So, I meant to have this written right after the meeting with my group and the professor for my senior class project. But, when I got back to the office after that meeting I had to go right into the regularly scheduled web team meeting. Then I left work, went food shopping that took forever and then snow came. So here it is monday and i’m not any less annoyed about the situation… I’m just not thinking about it.

So here is what happened in a nutshell: we got lectured (like I said we would) and we have to work together (like I said we would) and basically were told ways of making this work that would benefit everyone but leaning more toward benefiting our fourth (which I kinda implied by saying that I wouldn’t be someone elses A.. meaning I want them to work too). So basically everything I was RARARARAR about, happened and a little bit more which annoyed me even MORE if that were possible.

So let me back up. Wednesday, our 4th showed at our group meeting. For part of the time. She helped with the “describing diagrams” part. The diagrams were done by the rest of us before. Since there were 4 of us, we broke up into 2s and worked on half of the diagrams. She was there to pretty much check my wording. Oh that sounds great, or.. how about this.. break this up into 2 sentences to make it look longer. Helpful. Loads. I was an English major before I turned to technology, I can make 2 sentences look like 3/4 of a page long paragraph. However, thank you ever so much for your input. We also worked on screen drawings, which.. one group member draw on a small whiteboard while our 4th draw them with a pencil on paper. So, that was helpful. And when that was done she got up and left. No one mentioned us being done meeting, that there was nothing left to do. Nor did she stay I can only stay till x-time. After she left, we drew those pencil diagrams in Paint and now we have electronic copies of them as well. So. back to less than 3% input from our 4th.

Now, to our appt with the principal… i mean professor on Thursday. We meet in front of the classroom. He lets us in, we take seats in the first row like in the middle of the row, and he sits at the table thing in front of us. This is when I knew that we were gonna be “taught” somethin. So then he says, you are all here becauss we’re having some group issues. I wanted to say there is no we, you are not IN our group, so its more like your group is having issues.. but alas I bit my tongue - something I did for almost the whole 45 mins.

He starts off with this is what sometimes goes wrong in groups. Groups need to communicate, that is usually the biggest problems in a group. So work on that. Next, there could be a situation where someone may not understand and they just kinda sit back because they don’t want to say something. There was also something about how meetings should/could work where you have people who don’t want to be in a room working for a lot of hours, which is ok because with all the technology we have, we don’t need to all be in the same room to be working together on something. Then he goes into… 70% of your group work should be done individually outside of the group meetings, while the other 30% is spent working as a team compiling and finalizing everything. Also, if groups want to meet weekly for any amount of time, that time should be spend dividing up the project into sections that each person then can take responsibility for and work on during the week in their own time.. then at the following week’s meeting bring everything and put it together. (at this point I am starting to taste blood, I’m biting my tongue so hard.. and my nails were digging into the back of my hands from being clasped together so tightly) He said something else, I was seeing red so I kinda didn’t retain that part.

Then he stopped talking and looked at us. He started with the person furthest to the left, our project manager (I’m going to refer to people by their titles within our project or in some other way without using their names), asking for comments. She said oh I have comments but you won’t like them (I <3 her and her snappy comebacks sometimes lol). But he asked for them, soo she gave em. The biggest issue is our 4th just getting up and leaving when we aren’t finished, or in the case of the first meeting just not staying at all. And same said 4th wondering why we have to meet already, there didn’t seem to be much to do.* She talked about our team contract, we agreed to meet on Wednesdays because it is the only day that we can all meet. And that we agreed to meet for at least the 3 hours because that is the length of time we can reserve a library room, stating that if we finished early that would be fine.. and if we had to work longer as long as no one else reserved it after us we could stay. This was agreed on and only being paid attention to by 3. The prof responds by rehashing that meetings shouldn’t go longer than 3 hours and the 70/30 nonesence. (tasting blood now).

*Side note - yet the 3 of us have clocked A LOT of hours getting things done. It started with the proposal, and into this part of the project (systems analysis and design), we have spent late nights getting stuff done picking up for that last member.

I am next in the row, and he says Jen, what about you comments/questions? I said um yeah. Comm.. no.. question.. what if say we do it like you’re saying - split up the work and someone doesn’t bring their completed part to the next meeting. If we leave it out, and we hand in the binder on presentation day, its not complete. Its not done! He said, thats right, it will be incomplete. I said, but I don’t like that. And I gave him the look that said, and you should know that by now. I will not let that happen. So then I said, like we kinda did do that - split up the work. I explained the interview day (see previous post for that). I said, its not my story to tell because I wasn’t there to see. But, when you have that - two members going to an interview and two members staying behind to work, and then the first two come back only to find that one of the others had left and that the one member that was still there was the only one that had actually worked. I didn’t spell out “MEMBER 4 was on FACEBOOOOK!”, but just said you know the situation that I can’t say any more because its not my thing to tell. He just nodded and started drawing a chart on the board. He said, this is what people do. You make a chart with the tasks and who is responsible for what. Or you could put in the table of contents the name of the person who did the task. (blood does not taste good.. and is almost being drawn on my hands at this point) Then he goes on to say that he’ll be able to tell if someone wasn’t pulling their weight in the group based on the chart thing, or during the presentations if one person doesn’t look comfortable presenting the part they are talking about. This is not making me feel better about the ‘incomplete’ issue.

So, our LoneMale, is next, who just says “we gotta communicate better”. I’m thinking… please please say something about the facebook thing. But no. He didn’t repeat it. Ah well, not that it would have mattered.

Finally he gets to our 4th Member who states that she didn’t understand a lot of the diagrams because she had never seen them. Being in a different major she was taught a different approach to things, and never used more than 2 of the diagrams. (Is it possible to see purple? instead of red?) I think she had something to say about splitting up the work, or there being no one to ask or something. I wanted to scream, but didn’t.**

**SIDE FN NOTE: If this was in reference to when 2 of us were meeting with the school director and 4th member was left with LoneMale to work on diagrams… why didn’t she GOOGLE the diagrams instead of play on facebook. LoneMale told us he had to look them up because he didn’t understand the one either. She didn’t even try, or ask him.

So we’re back to the prof, who then explains to us the difference between IST, MIS, and SRA. We don’t care (at least, I don’t care.. I picked IST for a reason). So, then he says, for the record, the SRA people have never taken programming so chances are they have never seen any of these diagrams. The only students who would have seen them have taken either IST 302 (Project Management) or IST 420 (Systems Analysis). The 3 of us have taken both. This is not an excuse. Google it. Although I have SEEN the diagrams doesn’t mean I remember exactly how they are used and what needs to go on them. That is what textbooks and professor slides, and FN GOOGLE are for! OR.. ask a group member. We don’t bite. I might. NOW. Because.. my tongue already has a hole in it.

He wraps up with “I think your group will be fine.. ya know why”? *blank looks* “Because you’re here 4 weeks into the semester with these issues, not at the very end”. This does not make me feel better! AT ALL! WORSE EVEN!

Oh and somewhere in amongst the wrap up he says something about taking ownership in your projects. He pointed out what I said about not liking to turn in incomplete work, it shows I’ve taken ownership in the project. He also went on to say that its because I’m doing it for the school of business, for the people in my office, these are the people I work with all the time and it has to be done right.. I’ve taken stock in it. I wanted to cut him off and say NO. WELL A LITTLE! BUT NO! I have taken ownership in the project, of course I have, its my GRADE. Its my LAST PROJECT! I want this for my resume, this is the JOB I WANT! But more than that, its my NAME! It is a project, an assignment, and it has to have my name on it. I don’t want something that is not complete to have my name on it. I don’t want to be associated with something that was turned in incomplete. NO! Just.. NO! So if there ever is a time when something is left undone or done halfway, it will just be completed by the rest of us and noted. Because the project will be complete.

So we all leave. 4th Member decides to approach Project Manager and say something along the lines of they need to sit and talk. Project Manager says she can’t stay right then.. 4th Member says fine, whenever you get a chance, and runs off to get her books for class. Whatever. 4th Member is not going to single out Project Manager when we all had something to say about her. Nope, not gonna let that happen.

So, we are left with this - we HAVE to work with her.. and it seems like now we HAVE to divide up the work. I don’t like that. I am not happy with the decision at all. There isn’t enough trust in 4th Person for that.

***CASE IN POINT***

Harrisburg got a huge snowstorm over the weekend. We are expecting another big storm (could be a foot or more of snow) Tuesday into Wednesday evening. Wednesday is when we would meet as a group. We are about 85% complete in what we need done. All diagrams, drawings, writings are done. What still needs doing is compiling the paper and putting together the powerpoint presentation. We present on Feb 22nd. This gives us this wed (2/10) and next wed (2/17) to get that done. It really looks like there will be no meeting, but its ok because we still have the 17th to get things done. Of course, with this wonderful technology we can still get a head start on the compiling. But, this is why it is important to work at least a week ahead, if we get more than a week ahead that’s great. This is why the way we’ve been going about getting the project done is working.

/end rant