Reflections on CG1102 Meeting 1

My group had its first meeting for the project on Friday, in school. To provide a conducive environment for a meeting, we had booked a discussion room at the central library in advance. It gave us a quiet and ideal place to discuss and to film our meeting. We had read through the requirements of the design project and the tasks required of us, so that made us more prepared and we did not have to waste time reading up on the spot.

During the meeting, I think all of us contributed our ideas spontaneously. Perhaps we were a little conscious of the camera in front of us, as we may have been more formal than usual. However, we spoke to each other instead of facing the camera, which was good. We also encouraged the discussion further by asking each other questions. The group leader helped to facilitate the meeting by moving on to the next topic and directing the discussion. We managed to cover most of the areas that needed to be included in our report. We were open to each other’s differing approaches to the task. Since we had some doubts and needed clarifications, we decided to seek help from our tutor.

As for my personal reflections, I took down notes when my team members said an important detail, and showed them that I was listening to them when they spoke by looking at them. I also contributed my opinions and asked questions. However, I think I could have participated more spontaneously and spoken louder so that what I was saying would have sounded clearer and more confident.

Overall, I feel that our first meeting was a successful one, and we will take note of the flaws in our meeting so as to improve in our next meeting.

Reflections on Post 3 Comments

Hi all! I agree that Julia should have mustered up the courage to tell the boss that the cover outfit was chosen by her, and not Lauren, during the meeting itself. Postponing this confrontation only made things worse and deprived Julia of the credit that she deserved. It would have avoided all the bad feelings and complications later on. I agree with Geck Keat that when we work in teams, it is better to be more accommodating and open-minded towards your team mates’ work, instead of being overly critical. Also, like Gillian and Tan Chen said, there may be a way to save Julia’s reputation yet, if any evidence supporting her can be shown to her superiors. Lastly, as Zhu Li said, the way Julia handled the problem was unprofessional, and showed her in a bad light even though she was not the one in the wrong. It is therefore important to be mindful of one’s actions as one’s reputation is at stake. Thanks to all of you for your suggestions and solutions to this conflict!

Resolving Interpersonal Conflict

Julia and Lauren were working for a fashion company. They were given an important assignment to work as a team to pick a few looks for a major fashion magazine cover. Each of them picked outfits they liked. Lauren, however, dismissed Julia’s outfit repeatedly, saying it probably won’t be used for the cover. Julia stood by her choice, tolerating all the skepticism from Lauren.

When the magazine was released, the chosen cover outfit turned out to be Julia’s outfit. The manager asked the girls “So which one of you pulled the great cover outfit?” Lauren immediately spoke up and lied that she was the one. Julia gave Lauren a shocked look, frowning and opening her mouth in disbelief. The manager noticed Julia’s facial expressions, but he did not inquire about it. Julia could not bring herself to confront Lauren.

At the launch party of the magazine’s issue, Lauren took full credit for the successful cover look, receiving many praises. She did not bother giving much credit to Julia, neglecting her. The senior editor of the magazine, who was at the party, later offered Lauren a coveted job at his magazine. Only then did Julia have the courage to confront Lauren about her lie, but she just shrugged off the accusation.

Frustrated at Julia’s behavior, Julia began to complain about Lauren to her colleagues. This reached the ears of her manager, who chided Julia for her unprofessionalism and for not coming directly to him about the conflict instead. Also, little could be done about the job offered to Lauren now. Lauren, who heard about how Julia had been talking behind her back, vowed to take revenge on her.

Should Julia have spoken up earlier about Lauren’s lie? Could this communication breakdown between Julia, her manager and Lauren have been avoided?

Refections on Blog Comments

Hi everyone! I would like to thank you all for reading my blog entries and giving me your comments and feedback about my posts. I will take note of all the pertinent points you raised, and use your suggestions for improvement to make my future blog posts better.

I agree that I have to use more personal examples in my entries so as to make my blog more relatable to my readers. I also have to connect principles learnt to my examples, instead of only giving background information of these principles. Another point is that I will try to focus on one or two examples so as to elaborate more in future posts, and I will show more analysis and reflection and coherence in my posts.

Thanks again for all the constructive feedback; I look forward to your responses again next week!