Team Contribution Consisting of Both

Team Contribution

Consisting of both leadership and creative input, my contributions to the team project were considerable. My core strengths include punctuality, focus, clarity, and organization. From day one I enthusiastically contributed my opinions relative to the project. I made sure I presented all materials on deadline. Specific responsibilities included the development of a sophisticated PowerPoint presentation, compiling research data on all relevant topics, creating a Skills Matrix to aid organization, and completing the final editing on our written materials.

Based on team member feedback and on our team's output and performance, my participation helped the team achieve our goals. However, self-reflection reveals some flaws in my communications style. For example, the opinions I hold are strong and I tend to be rigid. Learning how to negotiate with teammates and respecting differences in communication styles would be helpful for my future performance in a group. Similarly, I have a strong, outgoing personality that can seem overbearing or intimidating. Improving my listening skills would help minimize the negative effects of my Type a personality. Although I have no trouble vocalizing my opinions on objective issues I have difficulty issuing performance evaluations and offering constructive criticism directly to teammates. Being more honest and tactful would help me perform better. I would say that I need to learn sensitivity and improve emotional intelligence.

Effective communication and leadership are my core strengths. My skillful communications skills allowed me to contribute to the written and oral portions of the project. The PowerPoint presentation was successful because I was able to keep the audience's needs in mind as well as my teammates'. We would share ideas and stimulate conversations but after several group meetings, I became aware of my tendency to be overly opinionated. A classic Type a personality, I do not negotiate as well as I would like to and should work on my listening skills in the future. I also tend to write too technically and my writing would improve from a more personal approach.

The first task I completed for the project was related to research. I worked well within the deadlines, and understood both short-term and long-term goals of the research. The greatest difficulty I encountered at this early stage was establishing time lines. Time lines and scheduling would have helped avoid conflict and miscommunication. I also might have avoided roadblocks that, in retrospect, seemed obvious. Overly optimistic and ambitious, I made too many assumptions about what could be done in a short period of time.