loner's heaven

ON HARD GAY

Domo! hardo gay desu! whoo!

haha.. hard gay's the character of the month, man. watched too much of it though.

hai~ been so busy that the projects are filling up till my neck, man. so bloody irritated with the amount of work and all that i'm going through currently.

but today's friday and i've just submitted my projects that are due today.

Media in Asia and the Integrated Communications Management are really draining, man. too much work to do.

Just finished my work for SJ that is due this sunday for the meeting with the other big shots in the training department.

you know what's the scariest thing that happens when you're surrounded by so much work? it is to realise that you have an assignment due today and you didn't realise until this morning. then you'll be rushing all over the place looking for help. worse still, you need to print the projects.

oh yes, Mr. Andrew Ang just announced the results of the teams selected for the ICM groups that were selected. I was so disappointed and upset. apparently there were two slackers for this project. the whole report is at the bottom of this blog.

this is probably another LONG and painful blog yet. to read.


ON GIRL PROBLEM (OK, MAYBE NOT SO MUCH OF A PROBLEM, AN OPPORTUNITY, MAYBE?)

ho ho! great day for me, man. decided to wear a Shirt instead of a T-shirt today. i look great, man. frankly, never been so self - confident before. haha. was on my way to the computer lab to finish this blog when i saw a girl walking up the stairs in my opposition direction.

whoo! flirted with her a little. was looking at her right from the moment i saw her. she was tanned. slim and whoo! beautiful! the exact type i was looking for. haha. i think i knida scare her la. so she just kinda gave a smile after that. hehe.. of course la. what to do when a stranger stares at you? helpless little girl. hehe.. so just smile lo. =D

hope i can get to see her again for a few more times. then i will go get her number already. =D hehe. looks like she's going to be stuck in my mind for quite a while. dream girl sia. haha..

really feel like getting a girl friend and tie me down lo. i guess at certain point in life, we will want to have a girl friend. a real gril friend. apart from love and sex. i think i'm looking more for companionship. i need some one to talk to, other than my mother. Jolin was a good girl, but i was such a ***tard back then, took her for granted. also another girl, guess i don't need to say, i and everybody know who she is. i know the chances of getting back with her is zero. so i have decided to give up. finally give up.

this sunday is the meeting for the FAC thingy already. will do my best to contribute in this meeting. i'm putting all my effort into work to distract myself from all this relationship stuffs. but the smile from the girl i saw earlier on really took my heart away. i know what's on your mind now. you must be thinking, this "hua chi" is dreaming again. but i can tell you very firmly, it's different from the feeling of having any other girl smiling at you. it's just different.





REFLECTION ON THE ICM PROJECT

this report about the two "flackers" (meaning: f**king slackers)
most of the things inside were quite PR la, talking about the lessons learnt and everything throughout this project. therefore, i cannot use any vulgar language.

so here it goes:

Introduction

The purpose of this Integrated Communications Management (ICM) project is to provide the students of the Diploma in Media and Communication (DMC) course with an opportunity to integrate what we have learnt previously in the various modules in the course.

This project also enables students to have hands–on experience in developing and executing a communications programme that requires teamwork, critical thinking and problem–solving skills. Through working with an organisation that sponsors a community–related cause, it has also helped cultivate a sense of responsibility among the students.

Like any project teams, there are different roles and responsibilities that everyone in my team assumes. The roles and responsibilities of every member are as follows;

I, Ong Shen Yang, assume the role of the Leader and Summariser. My responsibilities in the team includes distributing tasks equally amongst the members and that should they encounter any problems with their assigned tasks or have problems in meeting deadlines, they would inform me. I am also responsible for holding meetings for the team and recording all status reports. Liaising with lecturers and disseminating information and peace–making is also my responsibility. I also restate the group’s consensus findings and strategic decisions at all stages.

Cheryl Tan is the Elaborator; her role is mainly to gather the necessary research information needed for the team to make important decisions in the campaign development and execution phases. She also makes a special effort to elaborate on the information gathered and relate concepts to what the group already knows from previous experience.

Perumal Anbarasi, otherwise known as Meena, is our Checker. She ensures that all the team members explain how to solve their assigned task or generate the appropriate report material. She is mainly in charge of recording the solutions which the team has suggested. Meena will have to ensure the quality of the work submitted by every team member.

Victor Ang, is our Encourager. His role is to ensure that the morale of the team is kept high at all times and make sure that anyone who has problems meeting their deadlines inform the group leader.

Aung Thi Ha is our Traffic Coordinator. His role is mainly to ensure that all the respective members meet their deadlines for their assigned tasks.

Though everyone in the team holds different position, all are equally important in the team. This individual journal records all the lessons that I have learnt throughout the duration of this project in relations to aspects like campaign development as well as teamwork and conflict resolution.
Lessons learnt in campaign development

Planning a campaign is not as easy as it seems. Knowing that the campaign planning process is very time–consuming, we had a meeting as soon as possible after we got the project brief and I have also set tight deadlines for everyone to finish their assigned tasks.

Even so, time was always not on our side. The possible pitfalls or the important points that are most likely to be overlooked are the details of the whole campaign. We thought that during this stage, we only need to have a rough idea of what we are going to do and that details can be straightened out in the later stages. But it turned out to be otherwise.

I realised that detailed campaign planning is very important. For example, my group is creating a website; therefore the planning should cover all the details starting from the look and feel of the website, to driving traffic to the website and the various ways to induce repeated visits to the website.

Everything should be well–planned right from the start of the campaign planning and development stage. Otherwise, once the team starts working on the project, everyone would only have a vague idea of what is going on, thereby increasing the possibility of miscommunication.

The planning of a project is like laying out a battle plan before going to war. The more detailed a plan is, the higher the chances of winning the battle. The strategies would have to be right before we can employ the suitable tactics for our plan.

While planning is important, it would be pointless if some of the team members are absent from the meeting for planning this campaign. This is exactly what happened for us, as Victor and Aung were not present at the initial stages of the planning; they were unable to catch with the discussions in subsequent meetings.
Lessons learnt in teamwork and conflict resolution

With regards to teamwork and conflict resolution, I have learnt in this project is that when I find that someone in the team is constantly not completing their task on time, I will find a replacement to cover their duties first, then to talk to them in private to understand their problems. If they really have a problem, the team would then work out solutions to help them.

Aung was present for the first few meetings but missed quite a lot of meetings subsequently, giving the excuse that he broke up with his girlfriend and that he is upset therefore he is unable to even come for class to have discussions.

Due to his absence for the initial stages of this project, he was unable to contribute much in the meetings later on as he was unable to follow our discussions. Even in the later stages of the meetings, he went for his driving lessons and continued to miss our group meetings.

I have heard rumours from Victor’s teammates for projects in the other modules, that he is literally ‘free–riding’ on his teammates. I even reminded myself and the other teammates not to be affected by these rumours. However, we went on in this project, these rumours turned out to be true.

Sometimes when Meena called Victor to ask him why he could not make it for meetings, his phone was either switched off, or he did not pick up the phone. He did not talk to us about his problems; neither did he bother to explain himself in the next meeting. So Cheryl, Meena and me got a bit upset over this matter, because the absence of Aung and Victor would only mean more work for the rest of us.

I realised that a lot of time was wasted updating these two ‘frequent absentees’ about the results of our earlier discussions. They were also unable to contribute much in the discussions later on. As a result, Cheryl, Meena and me, did not have any confidence in giving them any work to do, even if they knew what work to do and how to do it, the work that they do was not even of satisfactory quality.

Things were like a vicious cycle; the more they do not do their work, the more we lose confidence in them. As a result, they lost touch with the group. In the end, the group operated more like a 3–person group rather than a 5–person team.

Even though everyone did not like the fact that Victor and Aung were absent most of the times, we were able to keep our emotions in check and tried our best to work with them when they are present for meetings.

There were also times when we disagreed with one another regarding different areas of the project and I was the peacemaker who had to calm everybody down and resolve the conflicts. I have noticed that everyone has changed positive throughout the duration of this project, especially Cheryl and Meena, who were initially stubborn and hot–headed. They are able to understand each other better now, and would respect each other’s viewpoints.

Though there might be frequent disagreement in the solutions for certain problems, they were more patient in explaining things to each other. I could see that both of them are trying very hard to make things work for the team and I am very happy about it. At the same time, I feel that I should learn from them in terms of adapting themselves to the team, rather than expecting the team to adapt to them.

I have also learnt that a conflict within the team should be resolved as soon as it occurs, without any delay. Not only do conflicts slow down the pace of the team and the longer it drags, the more it affects the morale and unity of the team. Working together as a team, unity is the vital factor to determining the success of the team. Nursing grudges against another team member will only cause more problems to surface later on and hinder the team’s progress.

Therefore, while it might be tough for any encourager and in my case, the team leader, he or she will still have to put a stop to any conflicts. Then offer a solution and make sure that the team members are satisfied with it before continuing with their tasks. In a conflict situation, it is important that the peacemaker ensures that conflicts are resolved peacefully.

Being a good listener and to be understanding towards the team members is another important quality of becoming a good leader. A leader would have to understand the viewpoints of each member within the team in order to succeed in resolving conflicts.

Leaders should always try to understand where the parties in conflict are coming from and effectively relate their viewpoints to each other. In fact, most misunderstandings occur because members express themselves differently. Leaders should always remind the conflicting parties that they are working towards a common goal, which is to do well in this project.

A leader also has to know the strengths and weaknesses of the individual team members in order to effectively deploy the right person for the right job. For example, Meena is interested in designing and she has the knowledge of using the various designing software to help her in the work. So I put her in charge of the creatives for the team. Cheryl has strong analysing abilities, she is able to pick out relevant information and extract useful data which will help us in the project, so I put her in charge of gathering the necessary data that is essential for the team.

When forming a team, people usually would team up with their good friends or people whom they have good relations with. But for me, I prefer to work with people have specific expertise. Though each team member has their strengths, they also have their weakness. They might be good at work, but might not be diplomatic. Therefore the possibility of a conflict occurring within the group is much higher than a group made up of good friends. However, I still believe that as long as I am able to resolve the conflicts, the chances of scoring well are still high.
Things would have turned out to be better if I have gotten the promise of everybody right at the beginning of this project that they will do their best and put in their best efforts in this project. This way, they would not have any excuses to skip any meetings or to submit slipshod work.

Though we met with a lot of problems and even had heated arguments, things have turned out pretty smoothly for my team on the whole. I am very thankful to everybody in the group, regardless of their amount of contribution. Even though Cheryl and Meena did not get along well initially, they spurred each other on in this project and inspired each other to do better, bringing healthy competition to the team. Aung and Victor played the devil’s advocate by giving their objective comments on the work that were done.

If I had the option to choose my team members again, I would work with the same group. I believe that no one is saint and that everyone would have our own strengths and weaknesses. It is just whether we want to give each other a chance to prove ourselves and whether we want to put in that special effort to discover a person. Therefore, I will not regret if I have them as teammates once more.Conclusion

On the whole, the journey of completing this Integrated Communications Management project is a rewarding one. I have learnt a lot of skills from my group members, like data analysing, research information gathering, campaign planning, handling interpersonal relationships with my teammates and also conflicting resolving skills.

I have also learnt that I should consider a person’s work attitude before accepting them into the team. While they might be talented, their work attitude directly influences the pace of the team as well the team’s morale.

I have also learnt how to deal with difficult teammates and get them to submit their work on time. Being firm and yet diplomatic at the same time is an important quality which all leaders should have and I will strive hard to achieve that goal.

I would like to end off with a quote which I strongly feel for; “whatever that does not kill me, has only made me stronger”.



–END–

posted by yang @ 2:12 AM