Scott Aschwege
STA 340 – 01
Individual Assignment #1

I agree with much of the information provided in the two readings. In the Buckenmyer reading, I like the pros and cons that are explained from choosing a group on your own vs. having a group picked out for you beforehand. If I were in a situation in which I could either be put together with people I know and can trust but with little diversity or strangers that I don’t know but have a diverse set of ideas, I would choose to work with people I already know because I know we would be able to work together and not have any weak links. However, in a classroom setting like this with few familiar faces, I would probably prefer to have groups picked for us based on things like when people would be able to meet together and having different majors to provide different insights on different issues. This would help us because if students were able to pick their groups they would likely just choose the people sitting around them and have to deal with different schedules and not have very diversified thoughts on how to achieve a goal. One of the most frustrating things about group projects is the possibility of having to depend on people that may not be as invested in their grade as everyone else. This can often lead to a team member doing almost nothing and coasting by or having one person do everything because they feel like they have to do it their way. This can be rectified by having peer evaluations at the end of the semester but it does not change the fact that some team members may have had to do more work than necessary in order to get the same grade as others. I believe that a successful team will have all team members communicating frequently and working together toward common goals that will be achieved in tasks either assigned by a group leader or chosen individually by each member of the team based on what they feel like they can bring the most to the table. If I learned one thing from the Emir reading it is that communication is the most important aspect in working together in teams. A team that does not communicate often will often lead to unclear objectives to work towards and disorganization of the group as a whole. As scientific technologies get more and more complex over time, it will require more and more communication from all the parties involved from the statisticians to the researchers and corporate executives. When more and more parties become involved, it is important to see the perspective from each team member to ensure that everyone’s mindset is working toward the same common goal, otherwise it may result in undesired outcomes. If everyone’s perspectives to not match together, the team must reevaluate their strategy and communicate together to better understand what is expected from them. In the end, a successful team will have everyone on the same page with a common goal in mind with people who are completing tasks based on what they are best at. When it comes to working to groups this semester, I am not completely opposed to it as long as I get put in a team where people are willing to work hard and either take charge or take direction based on what is best for the group. When working in groups in the past, for me it has been mostly a positive experience with a few bumps along the way. I think that I am a good team member because I can either be the leader of a team or sit back based on the other personalities in my group along with the fact that I am easy to communicate with and I make myself available at several different times.