REFLECTION ARTEFACT
- mitoggy
- Sep 19, 2020
- 4 min read
Updated: Sep 19, 2020
Before enrolling in the ICP course, I expected to work together with other people in a fast-pace and intense environment. In reflecting on the learnings from completing the project, I realize that I did not expect to take away so many valuable insights about project management, as well as my personal growth.
Being the only team in the course to deliver concrete creative artifacts, particularly a short-film, had given me some struggles in my efforts to adapt, but at the same time, it has allowed me to strengthen my skillset. The requirement to perform the tasks that are not my specialized field such as UX-UI website design, slides design, videography.. has been greatly beneficial to my learning experience. Now, I have a better understanding of these aspects thanks to the practical application in producing the project outcomes, which will be very relevant and useful for my future aspirations.
To be able to execute the brief, I have learned to improve my planning skills to create an action plan that is effective and flexible. The timeline planning was considered carefully with enough room for each stage of the project, and this is a task that I didn’t have much experience in. In groupwork allocation, I have also learned to divide tasks according to each member’s specialization, which has proven to be more productive over a clear cut of tasks. The process of creating a group skill audit and team charter is also really helpful to me in teaching me how to approach a project professionally. It’s a practice that I will apply in my future group work to ensure transparency and to avoid complications.
My strongest point, which is research and writing, has also been strengthened by the amount of background research that I conducted before the production stage. I learned to look for information in a wide range of channels instead of relying only on academic sources, which although are more concrete, are usually not as current as social media expressions.
The heavy requirement from the course, with a large number of individual as well as group assignments, has pushed me to find the most efficient way to work to keep up with the workload. I had to balance between a variety of assessment types for the course as well as the two other courses that I am currently taking. This experience has motivated me to seek a practical way to keep track of the amount of work to be done, which has led me to learn about prioritization. The habit of writing down daily tasks based on their critical importance helped me significantly in not missing any deadlines or submitting insufficient work. Time management was not an angle that I regard very highly about myself, but this course has challenged me and given me a chance to enhance this skill greatly.
However, the most important thing that I have learned from completing the course is aspects of teamwork, in particular how to set personal boundaries and have a strong foundation of collective expectation. My difference in personality, work ethic, and communication style have created grounds for conflict between me and some group members. I felt very disappointed at the fact that this animosity was not made clear to me, since I always believed that everyone will have the same thought as mine, which is to communicate with each other about any underlying issues. After having a transparent conversation and clearing the misunderstanding, I have attempted to adjust myself to make my team understand me better, which unfortunately only happened when we were already in the post-production process. This has taught me to priorly establish my own working style to other teammates before starting group work so that conflict based on miscommunication can be prevented.
Moreover, despite my efforts to match the team, one member still harbored personal prejudices no matter how hard I tried to work harmoniously with them to produce deliverables for the website. This has helped me understand that there was only so much that I could do to ensure professionalism, because efforts coming from me couldn’t make up for the uncooperation from the other party. In the end, the solution was to eliminate the member from the team, which has proven productive in getting the group back on track. In the past, I used to not regard these issues very seriously because my only focus was work outcomes, however, I now understand that my own experience is also important.
With my newly acquired knowledge of creative ideation, I will further explore the tools by practicing my skills in photography, possibly by taking an Elective course and signing up for Photography class by Colorme; and graphic design by exploring the works of creative professionals such as MonkeyMinh, Dzungyoko, KhanhDo and producing more personal designs on my Behance page. I will further develop my personal website by studying UX-UI content from TheHotSkills to make it more engaging. Considering my career aspirations in a creative agency, I believe that investment in creative capability will aid me greatly in expanding my working scope and giving me a better advantage for potential employment.
I will also learn more about time management techniques to optimize my performance in the future in both professional and daily situations. Planning is another angle that I’m looking forward to improving by watching interactive lectures of Project Management Videos, which I will apply in both individual and team settings.
Although it was a long and tedious journey, I highly appreciate the learning experience that this course has provided me. In the end, I feel that I have grown to become a better version of myself after going through the experience of working on this project with my chosen teammates.
References:
Color Me 2020, KHOÁ PHOTOGRAPHY: THỎA SỨC ĐAM MÊ CÙNG NHIẾP ẢNH, Facebook, 17 September, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.facebook.com/colorme.saigon/posts/1064946003961849>
MonkeyMinh 2020, Work, website, <https://monkeyminh.com/>
KhanhDo 2020, Work, Behance, <https://www.behance.net/donguyenkhanh>
Dzungyoko 2020, Work, website, <https://www.dzungyokoartbook.com/>
TheHotSkills 2020, Top 10 Web Design Trends in 2020 - Every Designer Should Know, Youtube, 10 January, viewed 19 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T6Jcl-GqeBA>
Project Management Videos 2014, How To Delegate Tasks Like a Pro: Team Task Management Tips, Youtube, 21 July, viewed 18 September 2020, <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KApy2bpDMaQ>
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