The finish line....

And here we come to the penultimate blog of the course - and potentially the most difficult - The Team Analysis.

So we all know we had our difficulties in the team which some would call "unlucky team 13".  And there is no point in going over what we've all already discussed in previous blogs.  It is what it is, and what really counts was the way we pulled together the scattered pieces of the original quintette and made something which I think was actually pretty amazing!  But enough back slapping and self appreciation :)

When it comes to considering the Belbin team roles played I find it a lot easier to discuss my role(s) than the role(s) my team mates played - I guess I know myself a lot better after 41 years than people I've worked with (not even in person) for 9 weeks.  But I've already mentioned in an earlier post what team roles I believe I played - mainly a 'completer/finisher', and also an 'implementer'.

From my brief working with you Sam, I would say you are an extremely effective 'teamworker', but also a 'resource investigator'.  You were very outgoing and keen to explore different avenues and perspectives.  And challenged the rest of us with our positions, as a kind of devil's advocate, which was very helpful.  You definitely have some 'completer/finisher' thrown in there also, as you and I, with Div's assistance, really got our assignments across the line.

I think we had a co-ordinator at the beginning who unfortunately ended up leaving the team.  She stepped up to act as our leader initially, but then offloaded her share of the work and eventually went into radio silence all together, without even a sorry or a good-bye.  A very interesting learning experience for me, and subsequently I have struggled with not being able to check that she is actually ok.

Div, I think you have a few strengths and weaknesses from a number of the team roles and to be honest I find it hard to pigeon-hole you.  Possibly 'monitor evaluator'?

We definitely had some changes in roles throughout our two group assignments, and different people stepped up in the vacated leadership roles as team members left.  Whilst we had our weaknesses, mainly the lack of cohesion, verbal communication (and respect!!), and a bit too much confrontation, our strongest strengths came to light in the final two weeks when the remaining three team members picked ourselves up, dusted ourselves off, and marched on to the finish line.  I can't say we were efficient in achieving our team goals initially, but towards the end when were was no other option we did an incredible job.  We set deadlines, and made sure each other kept them.

Let's pat ourselves on the proverbial backs now guys, and I wish you both the very best of luck in achieving the overall grade you want for this paper and also for future papers - I might see you in a virtual lecture theatre again soon :)

Athena