7 MATTOMUSIC in Canada

Team 10 Poster

Team Reflection

Participating in this intercultural project allowed us to directly experience the challenges and benefits of collaboration with students from different nationalities. Mainly, we put into practice the content learned in class, such as globalization that has facilitated cross-cultural collaboration, enabling us to communicate with teammates from different countries through technology. Organizing the meetings with the obstacles of different time zones and managing language variations led us to use effective communication tools and simplify our language to avoid confusion (The Meeting Notes Team, 2024). This experience taught us the importance of planning and foresight, as we had to arrange meetings well in advance to ensure the participation of all the group members. This project was also useful in cultural manners, making us learn to be patient, to adapt to others’ life circumstances, and to communicate with people from different places, with different ways of decision-making and solving problems. Furthermore, it showed us to keep an open-minded attitude and willingness to listen and understand different perspectives and ideas, transforming our struggles into life lessons.

Accountability has been a present point for us in this project. We noticed that in some cultures, people think more about their own responsibilities, while in others, there is a stronger emphasis on everyone working together as a community. This idea of shared responsibility is highly related to social and environmental issues. Seeing these big differences among countries made us talk about how we can encourage a sense of responsibility that fits well with different cultural customs. Lastly, the main point of the project has been enriching our knowledge with the different ways of understanding things and the diverse cultures that each teammate has contributed. This resulted in a better insight into how society is and how we can contribute to improving it. Together with, embracing differences, new perspectives, and various ways of doing things (Thompson, 2024). Throughout the course, we learned a variety of different topics concerning how to efficiently work with our group members from all around the world. These topics include how to manage group meetings with different time zones and using models such as Hofstede’s cultural dimensions to better understand each other’s perspectives (Wale, 2015). To be more specific, one topic the course covered was accountability. To be successful when doing a group project, accountability is key. Additionally, we found the use of the country comparison tool quite useful. Comparing each of our countries helped with understanding the cultural differences between us. This emphasized the need for transparency and trust within our team. We practiced holding each other accountable, making sure each member completed their assigned tasks responsibly and on time. By integrating these elements into our group work, we were able to create a comprehensive and responsible approach to our project.

This project marked a new experience for our group as this was our first collaboration with others from different countries. To complete this project, we used collaborative tools such as Google Docs and Canva to complete the deliverables, Zoom to conduct group meetings, and WhatsApp for day-to-day communication. Our group decided to divide the work out evenly, which proved to be an effective strategy for progressing through the project. With this, each member paired up with their classmate and we distributed the workload for each deliverable equally. This allowed us to focus on a specific deliverable each week and then discuss what we need to do moving forward within each weekly meeting. By setting deadlines for each task, allowed us to stay on track and review each section thoroughly before finishing each delivery. After completion of a deliverable, we would conduct our weekly meeting to check in, ask questions, and ensure that everyone approves the work.

In our Aim2Flourish project on MattOMusic, our team came together to document the impact of a music school focused on building community. Working in a cross-cultural, virtual team gave us valuable learning experiences, but it also brought some challenges.Distributing the work of each deliverable evenly was something that helped us to efficiently and thoroughly complete each deliverable. By assigning specific roles to each member within the deliverables, we were able to bring all of our parts together to form the completion of a specific part. Additionally, the interview with Matt O’Rourke, the founder of MattOMusic, was definitely a highlight. His insights on music education, building community, and tackling industry challenges added a lot of depth to our story. His passion for creating a supportive environment inspired us and fit perfectly with Aim2Flourish’s goals. Resources from our schools also helped us understand the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which were important for framing MattOMusic’s global contributions.

One of the biggest challenges we faced was finding time to conduct our weekly meetings. Since we all live in different time zones, given the 5–7-hour time difference, it was difficult for us to work around each other’s schedules. Research shows that the most challenging hurdle of international collaboration is finding overlapping availability, as well as dealing with the delayed responses of team members (Epoch, 2024). To combat this issue, we were able to find a time every week which worked with everyone’s schedules and committed to that time throughout the entirety of the project, and each member ensured to complete our work by each deadline.Our communication styles and expectations also varied, partly because of our different cultural and academic backgrounds. That’s why cultural awareness is so important when dealing with people from all over the world (ReachOut, 2023). Some of us preferred a formal academic tone, while others leaned toward storytelling, which created some differences in approach. After open discussions, we managed to align our style, but it took extra time and flexibility from everyone.Technical issues also caused occasional disruptions, like slow file sharing or trouble accessing shared documents. While we found ways around these problems, they sometimes interrupted our work. Additionally, learning to align MattOMusic’s story with the SDGs was new for most of us, so it took time to figure out. However, with each other’s support and our resources, we managed to connect MattOMusic’s impact to the SDGs by the end.

Individual Reflections 

Connor Ecklund

This was a unique experience for me as I had never collaborated with others overseas. Although we live in different time zones, and most of the group did not speak English as their first language, I felt that we were able to collaborate effectively with one another to complete the various tasks of the project. This has taught me valuable skills for working with others that I know I will use in my future endeavors.

Nick Bellavia

I found this project to be a uniquely challenging yet enjoyable experience. Before this project, I had never worked with individuals from other countries, so it took some adjusting for us to work effectively. At first, we ran into some minor challenges with things like time zones and language barriers, however, we quickly adapted to each other’s needs and were able to work effectively. Overall, I thought that this project was very engaging and taught me life-long skills I can use in the future.

Aljwharah Alqahtani

‎As a member of this team, I felt excited and challenged by this activity. Participating as part of a virtual team was a new and enriching experience. We dealt with different cultures with understanding and respect, and each team member tried to be open and receptive to different points of view. There were moments when we faced difficulties in communicating due to time differences, but we managed to find a suitable time. ‎Despite challenges such as language and time differences, we achieved great success as a team. I learned a lot about how to collaborate online and the importance of clarity in communication.

‎Lina Aljabr

Being part of the Aim2Flourish project with a cross-cultural team was a valuable experience. As one of the Saudi girls, I gained insights from my teammates from Spain and Canada, which deepened our understanding of MattOMusic’s impact. Although I was initially nervous about the language barrier, my teammates were supportive, boosting my confidence. The time zone challenge taught me patience and organization, and I learned key lessons in teamwork, communication, and flexibility.