Team E28 Class 5015 Assessment 3 Design Process Written Report by Dylan Wilkinson INDEX 1 - Introduction 2 - Contributions 3 - Effectiveness 4 - Team Functioning 5 - Communication Methods 6 - Conclusion 7 - References 8 - Appendix 1-INTRODUCTION This written report is to inform details about how my team (team E28) consisting of myself Dylan Wilkinson, Abhishek Chouhan, Norman Nyugen and Tiger Wang were able to work together to draft and finalise a design to present to a construction team to be built for a client while in isolation caused by the COVID-19 outbreak that took place earlier this year. This report will cover how the process was able to go ahead during these unforeseen circumstances and to display the individual contributions made by each member and what changes had to be made to complete this project. 2-CONTRIBUTIONS 2.1-Team Performance Management Plan My team has produced a performance management plan (PMP) based on four attributes we believe were integral for this project to be completed. This document can be accessed in the appendix section Respect - first and foremost respect is a blanket attribute that helps all team members collude with each other eg; completing work in time for deadlines as to not hold the rest of the team back. Contribution - this allows team members to focus on their individual work so that any one person isn't left with more work then they have planned to take on, this creates a clear and efficient work flow for the entire team. Reliability - reliability is important because it allows us to have faith in each other to complete the tasks at hand, this allows us to be creative with each other in a positive space. Attendance - attending all lectures and meetings provides clarity for the team as a whole so that catching up on information required is left to a bare minimum so conversations and meetings will be able to contain much more enriched discussion rather than conveying information twice and wasting much valuable time. My team as a collective decided to provide each and all team members with a maximum score in the PMP since we all discussed such values before taking on the project and knew what we needed to work efficiently with each other over voice call meetings and google documents as meeting in person was not an option. 2.2-My Contribution My role in this truss design process was to liaise mainly with the specifications expert to produce the drawings to the correct specifications required. I spent time with other team members discussing potential designs then moved onto producing multiple drafts working closely with Abhishek to make sure we produced the design to fit under all requirements stated by the client as well as making minor adjustments after receiving replies to our RFI requests until I was able to produce a design the team thought would be most satisfactory to the client. 2.3-Lockdown Workflow Adjustments Due to a nation wide lockdown, remote working was the only option available to complete this project, as such my team and I were able to communicate via zoom and whatsapp. We shared work through google docs, email and team communications via moodle. Being at home during such a design process was difficult as my residence is not as much of a formal environment as Unitec campus. I found it much harder to focus because I didn't have direct motivation from people physically encouraging me. Although a benefit as a result of the isolation adjustments was time saved from having to travel to and from campus. 2.4-Team Member Contributions Abhishek Chouhan the specifications expert who I worked closely with throughout the entirety of the design phase was an excellent team member who played a vital role in making sure clients requirements were met in regards to RFI’s sent and all measurements being understood correctly. He helped articulate many of the small decisions that are just as important as the crucial decisions made by the team as a whole, without Abhishek myself and the team would not have performed as well as we did. Norman Nyugen the communications expert also played a vital role in clearly organising meetings to discuss prioritised essential key points when required to do so as well as documenting what was discussed during our zoom calls via minute meetings (available in appendix). He also put together the final presentation in a clear manner that sufficed the team's expectations of conveying our design to the client. 3-EFFECTIVENESS 3.1-Tuckman 4 Stage Development The Tuckman model (Tuckman, 1965) states that teams experience 4 stages of development and usually there is a leader to guide said team. In my team's case we did not have any one person leading the group at any given time. Instead my team was able to collaborate in such a fashion that we did not require a team leader. The Tuckman model also accounts for when there isn't one person guiding the rest of the team. Performing - during the first stage of development our team discussed basic information about ourselves as to get to know each other in a comfortable and familiar sense. We learnt about our differences and similarities and exchanged contact information at our first physical meeting. Storming - My team did not experience this phase as we all got along very well when meeting online during lockdown, although I can see how we may have had potential issues If we didn't have the extra time from being at home during lockdown. Norming - My team experienced this stage heavily as we often discussed many similar interests and we still do after completing all our group work. We communicate comfortably with each other on a regular basis such as after our work is completed or before an online lecture and we are much more comfortable with each other now than when we first met. Performing - I felt that due to the unforeseen circumstances of having to complete this project during isolation my team did well but we could have performed better if we collaborated slightly more on each others responsibilities 3.2-Team Skills My team contains individuals from various backgrounds, I have worked in the construction Industry as a skilled labourer and am good at job completion when I am held responsible. In that regard I have a very strong work ethic and do not like to let my team down as I know my decisions will have a butterfly effect on the rest of the team. Abhishek is in the financial industry and works for a bank so his articulative skills are very high. This was clearly demonstrated in the specifications process as he was able to formulate all details required. Tiger comes from the real estate industry and has experience viewing houses and construction projects, with this experience he has gained professional practice in dealing with contracts and conveying himself to clients and contractors, his skills showed real use to our team as a project assistant as he is knowledgeable about many of the small details that are only able to be picked up after years of experience in dealing with such matters regarding professional practice. Norman also contained very useful “HR” esque skills, he was very formal with his presentation design skills and was able to encapsulate what our team wanted to convey on documents in a swift, respectable manner. 3.3-Conflicting Moments During the design documentation phase we had missed a few key points from our presentation along the way. I had forgotten to add a small number of dimensions that should have been specified although these issues were swiftly corrected as soon as they become apparent to myself and the team. We also faced an issue where design plans were not sent to the other construction team in time and we ourselves had not received the design plans from the team who had us designated as their construction team, although these issues were also corrected as they became apparent. (Thomas & Kilmann, 1978) states that “Conflict may fester until it escalates” so appropriate action was taken by myself and my team to make sure these problems did not create larger problems for the design process ahead. 4-Team Functioning 4.1- Authority, Responsibility, Accountability & Delegation All team members at the beginning of the project discussed their strengths and weaknesses so that the workflow could be distributed as efficiently as possible. I have had experience using CAD software in the past so my team decided it was best to place me as the team designer and to be held responsible for the design related work. Abhisheks strengths seemed to provide evidence that he was good with technical and articulative related work so the team best decided he should be responsible for the technical aspects of the project. Norman told the team that he was good with paperwork and presentation skills so we decided he was best fit to be responsible for finalising documents to be viewed as a presentation. It was easy to hold everyone accountable for their work as we had categorized the different workloads evenly and confined them to their separate departments of the project. As a team we all held authority over each other by holding everyone responsible to what was decided at the beginning of the project and what was said during minute meetings as well as various other forms of communication. 4.2-Lockdown Impact Due to being in isolation and having the extra time we benefited in some areas such as an increase in time to work on the project as well as all communication being easily documented. I experienced a lack of motivation that made some tasks harder to do as I felt more alone on aspects that were harder to communicate over the internet. Although my team did as best of a job as we possibly could and we held many meetings to try and convey everything we needed to tell eachother about as best as we could. 4.3-Member Structure Diagram DESIGNER Dylan Wilkinson SPECIFICATION EXPERT Abhishek Chouhan CLIENT Sent RFI’s COMMUNICATION COORDINATOR Norman Nguyen PROJECT ASSISTANT Tiger Wang TEAM D26 Sent RFI’s Designers responsibilities - Worked in conjunction with specifications expert to produce drafts and discuss fundamental design elements to produce a final design in relation to the clients requirements Specification Expert responsibilities - Worked in conjunction with designer to ensure all specifications were met according to plans and duly noted the entire construction method to be used for the construction phase of the project aswell as sending out RFI’s to the client Communications Expert responsibilities - Played a vital role in producing the final presentation for submission as well as organising team meetings and keeping track of the process via minute meeting documents Project Assistants responsibilities - Produced scope of work documents as well as communicating RFI’s to team D26, provided useful help in meetings and assisting other team members helping the design process across the board 5-Communication Methods 5.1-Team Communication Internal team communication was via zoom and whatsapp. Zoom was able to connect the team together in a deeper sense as it was more fulfilling seeing each other while communicating live, it was much more in touch than over text or email. Whatsapp was very useful for revising information we had covered during zoom meetings and there is record kept of all messages, photos, videos and essential links required for the design phase and very much had a practical aspect that played a vital role throughout the entirety of the design process such as planning zoom meetings which we would not have been able to do efficiently without. The team communications tab via moodle was also very important as it provided a space for formal documentation that could be easily accessed quickly rather than looking through hundreds of messages in whatsapp. 5.2-External Communication with Client and Other Design Teams External communication with the client was in the form of RFI’s emailed to the client, this was a formal mode of communication that provided all key aspects required to transmit ideas correctly to the client. Files could easily be attached with small messages containing key info. Email was also the perfect mode of communication between other teams as it was reliable and easily acquired as well as being completely documented to a high standard for the requirements needed to convey RFI’s. 6-Conclusion My team and I were satisfied with our design process and were happy to receive the grade that we earned. Everything was completed to the best of our abilities and nobody in our team had let anyone down or didn't do what they were held responsible for. Throughout this design process we have all been able to develop a professional relationship with each other and this will be useful in the future when we undertake new projects. 7-References Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Tuckman's stages of group development Thomas, K. W., & Kilmann, R. H. (June 1978). Thomas–Kilmann Conflict Mode Instrument 8-Appendix 8-Appendix Continued
