the members were highly motivatied to the presentation. Some members didin't take the meeting seriously and rather go to the shopping and so on, though it could be the lack of information. If we had had more concsiosness of being the member of the group, we would have done it better.
What if some members were don't show up in your meeting? In my case, I felt that the member was irresonsible and had a bad impression because it really disturbed our progress of discussion. The member might feel, however, why they didn't inform me of that?
What was the possible measures to prevent such misunderstandings?
What was the effective way to ease the tension of each member and get the work done to complete the presentaion?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
3 comments:
Hi Kazu,
One possible measure to prevent misunderstanding is to provide a clear instruction. Meeting time, date and venue have to be confirmed. One tip is to convey the message face to face to individual members during the last meeting. Ask direct questions like will you be coming for the next meeting? Why if you are not coming? Will you be on time? Be direct but polite.
Ensure the allocation of work is transparent. This may ease the tension for the other members.
How would you feel and react if some members do not show up for a meeting?
Speaking from personal experience, I would also feel angry. It is very irresponsible of them not to make every effort to come for the meeting. However, I still need to get things done. So I would put aside the frustrations and think about how to talk to them at another time (probably, when I am feeling better). I will then continue the discussion with the rest who are around and make decisions. I think when they choose not to attend the meeting, they are actually forfeiting chances to have a say in the decisions.
After the meeting, I will take time to consolidate the decisions, my thoughts and feelings. Then I will think of a way to disseminate the information. For example, I might type and print out the decisions and future actions for every member so that they are all aware of the development of the project. I would also find out how I could contact them next time, such as MSN or email.
What were the possible measures to prevent such misunderstandings?
I think a possible measure would be having at least the email addresses of the group members. Of course, a mobile phone number would be much better. Another way that I have found useful is to create hardcopies. For example, after I verbally arranged a meeting with a group, I write the information (such as date, time, location, and agenda) down and photocopy the information for every one immediately. Even if group members have difficulty conversing in English, most can write, read and understand English, if given enough time. So a hardcopy would be a reminder, as well as, a reference for all group members.
What is an effective way to ease the tension between group members and get the work done?
I think most of the group members come from high-context cultures. So conversations could start with getting to know one another. Maybe the first official meeting should be held at a quiet café where they can enjoy some chit chat and food before the agenda is discussed. During the chit chat, I would share my feelings about how important the project is and how our group could benefit from doing it well.
Thank two of you for the coments.
I think we should have used the writing information more to clarify the oral information such as emails, handouts, minutes of meeting.
Also, making closer relationship could be good way to communicate well because most of the members were from rather high-context societies. I think that makes it easier to ask quetions directly.
Post a Comment