41 EUNA in The United States

Team 87 Poster

Team Reflection

Using Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle (1988), we can effectively reflect upon our experience throughout this project. We were required to undertake a project where we specifically focused on a company involved in advancing the United Nations’ sustainable development goals (SDGs). The project consisted of three separate ‘deliverables’, an AIM2Flourish story, based on an interview with a business leader, a poster, which showcased the business innovation described from the AIM2Flourish story, and this critical reflection on the whole experience. Throughout the whole project, we were also required to take weekly minutes, in order to stay aligned with our tasks and progress, and to ensure that we were participating with one another. We decided to base our project on EUNASolutions, as they specifically mentioned aligning with the UN SDG 11, and also play an incredibly important role in benefitting society, and empowering citizens.

Feelings:

Initially, we were optimistic about working with one another. It was an exciting opportunity being able to work with students from other regions and universities, and be able to collaborate with them. Some of us felt a sense of confusion, as this was the first time that any of us had experienced this project. For example, for the University of South Wales students it was the first time that the University had involved itself with the COIL project. Because of this, we all made an effort to attend the weekly meetings, in order to ensure that we all remained on the same page. We felt that it was the best idea to assign tasks amongst ourselves as early as possible. We discussed our own skillset and experiences in order to suitably assign tasks amongst one another.

Evaluation:

We all agreed that this was an enjoyable and worthwhile experience in order to develop our own team working and collaboration skills. We found the opportunity to work with people from different nationalities to be good, as we all had different experiences and ideas around certain topics that came up. We did find some challenges with working however, as our different timezones made it difficult to schedule meetings at times. Nevertheless, we persevered through, allowing us to effectively undertake this project. We also worked well together, and all of us made the effort to join and get involved with each meeting, which ensured that we all stayed aligned and on top of our individually agreed tasks.

Analysis:

I think overall, we worked well together as we all wanted to ensure that we attended every meeting. Because we all made the effort to stay connected, it allowed for the project to be completed smoothly and successfully. We all decided on our responsibilities early on, and stuck to these. We do think we could have perhaps communicated what we were doing better with each other, as at times we felt that we didn’t really know what had been done for tasks done by other students, and we left it up to them. We think that overall, when analysing the whole experience, the main thing that it taught each of us was to collaborate effectively with one another, and overcome challenges that we face when working with people from different cultures, with different experiences and across different timezones. We did face some challenges when completing this project, as we struggled to share our work with one another. This was due to IT security restrictions in place across each of our universities, and resulted in us being unable to easily share our documents through onedrive.

Conclusion:

This experience taught all of us about the value of the SDGs, and how to effectively work well with one another as a team. We all learnt a lot about sustainability, how to handle a large and challenging project, and about the company that was interviewed. Although we think that we stayed well communicated throughout compared to other groups, we think that there is still room to grow our communication skills. In hindsight, the project would have probably been easier for each of us if we all did parts of every aspect of the project, instead of pairing up for each of the three deliverables and completing it that way.

Action Plan:

If we were to do our project again, there are a few ways in which we agree that it could be done better. Firstly, although we did all attend weekly meetings, there was definitely room to take more away from them. They served as a catchup, to make sure that we knew what we were doing. We could have maybe collaborated more in each meeting, and helped each other with our tasks in order to grow and learn from one another. We could have also made an effort to connect outside of the meetings, as we only ever discussed the project. We should all have had a say in each of the deliverables as well in hindsight, as it would have allowed us to take more away from the experience. Finally, we could have found a way to share our work easier, due to the challenges that we faced doing so through teams and outlook.

Individual Reflections:

Thomas Lamb: Personally, I enjoyed the experience of working with students from different universities/countries, however at times I did struggle to feel engaged with the project and felt confused about what the project was about. As we weren’t being graded on it, I felt a need to prioritise other assignments over it, which led me to feeling unengaged. On a personal level, I have had to take on a higher workload in my job as well recently, which had left me feeling pressed for time trying to balance this project with assignments and my job. I think because it was the first time that my university was involved in this as well, it was a trial experience for myself and the other students. It was a challenge at times to schedule meetings due to time zones/work commitments, however we managed to work through it which I think was good. Overall, I think this was a valuable opportunity, however I could’ve perhaps taken more from it.

Elizabeth Castro: Taking part of COIL was a unique experience and I am glad I was given to opportunity to do so during my academic career. It was intimidating at first when noticing that I would be the only female in the group. However, I believe my team was great to work with and I did not feel dominated or undervalued. Our best efforts were made to attend weekly meetings where we were able to check-in with each other. Finding a time to meet each week was simple because we were able to find a time slot where no one had other conflicting factors. It was helpful that we kept the date and time consistent because it developed a routine. Communication was also did not seem to be an obstacle because there were no language barriers. Compared to experiences I have heard from other groups, I feel like we developed a timeline early on and divided the work, while still offering help where needed. If I were to do another COIL project, the one thing I would change would be to connect with my team members outside of the project to learn more about a different part of the world. We were too focused on carrying out a well executed project that we forgot to do so. COIL brings awareness to how organizations should include sustainability in their business practices and I would recommend others to inform themselves on SDGs.

Grayson Mongru: Throughout this project, I was greatly able to improve my understanding of how technology can enable meaningful change, especially in the public sector. It was interesting to see how a software company such as EUNASolution was able to use the power of digital innovation to address ongoing issues, such as government transparency and environmental sustainability. Using accessible and easy-to-use software to allow community members to create accountability in the public sector resonated with me as a software engineering student, as I can appreciate software being developed for a greater purpose. Reflecting on the UN Sustainable Development Goals, I’ve gained a better appreciation for well-designed solutions and their lasting impact on the public sector and government practices. The project as a whole has reinforced my belief in technology and its ability to transform outdated practices and allow a more sustainable and equitable future to thrive. I also greatly appreciated the opportunity to collaborate with a group of international students to achieve a common goal despite the challenges that working in this kind of group settings presents.

Gen Stewart: At first, when hearing this assignment, I was daunted at the idea of working with a group of international students. I had worries about timing differences and language or cultural differences that may impede the progress of our assignment. However, after meeting with the students of the other universities for the first time I felt a sense of relief. Everyone in the group was communicative and tried to work towards the ultimate goal of completing our assignment. Although we met some challenges such as, meeting times being hard to plan, and varying communication timings due to different time zones we still tried our hardest to work together as a team. I think one thing that helped us stay on track for the most part was committing to our weekly meetings and talking about our project as a team. Most of our discussions ended by listing the things we were going to do that week before the next meeting which I think helped us stay on track for the most part. If I were to do this project again, one thing I would definitely like to improve upon is how we share work with one another. Since we all go to different universities we don’t have the same streamlined ways like Microsoft Teams to share work with each other. In the future, I will probably spend some more time looking for a more novel and effective way of sharing work.

References:

Gibbs, G. (1988) Learning by doing: A guide to teaching and learning methods.