Systems approaches to organizational management are premised on the argument that organizations are living, breathing entities with their own behavior patterns. Early systems thinking involved the application of such concepts as input, output, throughput, interdependence, open system and closed system.
In 1990, Peter Senge went one step further and argued that organizations (like all systems) have the capacity to learn. However, to do so, the "people [who comprise the organization] must put aside their old ways of thinking (mental modes); learn to be open with others (personal mastery); understand how the company really works (systems thinking); form a plan everyone can agree on (shared vision); and then work together to achieve that vision (team learning)" (Quotation from Business: The Ultimate Resource, 2002.)
Part I:
From the five concepts mentioned above that are related to early systems thinking, select a minimum of four and use them to describe your service-learning experience so far. To support your argument, use examples from your work with group members and the organization you are working with.
Part II:
Once you have completed that task, consider how Senge would view the growth and development of your service-learning team since the beginning of this semester. To do so, answer the following four questions:
1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team?
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience?
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision?
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision?
Please organize your responses as they were posed so that there is structure to your response. Your responses are due by 5 pm Eastern Time on Friday, March 26, 2010.
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Mental Modes – I attended an all-boys high school back home on Long Island. As a way of making up for the lack of females that attended our school, the faculty would put on a school dance every month throughout the school year. The dances were usually rather fun, but as a result of my past, I have formed preconceived notions of what a school dance should look like. Upon entering the E.D.G.E planning committee, I carried this old model of thinking with me, which has helped me in some regards when adding my knowledge of high school dances. However, it also may have hindered my ability to be open to the new ideas that contradicted what I experienced in high school. It is important for me to remain open to the ideas of my fellow group members by putting aside some of my old ways of thinking.
ReplyDeletePersonal Mastery - Throughout the course of our meetings, our group has entered into the decision making process with an open mind. Our supervisor Amanda has allotted the entire team a budget and it was the group’s decision of how to allocate this money. We came to a consensus that the fairest reasoning would be to split the money equally among the four committees. Later on if we come to find out one committee needs more funding, we decided we would deal with the dilemma if it came about. The decision was based on the group’s ability to be open and listen to one another.
Systems Thinking - Before our first meeting, our supervisor Amanda e-mailed each team member with a piece of paper summarizing what E.D.G.E’s mission and history was. This enabled everyone in our group to become aware of what we were working towards and the goal we were trying to attain. Throughout this process we have grown to learn a little bit more about Rockingham Memorial Hospital and the E.D.G.E program through our interactions with Amanda.
Shared Vision - In order to complete the project to the best of our abilities, Amanda decided that forming committees would be both efficient and effective. Before issuing the committees, Amanda asked for our opinion on the matter and whether we felt this would be effective. We all agreed and figured forming these committees would allow each of us the ability to pay close attention to our own particular facet of this project. The plan has proven to be very valuable, each member knows what he or she is in charge of, and a successful dance will hopefully be our end result
1)As I have mentioned above, I have set aside the perceptions of a school dance that I have carried with me from my own high school experience. I have had to remain open and flexible to the ideas of others in order to steer away from re-creating some type of preconceived image of a dance that I have formed in my mind.
2)Our first meeting set the precedent when it came to being open with our ideas and the ideas of others. Amanda’s fellow worker, Julia, said it best when she stated that this project was “our baby” and all the ideas were up to us. Julia helped us to remain open with our ideas. It does not matter how obscure a thought may be, we all listen and take into account the usefulness and value of the proposal.
3)I believe our group has been able to come up with a shared vision. Before meeting with Amanda, we did not know what to expect, what funds were available to us, and how we were going to complete this task. However, with the help of Amanda and Julia, I think we have a pretty good idea of the end result we are striving for. Through our meetings every three weeks, our e-mail chains, and our visit to our dance location, we have all been able to come up with a shared vision that we can hopefully bring to fruition.
4)Throughout the process we have set deadlines as a group, as committees, and as individuals. Without guidelines, a project as large as this one may become daunting. However, by setting proper deadlines, the task becomes easier and much more manageable. The two most important characteristics that are vital to the success of a service-learning group are time management and organization skills.
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ReplyDeletePart I:
ReplyDeleteThe four relevant concepts are personal mastery, systems thinking, shared vision, and team learning. Personal mastery is evident mainly as the playground project requires openness from many different groups. As each separate group is working towards a common goal, different suggestions, interpretations, and opinions, are to be considered when implementing any plans. The concept of System thinking is evident in the organization’s realization of its purpose. The purpose of A Dream Come True and the various other groups working with them is to inevitably make a playground accessible to children with disabilities. In order to successfully do this, each different group has their own tasks to take care of in order to be efficient. The idea of shared vision is evident in regards to how the organization is structured and functions. My group and I have had to contact members from the different groups involved in this one goal. Each individual that has been contacted understands the overall goal of the organization and realizes their function to achieve it. Team learning is evident in the meetings of all these groups as explained by the Harrisonburg’s Park and Recreation representative, David, whom my group and I met with this week. He explained that different groups deal with different elements required to make the playground a reality. Then either through email, phone calls, and some meetings, all of these elements come together.
Part II:
1) I have learned to become more flexible with my time in order to accommodate with others schedules. This is done to meet together when possible, but to also be very prompt in email responses. As this is an organization and essentially a project, based very largely on communication via emails, timely responses make the project move faster. This is a crucial element, as we have already lost some time with previously lagging emails.
2) We have had plenty of meetings, both face to face and email type, in which we describe the situation given to us. We have voiced our opinions on the matter and how we can best accommodate. Everyone in the group has made it known that the goal of the service is to help with the playground project in any way that we can and also to receive an acceptable grade. There is an understanding from everyone involved that our efforts need to be focused on the many various groups working as one organization. By continuing to keep up to date with each group members involvement, we are more conscious of the direction the group is going in and a better idea of what future decisions are to be made.
3) My group and I have been able to create a shared vision. With our project that was not really the difficult part of the assignment. The more difficult of the tasks was gaining some sort of direction and guidance as to what could be done and what was allowed. With a better understanding of those logistics not gained, we have made the decision to focus more so on the events already implemented and one single event. This was decided easily as it seems we would be more successful if our efforts were more focused as opposed to in various different sub-projects.
4) I would advise any future groups to keep up with the project. It’s important to maintain group meetings and to stay on top of the workload. Not procrastinating the entire thing until the last few weeks is vital. Also staying on top of those advising you on the project or the individuals involved with the group should also be a main priority. It will make the project as a whole move smoother and with less stress on the group as a whole.
Part I:
ReplyDeleteMental modes that need adjustment seem to be few and far between as far as core beliefs within the E.D.G.E. organization, and the adjustments we needed to make with our group were minor ones. I for example needed to tweak my habit of procrastinating in order to fit better with the goals and style of the rest of the group. Any changes other group members met were not obvious to me, so I think for the most part we have managed to use personal mastery to lessen the need for changes. We have all been open minded during the planning for our event, allowing us to embrace each of the other members’ creativity and come up with some great ideas. This openness has also produced a level of comfort and showed us that our fellow members respect us and value our opinions and input. Amanda and Julia presented us with a document outlining the E.D.G.E. organization’s mission statement, how they came to be, etc., which helped us all to get a better understanding of what they are all about. This comprehension of systems thinking has aided us in how we can work and what kinds of things will be valued by E.D.G.E., helping guide us in our ideas for the event. Acquiring a Shared Vision was not difficult after reading this document, as their organizational vision is very clear, and we all thought they had a great mission and vision for themselves. We discussed what E.D.G.E is all about at our first meeting and got a good grasp on their outlook, which has grown as we have worked together more.
Part II:
1) Procrastination is a big part of my life, and it sometimes gets me into trouble. Most of the other members of my group are very proactive, and have therefore forced me to behave similarly, and get things done on a time schedule. If I had continued to do things the way I normally do, it would most likely still have gotten completed, but it would have stressed out my group members and potentially damaged my relationships with them.
2) Throughout this process, we have allowed each step to be very transparent. Since the first meeting when we broke into committees, and the idea of doing so was given to us simply as a suggestion we could deny and come up with something else instead, it was clear we were being trusted and valued as a part of this process. We have continued to e-mail each other within committees and the entire group to keep each other posted on each step we take, and this has made for us to be a more cohesive group. We also all came into this with an excitement that has made us easy to work with, and we were all ready to be a part of this experience so it didn’t take much work to get us to be enthusiastic about the event.
3) Although it has never been directly stated within our group, I think we would all agree on what the goals are of the organization and what our vision is for our event in particular as well. It was pretty easy to come to this understanding because the vision Julia and Amanda described was very clear. I think most of us adopted it without reservation as we agree with their mission and were excited to be a part of perpetuating it. We have all been very open to listening to each other’s ideas and opinions, which has helped us to form a vision that is reflective of the E.D.G.E organization itself.
4) Make sure you all understand what the goals of the organization are on a daily basis in their work, not just for this one project. Knowing what the vision of the org is will help you understand the reasoning behind how this specific event even came about, which will be useful when coming up with a shared vision for your group. This will also make the vision less like a statement you decided upon, and more like a natural, inherent, concept that goes along with the project. Throughout the process, remain open minded. As people come up with different ideas, these can change the vision, and that is not necessarily a bad thing - you need to be open to this to allow the work you do to be the best possible.
Part I:
ReplyDeleteUnderstanding how our organization truly works is pertinent with our project. Because our organization is a virtual organization it is more difficult to gain an understanding of how our organization works. Barbara provided useful information about the projects past and current state through e-mail. With her information our group was given a better understanding of where this project originated, and how they operate. Through Barbra’s information, group and individual research my group members and I were able to find out more about other organizations who are working on the playground as well. Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation has a primary role in the construction of the project. My group members and I were fortunate enough to meet with David Wigginton, a member of Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation directly involved with “A Dream Come True.” From our meeting with Mr. Wigginton we were able to grasp an understanding of how Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation operates with Barbara and is involved with “A Dream Come True,” as well as other organizations involved like the actual construction companies. “A Dream Come True” is possible through many different organizations getting their individual parts completed.
Personal Mastery is evident throughout every portion of our service learning project. My group members and I have learned to be open with each other from when we can meet to what ideas and final decisions we’ve made. We realize that is important to hear everyone out and fully contemplate all ideas to lead to the best results. Personal mastery was also evident when we spoke with David; he said that between Barbara and the Girl Scout’s ideas (the originators of “A Dream Come True”) and his organizations ideas they have had to compile and compromise on ideas and decisions for the playground to become what it has so far.
My group shares a vision on how we are going to accomplish our task at hand, fundraising and promoting “A Dream Come True.” We’ve worked together and come up with ideas eventually finalizing what we are going to do. We now all have one common goal to focus on. Because the playground is possible through many different organizations it is more imperative than ever to have a shared vision. It’s important that all the companies and even volunteers know the common goal that “A Dream Come True” is aiming for. This can only lead to more success and easier communication between all members of the project.
Team learning is also apparent throughout my group and the organizations we are working with. My group members and I must all work together to achieve a successful finished product in this case raising money for the playground and making people of the Harrisonburg community of the goals of the playground. Within my group we divide up tasks and inform each other of what is happening with our individual tasks, it is important that we keep each other on the same page. We found that dividing up the tasks is the best way to accomplish things because many things like contacting people of organizations or e-mailing Barbara do not necessitate an entire group, and more tasks can be accomplished at once this way. Team learning is seen through “A Dream Come True” when different organizations work together to build the playground. Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation worked on location, ideas, and maintenance of the area, while Barbara works on fundraising, while another company creates specialized parts for the playground, while yet another company builds the actual playground. If these organizations did not cooperate and work together there would be no playground, each and every organization is pertinent to “A Dream Come True” playground.
Part II:
ReplyDelete1) I have not had to set aside any old ways thinking to work more effectively with my group; however, I’ve had to become flexible when working with our organization. We are working with a virtual organization, and Barbara the director prefers to communicate only through e-mail. I would prefer to meet in person at least a couple of times because more things can be accomplished and in a timely matter, but Barbara is our boss so we must comply with her wishes.
2) There are no specific conversations that have taken place to help me and my group be more open to the experience, however, we have met many times and everyone in the group is open to listening to everyone’s ideas and thoughts. My group members and I are very flexible and considerate with each other making it very easy to communicate with one another and brainstorm for our project.
3) My group has been able to create a shared vision. Given our project it was pretty apparent at what our outcome should be, our shared vision consists more of how specifically we’re going to achieve our goal. We’ve all decided that it is best to focus on events the organization has already begun and to help and market the events. It was decided that it’s best to focus on one or a few things rather than many little things to accomplish our task.
4) I would advise future service-learning teams to be open to each other and everyone’s ideas. Communicating all ideas even the lesser ones can lead to new better ideas forming. I believe it’s also pertinent to be flexible with meetings and different forms of communication. Working in a group and with other organizations it can become very difficult to all meet and communicate effectively. Of course communicating with your organization and sharing a vision with them, so you have a positive result. Lastly I would advise to begin immediately because you never know what bumps you might run into down the road, the sooner you begin the more time the group has for preparation.
PT. 1:
ReplyDeleteBeing open with others is a crucial part of maintaining a successful organization. Ellie was always open with her staff and residents, double checking her plans and making sure everything that was scheduled would run smoothly. For example, Ellie asked a nurse from the dementia wing of the care center if her patients were well tempered to be around the 5th graders before the children arrived. She had a few problems with the patients a few days prior to speaking to the nurse, and had to be open with her in order to ensure that everyone would have a good time.
Everyone at the BRC works together and are very approachable when you do not know how to do something. For example, when the Easter baskets were finished, an employee kept asking Ellie about the delivery system, and how she chose to allocate the treats.
Although Ellie gave our group a lot of freedom with the Easter egg hunt, she always ran everything by each member so that we were on the same page. When we created our invitations, she made sure each member knew what to put on the paper, making the format clear to everyone.
PT 2:
1. The biggest thing I had to put aside was procrastination. I tried my hardest to keep on track with deadlines prior to the event because I knew that one thing depended on previous work/efforts (i.e. donations). All the group meetings with Ellie at the BRC and donation hunting finally paid off in the end.
2. -Residents (Mr. & Mrs. Quay—Mr. Quay was a smokejumper!) I met this couple that read to our set of preschoolers. They opened up to me about their life and family, and were so welcoming the whole entire day.
-Nurses – I had conversations with many nurses regarding the residents in the dementia wing of the BRC. Learning about the residents made me want to get to know them more on a personal level.
3. Yes. We all communicated thoroughly (i.e. – if someone couldn’t make it to a meeting, they would inform that person about what was missed) and made sure everyone agreed to plans/ideas before moving on. Everyone put in quality effort into this project, and it really shows.
4. -Don’t wait until the last minute to do anything
-If you don’t understand something/are confused, don’t be afraid to ask a group member
-Shoot for more than you think – go to many different places for donations to see who will help out
-Accept that not everything will go your way
Shared Vision: With six people working on our team, we all individually had an idea about the way we saw the Easter Egg Hunt playing out. In addition to our six visions, we also had the vision of Ellie and the BRC to take into account. In order for our event to be completed successfully and to produce an event we were all proud of. There were many little details to work out, such as the type of food to serve and the way the invitations to the elementary school and the residents should be created and delivered. After each sharing our ideas of why we thought a certain way, we realized the overall appearance and execution that we wanted the event to take on and used that shared vision to guide everything we did.
ReplyDeleteSystems Thinking: Since none of us had ever participated in the Easter Egg Hunt before, or any other event at the BRC, we had to figure out what the purpose of the event was and why BRC was hosting it. Through talking with Ellie, residents, and visiting the BRC, we experienced the culture of the company and the importance of welcoming, positive attitudes and a genuine respect for everyone, especially the residents and visitors. When we adopted that community feeling into our work, we were able to adopt a systems thinking perspective.
Personal Mastery: The members of our group had various levels of planning events. To use everyone’s resources and knowledge the best, we had to be open to listening about suggestions and comments on prior experiences that could benefit our current project. For example, some group members knew how to go about asking for donations, which helped others in their search for donations as well.
Team Learning: Our group worked really closely together to make our event a success. There was always a majority of the group members attending each meeting with Ellie at the BRC, who them email everyone with a complete update of what was discussed at the meeting. We also created groups within our group to assign people tasks. We communicated during every class session about our progress, and used email and phone communication frequently. Everyone in the group was invested in the project and we realized no one group member could do all the work themselves and have it turn out successful, so in turn we adopted a team work attitude.
Part II
ReplyDelete1) I have a tendency to take on a lot of responsibility and sometimes prefer to do things myself so that I know it is being completely efficiently and accurately. For this project, I had to realize that I was one of six members who all wanted a successful event. In turn, I had to trust that my group members who were assigned to certain tasks would complete them in the same way, or even better, than if I had tried to do them myself.
2) Our group discussed often how excited Ellie was of the progress we made planning for the event, and for the event as a whole on the actual day. Something as simple as saying we got balloon donations from a local flower shop made her so genuinely happy. To see her excited about the event made everyone else in the group excited about the event and motivated to make it the best it could be.
3) Our group was definitely able to create a shared vision. To do this, we broke down the event into each section (food, drinks, decorations, attire), discussed what each person thought, discussed pros and cons, and decided what we felt would best suit the event and what we felt we could successfully achieve. Ellie gave us a lot of direction in terms of the vision she saw for the egg hunt, and that helped guide us in all our decisions. I think we were successful in combining her vision and our vision into one.
4) I think the most important thing is to recognize that it is in fact a group project geared towards creating a shared vision for someone other than simply yourselves. The quicker groups realize they are reporting to someone else who is posing as their boss figure, the sooner they should adapt their work style to fit that. I also think the entire group should always be in the know about all decisions and plans being made. The more a group member feels like they are a vital part of the organization, the more invested everyone will be and the more coherent your visions will be to created a shared vision.
Many of the systems theory concepts relate to my service project, the “A Dream Come True Playground”. For our project there is not really one specific organization that we are working with. In order to complete the task of finishing the playground and installing the expensive wheelchair swing, many organizations and people must work together. The heads of the organization must put aside what their ways of thinking (mental modes), and go with the flow. There have been a series of challenges for the people involved in the project. Some of the original plans for the park were scrapped because they were either too expensive or just too hard to complete, like a petting zoo. Some people’s ways of thinking were altered so the larger picture could be accomplished. The second thing the organizers of the park do is understand how the company really works (systems thinking). Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation is funded by the government, therefore, they have to sell their project to the highest bidder. This becomes difficult because HPR cannot just go out and find companies to work with. It is essential that all members of the project know how this system works so things do not get confusing. With so many people invested in the playground, it is important to form a plan that everyone can agree on (shared vision). The playground was originally the idea of a Girl Scout group in the idea. When it was taken over by Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation, they needed to work together to come up with a shared idea or vision of the playground. Finally, the people involved in building the playground must work together to achieve the shared vision (team learning). Everyone had a part in the final project. From decorating a tire that lines the equipment, to building the park itself, everyone needed to work together to accomplish the final project.
ReplyDelete1. One way of thinking that I put aside to work with my group is that working with a group is very hard and nothing gets done. In my group, we are all very invested in the project and have all helped out in some way. I think my group has accomplished a lot in a short amount of time with the resources we have. Also, it is very easy to work with my group because we all want to help each other.
2. Today we had a conversation with the assistant director of Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation, David Wigginton. This conversation opened our doors to all of the planning, organizing, and implementing that goes on to create one park. Talking to him about how the park got started and why it came about really opened me and my group up to the responsibilities the people involved have. It also got us more excited to have our own fundraiser and start to become involved, also.
3. Our group does have a shared vision. We know that we want to have an event to raise money for the playground, but at first we did not know how to go about doing that. We had many ideas, including a golf tournament, a 5K run, and a night at a restaurant to gain money, but those all fell through. Finally, we came to an agreement to have a pottery night that will give 20% of the proceeds to the playground.
4. My advice to future groups is to start early with many ideas. When you have a lot of ideas to go off of, you can really see which ones could actually work and people would actually go to. When you start plans for a project early, you have more time to complete your activity and be happy with the work you put in.
Part I:
ReplyDelete1. Personal mastery: As a group, we began by being upfront about our goals and expectations for the project. We all agreed that we wanted to go above and beyond what was expected to really make the best out of the experience. We also learned to be open with Ellie and ask her whenever we were unclear or unsure of something. This was a little difficult at first because we did not have prior experience interacting as a group or with the BRC, but it became much easier as we got more comfortable!
2. Systems thinking: In order to understand how the BRC runs, we asked Ellie to give us a tour. During that time, she explained the different wings and functions of the BRC. On many of our visits, including the day of the event, she would introduce us to someone (ie: one of the vice presidents or the head of facilities management) and then explain what their job entailed. We also met many of the employees who assisted with different parts of our event and were able to get a better understanding of how their jobs fit into the grand scheme of things.
3. Shared vision: As mentioned, we came up with goals and expectations from the beginning so that we knew we were all on the same page. Throughout the process we updated the rest of the group and Ellie on the progress so that we could be sure everything was in line with that vision. Since one of our main goals was to have fun and exceed expectations, it was pretty easy for everyone to agree!
4. Team learning: In working together to achieve our shared vision, our team was able to plan an extremely successful event. We split up the task of asking for donations, but did so in pairs so that we were still working with another group member. On the day of the event, we all assisted in setting up, greeted the elementary schoolers, and communicated very well to make sure everything went according to plan!
Part II:
ReplyDelete1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team?
In many situations, I prefer to accomplish tasks on my own so that I can ensure that they are done correctly and efficiently. For this project, I had to depend on others to keep their word and complete their tasks on time. This was essential to working effectively with my team, because trusting that they would their part not only kept down my stress level but also kept everyone invested in the project. In the end, this team effort paid off immensely as I think we are all very pleased and proud of the results!
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience?
I think the conversations that opened our group up to the experience were the ones we had with Ellie. All throughout the planning process she was there to encourage our ideas and support our decisions. She was also extremely excited for our event, which helped us to get excited as well! As the event grew near, the conversations among group members about exactly how the day would go also helped us be more open because we were more comfortable with the schedule and knew what we needed to do. In addition, as we were waiting for the first bus of 5th graders to arrive, we were able to speak with one of the students and her mom, who arrived early. I think this conversation helped us get even more excited for the students’ arrival and really see the impact we were having. We were also able to speak with several BRC residents throughout the day and were told over and over again how much they appreciated everything. Although these conversations occurred during the event, I think it still opened our eyes and hearts to the experience even more!
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision?
Our group created a shared vision from the very beginning. We began by brainstorming the ideas we had for the event. I think we created an atmosphere where everybody was comfortable sharing their ideas and expressing their opinions. Much of the day was already planned out for us, so going over the schedule and gaining a better understanding of the event together helped us to stay on the same page. We kept up constant communication and tried to stay excited for our event so that we could stick to our plan!
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision?
I think that the most important thing is to realize that the project can only go well with the help of everybody. Although there are some instances when things may be easier to do alone, if you keep up constant communication throughout the process, it’s much easier to create and stick to your shared vision! The second most important thing, in my opinion, is to make your vision something that everybody will enjoy. If you enjoy the experience, you’re much more likely to want to stick to the plan and follow through with your tasks. Finally, I would advise finding out as much as possible about the organization or project you are working on. Speaking with Ellie and hearing all of the wonderful outcomes of this event [both in the past and just from the planning we had done!] really motivated us to do the best that we could with everything, so that it would have the greatest impact.
Part I:Peter Senge was right when thought as organizations have the capacity to learn and in doing so people must accomplish
ReplyDeleteMental modes- Putting aside old ways and habits can be a challenge especially coming into a new environment, system, and organization. At the BRC I came in knowing nothing but the planning of middle school, high school and college recognition banquets. Planning for a high school banquet requires no entertainment, some food, a few speeches here and there and of course presents. Being at the BRC has taught me how there is an evident contrasting set of values from the youth today to the elderly and middle aged population who will be dictating the attendance at the BRC.
Personal mastery- Working with Elle has definitely been a growing experience. She has a certain way she likes things for instance she loves having a tri-fold that displays pictures. Even though there is always going to be a power point slide show in consistency with staying green to eliminate the tri-fold. However being able to understand that Elle values the tri-fold as being a part of the banquet is something I had to accept and be open with. From that I learned to accept others especially being open to their ideas.
Systems thinking- By being able to take a tour and have a nice 3 hour long introduction with Elle I was able to get a better grasp on the community that resides there. Even though it is the Bridgewater Retirement Community it still can be considered a company to run efficiently. By taking a tour and seeing how this company puts its focus on being a community in all aspects. From the relationships that are established between the workers to residents to the several programs the hold for the residents daily that made you feel like you were on a cruise ship the BRC. The website states “Simple pleasures. Abundant life.” This description instills the values of enjoying the simple things in life such as community, friendship and relationships which is what the BRC encourages in all aspects.
Shared Vision- Being able to share a vision is important when deciding on a goal or maintaining a shared direction with everyone. Elle was great by structuring a timeline for our team to follow. Together we were able to designate what needed to get done and what specific times. It was also really helpful when deciding what the theme was so we all shared the same vision of what the banquet should look like. Our plan to create a beach theme where “Volunteers Warm the Heart” was a collaborative effort that we all shared the goal of designing the banquet to look and feel like the title.
Team Learning- Working together to build our heartfelt theme has been a warming experience in itself. When you work with a team of collaborative people you tend to produce more creative and unique outcomes. Because our team and Elle have the same goal and share a desire to make a successful banquet we have been able to share the experience of putting a successful volunteer banquet together. Our vision has allowed us to formulate plans and execute them together to hopefully create a wave of a time.
Part II:
ReplyDelete1) I have set my past experiences as a student council member who plans and executes dances and banquets aside. These experiences are unnecessary and have no relevance to the project. I also have stepped down as a leader/ dictator because our team is collaborative in ideas and executing them and I am striving hard to not monopolize one area or hinder the relationships that have been established through this process.
2) Being able to talk on a regular basis has definitely been helpful. Respecting one another’s ideas and opinion has also been great to bounce ideas off eachother. Even if one idea doesn’t realistically sound good or make sense no one on our team shoots another down. The four of us believe in a team partnership that is balanced and equalized. We were able to have great discussions about what to give the volunteers as gifts. We each had a different idea and together we choose something different together that elaborated from our individual ideas.
3) By choosing a theme the third time we met was a great benchmark. By creating a theme we all saw a visual goal to obtain for the actual banquet. This process including talking with Elle about past themes and then having a brain storming session with the three other people in my service learning group. The only prevalent barrier was pleasing Elle which I do not perceive to be a barrier a total barrier but an important check point. As a team we realized Elle made the final say so making sure our decisions collaborating with her desires was important to our shared vision.
4) I think the best advice is to stay open with one another. Our service learning group has worked so well together because we all share the value of openness and collaborative team work. We respect one another and each other’s opinions. Together these ideals create a very successful service learning team.
Part I:
ReplyDeletePersonal Mastery- As college students we tend to prefer more independent learning and projects, but service-learning projects take us out of our comfort zones and challenge us to use the skills of our peers as well as improve our communication and teamwork. For example, instead of strictly delegating out tasks, we keep everyone informed via our Wiggio group and use feedback and collaboration in each element.
Systems Thinking- To learn how the BRC works and become more familiar with the culture, Ellie led us on a tour of a few of the main buildings and told us stories of the numerous programs they hold, the achievements of the residents, showed us many important departments, and introduced us to her peers and supervisors as we crossed paths.
Shared Vision- Our group immediately clicked and it was a fun and easy process to create a shared vision. We were very excited about every suggestion and brain storming session, and the real challenge was narrowing our choices down to our given budget. We are very fortunate in that each of us have a passion for doing things for others and making the experience fun for all parties involved.
Team Learning- Using Wiggio groups and regularly keeping in touch in class and via cell phone, we’ve remained very coordinated and equally involved in each task to be completed. Regular phone calls and meetings with Ellie ensure that she is just as involved with the progress and can give us her input and feedback, only increasing the cohesiveness of the project.
Part II:
1) Becoming involved with the Bridgewater Retirement Community forced me to set aside my previous ideas about retirement homes. Compared with past homes that I have visited, the BRC embodies a completely different culture. When first walking into the BRC I had no idea how active the staff was in making the community a fun and engaging environment for the residents. Ellie especially surprised me with the level of dedication and passion she has for her job and for the people she works with.
2) Our first conversation with Ellie really opened the door to the possibilities we had to be creative and truly be a part of the reception. Ellie is always very enthusiastic about hearing our ideas and eager to tell us about years past in order to stimulate our creativity and show her support. Seeing and hearing how excited Ellie is about the entire process has helped us be more comfortable and think outside of the box in order to make the reception enjoyable for all. Furthermore, every group meeting only increased our excitement and dedication to making it the best reception possible.
3) Our group easily created a shared vision in a very short time. After coming to an agreement with Ellie for a theme for the reception based on previous years, our group implemented group brainstorming and created a list of ideas consistent with our chosen theme. From that list we all bounced ideas off of each other to determine the best and appropriate choices not just for us, but for Ellie, the community, and the volunteers for whom the reception is for. By focusing on the purpose of the reception, we easily compiled the perfect choices for making our vision a reality.
4) I would advise taking advantage of the fact that you have a group to work with and instead of falling victim to group think, utilize everybody’s creativity. The fact that each person comes from a different background with different views on the world only increases the potential and thought pool from which ideas originate. I have truly enjoyed how much our personalities click within the group and each of us feed off the ideas of the others. I would also advise future groups to visit the scene. Do research and meet some of the people who run the organization, as well as those across various areas. To know a culture is to know the working parts, encouraging identification with the project and those involved.
Part I:
ReplyDeleteWith any organization it is important to learn to be open with others. In my service learning group with the BRC Health Fair, personal mastery has allowed us to be creative and to accept ideas that my other group members have. Molly was the leader of her high school’s Relay For Life, and had experience with calling companies for donations. Her experience with this was beneficial for our group, because not only was she able to come up with an outline for us to use for our calls, but she was able to get all of her companies to participate and/or donate to the health fair. Because we were open to her suggestions, we had overall success with finding companies to work with us. Understand how the company works is also very important. We have had meetings with Lindsay from the BRC to talk about the fair and have exchanged e-mails with her asking questions so we can better understand how the organization works. We have also taken trips up to the BRC to get a feel for their culture. Lindsay from the BRC helped our group with our shared vision by giving us a schedule of what to do. We knew that by this date, we needed to have our flyer ready; by this date we needed to have our vendors called, and as the health fair approaches, we need to begin calling places for food donations and so forth. Having a shared vision keeps us on track to have a successful event. Our group has had no problems working together. We openly communicate with each other and I have trust in my group members that they will do their part. Today we are going back to the BRC to have another meeting with Lindsay to make sure that all things are in order for our fair.
Part II:
1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team?
This has probably been the easiest group I have worked with while at JMU. I feel this way because the groups were selected from us writing about why we wanted to be in the group and what we could contribute. That plays huge part in the group members being motivated to really but their best effort into making the event a success. I have not had to put any old ways of thinking aside to work effectively with my team.
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience? The meetings with Lindsay have helped us to be more open to the experience. Her enthusiasm about the event and telling us how much the residents at the BRC enjoy the event has made us more excited about helping out.
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision?
Yes we have created a shared vision. This was in part due to Lindsay’s schedule, but for the most part, everyone is very agreeable and there have not been any details that we all did not agree on. Since our group is so small, I think that makes it easier to agree on details.
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision?
The most important piece of advice I would give to future groups is to be open and be responsible. The worst kind of person to work with, in my opinion, is someone who does not listen to anyone else’s ideas and does not do their part. Not all groups are easy to work with, but I feel that there is always a way to reach an agreement if group members are open. In this case, all of the groups are doing something to help a larger community. It’s not about you! The purpose is not to get your point across or to have the best idea, but to work together and feel good out your part and to have a positive effect on whatever project you are working on.
Part 1:
ReplyDeleteThe Gus Bus group has met some challenges in appeasing the desires of the leaders of the organization when it came to what activities we would be creating for the betterment of the bus. Initially, we thought that we would just go in and they would give us something they needed to get done, and that changed very quickly. We had free reign to organize whatever we wanted. In giving us this freedom, our group found these four components of Senge’s management.
Mental Modes- going into the Gus Bus organization, our group had the idea that we were going to go in, they would give us a project or a direction to help with the program and that we wouldn’t have a lot of personal responisibility and freedom with our project. Since we are students we are used to getting an assignment and finding a way to complete it, more than likely using the least amount of resources as possible, our brainpower included. We had to change this attitude immediately because the moment we stepped in, we were expected to come up with our own way to help and implement it.
Personal Mastery- as a group we had to learn to be open with one another so we could come up with as many creative ideas as possible. We had to learn to compromise so we could decide what the best way to get things done would be. We also had to be able to discuss disagreements with others ideas, without being offended if a certain idea wasn’t chosen.
Shared vision- as a group working with an established organization, we all had to focus our energy on an end goal. In the beginning all of our ideas were shot down and we didn’t really know where to go fundraise and make the advisors happy. After the first meeting the group had the idea we would just be gathering books for the bus, and in the second meeting we learned that we didn’t understand what she had wanted in the first meeting so we had to go back to the drawing board. Finally, we came to an agreement and now we are all working towards selling Koozies to raise money.
Team learning- as we are getting creative with fundraising ideas, we are all working together to achieve the goal of raising as much money as possible for the Gus Bus.
Part 2:
1. I didn’t have any personal ideas that I had to set aside to work with the group. My group wants this to be successful and everyone is willing to put in the work, so it makes it easy to distribute work and get things done. I would say that our group is a lot more open with each other now that we have gotten to know one another and that makes it easy to get things accomplished.
ReplyDelete2. The second conversation with Pat Kennedy was an eye opener because apparently we all took an incorrect direction from the first meeting. When she told us that she didn’t want books and they just wanted money, after we had already set up a plan for a book drive, we were all looking at each other confused as to how the miscommunication happened. We realized as a team that we needed to start from scratch with something creative, because it was going to be difficult getting approval from Pat. I think this is where as a group we started really working as a group, understanding that this was going to take time and creativity from all of us.
3. We now have a shared vision as to how we are going to raise money for the bus. We are selling Koozies to JMU students and we all have an understanding of how and where we are selling them. A facebook page has been created to announce the event and we have all invited as many people as we could to attend the event. We had thrown around a few ideas of doing sun glasses and fundraising dinners, but we decided to just go with the Koozie. It was an easy decision for the group to make.
4. The best advice I would give would be don’t get too attached to one idea because it is easier to change directions if need be. It took us four tries to get approval for this event, and we had more ideas than that just between the group. Being open to new ideas and creative options is the best thing you can do during a service learning project, especially because most people haven’t done something like this before. Having a shared vision is so important because the work will be unevenly distributed if everyone isn’t on board with the idea.
Part I: Mental Modes: Personally, I feel that none of the group members had to put away any old ways of thinking to be able to work on this project efficiently and effectively. I feel that because we wanted open communication throughout the process, no one was afraid to express how they felt or what ideas they had. Personal Mastery: For our service learning project there were 6 group members and we all came into the project with different ideas. So from the beginning of the project, we stayed open with our ideas and suggestions. By being open with our ideas, we were able to work well as a team and the communication remained open and honest throughout the entire project. Our communication with Ellie was also open, which allowed us to ask her questions if we were stuck or confused. There was a time in the project where we were having a hard time thinking of places to ask for donations, so we talked to Ellie and she gave us ideas of places that volunteers had used in the previous years. Systems thinking: To learn how the BRC worked, Ellie gave us a tour of most of the community. As we were walking around, she would say what each department or section was responsible for. Shared vision: after several meetings with Ellie we came up with a plan for how the entire day of the Easter egg hunt would play out. We made a plan for what needed to get done before the Easter egg hunt, such as getting donations and materials. We even made a plan for what we need to do now that the Easter egg hunt is over, such as writing thank you notes and sending pictures to teachers. These plans prepared us and made our project run smoothly. Team learning: Our group worked very well together and our group worked very well with Ellie. I think that because we had all the above (mental modes, personal mastery, systems thinking, and shared vision) this helped us to be on the same page and achieve a successful Easter egg hunt. We know that our event was successful because everything played out smoothly and the happiness we saw on each child and BRC member’s face.
ReplyDeletePart II: 1. Like I said earlier, I feel that no one had to put any old ways of thinking aside. This was because we expressed how important everyone’s ideas were and the importance of open communication. I feel that by having individual differences and ideas brought to the table, it helped to bring about more ideas for the Easter egg hunt. 2. I feel that all the conversations we had with Ellie motivated everyone to get excited about the Easter egg hunt. Just to see the way she communicated with everyone and how she was so excited about the event, made the group members and I motivated to make this the best Easter egg hunt the BRC has ever seen. 3. I definitely feel that our group was able to create a shared vision. We had multiple meetings with Ellie, where we were able to come up with multiple ideas and talk about what needed to get done for the Easter egg hunt to run smoothly. I know for a fact that all the preparation and planning is what made our Easter egg hunt run so smoothly. Since we broke down the day into different sections and discussed each section in great detail, it helped to make sure everyone understood and had a say in how the day would play out. 4. I think that open communication is one of the most important things in how to have in order to achieve a shared vision. By talking openly and honestly, everyone will feel part of the team and everyone will be motivated to work hard on the task at hand. Another important to do, is to learn a lot about the organization so that you can plan an event that will parallel with the organizations goals, vision, and mission statement. Lastly, I feel that having a plan, that everyone understands and is a part of; will help the event run smoothly and efficiently. Remember that in order for the project to run smoothly, everyone needs to do their part.
ReplyDeletePart I:
ReplyDeleteMental modes
In my past three years of college I’ve gotten very used to the individual nature of my projects and getting my school work done on my own accord. I’ve learned how to manage my time and collage my day with different projects at any free moment that I find myself with. This semester, I’ve been faced with the challenge of a half a dozen group projects which have tested this learned trait and made me rethink my way of accomplishing tasks whenever it’s convenient for me to do so.
Personal mastery
In working with a group that is so large, especially for the service learning groups, it’s been a challenge to get all of our busy schedules to coincide. With other academic and social obligations, each of us has a uniquely busy schedule. As is probably true of most of my group members, I quickly had to learn that what was convenient for me was not necessarily convenient for everyone else. There were definitely times that I had to rearrange plans, reschedule meetings, and figure out a way to get on the same page with group members at times which may not have been my first pick.
Systems thinking
At our first meeting, Amanda and Julia provided us with a handout that described the mission, goals, and purpose of the E.D.G.E. initiative. We were made to understand where they came from, what they stand for, and what their goals are as far as their events are concerned. This was very useful in getting to know the organization’s values in a short amount of time in a way that was concise and to the point. This helped us to quickly adapt to the mission of the organization and align our own perceptions with that of the office.
Shared vision
From our very first meeting, we realized that it was impractical to assume that everyone could meet for every matter of business. We quickly discovered that our busy lives and other obligations would be less obtrusive if we divided into subgroups and had some sort of autonomy within our field. We agreed that we should always keep our supervisors up-to-date about our accomplishments, but that we could make most of the decisions as far as our committees were concerned. We were given our budget and decided that the most effective way to share that would be to divide it up evenly, saving the overflow for other committees which might need more. We have large group meetings every few weeks to make sure that we are all on the same page to achieve the mission of that we have set for ourselves.
Part II:
ReplyDelete1) I definitely had to surrender my notion of time as a matter of personal convenience, although this issue never created an active problem within our service-learning group. I would say that for the most part, our group is very much on the same page about our mission and the way that we want to go about completing that mission; this has, in turn, created a very productive work environment.
2) After receiving our task and being given an understanding of the office, we were pretty much given free rein to plan the event as we saw fit. We divided ourselves up into subcommittees that suited our preferences and talents, and have been charged with completing the mission of that subcommittee with a sense of autonomy. We have brainstorming sessions with both our subcommittees as well as the large-group to share any ideas or thoughts that we have, and each of these things has really allowed me to feel as though I’m a true part of this experience.
3) I do believe that we have a shared vision. I think that our initial meeting, as I keep referring to, was a pivotal time in deciding what that vision was and how we would accomplish it. To each brainstorming session and committee meeting, we bring with us the foundation of the E.D.G.E. office as well as the goals that we have for the event. This has allowed us to make decisions individually which support the group consensus.
4) The two things that I have found to be most important in our group are early communication and an understanding of the foundation within the organization. I think that communicating very early about your personal vision as well as hearing others’ visions is very important because it allows you to know where all of your group members are coming from and vice versa. It’s important to know the values of the organization that you’ll be working with and to really develop your understanding of the event based on their foundation. These two things have been pivotal for the E.D.G.E group, and I would highly recommend them to future service-learning students.
Part I:
ReplyDeleteWhen I first looked at what this project was, I assumed there was a specific organization that would be working on the project. I pictured an office and someone who was in charge with the entire playground construction. When I realized this wasn't really an organization at all but a group of volunteers and different organizations pulled together, I had to put aside my old ways of thinking about the organization. This would be us just emailing and really having no one place to go and figure out what we are doing. For our group to be able to work with an organization like this, we had to be open with one another about what we were thinking because we were creating this project, in essence, from scratch. We needed to feel free to try new ideas with what we thought would work with the organization and with one another.
This organization is very much a systems organization because the parts are so scattered that there is no way to keep it all perfectly balanced and organized. Harrisonburg City Parks and Recreation is a big part of making this playground and they informed us that the designer of the playground and the contractors were not even located in Harrisonburg. So, this organization is mainly communication-based rather than actually meeting in person. After speaking with the Parks and Rec and Barbara (our contact person), we realized that we needed to have a shared vision that was to focus on one fundraising project but that our main focus should be on getting awareness out to the community in any way that we can.
Part II:
1) I know that personally, it took me a while to feel comfortable with no real structure to our project. Not having a "home base" or a contact person that would immediately email us back was challenging at first because I'm used to having more fixed rules and regulations with projects like this. However, once I got over the initial challenge, working with my team has become easy and enjoyable since we're all in the same boat.
2) We have all discussed the difficulties and the frustrations with the organization and tried to encourage one another that we are doing the best that we can. Knowing that we are all feeling the same way has made us realize how much we are able to do by spreading the word and volunteering at different events held by the organization.
3) Our vision has changed a great deal since the start of this project. At first, we envisioned ourselves doing a fundraising project aiding Barbara and our "Dream Come True" playground organization. Then, it was the same and even though it has changed, our group remains on the same page with our vision for the project. Now, through discussion amongst ourselves and emails from Barbara, we have scaled back our vision to only focus on a few projects. Since Barbara is so busy and has not had as much time as we had anticipated to answer our emails, our vision has become to simply do what we are able to with what information and tools we are given from Barbara and the organization. Although at times this has been frustrating, we have not had a problem seeing eye-to-eye with what we ultimately want to accomplish.
4) To keep in mind that you are all doing this project for the same reason and that you're each others allies in completing it. Also, have a meeting that is just about what you want to accomplish in regards to the project and how you're all going to contribute to making that happen.
Part I-
ReplyDeleteMental Modes: This concept can be applied to the beginning of our service learning project. Once we were assigned to a topic, my group clicked and set aside our individual mental modes almost immediately. You even had to tell us to wait to make plans until after we had talked to our representative. We had many different and exciting ideas about our project and in order to work together we needed to put our ideas together and compromise on various topics. For example, in one of our later meetings we had to choose which decades we wanted to focus on and what theme of decorations to buy. Some people including myself were hyped on a certain decade or a specific decoration. We each had to negotiate on what was best for our event.
Personal Mastery: During the same meeting as discussed before, we were deciding on what dance competitions to host and what costume contest categories to announce. I had an idea that in my head seemed like the bomb to me but I was a little hesitant to explain it to the group. My idea was a break dancing competition. I had to explain to the group my idea and try to persuade them why it would be awesome. However, I through the idea on the table without considering how many people could realistically break dance. Even though my idea was dismissed for good reason, it was important that I trusted the group to tell my thoughts to and for them to be open to my ideas in return.
Systems Thinking/Shared Vision: Prior to our group physically meeting, Amanda and Julia, the two leaders of our E.D.G.E. project emailed an exciting summary of who they are, what they do specifically at their work for RMH and E.D.G.E., what RMH’s role is in E.D.G.E., and most importantly what E.D.G.E. is. The email was a huge help to understand what organization we were working with. They defined themselves, how they work, how they want us to interact with them, etc. All, if not almost all questions were answered that we had regarding our roles as a team. High expectations of our group were also set as far as communication interaction to efficiently perform and work together. With a clear definition of how we needed to work together within our group and with the community, Julia and Amanda enabled us to be very successful in our communication and work together as we finalize our upcoming event.
Team Learning: Once communication expectations and tactics were defined, everything ran smoothly. We were set up into committees of PR, decorations, food/drink, and activities. Each committee talked directly to each other and Amanda and Julia through email. Then they reported directly to the rest of the group with questions, input, and finalized decisions. We all met at the site of our event to conjoin on everyone’s’ ideas for decorations, placement, etc. We managed a very efficient channel of communication that has worked well for our group to get things done collaboratively.
Part II-
ReplyDelete1) In many situations I feel that I am right, even when I am not. I felt I was very open to others’ suggestions about my ideas and took constructive criticism very well. I also made a conscience effort to give input when needed and let others speak when appropriate. I realized other people think differently which can spark a great deal of creativity together rather than an individual on their own.
2) Our group had a long discussion about twice on what activities to do while at the dance including a photo booth, costume contests, and dance contests. I think Amanda and Julia had some great ideas but they really let us do most of creative thinking and set a great example of how to listen to the other members in our group. So without actually saying anything, I think they showed us all how important it is to have varied input and actually listen and work together for the greater of our project.
3) We most definitely had a shared vision not only of what we wanted to accomplish together for this project, but also how we were actually going to make things work, given we are a large group. In the beginning our leaders, Amanda and Julia, defined our boundaries of how this project needed to work for the best result. They also defined areas for creativity and we met every other Tuesday to update our group on what was going on in each committee in the past 2 weeks, what deadlines needed to be met, and what we planned to accomplish in the lapse time before our next meeting. This really kept our large group on tract and helped us to have a shared vision of our future tasks.
4) Hope that you have great team leaders like Amanda and Julia that are so into their work with your organization. If you don’t have principals with similar management styles, have your team meet one every two weeks and discuss what you want to accomplish before the next meeting. It is also really important to give people tasks to do, otherwise they may fall out of interest in the project at hand. Finally, it is key to keep everyone on the same page in order for the project to run smoothly. Everyone will feel included and responsible for the success of the event.
Part 1: The four elements that closely relate to the "A Dream Come True" project are personal mastery, systems thinking, shared vision, and team learning. Personal mastery in the case of our project is very important because there are multiple organizations that are involved in the construction of the playground. We all assumed that we would be working with just one organization (City of Harrisonburg) throughout this process but it has turned out that there are multiple contractors and other organizations that play integral roles in the construction of the playground. We have been in contact with several of these organizations in order to get a better understanding of the project itself and our role in the grand opening on April 30th. Through our contact with the various organizations involved in the project we now have a better understanding of how the project has unfolded (systems thinking). Much of the communication between Harrisonburg City and the contractors involved in this project has been via email and phone conversations because many of the organizations are located outside of Harrisonburg (particularly Charlottesville and Virginia Beach). Coordinating meetings has been difficult because of the logistics but the project has still progressed successfully and with little problems. The shared vision of this project has been to create a revolutionary playground in Harrisonburg that can be enjoyed by children of all abilities. This vision has helped all of the organizations involved come to consensus on outstanding issues that have come out throughout the planning and construction process. Most of the ideas presented by the various organizations involved have been accepted by the City of Harrisonburg in order to make the playground as innovative and successful as possible. The vision is truly the primary driving force behind the success of "A Dream Come True". Our group has done a good job of being open with one another and finding ways in which each individual group member can provide for the project. We have had several meetings and have learned to work with each others schedules and take advantage of what everyone brings to the table in this project.
ReplyDeletePartI: My group (BRC Health Fair) has worked really great together. I think part of the reason is because we are one of the smaller groups, have similar classes, and are friends outside of 350.
ReplyDelete1) Put aside their old ways of thinking: Our group understands that this assignment is different than any other one we have done before. New ideas are embraced by the group, I think it’s hard to let go of our old way of thinking. Luckily, we share many of the same qualities and work really well together. The one thing that is hard for our group is to try not and put off the assignment because a real organization is relying on us to pull through a major event that happens at the BRC.
2) Learn to be open with others: We all have been considerate of each other’s ideas. When someone thinks of something innovative, the rest of the group is ready to use their suggestion. Again, we all knew each other before the assignment so we could skip the introduction phase that usually happens when you are assigned to a group. We are also considerate of each other’s schedules and try to adapt to everyone’s busy calendar, including our coordinator Lindsay.
3) Understand how the company really works: On the first day, Lindsay told us about the organization and the residents so that we could get a feel for how the organization is run. She tells us what residents may or may not like when we have had meetings in the past. She bases her knowledge on past BRC Health Fairs and her experience as the activities coordinator.
4) Form a plan everyone can agree on: On the first day we all sat down and made a very rough timeline that would get us through to the event. Because we are smaller than other groups, it was easy to meet up and change a schedule if we needed to. Decisions were easily made and there is not a person that is taking over. We have great group synergy.
5) Work together to achieve that vision: Lindsay is pregnant so we are trying to make the fair run easier that day. Most of our communication is through e-mail, but when we can we have met with her at the BRC (twice).
Part II:
1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team? Making time and scheduling out a timeline has pushed me to change my way of thinking. Knowing that other people are relying on me is causing me to procrastinate less.
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience? When we talk to Lindsay it helps our group see the common goal. Lindsay is always really open to our ideas.
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision? I think our group has a shared vision. We talk through ideas and are on the same page. Open communication has helped us. We call each other and talk though e-mail about the project. Our meetings together have been brainstorming and most ideas that are suggested are used because we have the same vision for how the fair is going to go.
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision? I would say to try and get to know each other right when the project is assigned. It is easy to be on the same page when you know each other’s personalities and are familiar with their schedules. Also, I would tell them to embrace change and new ideas. Someone’s ideas could lead to brainstorming and a better idea more suitable for the organization you are working with.
Part 2:
ReplyDelete1) In the past I have typically disliked working in larger groups because of constant scheduling conflicts and a lack of real cohesiveness. Also, I rarely work with groups in my major and most of the work that I do is individual. However, I have been pleased with the openness that my group has and the effective work we have done so far. We have been able to work around each others schedules and really find a good balance and a great working relationship.
2) We got involved in the playground project very late as the grand opening is at the end of April and the project began in 2001. However, we have been in contact with the various organizations involved in the playground project and we have been able to create a role for ourselves as a fundraiser towards the construction of the wheelchair swing. The project contributors have been very open to what we are trying to accomplish and have been happy accept our proposals and our involvement in the project.
3) We have definitely laid out the goals that we hope to accomplish in our project. We want to maximize the amount of contribution that we can make to the project and also have an effective presentation at the end of the semester. We have been in constant contact with each other to make sure that our vision is accomplished.
4) In order for groups to be effective with service learning they need to be very open to each group members schedule. Because most of this class is comprised of seniors, everyone is extremely busy as graduation approaches and group members need to be open to the fact that March, April, and May are hectic. My group has done well to work around each member's responsibilities and find a balance.
Mental Modes- Every year my family and I have an Easter celebration and even today we still hunt eggs, even my 24 year old cousins. It has always been a controlled environment where each person has one egg to find that has a lot of treats in it. Because of this I have one way of looking at Easter egg hunts.
ReplyDeletePersonal Mastery- With our group it was planned out pretty much for us what we needed to do. But how we went about doing the necessary tasks was up to us. Therefore we needed to communicate with each other well. It was decided that each person would have his personal tasks to accomplish.
Systems Thinking- At our first meeting with the Director of Volunteer Services, gave us a packet discussing the Retirement community and she talked with us more about it in detail. Also, throughout the project we have got to know the community and the residents and staff much better and see them as very kind individuals, especially Ellie Draper.
Shared Vision- Each of us worked separately and yet also together in order to make the best Easter egg hunt that we could. By having a common view of what we wanted the hunt to look like, we had a very successful project.
1. I had to think that about what was best for the team. This is the reason that I was wearing a particular set of bunny ears all day…
2. Talking with the residents and hearing how much that we enjoy the Easter egg hunt was really interesting. We talked with our reader, Mr. Quay, and he told us stories from his past that really made us appreciate the project much more.
3. Now that our project is over I can say that we had a very clear shared vision. Ellie was there every step of the way to guides us toward the final product.
4. I would say to be open with each other and above all, work together. If you are working by yourself, or better yet, working separately, you will never fully achieve the shared vision. It would be as if a clock’s gears were not touching and were just spinning with no goal.
Part I:
ReplyDeletePersonal Mastery- Working with my service learning group on the BRC Health Fair has been rewarding. My group is very small and only consists of myself and three other girls. Although it helped that we were all friendly before beginning our project, I can see that throughout the semester we have really been open to each other’s ideas and ways of thinking in order to plan the Health Fair. Also, our BRC liaison, Lindsay, has been very open to all of our ideas since they are coming from the point of view of both outsiders and students.
Systems Thinking-The group had to have a grasp for systems thinking because this project is something unlike anything we had ever done before. Before we could start planning and finding vendors for the Health Fair, we had to understand how the organization (BRC) worked in order to plan things that would be in their favor. We also learned a lot from Lindsay about the resident’s likes and dislikes so that it made it easier to specify which vendors to call or which activities to plan for the fair.
Shared Vision-It was not hard to make plans that everyone could agree on since many of us were doing this for the first time and brainstorming together to make the best plan. From the first day we met with Lindsay at the BRC we were all throwing out our ideas and piecing them all together to make for one solid plan.
Team Learning-Through meetings with my group members, as well as the occasional meeting with Lindsay at the BRC we are able to make the planning process go smoothly. The first thing we did was to see the work that had to be done, then we split it up fairly between the four of us (such as calling an equal amount of vendors) then we got back together and took the planning from there. This project would be a lot more difficult if it had to be done individually, and working in a group helps the group to get things done more quickly and efficiently.
Part II:
1)One thing that I have set aside to work with the group was my desire to have control of everything. The group has very good chemistry and there is not one person who does more work than any other. We all have our ways of thinking but when we can sit down and discuss our ideas, we come up with a clear plan of what has to be done.
2)I think the thing that has helped us all become more open was the fact that Lindsay from the BRC is so open and understanding. She understands that we are students, and although we are given a lot of responsibilities with this project, we are not professionals and this is our first time planning an event. She also listens to any of our questions or ideas and is always willing to help. If we had to work with someone who was not so open and understanding, I do not think that we would be as open to the experience, and we would not get as much out of the assignment than intended.
3)Our group definitely created a shared vision. As I have said earlier, we all had our own ideas coming into this project, but once we shared our ideas and were open to listening to each other, we were able to brainstorm and ensure that the final plan was something that we could all agree on.
4)I would tell future groups to recognize that you are not the only member in the group and that each person should play an equal role. That means that all ideas should be considered and every voice should be heard. One person cannot make a “shared vision,” it is the ideas of each member that can be put together for the purpose of the project.
Part I:
ReplyDeleteMental Modes: Once I found out that I was going to be a part of the team helping Gus Bus, I came into this project thinking of what I would do – call vendors to donate money and/or books and/or supplies. I also thought of fundraising ideas that could help raise money before talking to my group members. I thought of all these beforehand in order to be successful for the project and help the Gus Bus – that way when I would talk with my group members, I would be able to contribute to the group’s discussion.
Personal Mastery: Once talking over ideas with my group members, I realized that I had to be open and enthusiastic about each member’s ideas for the project. We all come from different backgrounds and have different, yet creative minds, to think of possible fundraising ideas. Each of my group members were open to each idea that was said to the group. This allowed us to be open to each other, and start forming interpersonal communication relationships with each other.
Shared Vision: As soon as we starting talking, we were brainstorming ideas. We came up with an idea and shared it with the Gus Bus organizers. They wanted us to raise money for the program instead of collecting books for the program. Gus Bus is in need of monetary donations. After much discussion we all decided on an idea to help raise money for the Gus Bus program. Our idea was to sell koozies and the organizers of Gus Bus liked our idea.
Team Learning: Once we had the idea of selling koozies to raise money, we all thought about when and where we could sell the koozies. We worked together to set up places and times, and have created an event on Facebook so that people know about our fundraising idea. We are working together to accomplish our goal of raising money for Gus Bus. It is important that we are all “on the same page” and are working together so that there are no miscommunications.
Part II:
1) I came into this project thinking of all the possibilities of what ideas would be the best to raise money for the Gus Bus. I am a very organized person so I like things to be done in a particular way. I thought I could help out the team by thinking of ideas beforehand. However, I soon realized that we had to all work together, and that everyone need to contribute ideas so that we could have the best possible idea for raising money for Gus Bus. We need an idea that we all could agree on, and work on together.
2) We had a meeting with the organizer for the Gus Bus, Pat Kennedy, who told us that the program needed more monetary funds instead of book donations. Therefore, once we had left the meeting, we all sat down and decided on ideas for raising money. We came up with an idea that Pat Kennedy didn’t think would work, so we worked together as a team to come up with a new idea, the koozie fundraiser.
3) We have the shared vision of the koozie as our main fundraiser for the Gus Bus. We were able to come to this conclusion after much thought and consideration. We all knew that we wanted to target the JMU student body. We thought of a fundraiser that would be fun and affordable for college students. The koozie was a great way to incorporate our expectations because it is affordable, fun, and usable during anytime.
4) I would advise future service-learning teams to be open to the experience of working with others. It is important to understand that everyone has different ideas and different ways of doing things. Therefore, the best way to have successful communication is to listen and provide constructive feedback. Everyone should be working together to achieve the group’s goal — there should be a shared vision among the group members.
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ReplyDeletePart 1:
ReplyDeleteMental Modes: Once embarking on this experience my group members and I realized we needed to get rid of our existing mental modes and to go into the BRC with an open mind. I have my preexisting ideas about what assisted living facilities were like and how they operated. Much to my surprise the BRC was nothing like I would have expected, there are both young and old staff members working collaboratively to see through the obligations of the day. Things move slowly within the BRC because there is attention paid to every little detail. I was used to working within a retail setting with orders given strictly from the boss which is similar to the BRC but the BRC is more collaborative and that is really relieving seeing that we are strangers coming into their setting.
Personal Mastery: One thing I have always been sort of afraid to do is to say “no, I don’t like that” or something similar when a group member presents an idea that is far off from mine. But, with my group we set out on the table what each of us was envisioning and sort of fed off one another’s ideas. Each of us got to control some aspect of the banquet whether it was the theme, the invitation, the poster, the food, music, etc. I think the only way this was made possible was because we were honest and upfront with one another but in a courteous way. This helped us move forward in our planning because we could decide whether or not we agreed on something and if not could find ways to tweak it to satisfy everyone.
Systems Thinking: Walking into the BRC our visit was sort of nerve racking. We waited in the front lobby for the volunteer coordinator, Ellie Draper. I was expecting Ellie to be a very professional, maybe hard to connect with human being. I was very wrong; Ellie greeted us with her warm smile and friendly southern accent. From then on my fears were gone, everyone was friendly to us and glad to know JMU students wanted to help out. One thing my group and I did need to realize is that the BRC is somewhat of a bureaucracy in that there is lots of paperwork and the decisions are made at the very top. Once we understood this it made it easier to finalize decisions because we knew who to ask, the boss. The boss, Jeff is extremely friendly and never really said no to any of our ideas. The BRC was so welcoming to our ideas and efforts that it really helped us get all of our goals done on time.
Shared Vision: Lastly my group was fortunate enough to have a pretty similar vision on what we wanted to accomplish at the banquet. We decided to meet one of the first nights after receiving our service-learning assignment so we could go over what we were expecting. We rented a dry-erase board and just got down to the small details. I especially made sure that everyone was on the same page. By meeting like this we were able to establish rapport and build trust in one another that will eventually contribute to our overall goal (the banquet on April 6th). I think we were able to come to a shared vision because we not only respected on another as individuals but we respected each others ideas and if we needed to voice our opinion we always did it in a respectful manner.
Part II:
1) Well, for one I have always been somewhat of a perfectionist and sometimes had anxiety from splitting work among group members (most likely a result of bad experiences). But, for this project I had to put my old ways of thinking about working with a group behind me. I had to invest trust in my team members no matter how little I knew about them. Fortunately, my team members are very hard working individuals and we have not experienced and lulls in productivity since we began. While we are a team, we do act as separate “organisms” in a sense when we delegate tasks among each other.
Part II continued..
ReplyDelete2) Once we were given our service-learning project (The volunteer recognition banquet), my group and I spoke about how excited we were about getting this event and shared our reasons for putting it as our top choice. By having this conversation we sort of made each other feel more positive about it and gave us the motivation to go to the BRC. Once we were there we acted collaboratively and worked off each other’s ideas. Since the beginning we have all been supportive of one another.
3) Yes, my group and I have come to a shared vision. I think my group and I were successful with reaching a shared vision because we have similar personality traits and values. We want to make the experience as memorable as we can for the volunteers. We are supportive of each other’s ideas and want the same outcome from the event. We met at the very start of the project, rented a white erase board in the library, and laid out each of our ideas for the event (theme, gifts, time, food, etc). We also recognized what was within reach of our budget and made decisions from there.
4) I would tell other groups to just recognize one another’s strengths and to be open to hearing any of their ideas. You need to allow yourself to let go of some of the responsibilities to enable your group members to pick them up. This is the best strategy to make sure all needs are met. Also, taking sequenced evaluations on how everyone is feeling about the way things are going is also a good technique. My group even set up a Wiggio site that we have communicated on, which I would highly recommend to other groups.
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ReplyDeletePart 1
ReplyDeleteIn my service learning experience personal mastery or learning to be open with others was achieved by communicating with my group. We have all been open with each other by keeping each other updated on the status of donations like who was able to give and what they gave. Also, if for reason someone couldn’t make a meeting a group member would send out an email to updating them and reviewing it for the rest of the group members. Systems thinking or understanding how the BRC works was achieved during our tours of the BRC. Our shared vision and later our team learning (how to achieve our vision)was achieved by our enthusiasm and dividing up tasks as well as working on the invitations together and keeping each other informed.
Part 2
1)Old ways of thinking that I threw away include the way I think about the structure of a team. My experience has told me that usually you have a leader and usually some who try to do the least amount of work possible. In our service learning group I had to throw those ideas away to make sure we all participated in the group to make our Easter Egg Hunt/Basket Delivery day a successful one. My team surprised me because everyone contributed and carried through with their responsibilities. Everyone was dependable and we all seemed to be working towards the same goal: to have the most successful Easter Hug Hunt event possible.
2)Our group meetings to make sure we were all on the same page along with our meetings with Ellie made us open to the experience as well as excited. Having a tour of the facility made me open to interactions with the retirement community members. However, the experience exceeded all my expectations and no conversation prepared me for that. The 5th graders were so good with the residents when they were delivery their Easter baskets and talking with them.
3)I think we were able to create a shared vision. We were able to create a shared vision by learning more about the Bridgewater Retirement Community. We learned they have over 50 acres of property. Some residents are in independent living apartments, others it assisted living and nursing care, and others in the new dementia and Alzheimer’s wing. Also, the BRC is the best facility in the State of Virginia. Also, in order to create a shared vision we communicated with each other and Ellie. We always wanted to make sure we knew exactly what was expected of us and all the ways to make the event as successful as possible. Our group’s enthusiasm also helped us create a shared vision. Our enthusiasm probably stemmed from the fact that we all got our first choice when picking from all the Service Learning Projects. Sometimes I felt like our shared vision was effortless other times I felt like we had to sort problems out to create a shared vision. Problems we had to sort out included how the day was going to run, what places were good for the hiding the eggs good places for the residents to read to the kids, and what to wear on the day of the event.
4)The advice I would give is to communicate with your team members and your organization to make sure you are meeting all of its needs. Pick a Service Learning Project you are passionate about and then it doesn’t even seem like work. Yes it is difficult to work around all the group members’ schedules but be patient and start communicating with each other and the organization early on in the semester. I feel like I got very lucky with great group members and someone as helpful and responsive to our questions and concerns as Ellie. I know some groups weren’t as fortunate.
Part I:
ReplyDeleteOur service-learning group, “A Dream Come True”, definitely has roots in the early systems way of thinking. The “A Dream Come True” playground (ADCTP) project was created through a shared vision between the passionate Girl Scouts group (Barbara Harkins) and Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation. These two collaborated on the common vision of an accessible and inclusive playground for the Harrisonburg community to utilize and enjoy. This vision
became the foundation, but the way to accomplish this vision was inherently complex. To make this playground possible Harrisonburg Parks and Recreation as well as Barbara Harkins (and group of volunteers) collaborated with additional organizations willing to donate their time, money, resources, and labor to assist with the playground. In order for this to work, an understanding of the jobs and responsibilities of each group involved became essential. Each group involved in creating the play environment volunteered to complete certain sections of the playground. The groups clarified the tasks and transferred the idea presented by the Girl Scouts in to a real park where ALL kids can play (Personal Mastery). In addition, each organization involved in this system recognizes the interdependence between each of the groups involved. Every move made by one group affects the actions of another group, especially if both are working on the same section of the playground. Each group is aware that communication about their progress and feedback is needed on each section of the project. Without this communication any problems and obstacles cannot be addressed properly. In the playground project, groups communicate via e-mail and sub-committees. They strive to remain in consistent communication to track the progress of all work being done. By doing this they can arrange for the next section of the playground to be built (Systems Thinking).
Throughout this whole process each group is learning about the way other groups are working, what actions need to be clarified, the best way to communicate, and how to share the information that is needed. Each of these things keeps everyone on the same page and helps them realize what is left to be done. Each group involved in building the playground is learning from the other groups and creating a central pattern that can exist between all of the groups involved in the playground.
Part II:
ReplyDeleteOnce you have completed that task, consider how Senge would view the growth and development of your service-learning team since the beginning of this semester. To do so, answer the following four questions:
1) What old ways of thinking, if any, have you personally set aside in order to work effectively with your team? Personally, the old way of thinking that I have set aside is that groups always have a person that does not hold their end of the work. In my group I think that the members have consistently upheld their responsibilities and strive to assist other members if they are encountering a problem.
2) What conversations, if any, have transpired (both with yourself and your colleagues) that have helped you and the group to be more open to the experience? There have been many conversations between all of the members in my group regarding what to do to help the project progress. In the beginning we had a tough time with communication between our group and the organization (ADCTP). Within our group we kept close ties on each goal we set for that week. Eventually, we split the activities into sub-committees (usually consisting of 2 members). This seemed to work well and once communication improved between our group and the organization we felt much better about carrying out our original goal.
3) Has your group been able to create a shared vision? If yes, what processes did you use to arrive at consensus? If no, what barriers and challenges have kept you from agreeing on a shared vision? Our shared vision originally was to gain as much money for the wheelchair swing as possible. The barrier was not so much within our group but rather within the constraints placed on us by the organization we were working with. The obstacle caused our group to alter the vision originally decided to include more than just fundraising. We now are focused on helping the org. in any way possible, not limited to just raising funds.
4) What advice would you give to service-learning teams in the future about how to work together to achieve a shared vision?
Advice for future groups would be to ensure a consistent communication between your organization and yourself early on. If a problem arises address it as soon as possible, keeping your professor and all group members updated.
Mental Modes: I am a health communications major and since my service learning project is putting on the BRC health fair I felt confident in what I could offer to the project. Since I am vary familiar with the health industry having also worked in a doctor’s office I had an idea in my head of how everything was going to work. This has enabled me to see ahead and map out different scenarios that may arise and have an understanding of all of our vendors. But this has also not been totally helpful considering I have had a set idea in my head and I feel that I have not been able to use all of my creativity.
ReplyDeletePersonal Mastery: Our team has been extremely successful with being open with each other and especially from our supervisor, Lindsey who we work with from BRC. She has given us so much freedom to allow us to do what we want but with important deadlines. Our team itself has been able to be open and honest with each other. This has allowed us aided us in being creative and finding the best solutions to any issues that have arose.
Systems thinking: Before we even started planning out the health far at BRC, Lindsey helped us by giving us an inside look of the culture at the BRC. This helped us a great deal when we started to plan the health fair since we had our audience and consumers in mind. Lindsey also gave us information about vendors enabling us to get find the best vendors.
Shared vision: From the beginning we all shared a similar vision with the help of Lindsey and all of us cooperating together. We ere able to be on the same page while designing our flyers and planning the whole event. We accomplished this through persistent communication with one another.
Team learning: Our group has had a really smooth process regarding working together as a team. I know our project has been successful because of our ability to split up with work and get everything done on time and to the highest standards. We don’t have one single person that is solely in contact with Lindsey, we all play an equal role and we all have open communication between her and each other. We have been able to all be equally involved in this project which has been very rewarding for all us. Due to our delegation and team skills we have remained very positive
I have had to set aside my usual belief in having one leader for group projects, but in my service learning group we are able to operate smoothly without one single leader because we all are leaders in our own way. This has allowed us to be more effective since we all have an equal and higer stake in the project allowing for free flowing creativity and a strong work ethic. The fact of being set into a completely new environment and calling vendors who are essentially strangers was a nice ice breaker, allowing us to all be more open to this experience. A few conversations we had with vendors didn’t go over to well and this enabled us to just be thrown into the experience and left us open and ready for anything. We have been lucky enough to create a shared vision. Our ability to have clarity between us all is due to the great communication between us and our honesty. We have collaborated all of our ideas enabling us to create one solid health fair.
I would stress the important of open communication and patience to future service-learning teams. While my team has been amazing I can imagine situations where you really needed to be patient in order to figure certain things out.