Reflection Week 7

Start Date

17 March 2009

Reflection

Reflection
In the week seven session the lecture was on different communication methods with an emphasis on those which involve ICT. To start us thinking about this we undertook a short task which involved suggesting which tools should a newly formed virtual team under a short timescale use for a specific task. After suggesting which tools our group thought should be used the feedback we got from the seminar leader was that we suggested too many. Due to the short time scale and the fact some of them might be new to some members too many tools would be problematic. This made me think that the assignment we have been given requires us to use several different and new tools in a relatively short time scale to challenge us and how as a group we can overcome any obstacles that arise due to this.

Later in the session we revisited ‘Global Harmony’ article, we were required to read this and answer questions on it before the seminar. However many people had not done this so we just ended up going over it. This frustrated me because I had spent time preparing my answers before just to be given time in class to do this again. I think this shows a very important point, even though things are communicated this communication is not always received or is just sometimes ignored. I should consider this when drafting the communication plan as a possible problem that could arise in the communication process.

After the first few weeks I think I have become accustom to using these tools, although the use of Wiki and PebbelPad took me a little longer because I had never used this software before. However now I think my competence in these tools is sufficient for the ongoing assignment. I would like to further develop my ICT skills though because I have always enjoyed using computers and thought literacy in them would be a valuable asset for employability. This module has reinforced this because it has shown that virtual communications are commonplace and especially in the current economic climate becoming increasing relied upon, something I had never realised or thought about in much dept before.

After this weeks session I aimed to communicate as much as possible with my virtual team encouraging the allocation of tasks and starting of the coursework. We talked about the usefulness of the lecture slides as an outline for the second question and I raised the point of task allocation. However although there was some communication, little was directly said about who was doing what. In this situation I felt a little anxious to begin the coursework so adopted a slight leadership role and allocated tasks myself. Although the initial allocation changed after a discussion with one of the members, I thought a positive step had been taken forward in completing the course because everyone had a task to do.

Plan

•   Research into synchronous and asynchronous teams and its relation my our specific assignment
•   Take opportunities when available to further improve my ICT skills
•   Complete Thomas-Kilmann questionnaire
•   Read ‘...Manage Intercultural Communication’
•   Start researching my allocated task whilst also considering any points I think would be valuable in the first section
•   Continue communication virtually with my team and find out more specifically what everyone is doing