On 11 Feb 2010, our project group had our first official meeting. We chose the discussion room at the central library for this meeting as a video is needed to be taken for reference and reflection.

The setting for this video is rather awkward. We use a digital camera which has a limited width scope and it resulted in us squeezing at the centre in order to remain in sight of the camera. There was no immediate eye contact with the rest of my members. We were quite self conscious of ourselves in front of the camera and hence during our discussion it was quite unnatural initially. Thereafter we were used to it and our habits start to appear.

I realised that prior to a meeting, we need to be well-prepared. In the meeting, there were many periods when there was an awkward silence. A diffcult problem surfaced and we were unable to solve at that current state due to our limited knowledge. A lot of time was wasted and sometimes there was no outcome to the problem. We had to push the discussion of the issue to another meeting.

As the meeting was held in the morning, I was feeling rather tired and there were times when i yawned. I think this is rather unprofessional during a meeting as it affects the morale of the rest of the team members.

After setting aside the difficult issues, we divided the work equally to complete the remaining part of the project. My project group mates had done the outline of the program which makes the progress faster. We had a discussion on the number of classes to use and we came to a common consensus.

In overall, it was quite a good meeting as we had completed the list of stuff we need to do in our agenda.

8 Comments:

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By  Krithika, at February 20, 2010 at 2:06 AM  

Hey Alden!

Your description about how we had to squeeze in to remain in the camera's view, about how we had no proper eye-contact, our self-conscious behavior and the awkward silence were all accurate. I suppose all of us went through the same things.

It is true that in a meeting, participants have to be well prepared. Otherwise we might just end up blinking at everyone else which may be okay now but certainly not in a professional meeting.

It's nice that you managed to finish the tasks according to your agenda. That's pretty much difficult - sticking to a plan. I think time management skills are very important in this aspect without which the meeting would turn boring and unproductive.

Krithika

By  Krithika, at February 20, 2010 at 2:08 AM  

Hi Alden,

Like what Krithika said, I believed we all encountered the same awkward situation during the initial part of the meeting.

Honestly, i think that we can't really control when we yawn but maybe we can try to cover our mouth or reduce the opening of our mouth to make our yawning less obvious.

Lastly, it's certainly great that your team adhered to your agenda as it certainly takes team effort and effective communication to pull it off!

By  Roger Ng, at February 21, 2010 at 11:29 AM  

Hey Alden!

I think almost all the groups went through similar problems. Its not common to be filmed during meetings so we would be so self conscious for a while before actually getting used to the camera.

Like what I had mentioned in my post, it is important to be prepared before the actual meeting as it would helps carry out the meeting better and get more things done without wasting too much time.

Your post was very accurate on what your group managed to achieve and also the difficulties you all had to go through.

I am sure the next meeting would be better than this one. Good luck!

By  preeti, at February 21, 2010 at 7:53 PM  

Hey Alden,

I agreed with the rest that we are not used to being filmed. However, I feel that it is a very rewarding experience as we are able to "see" our habits that we usually do not notice.

Also, I agree with you that being prepared for meetings are important. My group had many instances when we were at a loss because we did not have enough knowledge.

Finally, it is good to that your group finished the tasks on your agenda. This is a good start to the upcoming meetings that we would have for the rest of the project.

By  AkiraP, at February 21, 2010 at 10:51 PM  

Dear Alden

What makes a good meeting?

Using the criteria, evaluate yourself.

Regards
Happy

By  HappyGoh, at February 24, 2010 at 12:38 PM  

I realized that I have forgotten to comment about my role as a team member in this group meeting.

As a leader of the team, it is my responsibility to take note of the social dynamics of the team, as to how my group members interact and I have to be the person who motivates the rest to work. Thankfully, my group members Manjula and Geck Keat get along with me fine and I find distribution of work to be easy and work is done on time.
During the meeting, some stuff I forgot to do as a leader was to encourage participation from the rest and what happened was I did the talking most of the time. As some might not be so outspoken, they might feel neglected or 'out of place' in the meeting. I have always assumed that in a meeting everyone will be proactive but in fact, people would not hence this is something i should take note of as a leader.

By  al, at March 6, 2010 at 9:51 PM  

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