9: Profiles and Personalities

Profiles and Personalities

To be precise, I am happy to be writing blogs and updating about what we thought and what we have learned during our course. It help shaped us into who we are for the better future. Here will be the last blog that I want to present to you about my team.

Over the years working as a young adult and moving into adulthood, I did encounter a lot of different people. Everyone is different - their personalities and characteristics shaped the person who they are today and not forget about the environment and culture that played their roles respectively, too. Each person is defined as unique with their very own different sets of ideas and opinions, character, temperament and even different roles they have to play in different settings. Imagine what it will be like when you put different people to play different roles in a team and ask them to work together.

According to Dr Meredith Belbin and his research team, there are 9 distinctive roles that should be played out in a team. However, looking at our team, there are only the five of us and that will not match all the Belbin roles that we need to implement. I find that it actually do not matter that much for our team to function the same way as required in the Belbin team. As mentioned earlier, each person is unique and this fits our team. I see my team members as playing more than one role per person when it comes to completing the task given to them.

Sure enough there is a coordinator, an editor, a main proof-reader, and two other team members without titles but all of us played a crucial part in the team. Though if need be for me to break down each members’ role, Belbin’s theory of teamwork did exist but as a very basic premise of the theory. Each of us definitely have the Team Worker role, the Specialist role comes next and also the Complete-Finisher role though it may appear more on some members and less of others. Whereas there will be other roles that exist within one and not the other members.

When we first sat down to look at the task list for our group, it was a time of bonding and sharing and starting to get to know each other more. Since not the entire group was present that time, we tried our best to delegate the different tasks to different members accordingly to our best ability. From thence on, when we worked together more, I got to know the members more and thus redraw the task list according to what we are capable of. It was not easy because all of us are working remotely and personally as the coordinator of the team, I am happy that everyone agreed to the tasks delegated to them.

Although at times we were a little behind schedule due to other team members having their own responsibilities in other projects and dateline assignments to meet, nonetheless, the team still show no sign of slowing down. We tried to help wherever we can in pitching ideas and valuable points for the report and update each other over Google Docs and other platforms such as Skype meetings and Facebook chats. That alone helped us to continue to move on despite the hectic schedule for most of the members.

In terms of leadership, our group follow the Laissez-faire leadership model from Lewin. This is one of a treasured model that I would love to see in the near future as well. This is because everyone in the team makes all decisions and agreed to go along with it and try to work out the best within that area. As a coordinator of the group, I have not thought of being the only one who is supposed to be the main person to lead the group since we are all adults and we have to be fair to all others in terms of pitching ideas, listening to others and gain feedback. This is one of the ways where the group will always be motivated to put in ideas, change whatever is necessary and gave the group their best. This in turn will bring out the best of each member that have to offer.

Overall, when I look back at the work we have done so far, I did not regret being in this group and I enjoyed the company, the fun, the stress and also all the hard-work that we put into our work. Yes, there will be times when each of us will be frustrated because some things might not work out as we planned but we quickly overcame that and continue to strife ahead to finish what we started. With the different personalities and different roles played by the different members, I do think that no one group is the same. Each person displays their natural talent and will continue to strife forth in that area. So, if we have to change members, I guess there will be another different approach to the theories mentioned in the lessons.

Here before I leave this page, I want to say thank you for my team mates who have worked tirelessly over the semester to make the group report and seminar worked. Without you guys, this team would not have come this far. Thank you, Jonathan for being the special creative person in the group for coming up with creative ideas. Thank you Rose, for always be the concise, clear and straight-to-the-point person who will point out all there is needed to be changed and edit. Thank you Nick, for being the resourceful, out-going and wonderful contributor for the work you have done and thank you Joyce, for being the wonderful supporter and no-nonsense person in the group. Last but not least, thank you Allan and Louise as our tutor and course-coordinator who listens to me whine, and support our team with correcting and guiding us all the way through the semester. Also, not to forget, thank you Anne, for being the wonderful IT savvy lady who have been doing a great job in maintaining all the IT and grades. This has been a really satisfying though challenging course, especially for me during this time, but I did enjoy it all.