Starting in November we are all put into groups for the main project of the subject. Placed in a group with Fern, Will and Romy we soon began to work on the topic ‘ethics of technology’.  

 

The group, though ending up quite passionate about the concept soon realized we had little unfiltered knowledge about the subject. Most of our information came from the media, films and friends. So begin we did, and preliminary research was done by all of us to understand the topic. 

 

Returning the next week the group soon discovered that we had many conflicting ideas uncovered from the research, as a result, ideation was tough. The initial concept came in the form of an exhibition. Through we did still use it in our final report it was not the flagship idea we initially intended it to be. Our groups conflicting ideas throughout the project meant ideas had to be reworked and plans rescheduled.

 

To divide the workload of the project we set very specific tasks for each group member. Will was tasked with thorough research and myself, Boris, set about wording all of the research. This left Fern and Romy to both read through what we produced and create visual aids. This method of specializing group members we through would lead to increased productivity as everyone knew exactly what to do. Soon though we realized that our contradicting ideas meant we were not a cohesive enough unit to work so specialized. 

 

Without an exact plan of what everyone was doing workloads soon spiraled out of control. The large scale of the project, not well enough planned at the beginning led to some group members doing tasks which took up a lot more time than expected. One task with was surprisingly time consuming was the website. Will took initiative over the website in the beginning, soon the workload unexpectedly mounted and the whole group was required to assist. Through our website was very successfully completed, this sporadic nature of how it was completed led to parts being rushed and poorly produced. The theme for this group. 

 

With all of that being said the group did complete the task required. An idea was created and developed. Our group did have a good rapport with each other and once issues arised, delegation was possible. The crux of the issues our group faced was communication. If a problem arose members were slow at responding or busy doing their own thing. The specialized, democratic nature of workload setout at the start set the precedent of four people doing small individual projects, rather than a cohesive one. 

 

The project was definitely a good experience to learn how to better manage a team, no matter the circumstances. In future projects I will ensure all group members have a very thorough understanding of the topic. Once achieved specialization can be done but requires high levels of communication between team members. A more thought out plan and understanding of the requirements will achieve this, as ticking ‘completed’ boxes is one of the most satisfying things in the world.