Team Name- The Last Suprematist Sculpture Team Members- Anders, Josh
CLARITY OF
THE ORAL PRESENTATION The oral presentation was successful in
demonstrating the concept of remuneration. The group spoke clearly and provided
an informative presentation on the topic. The group were able to articulate the
many aspects that affect the way the design industry functions in relation to
remuneration, including numerous advantages and disadvantages. This was well
communicated by the group members. CLARITY OF THE WRITTEN PRESENTATION The text within the presentation was excessive
at times, with numerous graphs and charts making it difficult to follow.
Furthermore, the video was quite dull and the group could have benefited by
making it more entertaining, however it was relevant to the topic. DISTINCTIVENESS AND SPECIFICITY OF THE EXAMPLES The group included some relevant and highly
effective examples to communicate their message, for example presenting the
pros and cons of being a freelancer. The students connected their examples with
the real world and demonstrated how these situations may be applicable to the
audience on a personal level. Within the presentation, the group provided an in
depth demonstration on how to submit an invoice.
THE CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT The group gave their presentation in an
engaging and informative manner, providing detailed and relevant examples to
assist in communicating their concept. The group were successful in their
presenting their concept as they made links to how it could be useful to me, as
well as considerations to take for my own career.
There is a tendency to view conflict as a negative
experience caused by abnormally difficult circumstances but conflict can be
productive and have positive outcomes. Conflict arises when there is a clash of
two or more opposing ideas or needs creating a negative experience
There are 4 main factors that that stand out:
1.Disagreement– Conflict can sometimes sprout from
misunderstandings rather than actual incidence and therefore exaggerate the
perceived disagreement. If the parties can isolate the actual issue then the
problem can be solved.
2.Parties involved - People often "take sides" based
upon current perceptions of the issues, past issues, relationships and other
factors. These circumstances can complicate the conflict by dragging
unnecessary people or instances into the mix. In order to resolve the issue at
hand, people need to try to not let their personal feelings intervene.
3.Alleged threat–People tend to respond based on
how they see a situation and react not knowing the full story. If team members can work to understand the
true issues and develop strategies to solve them, then their on their way to
constructively managing conflict.
4.Needs, Interests or Concerns–In order to address
and resolve conflict, both parties must accommodate each other’s needs,
interests or concerns. Any efforts to resolve conflicts effectively must
take these points into account. It’s not surprising that satisfactory
resolution of most conflicts can prove so challenging and time consuming to
address.
Why Conflict Escalates
So it only takes one person to get the wrong idea to initiate the
beginning of conflict. One person may
say or do something that the other person finds unsettling. The other person may not have meant anything
of it but the other person doesn’t know it. Because nothing is confronted both
parties read off each other giving off negativity building up conflict until it
explodes or one reaches out for a resolution.
Responding to Conflict
There are a number of ways that people respond to conflict.
Competing
is a way in which one's own needs are put over the needs of others.It’s an aggressive style of communication with low regard for
future relationships, and the exercise of dominance. Competing tends to
result in responses that increase the level of tension.
Accommodating, also known as smoothing, is the opposite of competing. Persons using this style yield their needs to those of others.
Avoiding
is a common response to the negative perception of conflict. "Perhaps if we don't bring it up, it will blow over".
But, generally, all that happens is that feelings get built up, views go
unexpressed, and the conflict festers until it becomes too big to ignore.
Compromising is an approach to conflict in which people gain and
give. While satisfactory, compromise is generally
not satisfying. We each remain shaped by our individual needs and don't
necessarily understand the other side very well. We often retain a lack of
trust and avoid risk-taking involved in more collaborative behaviors.
Collaborating is the combining of individual needs and goals toward a
common goal.Collaboration requires communication
and cooperation in order to achieve a better solution than either
individual could have achieved alone.
·Confronting is
also described as problem solving, integrating, collaborating or win-win style.
It involves the conflicting parties meeting face-to-face and collaborating to
reach an agreement that satisfies the concerns of both parties. This style
involves open and direct communication which should lead the way to solving the
problem
Positive
Outcomes of Conflict
·Increased Productivity
·Better Decision Making
·Stronger Team
Negative
Outcomes of Conflict
·Low Team Morale
·Decreased Productivity
·Biased Decision Making
·Divided team
Types of Conflict
Conflict is a natural and inevitable aspect
of working within a group.
Personal
Conflict – Is commonly caused when there is a
disagreement through which the parties involved perceive a threat to their
needs, interests or concerns.
Technical
Conflict – Refers to the problems encountered using
hardware and software needed to carry out our project.
Personality
Clashes– generated from people’s perceptions or
emotions toward one another.
Leadership – Conflict may arise between a project manager and team member due
to managerial styles.
Personal
Conflict
When working within a group you have to
expect problems will arise as different work members have different ethics and
ways of doing things than you do. You have to expect that your workmates will
have different wants and needs and styles. When a conflict arises within a team
setting, it is possible that it may involve more than one member and have more
than two sides.
Within our group we have had some minor clashes with work ethic and styles.
When resolving our issues we, as a group sat
down and communicated each members concerns and motives. This has enables us to
address the problems at hand as well as bringing it to the attention of the
members involved, allowing for them to have their say and to resolve the
issues.
Technical
conflict
Within our group we have had conflict with
a program not working how it should or giving the desired results. This is
normal when working with new software but not ideal as we don’t have excessive
amounts of time to spend fixing problems.
All members of our group experienced
frustrating problems with the 3D program 123D Catch which allows you to
construct a 3D model from photographs. We experienced numerous errors
throughout the upload and render process usually after considerable amounts of
time, escalating our frustration. We also had other problems with program
congestion due to too many photos and size which was only discovered by trial
and error as well as model errors due to photos not matching up correctly.
This became really frustrating and almost nightmarish
when trying to complete a simple model, waiting a few hours and then receiving
an error.
We managed to partially resolve the issue only by trying different computers as
some would work better than others due to capabilities. We have a sound model
at the moment but have decided, as a group, to leave this part of the task for
the end where we can focus the rest of the time to it.
Management
There are 6 main ways of dealing with
conflict.
Be Open Minded:Being open minded involves trying to understand other people’s
views, values, beliefs, preferences and differences. This is not about learning
to agree with the person or learning to have the same values. It’s about trying
to understand why they think like that or what circumstances have led them to
do things like this. Or even respecting someone else’s decision (even though
you don’t agree) to speak out or try something new for eg. When the parties can learn to do this, a
common ground and understanding can be reached and the path to a resolution can
be made.
Focus on the Issue:There is no point focusing on other issues or instances that do not
relate to this particular conflict, as this will only aggravate, get people off
side and make them feel attacked. By doing this, you are getting further and
further away from developing a common ground with the people involved as well
as having an even more negative impact on the involved. This is not the way to
resolve conflict. For a resolution to occur, the issue that has brought upon
the conflict is to be the focus. This allows for both members to speak their
opinions and have an even playing field, rather than one party bombarding the
other with numerous negative instances where they have done wrong.
Do Not Focus on
Personalities: When personalities are brought into
conflicts it usually involves emotions and people’s perceptions of one another.
For example a team leader lectures a team member for being late. There view of
this person is that they are lazy and disrespectful. The team member thinks
that the leader is only focusing on them because they dislike them or that they
aren’t one of the favoured ones. These types of perceptions and views of people
need to be removed from the workplace. They only create problems with members
and offset the team from reaching their goals effectively.
Allow for Differences:Everyone has their own styles, preferences and ways of doing things.
Leaders can lead their teams any way they see best and this may frustrate or
aggravate some project members. For example one leader may be more open and
general whilst the other may be more direct, or even they may get you to do
something a certain way which doesn’t make sense to you. To avoid conflicts
with managers and project leaders, there needs to be a solid work plan
detailing principals and values as so consistency is formed and team members
aren’t confused and frustrated by erratic decisions.
Resolution Must be with
Conflicting Parties:For conflict to be resolved,
the conflicted parties must work out the issue at hand, come to an arrangement
on which the parties agree on and then move forward as a team. Issues cannot be
resolved properly if it isn’t involving the conflicted parties directly. These
are personal differences and must be dealt with in person otherwise the issues
may not be fully resolved and further conflict may come. If these issues cannot
be resolved between the members, then the project manager must be involved. The
project manager would have final say on the decision or outcome. In these cases
the outcome may not be in their favour as the decision is left to someone else.
Push
for Alternatives:When there is conflict within a
group, there is a driving force to find an alternative, wether that alternative
be a resolution or not, both parties cannot stay in a constant phase of
conflict. In the case of a conflict, where both members have reached a
disagreement, there are two ways in which they can turn out. The best and most
effective way is a resolution. A resolution will allow both parties to
reconcile, address the problem and move forward for the better of the team and
for themselves. The alternative is that a conflict will force for a change of
action, not always being beneficial for both parties, one may lose out from
either their opinion or maybe the group they were in. This is a consequence of
not working out a resolution.
Resolution
Influence
Factors
There are many different circumstances that
can influence or force a person to come to a resolution with the conflicting
party.
Importance: Is it a must that you have things your way? Is the friendship one
that you want to keep or remain on good terms? These are factors one must
consider before starting or resolving conflict.By analysing the importance of
an altercation by the outcome or relationship, one can assess wether conflict
or a resolution is needed.
Time
Constraints: Time can really influence ones
decision making when it comes to resolving conflict. Time shortages can expose
the importance of certain decisions or situations and then dictate the outcome.
Short
Term or Long Term: Consider whether a resolution is
needed for the short term or long term. If there is no need for a long term
resolution then maybe it isn’t worth working one out.
Benefits
Increased Understanding:
-Team member’s
awareness of the situation
-Each member’s
insight to achieve individual goal
Increased Group Organization:
-Stronger mutual
respect
-Renewed faith to
work together as a group
-Reunion teamwork
cooperation
Improved Self-Knowledge:
-Team member
examine their goals in close detail
-Team member
aware of things that are most important to their roles
Team Members– Paul, Roschelle, Shaun, Eugelyn, Jesharelah
CLARITY OF THE ORAL PRESENTATION For the
oral aspect of the presentation, the group members appeared to be reading
directly from the slides or their papers and therefore was less engaging and
also communicates the fact that they were not completely prepared for the
presentation. The group members were softly spoken and could have been clearer
during their presentation. CLARITY OF THE WRITTEN PRESENTATION The
written presentation was very content heavy in sections which made it difficult
to read. DISTINCTIVENESS AND SPECIFICITY OF THE EXAMPLES The
group included some examples, however they were generic and vague and didn’t
apply specifically to the group and the their own experiences during the
project. However the video helped
address some of the key points for their topic and appeared to be well thought
out.
THE CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT Despite the excessive written content, the group
was still able to demonstrate their knowledge through talking about and
summarising the information they presented.
The students in the group, effectively conveyed
their understandings of the topic throughout the video, however did not relate
it back to their actual work in great detail.
These two weeks were really busy weeks for us as we had our
Major Milestones due on the 6th May (Week 9) and our group
presentation the following week on the 14th May (Week 10).
We didn’t get a lot of work done week 9, due to each member
focusing on their own individual submissions and blog updates. We did manage to
develop our Illustrator image a bit further, working with the pen tool.
We needed to go around each gradient (section) of colour with the pen tool to
create the shape and fill it in. This was quite time consuming.
Week 10 saw myself working on our group presentation.
I instructed the group to continue working on their section of the Illustrator
file.
I wanted my groups presentation to be captivating and entertaining so the
previous week we went and filmed some clips to aid our presentation.
I then created two short 1 minute clips inside our video presentation that were
cinematic to try and interest our audience. These videos were time consuming,
but did the job, and by the reviews of our peers, they loved it.
It has been 8 weeks of working together as a team to reach
our goal of creating a Suprematist Sculpture. At the beginning, we were all
unclear on exactly what the project was and how we would actually put it into
practice as there was very little information in the brief for this project. We
were all very interested in the project; it was the one that appealed to us the
most, so we were very curious as to what was involved. To gain more knowledge
on the programs that would be assisting us complete the project, we set out
researching as well as developing a team schedule, individual tasks, blogs and
the wiki.
Groups Performance
Weekly Tasks
During the initial part of our project we will be assigning
weekly roles until we have a firm footing on this project. Once established, we
will break into specialised roles based on our skills and interests.
There are
Replicating Russel’s designs of a Supermatist
Sculpture consisting of a hand sketch of a Honda CB750 and MV Augusta
Photograph combined to create one Motorcycle.
123D Catch Model of the MV Augusta.
Creating a Vector copy of the Supermatist
Sculpture Collage using Adobe Illustrator and outputting at a 16:9 banner 3m
tall.
Our group has developed a weekly task plan to keep us on
track.
Week 1: Development
of personal CVs to choose projects.
Week 2:
Establish group, group leader and tasks, Back Brief.
Week 3:
Individual research on assigned topic. (MV Augusta/ CB750 Bikes, Programs,
Tutorials)
Week 4:
Continue research on individual topics, wiki development.
Week 5:
Construct model of MV Augusta Bike using 123D Catch
Week 6: 123D
Catch development, wiki construction, Illustrator Tutorials.
Week 7: BREAK – work on illustrator vector copies
of collage.
Week 9:
Create presentation on Conflict (Research, Power Point, Videos).
Week 10 -
11: Continue working towards final submission.
Week 12:
Finalise Wiki, all resources up to date and uploaded onto wiki and individual
blogs, construct final group presentation.
Week 13: Final
Presentation.
Having a
static task plan to keep to has helped our team complete tasks by the set time.
Because of the amount of jobs and complexity of each, it’s daunting and hard to
make a start. We were at first very disorientated on what we should be doing
and how it should be done. None of us had ever done anything like this before
which made it harder to get a solid footing in order to start. Once the tasks
were appointed and a task completion schedule was made, we had direction. We
were able to see who was covering what, and what exactly had to be done by the
set date.
Our group is
currently up to date and on track in order to complete our goal and final
presentation in week 13.
Individual Performance and
Contribution
We elected each member tasks in relation to their strengths
and history. As well we agreed to assist on any task that was behind or needed
extra help. We have all assisted in some form or another in each task; we are a
team and are working toward the same goal.
Summary of roles completed
Documenter
123D Catch Developer
Wiki Developer
Graphic Design
Visual Designer
Presentation Developer
Researcher
Photographer
Video editor
Summary of tasks
Updating wiki weekly
Create 3D Model of MV Augusta Bike using 123D
Catch
Researching programs and tutorials to help
assist our tasks
Assisting team with weekly tasks
Working on Illustrator collage
Creating presentation material
Creating videos for wiki/ blog and presentations
Documentation of teams progress (photo/ video)
for wiki
Keeping group on track
Milestone
As a result of the tasks I have completed and my own
personal goals I have chosen 3 aspects to focus on for my Individual
milestone.
Professional Illustrator work
Professional Documentation (Presentation/ Wikki)
Dedicated and Supportive Team Leader
Professional Illustrator Design
Being an
architectural computing student, I have never done nor worked on anything like
this project before. I have always loved bikes (Dirt Bikes / Motocross) but
never delved into the history of motorbikes, mechanics or design. I also have
never worked with Adobe Illustrator before despite doing a lot of graphic design.
So for this milestone I wanted to focus on the construction professionalism and
quality of my after effects work. I will be grading my performance of this milestone
through the quality and realism of my image.
I hope to
further my skills and knowledge of Illustrator to apply it to other projects I
am involved in further down the track.
Professional
Documentation
I have set
up a small business for myself doing photography and Video. I’ve been doing
photography for the past 5 years and Video for the past 2 years. In this time I
have directed and edited a number of videos, 2 for Sony music and X-factor
finalists. I have taken photos for famous bands such as Paramore, Linkin Park,
The Offspring and may many more. In the past year I have also started doing
wedding photography and videography. This type of photography however is more
documentary rather than fabricated.
I wanted to
apply my previous knowledge and skills to this project by documenting my team’s
progress and setbacks in a professional way in order to help present the team’s
project. This visual aid will help captivate the audience and display the
team’s hard work, collaboration and dedication in achieving completion of this
project.
Dedicated and
Helpful Team Leader
Being the
team leader of my group, it is my role to make sure all team members are on task
and have the quality of work required ready by the due date. Being in a group
of 3, it is also a requirement to help and assist any group member with any
existing queries or at least help to find a solution.
Through this
project I want to establish experience leading a small team which will help me
for future projects and my own business where I need to lead a team.
Reflection
I have been working on achieving my Individual Milestone and
have made considerable progress. I’m looking forward to fulfilling my Major Milestones
and also my own personal aspirations.
After
returning from our mid semester break Molly and I sat down and reviewed each other’s
work, what we liked about it and what needed to be fixed or improved. Daming
was absent this week although he send his work through making it easy for us to
review it. My task for the Mid semester break was the front part of the collage
(MV Agusta Bike), with Molly and Daming working on the rear section (Russel’s
sketch).
In
regards to my section, I am pleased how the bike looks zoomed out, I think it
looks convincing. But once zoomed in I find my pen tool lines to be uneven and wonky
totally throwing the realism look.
I want to go back and either add to my
existing drawing or totally start again depending if what I have done can be
improved. I think I might try another approach and technique to see which gives
a better result. I also need to use the cronolapse application as there was no
mac version when i was playing around with this illustrator project.
Molly
and Damings sections look great. They totally match up with Russel’s sketch. Two
versions of the sketch were done, a live traced version which shows the jagged
lines caused by the pixels making it more “authentic” to the original. And one
with smooth edged lines that capture the sketch and ads clarity to it.
Presentation 1 Team Name - The Last Suprematist Sculpture Team Members - Vedran, Alyssa CLARITY OF THE WRITTEN PRESENTATION The written content for this presentation was powerful and clear. The group created a well-structured and organised presentation. There were slides within the presentation which used a small font allowing the group to fit a lot of information into the one slide; however this made it difficult to read. DISTINCTIVENESS AND SPECIFICITY OF THE EXAMPLES During the presentation multiple examples were included to assist in communicating their message. The examples used were specific and interesting, with the group providing many examples relating to their project. CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT The group demonstrated a sound understanding of the topic. Their video was entertaining which helped clarify the topic of IP. Presentation 2 Team Name - Gothic Architecture Team Members - Maki, Alan, Dorothy, Ricky, Stefan CLARITY OF THE ORAL PRESENTATION The presentation on intellectual property was detailed and informative, with the group providing thorough explanations of all aspects of the topic. The oral presentation communicated the topic well. Each member of the group defined the topic’s meanings and used examples which enriched the understandings of the audience. CLARITY OF THE WRITTEN PRESENTATION The written component of the group’s presentation was clear and succinct. Overall the written text was simple and easy to read, communicating their information across effectively. CONCEPTUAL CONTEXT They demonstrated their understanding of the topic by explaining the use intellectual property and how it applies to their situation. They mentioned the Intellectual Property Agreement in UNSW which relates to students, how to register for an IP and the confusing part of taking photos in public, who owns the rights.
