Sawyer (2017) suggests that ‘writers don’t sit down at the keyboard and spew out a novel; they compose in bits and pieces, and then later bring those pieces together’.  Despite our twice weekly communications, the team had been working independently upon their ‘pieces’ and the presentation was the moment those pieces were brought together – and I found it exhilarating!  The build up to the presentation date highlighted the emphasis we each placed on ‘not screwing this up’ for the rest of the team!  I spoke with a fellow group member about this and he agreed that the desire to ‘do a good job’ for everyone else meant that we had both stretched and challenged ourselves beyond our comfort zones.  Entries in our group chat such as ‘I’ve finished the final rendering and I can’t wait for you guys to see it!’ is evidence that we held each other’s opinion in high regard – their endorsement almost felt more important than the tutor feedback!     

I feel that the module has been a great success.  By collaborating with peers from other disciplines it made my mind more creative.  Working with others exposed me to new and unexpected concepts such as developing a brand identity into a fabric print.  Morphing the work of Graphics, Fashion, Photography, Interiors and Product Design students together to not only develop a viable business but to develop skills within my own discipline could not have been achieved through solo working. Our collaboration brought distant concepts together (the Miro Board  is a good example of this) and I believe that the emergent result, UnBoxt, is greater than any project outcome that I could have achieved alone (Sawyer, 2017).

There were members of the group who failed to exhibit the same enthusiasm and commitment for the project, as is my experience of working in teams.  However, I believe that the driving force of the most engaged and committed members who were forming a creative web of good connections maintained the traction required for the group to reach illuminating and innovative outcomes.   

My own areas of achievement;

• Communication Skills.  Encouraging contributions from the team and managing conflicts.  Occasionally in our group meetings certain individuals failed to make any contributions or volunteer their time and skills towards the greater good of the group project.  This did at times cause frustrations; however, I appreciated that it is not always easy to make contributions when conducting online meetings.  I drew from my experience of teaching online through the Covid Pandemic and managed this situation well by inviting them to share their thoughts, occasionally asking others to mute microphones and receiving the few contributions they made with positive encouragement. This is described by Sawyer (2017) as following the ‘yes and’ rule of accepting a partners suggestion and then building on it further.  I found this style of conversation not only generated innovation but managed inter-group relations.

• Verbal presentations – speaking with confidence
• Digital drawing skills using Adobe Illustrator
• Digital print – preparing files to access digital print fabric facilities
• Being less judgmental – Being kind, understanding and compassionate when team members failed to accept my suggestions – not jumping into defensive mode that my younger self would have done!  Initial negative preconceptions about group members were in fact not correct.  I ended up forging lifelong connections gained through mutual respect for shared values in work ethic and commitment
• Forming and nurturing healthy working relationships with likeminded individuals from different creative disciplines

My own areas for development;

• Be more decisive early on in the project – hanging back and procrastinating meant I lost valuable product development time later in the timeline and encountered issues with fit
• Stop being afraid of technology!  I had preconceptions that all ‘young ones’ were technical whizz kids who knew everything there is to know about all software packages….in fact many of my team mates used software packages for the first time in this module.
• CAD Illustration skills.  I wanted to simulate my apron designs in a 3D software for the Interiors students to add into their 3D simulation of the space.  Unfortunately this was beyond my skillset and I didn’t have the time to learn
• Be less self-critical.  I found myself apologising a lot…thinking I was under achieving/not delivering the same content as others/not playing a big enough part
• Be assertive.  Fear of appearing bossy/a control freak meant I didn’t call out team members who failed to volunteer their skills/time…I should have been more vocal about sharing the load equally

References;

Sawyer, K. (2017). Group Genius (3rd ed.). Basic Books