Well done on today's paper tower challenge - good job to the winning team. What I would like you all to do is think about one thing you took away from today's activity related to team work. Add it on to this blog post.
I think the element of team work that i managed to take away from this is to ensure that everyones ideas are heard all the way through the process. In our group we started discussing the task and chose one plan to go with. Half way through, we saw that this was not going to work out so, we had to call on someone else's idea. If we had not listened to everyones ideas in the beginning we would have been at a loss. Therefore taking time to hear each group member out is vital to success.
I learnt that it is important in a team to allow for other people's voices to be heard and also to hear your other team members' ideas because your idea might not necessarily be the only right one or the best way of going about the task/problem.Being flexible mentally is a good team attribute to have.
I noticed how crucial it is to plan. Our group had way too many ideas floating around and hence when push came to shove, we didnt have a set plan. We had to make up our plan as we went along and as a result our tower wasnt exactly a tower at all. I think discussions and efficient planning is crucial not only in a small class assignment but in most business aspects.
This week I learnt that when undertaking any task with a group of people, teamwork is essential. It was made highly apparent in that a seemingly simple challenge demanded such a high level of interactivity and engagement with group members. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the best approach to be serious when undertaking challenges, and I learnt the vital importance of having fun, which really cut the tension. Looking forward to the weeks ahead!
This was quite a cool project. A lot of people in our group had good ideas and suggestions as to how we were going to design our tower. The challenge however was the time constraint we had to design and construct our tower, coupled with trying to keep our costs to a minimum. At the end of the day though I think we all enjoyed the bit of fun we had doing this.
I really enjoyed working with my group in the paper tower challenge. We focused on design and forward planning which ultimately helped in the end when we were faced with different constraints during the construction phase. This helped to show me that having back up plans in place is very important.
This week made me realise that construction period and process are hindered drematically by time and other constraints and that rarely are projects orchestrated without a hitch and according to plan. Due to this it is important to have a plan B.
Our think was also to build a tower that was the best value for money... i.e. to minimise cost. This is something we have subsequently learnt cannot be our main consideration
The first task was a lot of fun and a brilliant way to get to know and understand how my team mates worked under pressure. We struggled in the inception stages of the design process but found that for our project this evolved as we went on. The limitations on resources was definitely a tough concept to deal with but in the end we created a tower that was sturdy, and met the criteria ultimately satisfying the main objective of the task. A job well done!
balance is terms of team work is important, and to stand back and hear everyone's thoughts before making an informed group decision. Listen to everyone's idea/say regardless, as everyone will approach a problem from a different direction..
The class exercise made me realise that when faced with a task it is essential to make decisions and act upon them once the team has come to an agreement on the various elements.Communication is key to the success of the task as it enables everyone to move towards a common goal.
The teamwork challenge made me realise that having a balance between all group members is important. everyone needs to be heard, otherwise the best idea may not be brought to the table. Also, it is important to understand what is best for the group. In some tasks it was important for people to opt out of the challenge and let the others do the work, so as to 'save money'. Everyone has a role to play in a group, and when its clear the team will be a success.
The task this week was a great icebreaker. It's always interesting to understand a person's creativity in a non-academic context. What I took from the task is the importance of sticking to the design brief. It's very easy to get carried away by wanting to produce the 'best' tower while forgetting the client's basic requests. An important ingredient in teamwork is fun, and fun we had!
This week allowed everyone in the group to be heard. Without the contributions of all the group members, our tower would have collapsed. This is because, within the dying seconds of the assignment a group member provided a vital point on the design of our foundation for the tower.
It was interesting to figure out our team dynamics and who fell in place to be the 'leader'. I realized that although we all participated very well during the challenge, a group building effort was not neccessarily the best option of getting the job done. It was an excellent challenge for finding out who cracks under pressure and hopefully we can use that to our advantage and ensure that we plan our time efficiently for the upcoming project.
the team building excersize was not the best option to try and iron out the dynamics within the team fortunately our entire years class has been together for long so over time we got to know each other well. the event was certainly entertaining and i ind of got the feel how our group would gel and i gladly would work with them very well we allhave a good understanding and comunications are easy which will take us far looking forward to the challenges ahead
I found that the tower activity showed us the importance of time management as we had a short amount of time to plan and create an aesthetic design with minimal cost. It taught me that you need to think quick on your feet. For example: we had to make changes to our design with the change in requirements (height), meaning you need to be able to change as the environment changes. All in all, I thought the project was fun and rather interesting. :)
The class exercise did well to illustrate all the various elements that are needed within a team to create a successful project. The "pressure" scenarios taught us how to operate in a group think manner. Often many people have various ideas and so deciding on which to go for as a group was a good challenge. Overall we worked well, learning how to go about the task in an efficient manner.
I believe that the paper tower activity taught us that respect, trust, and openness are some of the important characteristics that a team must possess in order to be an effective team. With regards to openness, team members weren't reluctant to give positive criticism on the ideas that were on the table, as well as offer suggestions on how to improve those ideas. There was respect and trust within the team.
The paper tower activity was a real fun way of introducing us to our newly set groups and easing into our group dynamics. Immediately our group gelled, but it was interesting to see what roles each of us took on and it proved to have had great success.Pooling everyone's ideas ensured that we were able to look at the task through different view points and ensure that all the steps were covered in order to fulfill the task effectively. Good Planning and preparation proved to warrant against future un-expectancies; a great element of realism to the activity.
The team challenge helped me understand the balance needed within a team in achieving certain goals and having trust in different memebers to complete the various tasks which were at hand. The activity showed me that when working with a group under pressure all with one goal in mind, efficiency and discipline will ultimately determine the success of the group.
This task was a great way of getting to know my team mates better. The way we view things is different but when we have the same goal in mind we pull our resources together the end result is great.
team work exercises are always an effective way to bring people together. from this group activity i learnt that it is more character building to work with different people, especially people you don't usually socialise with.
The teamwork exercise taught us to realise that, however good one person’s idea may be, it may not be the most appropriate under the certain circumstances. We saw this in the assignment where we all agreed on a particular idea but during the process, we realised that the other option was more feasible. In other words, it is paramount to not only hear other people’s ideas but critique them as well.
Building the Paper Tower was a FUN filled challenge which offered pertinent lessons about the Property development industry. The challenge was a great way of breaking us into our newly set groups as it helped us establish a good working relation with one another.
Of the several lessons learnt, the key lesson that our group took away was the importance of having a thorough and clear understanding of the client’s brief. In as much as flexible and innovative thinking is encouraged throughout the evolving development process, it is crucial that the team meets the client’s core requirements from inception through to final completion stage.
“Bigger is not always better” this this was particularly true in our group’s case as we built the tallest yet not the most effective tower. The added height to the stipulated requirement was of no use to the client; in the “real world” our misinterpretation of the brief could have wasted millions of Rands.
All in all: significant lessons were learnt whilst heaps of fun was had; a great way to kick-start the course.
The tower project was a good fun way to start the term off. The project promoted team work and allowed for the member of the newly founded groups to get to know each other.
The clients brief need to be understood clearly. One of the groups build a tower much higher than was required, this resulted in the group being far to expensive. Another important lesson was that the planning of the project is vital too it's success. The tower project helped remind us that with property nothing is set in stone.
Our group did well to build one of the sturdier towers but were over budget. The group has been working hard together and this exercise has had an obvious effect.
The tower challenge was really good! It was a perfect way of "breaking the ice" between the various group members.
The one thing which our group took away from this exercise was that, meeting the original requirements of the client is of utmost importance. Our group built a tower which exceeded the requirement set out by the client and therefore we failed to win.
Even though it was a simple exercise, it was a great way of learning about the key aspects of team work, as well as learning that meeting the requirements stipulated in the brief is extremely important.
The Paper Tower construction challenge was the perfect challenge to firstly act as a ice breaker for our group and get to know how everybody works together and secondly was a challenge in which various lessons in the property industry were learnt. It was a fun filled challenge that allowed us as a group to bond and learn lessons about working as a team. Strong lessons were learnt from this experience particularly that of meeting your client’s requirements in a project or brief as this is the ultimate goal at the end of the day. It also taught us a lot about team work. Our group managed to build our tower but at a very high cost but a huge amount of valuable information and lessons came from this learning experience which will be taken forward in this course.
I look forward to taking the lessons learnt from this experience forward and also to working within my group as we all worked together really well.
The paper construction project proved more challenging than my group had initially anticipated. I think the expectation was that paper would hold quite nicely the more square the figure but the height of the structure challenged that mentality. Important group work skills were learnt during that process and it became a learning curve for how we could and later would relate to each other during the course project. The lecture was a great way to begin the semester; A challenging but worthwhile ice breaker
As we had not selected our groups for our semester project, we had not all worked with out group members before. This was the first time that we were given an opportunity to work as a team and to see however all worked as a team. Not only do this team activity allow us to meet our group members but it allowed us to learn how everybody deals with certain things. For example, some one may come across as very calm and relaxed however when put in a stressful situation this may not be the case. This activity also helped us to see everybody strengths and weaknesses and gave us an opportunity to have some fun as a group together. This was a fun way to start our Thursday morning. This activity allowed us to get involved as a group and make the rest of the semester working together as a team enjoyable.
I think the element of team work that i managed to take away from this is to ensure that everyones ideas are heard all the way through the process. In our group we started discussing the task and chose one plan to go with. Half way through, we saw that this was not going to work out so, we had to call on someone else's idea. If we had not listened to everyones ideas in the beginning we would have been at a loss. Therefore taking time to hear each group member out is vital to success.
ReplyDeleteI learnt that it is important in a team to allow for other people's voices to be heard and also to hear your other team members' ideas because your idea might not necessarily be the only right one or the best way of going about the task/problem.Being flexible mentally is a good team attribute to have.
ReplyDeleteI noticed how crucial it is to plan. Our group had way too many ideas floating around and hence when push came to shove, we didnt have a set plan. We had to make up our plan as we went along and as a result our tower wasnt exactly a tower at all. I think discussions and efficient planning is crucial not only in a small class assignment but in most business aspects.
ReplyDeleteThis week I learnt that when undertaking any task with a group of people, teamwork is essential. It was made highly apparent in that a seemingly simple challenge demanded such a high level of interactivity and engagement with group members. Furthermore, it is not necessarily the best approach to be serious when undertaking challenges, and I learnt the vital importance of having fun, which really cut the tension. Looking forward to the weeks ahead!
ReplyDeleteThis was quite a cool project. A lot of people in our group had good ideas and suggestions as to how we were going to design our tower. The challenge however was the time constraint we had to design and construct our tower, coupled with trying to keep our costs to a minimum. At the end of the day though I think we all enjoyed the bit of fun we had doing this.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed working with my group in the paper tower challenge. We focused on design and forward planning which ultimately helped in the end when we were faced with different constraints during the construction phase. This helped to show me that having back up plans in place is very important.
ReplyDeleteI was not able to make to the day of this group project of the paper structures. It seems to have been an interesting task.
ReplyDeleteThis week made me realise that construction period and process are hindered drematically by time and other constraints and that rarely are projects orchestrated without a hitch and according to plan. Due to this it is important to have a plan B.
ReplyDeleteOur think was also to build a tower that was the best value for money... i.e. to minimise cost. This is something we have subsequently learnt cannot be our main consideration
The first task was a lot of fun and a brilliant way to get to know and understand how my team mates worked under pressure. We struggled in the inception stages of the design process but found that for our project this evolved as we went on. The limitations on resources was definitely a tough concept to deal with but in the end we created a tower that was sturdy, and met the criteria ultimately satisfying the main objective of the task. A job well done!
ReplyDeletebalance is terms of team work is important, and to stand back and hear everyone's thoughts before making an informed group decision. Listen to everyone's idea/say regardless, as everyone will approach a problem from a different direction..
ReplyDeleteThe class exercise made me realise that when faced with a task it is essential to make decisions and act upon them once the team has come to an agreement on the various elements.Communication is key to the success of the task as it enables everyone to move towards a common goal.
ReplyDeleteThe teamwork challenge made me realise that having a balance between all group members is important. everyone needs to be heard, otherwise the best idea may not be brought to the table. Also, it is important to understand what is best for the group. In some tasks it was important for people to opt out of the challenge and let the others do the work, so as to 'save money'. Everyone has a role to play in a group, and when its clear the team will be a success.
ReplyDeleteThe task this week was a great icebreaker. It's always interesting to understand a person's creativity in a non-academic context. What I took from the task is the importance of sticking to the design brief. It's very easy to get carried away by wanting to produce the 'best' tower while forgetting the client's basic requests. An important ingredient in teamwork is fun, and fun we had!
ReplyDeleteThis week allowed everyone in the group to be heard. Without the contributions of all the group members, our tower would have collapsed. This is because, within the dying seconds of the assignment a group member provided a vital point on the design of our foundation for the tower.
ReplyDeleteIt was interesting to figure out our team dynamics and who fell in place to be the 'leader'. I realized that although we all participated very well during the challenge, a group building effort was not neccessarily the best option of getting the job done. It was an excellent challenge for finding out who cracks under pressure and hopefully we can use that to our advantage and ensure that we plan our time efficiently for the upcoming project.
ReplyDeletethe team building excersize was not the best option to try and iron out the dynamics within the team fortunately our entire years class has been together for long so over time we got to know each other well. the event was certainly entertaining and i ind of got the feel how our group would gel and i gladly would work with them very well we allhave a good understanding and comunications are easy which will take us far looking forward to the challenges ahead
ReplyDeleteI found that the tower activity showed us the importance of time management as we had a short amount of time to plan and create an aesthetic design with minimal cost. It taught me that you need to think quick on your feet. For example: we had to make changes to our design with the change in requirements (height), meaning you need to be able to change as the environment changes.
ReplyDeleteAll in all, I thought the project was fun and rather interesting. :)
The class exercise did well to illustrate all the various elements that are needed within a team to create a successful project.
ReplyDeleteThe "pressure" scenarios taught us how to operate in a group think manner. Often many people have various ideas and so deciding on which to go for as a group was a good challenge. Overall we worked well, learning how to go about the task in an efficient manner.
I believe that the paper tower activity taught us that respect, trust, and openness are some of the important characteristics that a team must possess in order to be an effective team.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to openness, team members weren't reluctant to give positive criticism on the ideas that were on the table, as well as offer suggestions on how to improve those ideas. There was respect and trust within the team.
The paper tower activity was a real fun way of introducing us to our newly set groups and easing into our group dynamics. Immediately our group gelled, but it was interesting to see what roles each of us took on and it proved to have had great success.Pooling everyone's ideas ensured that we were able to look at the task through different view points and ensure that all the steps were covered in order to fulfill the task effectively. Good Planning and preparation proved to warrant against future un-expectancies; a great element of realism to the activity.
ReplyDeleteThe team challenge helped me understand the balance needed within a team in achieving certain goals and having trust in different memebers to complete the various tasks which were at hand. The activity showed me that when working with a group under pressure all with one goal in mind, efficiency and discipline will ultimately determine the success of the group.
ReplyDeleteThis task was a great way of getting to know my team mates better. The way we view things is different but when we have the same goal in mind we pull our resources together the end result is great.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteteam work exercises are always an effective way to bring people together. from this group activity i learnt that it is more character building to work with different people, especially people you don't usually socialise with.
ReplyDeleteThe teamwork exercise taught us to realise that, however good one person’s idea may be, it may not be the most appropriate under the certain circumstances. We saw this in the assignment where we all agreed on a particular idea but during the process, we realised that the other option was more feasible. In other words, it is paramount to not only hear other people’s ideas but critique them as well.
ReplyDeleteBuilding the Paper Tower was a FUN filled challenge which offered pertinent lessons about the Property development industry. The challenge was a great way of breaking us into our newly set groups as it helped us establish a good working relation with one another.
ReplyDeleteOf the several lessons learnt, the key lesson that our group took away was the importance of having a thorough and clear understanding of the client’s brief. In as much as flexible and innovative thinking is encouraged throughout the evolving development process, it is crucial that the team meets the client’s core requirements from inception through to final completion stage.
“Bigger is not always better” this this was particularly true in our group’s case as we built the tallest yet not the most effective tower. The added height to the stipulated requirement was of no use to the client; in the “real world” our misinterpretation of the brief could have wasted millions of Rands.
All in all: significant lessons were learnt whilst heaps of fun was had; a great way to kick-start the course.
The tower project was a good fun way to start the term off. The project promoted team work and allowed for the member of the newly founded groups to get to know each other.
ReplyDeleteThe clients brief need to be understood clearly. One of the groups build a tower much higher than was required, this resulted in the group being far to expensive. Another important lesson was that the planning of the project is vital too it's success. The tower project helped remind us that with property nothing is set in stone.
Our group did well to build one of the sturdier towers but were over budget. The group has been working hard together and this exercise has had an obvious effect.
The tower challenge was really good! It was a perfect way of "breaking the ice" between the various group members.
ReplyDeleteThe one thing which our group took away from this exercise was that, meeting the original requirements of the client is of utmost importance. Our group built a tower which exceeded the requirement set out by the client and therefore we failed to win.
Even though it was a simple exercise, it was a great way of learning about the key aspects of team work, as well as learning that meeting the requirements stipulated in the brief is extremely important.
The Paper Tower construction challenge was the perfect challenge to firstly act as a ice breaker for our group and get to know how everybody works together and secondly was a challenge in which various lessons in the property industry were learnt. It was a fun filled challenge that allowed us as a group to bond and learn lessons about working as a team.
ReplyDeleteStrong lessons were learnt from this experience particularly that of meeting your client’s requirements in a project or brief as this is the ultimate goal at the end of the day. It also taught us a lot about team work.
Our group managed to build our tower but at a very high cost but a huge amount of valuable information and lessons came from this learning experience which will be taken forward in this course.
I look forward to taking the lessons learnt from this experience forward and also to working within my group as we all worked together really well.
The paper construction project proved more challenging than my group had initially anticipated. I think the expectation was that paper would hold quite nicely the more square the figure but the height of the structure challenged that mentality. Important group work skills were learnt during that process and it became a learning curve for how we could and later would relate to each other during the course project. The lecture was a great way to begin the semester; A challenging but worthwhile ice breaker
ReplyDeleteAs we had not selected our groups for our semester project, we had not all worked with out group members before. This was the first time that we were given an opportunity to work as a team and to see however all worked as a team. Not only do this team activity allow us to meet our group members but it allowed us to learn how everybody deals with certain things. For example, some one may come across as very calm and relaxed however when put in a stressful situation this may not be the case. This activity also helped us to see everybody strengths and weaknesses and gave us an opportunity to have some fun as a group together. This was a fun way to start our Thursday morning. This activity allowed us to get involved as a group and make the rest of the semester working together as a team enjoyable.
ReplyDelete