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February 21, 2003
It's Friday!
MOVE ALONG, NOTHING TO SEE HERE
I'm kind of tired. I take that back, I'm not kind of tired, I am very tired. Things are very busy around here. Our school project is due in about five weeks and things are going very slowly. I'm going to list some of my ideas of why I think they are going so slowly so that others that follow can learn from our mistakes.
What it boils down to is this: Choose your group wisely. You must be compatible with them and they with you. Further, they must be focused and goal oriented.
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Are they as motivated as you? They must want to graduate on time, as much as you do (some are going on to get a PhD., so whether they get their Masters now or next year doesn't matter to them). Otherwise, they will not have that sense of urgency that is needed to complete the project on time.
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Choose good writers. Choose people who can write clear declarative sentences and who can string them together to express clear ideas. On the other hand, avoid those who write flowery, complex sentences that have no clear meaning or those who can not write in English.
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Know what your role needs to be for the group to be successful. Hence, choose people who can lead as well as follow (programs such as our tend to train people to be leaders, but having five leaders in a group is a recipe for disaster).
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Good communication is critical. Have regularly scheduled meetings with the group so that everyone has the opportunity to tell how things are going and problems can be identified early enough to solve them. Keep meticulous minutes of the decisions made in those meetings.
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Assignments don't get done by people who only talk. They get done by people who talk and then work. So avoid people who see the meetings as social gatherings rather than tools towards a goal. These types of people love to hear the sound of their voice and will take every opportunity to do so.
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Get people who have experience in the area of study. If you don't, these people will spend most of their time just trying to understand the lay of the land and will have little or no time to actually do any constructive work towards the project.
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Try to spread the assignments around so that everyone does their fair share. Note that fair share does not necessarily mean the same amount of work. Some will be more able than others. But everyone must understand that each has their own strengths and weaknesses and the work should be divided so it plays to each person's strengths.
Have a Great Weekend Everyone - Aloha!
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