Blog 1: Team Dynamics

Anshul 

Team interactions are going pretty well so far. We are cooperating very well with each other.  I would classify my team as very motivated and encouraging. I would say that my team is very hardworking and fun.

I think that confidence makes a leader a good leader. In our group we haven’t established clear leadership and we don’t really need it. We work along together just fine so we don’t need a leader in our group. I think we just need the CEO on bigger thought or opinions. I think a company can be a true team of equals but the CEO always has to have a final say in the end.

So far many conflicts have been managed. The most effective strategy is to vote on which idea is better.If there is a tie, then the CEO is the tiebreaker. If some people aren’t working effectively, then probably they might be off task or not working as hard as they should.

I think the personalities of my team members are important to me. If one member of the group is angry, it makes everyone not work as effectively as before. I think it is important that friendship is fostered in a company team. I think we are doing well on how we are operating right now. We should try to work together efficiently and try to make a design of the prototype next week.

Sumedh 

So far, our group has been interacting quite well, as none of our interactions have left each other with a annoyed/bad feeling. I feel that our team, overall, has a lot of energy, friendly and encouraging, and all of us are extremely motivated to try and get to showcase. In our group, no single person has entire control over the whole group, as we each direct one part of the project and regularly update each other on what we are doing, but when it comes to making bigger decisions, all of our thoughts and opinions are factored in, but if push comes to shove, the CEO almost always has the final word, unless the other three people disagree with him.

So, in a way, the company is a true team of equals, but we have someone to help make the harder decisions as to help prevent hard feelings and split in the group. Everyone has been on task, every day, and we’ve found that the most effective strategy is to set goals, and assign personal duties to each person, so they will feel motivated to do as well or better as other people in the group, which only causes each us to make each other better. In addition to this, we frequently have group meetings to see who can do what to maximise efficiency, and to also make sure that one person isn’t doing one thing the whole time, and then getting bored of doing it, which in turn lowers the overall quality. So far, there has been little to no conflict in our group, but the only time there was/might have been was assigning parts in the Literary Review; whose conflict was solved in mere seconds, and deciding who would present which portion of the slides, which took a bit more time, but was not very time consuming nonetheless. The personalities of our group is very important, as some of us are funny, some have an extremely bubbly and kind exterior and some have a mentality to get a lot of work done, and these different personalities mold together to provide us with a better working environment, which gets the most work done, at the highest quality, with the least conflict.

It is important that friendship is fostered in our company because this friendship helps us bond, which helps us understand each other, which, in turn, helps us work much better together without having to constantly question and doubt our group members’ work/working quality. As of right now, our team is working together extremely well and very efficiently, and as mentioned before, our motivation and desire to keep up and/or outperform others in the group help us progress forward into the coming weeks.

Pranav K ( CEO ) 

Our team is high energy, motivated, and friendly with each other. Our team has had a few arguments but gotten through them easily. So far, our team is working well together and everything's going smoothly. Our team is also very excited about search and winning the competition.
    A good leader doesn’t boss people around, but he works with his team. A good leader also uses people’s skills respectively and makes sure everyone has a job to do. I have established a leadership position in my team, and I try my best to find tasks that best suit the person’s skills. A company should be one team of equals, a clear leader is not needed. A company can only be all equals when each member is familiarized with the team and their teammates. For the first few weeks or months, a clear leader is required, but as the people get more accustomed to each other, they can transform into a functioning team of equals.
So far, conflicts have been handled easily and smoothly. If a conflict arises regarding the product or company, our group has a vote on it. If we have a conflict regarding a member of our team, we all try to be as reasonable as possible and have a formal and calm argument. Then we agree on a solution. The most effective strategy for keeping people on task I have found is to set goals for the end of the period. This way, they are pushed to complete the goals by the end of the day and more work is completed. People might not be working effectively if they have something on their mind and they become distracted. This can cause them to drift off topic and their productivity goes down.
The personalities of the team members are extremely important to me. Friendship is very important in our team and is critical to our team getting along. Friendship makes everyone get along better and makes people get to know each other. Our team is working really well together because everyone is friends with each other and everyone knows each other. Some new strategies are to give two people the same job so we become more accustomed with working with each other. ​ 

Pranav R

1. I think we have a very good team right here and I am happy with what we have. As the old saying states, all we got is all we need to win. We have three 8th graders and one 7th Grader on our team. Our biggest advantage on any other team is experience. Out of our four member group, three are repeating SEARCH members. I am one of the repeating members and all three of us have been through this rough road. We know what needs to be done to get to Showcase. We are also highly motivated as two out of the three repeating members didn’t make showcase. I am one of the members who didn’t make showcase and I was raging the day I found out. I so badly want to win and will do anything for it. The one member who did make showcase knows what to do in order to get there. And he also wants to win again. Our 7th grader is very skilled in Science and very smart. We have had our fair share of arguments, but we have overcome them.  We are not very friendly, but we are very hardworking.  Overall, I like our team.
2. A good leader is someone who knows how to maximize his team member’s ability. I think as a team, we don’t have a clear leader. Our CEO is a little shy and doesn’t like taking charge. But as a team, we have great leadership. Everyone’s abilities are maximized. We have the smart science 7th grader doing the research and the science aspect of our product. Another guy is the webmaster. He is going to work on the website, but as of now has done the BMC’s and slides. I make the interview questions, help out on the research, and slides. Our ceo is our do it all guy. He does what is needed and is very crucial. A company can be a team of equals like us if everyone knows what to do and their role.
3. The most effective strategy to make sure everyone does their part is to assign work and make sure they do it. If they are productive and finish in class, then no homework. If not, then you must finish it at home. This makes our guys work hard during class. Also make sure to have meeting before and after a work period. This way you can assign everyone their roles and evaluate your progress. Some people are not doing their work efficiently for a few reasons. First of all, they don’t know what to do. This is why you have meetings. Sometimes, they aren’t good at anything that needs to be done. Like our webmaster is going to start shining now as we are about to start web design. And last of all, their nature is very light and jokisch. They can’t take anything seriously. Conflicts have happened like in any other group. But they have been handled and we have moved on. In one case, a teammate couldn’t take a joke and he took it personal. But we handled it and moved on.
4. Our strategy is to assign work and make sure they do it, or else it will result in more homework. The personalities are important to a point but we move on. We are competitive with other teams, but not within our team. That leads to excess arguments. Our friendship is still important. I like our team and not trying to be cocky. I think we are the best team in this class. ​