Learning Experience #3 : A Semester in Review

Looking back, I have learned a significant amount this semester, more than just academically. I would say most of my learning this semester involves learning about the types of people I work well with and the team environment I thrive in. One of the major differences between high school and college has been the frequency in which I have group work or projects, which has been the case for almost every class I have taken at TCU. After working with people across all spectrum in terms of backgrounds and majors, I am lucky to say I do not have any horror stories about group members never responding or flat our skipping a presentation. However, I have learned that there are common characteristics among the people that I've work best with.

Organization on an individual and group level is key to having a successful group experience. Group organization is mostly influenced and affected by the leader, which is why having a proactive and responsible leader is important in any team environment. Using one experience as my only example, it's been beyond interesting to work with "leaders" who have the odd necessity to hold the leadership title in a group. From an example that is hearsay, I've heard of people who have applied for leadership positions in a club and stated that they are not interested in working on the team in any capacity other than the highest leadership position. This baffles me and will forever be a phenomenon to me. While I cannot understand the chasing of titles in a group, I guess it boils down to personal preference of being the star on a winning team vs. playing a support role on a championship team. This mentality of a incessant need for titles tends to hinder the chemistry of a team and gets old, real quick. Sooner or later, you hope the perpetual team leader sees the trend of failure and figures out the common denominator. I think most people would agree that losing or being relatively unsuccessful as defined by team goals, is not fun and takes a toll on competitive people. To put it in baseball terms, it's one thing to be the star of the Blue Jays...but then you realize that you're the star of the Blue Jays, a perennially under-performing MLB team. The same concept applies to the Browns and Jaguars in the NFL.

Working with people who are flexible in the team roles they can perform is much less of a hassle than the power hungry people who have a knack for derailing a project. The next biggest discerning quality I've noticed is the personal organizational skills of the member. It's nice to have everyone in the group send out reminders about deadlines or various decisions made (or, better yet, be aware of them) when working in a group with a long term. After having numerous meetings for some groups, it's unbelievable that taking notes on the various discussions and decisions that resulted from the meeting can be so helpful later on in terms of efficiency.

The group dynamic and success of the team hinges upon members definition of success, efficiency, and dedication. Typically, a variety of dedication levels is awful in a group and leads to free riding and the irritation of other group members who can visibly see the lack of effort given by other members. Essentially, I like working with motivated, organized people who set high goals. My experience working in a group that possesses none of that has been eye opening, to say the least, and makes me appreciate my "type of person" in a group setting, unfathomably more, as a result.