Reflections of a Group Presentation

My experience in this group project was interesting to say the least. Are group experiences were like an up and down rollercoaster. We laughed, we fought, and I think we became a closer group by the end of it.

Andi put us all together, and formed us into a group based on majors. I think this helped a lot because it provided us with a little bit of common ground. A similar major means that we probably share certain interests.

Most of the norming phase took place on Facebook. We established meeting times so that we could accommodate everyone’s schedule, as well as used it to lay out some rudimentary plans for the direction of our presentation. Our first group meeting took place in Hornbake Library. I would say that this was most definitely still in the norming phase. I know me personally, and I would say most of the group, did not get a ton accomplished in the two plus hours that we were at the library. What we did figure out though was some basic direction we were taking, as well as what was expected of each of the group members.

So we were left to do some research by ourselves, and planned to meet Sunday at Noon at McKeldin. Due to some transportation issues, not all of the members were able to meet up, but Mike introduced us to the Google Doc. This allowed those who were not there to add their research when it was more convenient for them, as well as allowed us to collaborate seamlessly.

Unfortunately, this time in McKeldin Library introduced the storming phase to our group. I’m not exactly sure what the cause of this was. I guess if I had to say, the cause was probably due to personality conflicts. A lot of times, these arguments were good-natured, and seemed to arise over jokes, mainly that no one but Quinn liked me (this is an absolute joke, we all got along really, really well, which is why we made those jokes). But at times, it did seem that we argued about not having more work done, and occasionally the direction that we were heading in.

But all in all, we got some good work done that day and really got to know each other. In fact, Quinn, Kara and I walked down to route one to get food once we were done in the library. I suppose you could consider this bonding session part of the conforming stage. We were all now friends, and were making considerable progress on our presentation with the help of Google Docs.

We returned to McKeldin the night before our presentation to condense our outline, get some more research, and practice our presentation. I was not prepared for the storming that occurred that night. I think are arguments arose because of the stress of doing things last minute, but we struggled to stay on task the whole night. We debated the elections that were taking place that evening, as well as about the progress, or lack thereof, we had made on our assignment.

We ended up leaving after a very rough and contentious run-through. We practiced by ourselves and used Facebook to work out any problems we had with transitions. We trusted each other enough to know that everyone would carry their weight, and I think are individual preparation showed when we presented to the class.

Despite getting slapped in the face(this did actually happen), I could not have asked for a better group. Everyone split the workload evenly. We all brought unique ideas and perspectives to the table. I know personally, I tried my best to get along with everyone, and work hard so that I wouldn’t let anyone down. In the end though, what I really got out of this project was new friends.