How each style contributes to team effectiveness

1. building a team
2. motivation
3. communication
4. conflict resolution / prevention

Common causes of conflict

• different attitude, values / perceptions
• poor communication
• lack of teamwork

Signs of conflicts between individuals

• no communication
• disagreements
• facial expressions / body language

How to resolve conflicts

1. managing strong emotions
2. using "I" statements
3. active listening
4. symbolic gestures

What is a team?

A team is a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable.

Process of forming an effective team

1. building trust
2. sharing responsibilities
3. cultivating interdependence on others' strengths
4. optimising intercultural differences

Benefits of teamwork

1. increased work output
2. greater creativity
3. higher morale
4. increase work quality

Characteristics of a good team member

1. appreciation of differences in cultural worms, practices and ideas
2. accommodation of different personality styles
3. development of a win-win mentality
4. commitment to team goals
5. contribution to team goals

Characteristics of good team

1. everyone participates actively and positively in meetings and projects
2. goals are understood by everyone
3. members are carefully listened to and received thoughtful feedback
4. everyone takes initiative to get things done
5. each team mate trusts the judgement of the other team members
6. everyone is supportive of the project and of others
7. there is plenty of communication between team members
8. everyone is focused on the ultimate goal of the project

10 common team problems

1. indecisiveness
2. overbearing participants
3. dominating participants
4. reluctant participants
5. unquestioned acceptance of the opinions as facts
6. rush to accomplish the task without planning
7. wanderlust; digression and tangents
8. feuding members

my reflections:

i think that good team members are really hard to find. nobody is perfect in everything and there is always problems occurring in a team. no matter how hard we try to keep a team together, problems and disagreements will always rise. the members is also very important because if one of the member do not cooperate with the team, it is very hard to communicate.. so, i think everyone should try to do their best in a team and not let one person do everything.

CRITICAL THINKING

What is critical thinking?

1. able to question and analyze
2. clarify and improve understanding
3. open-minded and flexible
4. thinks diagonally ( monological thinking is to look at 1 view)
5. consider all facts and information before making a decision
6. not to judge something based on feelings
7. discuss ideas in an organised way

A critical thinker...

1. thinks and learns actively
2. thinks independently
3. asks reelant questions
4. explores situation carefully

USEFULLNESS OF CRITICAL THINKING

(1) able to handle adversities in life. ---> setbacks or problems

(2) easier to achieve goals.

(3) able to handle complex or difficult issues.

FACTS OR OPINION

- to be a critical thinker, one must know how to differentiate between a FACT or an OPINION.

FACT.

• TRUTHS WHICH CAN BE PROVEN BY EVIDENCE AND INVESTIGATIONS.

OPINION.

• THEORIES OF SOME PEOPLE. THEY ARE NOT SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE.

CAUSE AND EFFECT

* a cause is anything that is responsible for bringing about something else which is the effect.

* knowing the cause of our problem will help us find the solutions.

RELEVANT / IRRELEVANT INFORMATION

* to make sound or good decisions, the selection of relevant information is important.

* relevant information is useful and can lead us to our goals.

ways to foster creative thinking

principles of brainstorming

mind mapping techniques

What is brainstorming?

-a ter given when a group of people meets to generate new idea around a specific area of interest.

-an effective way to generate lots of ideas and then determine which idea(s) best solves the problem.

*effective with larger group of people.

*performed in a relaxed environment.

*all the ideas are noted down.

Principles of brainstorming

1. postpone and hold your judgements of ideas

2.encourage wild and exaggerated/crazy ideas

3.quantity counts at this stage, not quality

4.build on the ideas put forward by others

5.every person and every idea has equal worth

Procedures

-team members will do their contributions in turns.

-only one idea will be contributed at each turn.

-a member may decline to contribute during a particular round, but will be asked to contribute the other round.

Mind Mapping

-a mind map is made up of words, colours, lines and pictures. It is easy to construct.

5 steps to make a mindmap

1. black paper (unlined paper) and some coloured pens.

2. draw a picture in the middle of the page that sums up your main topic/ subject.

3. draw some thick curved lines away from the picture. One for each og the main ideas you have in your subject.

4. name each idea and draw a little picture.

5. from each of these idea, you can draw other connected lines, spreading out like the branches of a tree to represent the details.

AND WE ARE DONE WITH A MINDMAP !!

CREATIVE THINKING

sometimes we think vertically using the left brain.
sometimes we think laterally using the right brain.

• lateral thinking = unorthodox/ illogical thinking
• vertically thinking = process of logical method

OBSTACLES TO CREATIVE THINKING

1. Norms and conventions
2. time pressure
3. fear of making blunders
4. worry over anticipated consequences
5. lack of confidence
6. belief in one right answer
7. emotional blocks
8. lacking in verbal skills
9. fear of responsibility

posted on the 27 july 2008.

TIME MANAGEMENT

Top Time Wasters

• attempting too much at once
• cluttered desk/personal disorganization
• indecision/procrastination
• inability to say "no"
• unclear communication/instructions/information

Principles of Time Management

1. learn where your time goes
2. set and adhere to time priorities
3. set time limits
4. control interruptions
5. find extra time while waiting (say "NO" to distractors)
6. take time to relax
7. be patient

Time Management Tools

1. beat procrastination
2. activity log
3. action plans
4. to-do-list
5. scheduling
6. simplification

REFLECTIONS:

I learnt how to manage my time. Tools that can be used to manage my time. I should keep all distractions away while studying in order not to waste time!!

GOAL SETTING.

is it a process of making a dream come true?

why is it important to write down our goals?

it is because it can let us know what we want to achieve in life.

IMPORTANCE OF SETTING GOALS.

1. motivate us to achieve more.
2. helps us to prioritize and decide on what's more important.
3. get satisfaction from doing something.

SETTING S-M-A-R-T GOALS.

-Specific -details

-Measurable -success can be measured

-Attainable -within reach

-Realistic -sensible

-Timed -time-frame

i had learnt that goal setting is very important in our life. i should start planning my goals some day!

SELF-MOTIVATION

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm"

Ralph Waldo Emerson.

WHY DO WE NEED SELF-MOTIVATION?

• because, we cannot rely on others to encourage you.
• we need to self-motivate to achieve because if you don't encourage yourself to accept opportunity and challenge, who will?
• we have to also plan and find directions in your life.
• we can also take up a new hobby, activity or challenge.
• we must be enthusiastic about life and living.
• having the courage to see things through despite setbacks or negative comments from others.

REASONS ON WHY WE LOSE MOTIVATION?

1. we lack of confidence. - if you don't believe you can succeed, what's the point in trying?
2. we also lack of focus. - if you don't know what you want, do you really want anything?
3. lastly, we also lack of direction. - if you don't know what to do, how can you be motivated to do it?

blogging for LDP. today, we learnt about self-worth.
what is self-worth?
-to project a positive self-image, one must pay attention to one's.
can the perception of others change?
i have learnt that positive self-image could be improved through,

1. 
   Personal appearance.
2. 
   Relating appropriately to others.
3. 
   Working performance.
4. 
   understanding others perception.
5. 
   Improving one's intelligence.
6. 
   Understanding differences in personality styles.

we also learnt about how others see me. what do you see me as?

didn't blog yesterday for LPD so i will blog today. Mr tan taught us new things today.. some additional tips. (Effective study habits.) first, is to take responsibility for yourself. 2nd is to centre yourself around your values and principles. 3rd is to put first things first. 4th, discover your key productivity periods and places. 5th, consider yourself in a win-win situation. 6th, first understand others, then attempt to be understood. 7th, look for better solutions to problems. 8th, look to continually challenge yourself. i will definitely apply this tips to my daily life. i think that it will be helpful to us as times goes by.. and Mr tan praised me today in his EFC lesson.. haha, he ask me to write this down too. its a good habit. =)

i'm currently in school now, blogging. Mr tan gave us some time to blog about his lesson. today, he taught us the 7 Habits of Highly defective Teens. the first point is react. the second is being with no end in mind. the third one is put first thing last. the forth one is think win-lose. fifth one is seek first to talk, then pretend to listen. sixth one is don't co-operate. seventh one is wear yourself out.
last week he oso taught us about 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens. the 1st one is to be PROACTIVE. 2nd one is to being with the end in mind.(define missions and goals in life) 3rd one is first things first.(prioritise, do the important thing first) 4th is to think win-win.(have an everyone can WIN attitude) 5th is to seek first to understand then be understood.(listen to people sincerely) 6th is synergise.(work together to achieve more) 7th is to sharpen the saw(renew yourself regularly)
he also taught us about good and bad habits. GOOD HABITS include 1. showing respect. 2. exercise more. 3. plan ahead and be pro-active. BAD HABITS include 1. having negative thoughts. 2. feeling inferior. 3. blame everything in others.
i think that's all.. =)

alright, had LPD again today, Mr Tan is still talking about the good and bad habits topic. he is really funny and nice, but he can also be nasty. hope that his lessons will be fun everytime like today.

this entry is for Mr Tan, our LPD lecturer. had lessons today in the com lab and we were asked to discuss about good and bad habits. okay, it was fun doing group work as we get to interact with different people in my class. there is 4 people in my group.. we discussed about our good and bad habits. we thought that we are supposed to write any bad habits down and so, we came up with this. "sleeping in class". hahah.. Mr Tan is very humorous. he likes to tell jokes to his class and that's good. so that the students wun fall asleep in class.. that's all! =)