Team Skills (7th - 8th February)

This week’s blog is all about my thoughts on team work and which roles I think I will be most suited to when asked to work in a team next year. I will be required to work in a team of four each with a separate job in which to create a finished product.

If I had to split a project up into four sections I would assign these jobs,

Project Manager/Co-ordinator
Researcher/Designer
Developer/Implementer
Evaluator/Team worker

Project Manager/Co-ordinator, someone to create a time plan and who keeps people working to mini deadlines so the project runs smoothly. I don’t really see myself as a project manager. This is one part of projects I don’t really enjoy doing because it means planning every little detail and sticking to it and I would admit I’m not the most organised of people. I also don’t think I open my mouth enough to give my own opinion, which a project manager should do in order to keep the team moving forward and to keep to the deadlines.

Researcher/Designer, this is a job I’m sure most people on the course would like to do we are on a design course after all. I enjoy designing and I think my designs in the past have been easy to understand so that if I did give them to someone else to develop they could understand my ideas. I do however tend to listen more than I talk, which can be a good thing because I don’t miss much and take feedback onboard but a designer has to be able to talk about what they have designed if they are not going to be the person who develops the idea.

Developer/Implementer, this is a job who knows what there doing, in our case software applications. A developer would have to have the skills in which to create a professional product from the designs received from the designer and have the skills to read the information and interpret what the designer was trying to achieve. I think the developer would have to have good communication skills and take feedback well in order to work closely with the designer and the project manager. They would also have to be able to work well under pressure. I think I am quite calm in most circumstances of work and enjoy doing this kind of work as it gives my brain a chance to work. I am very much a “get on with it” kind of person and like to get straight into the work rather than have a discussion in a group.

Evaluator/Team worker, this job would be to evaluate every aspect of the project and each person’s personal successes and failures. This is a vital job for each persons development. Because this ob requires someone to be responsible, confident and not scared to hurt peoples feeling. It is this kind of person that I believe will go far and reach their full potential, but I know it is also something I need to work hard on. I think I am a good team worker and will always want to do my fair share if not more but when it comes down to telling people there doing something wrong in my opinion is where I may struggle. Hopefully this will get easier with more experience and I start to believe in my own skills as a designer.

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