Personal Effectiveness' project presentation ended today.
My team member was 'brave' enough to volunteer to be the first group to present and subsequently placed our entire team in such a disadvantage that we totally failed to nail the presentation.
After 2 weeks of intensive 18 hour days rushing the project out, we failed miserably.
I could only break down our failure into a few points.
- Teamwork was non-existent. We were grouped in a group of four per team, randomly selected by the lecturer.
- Spider contributed the LEAST; she missed our discussion sessions RELIGIOUSLY, often citing work as an excuse. Even on the Presentation Day, she claimed to be extremely busy with work. When she missed discussions and we offered to provide an extra session to fill her in, she whined incessantly of how time consuming it was and made multiple excuses to leave early. We had had interventions sessions with her, but to no avail. We were left with no choice but to mark her down in the up coming Peer Review. Many times when work was forced onto her (because we were up to our necks with other research for the topic, she would veer way off point.) In the end, what she did was often left on the editing floor, and we had to redo the entire thing.
- Blondie contributed little too. But she made the effort to meet up with us (since she's the only person in the entire team without employment. She's a Full Time, Part Time Student.) However, she often excused herself from work with blank stares and blond moments. Often using "I don't know" as a way of escaping work before going, "Thanks for doing this work which I don't know how to do, Sorry." In a team, I couldn't take that as an excuse not to do any work but we were often too tired to scream at her. Usually, I would just take her tasks and do it myself. When work she KNEW how to do, she would wait till someone help her hands and taught her step by step on how to go about it. It frustrated me, but taught me patience. SHIT LOADS of PATIENCE.
- Jie mei and I did almost all the work. We would meet up in school to push some work to the formers, futilely trying to get them to do some work before adjourning to her place a few blocks away from home to work on the project until the wee hours of the morning before going home for a short rest. We built the entire castle. But a night of nervous breakdown and stubbornness on her part to let me start off the presentation first, destroyed our hard work. I was the one who did up the entire slide and coordinate the entire presentation. Naturally, I knew what the entire project was about and was better off presenting without a script. But her refusal to allow me to start off the presentation first before passing it to her half way through screwed our entire presentation up.
- I did my best on my part, but on foresight, I shouldn't have tried to delegate work to the other team members who refused to put in the effort for the project. Leaving their names out in the final presentation and report would have been a more straight forward approach but since they've managed to do some work after ALOT of cajoling, I guess I could only mark them down for Peer Review.
After the Presentation today though, I went for Zouk's Mambo night with Shirley, June, her husband, Shirley's two friends and Keith, me cousin.
While waiting for them to arrive at Tiong Bahru, I bumped into W.L. who had lost his phone last week. Tonight, though, he lost his WALLET.
I can't help but wonder: Are all persons born under the star of Cancer, cancerously Careless?
Shorty had lost her mobile last week too. And when the auntie was nice enough to call her to collect her phone, she argued with her, insisting that the poor woman DELIVER her phone to her Door Step. WTF. I hope the poor woman takes the phone and uses it for herself instead. And i hope the Father Figure STOP buying her a new phone whenever she loses one. It is fast becoming a VERY VERY bad Habit.
Anyway, I wanted to pass W.L. some cash to go home but unfortunately he had walked off before I could get out of Coffee Bean. ( I was sitting there, Facebooking when he came by.)
Mambo night was really fun! Mambo-ed with Keith, and had a ball of a time! I haven't been so happy in AGES, mambo-ing! ROFL.
Bumped into Neal Ng while on the way out of the toilet. Such coincidence! Two Primary School friends in a NIGHT!
XD
I'm in a better mood now after the night out at Zouk. But I wonder if I should give some work to the two slacker team mates for the group report...
