MARIAH

Our conceptual model stands on 5 pillars: communication, shared goals, self-awareness, organizational commitment, and diversity. During this project, I have learned how to incorporate each pillar into my life and work. It started with communication. From the very beginning, I wanted to connect with my group members and build a foundation of trust and understanding. To do so, we started to ask questions about each other, and learn from one another. We learned what we liked to do in our free time, our favorite television shows, and some of our favorite types of animals. Developing this base relationship instilled a feeling of comfort with our group. From here on we were able to easily communicate about the project, assignments, and problems that we were having with the class in general. We didn’t feel as awkward discussing this with each other, and it made working together more fun. When problems arose with due dates and questions, we were able to respectfully talk to one another and solve the problem. When needed, we gave constructive criticism. Personally, I made sure to continue to ask questions and clarify when things were due, and also helped make our own personal “due date” document, so we didn’t fall behind on assignments and were all on the same page.

We all had the same shared goal: get an A in the class. To ensure we met our goal, I would work diligently on assignments given to us, and I worked with a purpose. I have learned in this class that passionate work shows, so I really tried to apply all of the assignments to my own life, and how they affect me. I found that when I worked with a purpose and wrote with passion, I had better results. Not only as a grade, but I learned a lot about myself. I was determined to pass this along to my teammates, and together, we were able to learn from one another. We put our strengths together, tried to work on our weaknesses, and continue on towards our goal of an A in the class, and DMP4.

While working together, I tried to do some self-analyzation. I once read you cannot become a good leader if you don’t seek to improve yourself. After reading that, I realized it was true. I thought about what I thought were my strengths and weaknesses. I selected a couple from each area and made a promise to myself to improve them (communication- strength, positivity- weakness). Every day when I woke up and before I went to bed, I would think about the best part of my day. If I couldn’t think of much, I would think about how I could make it better. And then I made a point to talk to important people in my life at least once every day. This included my friends, family, and my group members. I would frequently check-in and see how everyone was doing, and also check up on myself to make sure I was doing what was needed. While I am still working on my skills (one can never really be done) I feel like I have grown, and feel even better knowing that I am working on bettering myself.

During this project, I have demonstrated very good organizational commitment. I am determined, and dedicated, to achieving our shared goal (getting an A on DMP4 and in the class). My time-management skills help me prioritize time specifically for my group and our projects, and that has allowed us to work better as a team, and finish our projects on-time (according to our personal timeline). Although I may get stressed, I try to keep a positive mindset, and radiate that around my group. I’m working on staying positive (as part of my self-reflection) and realizing the impact positivity has on my group has encouraged me even more to be upbeat. I believe in our group and our work, and have communicated that with them throughout the course of the semester. Together, we are a successful team and can work through problems given to us.

I believe diversity is one of the major factors that makes us successful as a group. We all come from different backgrounds and experiences, which leads to different ways of thinking, different ideas, and different ways of handling situations. We also carry along unique sets of skills and abilities that we blend together during our work. Growing up, I learned communication, teamwork, leadership, and time-management skills were all very important. I incorporated these skills into group to add more variety into our vast abilities. Overall, we have been very successful as a group not only because of our grades, but because of what we have learned together, and our teamwork.