Jessica Ansburg and communications

Communication is very important when working in any group. It is highly important to make sure that there is always a flow of communication going on between all members. Our team has done a great job doing so thus far. If there are any problems, issues or something that just needs to be cleared up and updated we all make sure to communicate that to everyone else. Working with a group is extremely difficult if you do not establish good means of communication because our schedules will not always be compatible. We make sure to stay communicated whether it be through e-mail, text, phone calls, before lecture time and always are sure to use our discussion time as efficiently as possible.

Having such good communication between the members of our group has really made this project go smoothly. It has also made working together very positive. Our good communication skills have made the entire process positive. And it really is positive in it's own to see what having such good communication skills and positive attitudes can do for a group.

communication Lauren Rozman

This team has good communication skills which have made this project a positive experience. In each team meeting, we are able to talk to one another in order to be productive. Individually, our communication skills are strong. We can have fun while making effective progress on the multi-media project.

Having communication skills is highly important when working in any team. It allows us to work in a time efficient manner. We update each other through e-mail, lecture, and discussion time.

Communication with Stuart Willicombe

And here it is...the last blog for the project. What better subject to end it on than talking about the asset that made our team strong. Yes it is communication. As soon as someone has an idea the rest of the team is going to know it. We communicate through e-mail, through lecture, and especially during discussion. our communication skills have helped us get along great and makes for an extremely positive work environment.

So far we have not had any conflict or mishaps with our communication. In addition, our project is right on schedule and doesn't seem like anything could get in the way. I am glad everyone in our group has really put their hardest work in this project. We are all excited and motivated to finish a great multi-media project.

Mike Oszuscik's Communication Skills

Everything concerning communication with our group has been positive. Everyone in our group is good with communicating. We all sit by eachother in lecture and frequently have positive discussions concerning our project. We also all see eachother in discussion section, so we basically see eachother and meet up atleast 3 times a week, which has had positive effects throughout this process in that everyone is always in the know with what needs to be done.

As far as my communication skills and everyone else's, we always say what we need to say and feel comfortable doing it. It makes for a very positive work environment when everyone feels they can voice their ideas, which we all feel like in our group. When we're not in class together we frequently communicate by e-mail, which so far has been a positive alternative for when we're not able to talk in person. Whether it's in person or by e-mail, there have never been any problems with miscommunication or lack-of-communication with our group. Mike out.

Communication Skills for Jessica B.

Communication for myself and within my group has predominately served the purpose of providing information. We communicate what roles will be filled by who, we assign tasks through communicating strengths and weaknesses that each group member has that can contribute to completing the tasks. We also communicate about the changes made to our project. Most of our communication is done during discussion, through email, and after class.

My personal communicate skills have provided with group with what information I have to add to our project and specific assignments/milestones. This has positively impacted our group because we have less confusion about what things still need to be done. It creates a sense of support and trust within our group. When every member of the group has good communication we can rely on one another more and there is never doubt that something won't get done. This sense of trust also creates an overall positive work environment as well!

Stuart Willicombe's motivation

Intensity, we got it,direction, we got it, and persistence, check. Motivation is the glue to our group and makes our working atmosphere positive and reinforcing. When it comes to intensity, everyone is doing their best to keep up with the milestones and everyone is looking ahead at the final finished project. In addition, no one is complaining or is in conflict with another while trying their hardest. Next, all this hard work is nothing without direction. Every week our team lays down the plans for the next task in our project and it is done so with positive attitudes and maximum efficiency. Right now our flow chart is helping all of us know what to do and when to do it. Lastly, our persistence is deffinitely there. Every group member is there to see a grade A finished multi-media project. All of us are motivated so persistence is not a problem. Consequently, our team continues to work hard and make this project enjoyable and rewardable.

Motivation- Lauren Rozman

Motivation is the processes that accounts for an individual’s intensity, direction, and persistence of efforts toward attaining a goal. Our group has a high level of motivation toward our change the world project. We share the same goals of helping in the hunger clean up event and helping the Milwaukee community. This team is very interested in volunteering, some of us have volunteered many times, and this event will be the first time for others. The interest that we have plays a major role in our motivations.

The motivation of the members in this group has played a positive role in our project and our group’s experience. We all contribute to the milestone assignments each week which shows our commitment and motivation with this class. I think that in a project, like the one in this class, team members must have a significant amount of motivation to complete a task.

Mike Oszuscik's Motivation Post

One reason our group experience has been a positive one so far is that we're all motivated to work well together. If we didn't get along, or if there was one person dominating the project or something negative like that, chances are our motivation levels wouldn't be all that high because no one cares to work in an environment like that.

So far we have met all the deadlines, we've all shared the workload, and we've all been to all the discussion sessions because we're motivated to do so. None of us are slackers, so we're all working to earn a good grade on this project, and to do that we can't let our groupmembers down when something needs to get done. As a group we've set goals of what we want to accomplish, and when we see everyone else working to attain those goals, I think it motivates the rest of us to work just as hard.

Jessica A. Motivation

I think that our group as a whole has continuously shown an enormous amount of motivation throughout this process. Our intensity, direction and persistance in effort to accomplish the completion of this project has magnified with each day. With the deadline shortly approaching and our event only a couple of weeks away our high level of group motivation has played a very positive role. Each member of our group has the direction of this project aimed towards the best interest of the organization (the hunger cleanup). I feel that with our high level of motivation we are all persistant to give our best efforts until this project is completed.

I also feel that since our whole group was passionate about volunteer work it was very easy for us to get motivated and maintian that motivation for the duration of the project. We all believe in the event we are participating in and the impact it has on the community and that alone is motivation enough to have a positive impact on our group.

Motivation for Jessica B.

The motivation for myself and our group is that we have a specific goal that we are all driven to complete. When looking at how to define motivation, our group has met the requirements. We have all maintained intensity, direction, and persistence throughout the duration of our project. Our group also leans towards Bandura's Self-Efficacy Theory because we all believe that we are capable of performing all the tasks needed to complete this project successfully. We all have the confidence needed to complete the individual tasks we are assigned and that is evident because they have all been done successfully. We have also taken the opportunity to better our project when presented with negative feedback. In milestone 4 we were asked to be more specific when listing/assigning future tasks and although it was not necessary to revise and resubmit our milestone, we did.
I think we all strongly believe in the importance of volunteering as well, so we feel a sense of motivation to complete this task to the best of our ability. All of this has played a positive role in completing our tasks, working together, revising our goals/plans, and creating a video we are satisfied with. It's nice to know our group works well together and that if we assign a task to one member we know it will get done.

Perceptions & Decision Making for Jessica B.

For our groups multimedia project we have already gone through several decision making processes. We needed to decide what to do, who would do a variety of tasks, when tasks would be completed, what we want our end results to be, etc. We have all positively played an important role in creating solutions, which has also made for a very positive work environment. I think each of our unique personalities helps to bring several ideas/solutions to the table. We use our strengths and weaknesses to help one another and our group strive towards the end results. I think it also helps that we all have similar perceptions of the project; it motivates each of us to do our best and work through problems that arise. Our individual experiences also allowed us to better identify who would be good at certain tasks. All of this has allowed our group to work well together and successfully get our tasks done.

perception and decision making-Lauren Rozman

Perception and the decision making process has played a positive role in preparing our save the world multi-media project. Everyone in this team perceives this project as important to the community as well as our academic education. The project topic that my group choose is interesting to all of us, and this influences our perceptions in a positive way.
The decision making that goes on between group members is constructive and positive. We all contribute to different ideas and we can easily make decisions about our project. Sometimes we make rational decisions and other times we map out our problem and extract their complexity. I think that my team makes decisions well together and will continue to have a positive perception on the project until it is complete.

Stuart Willicombe on Perception

Everyone of us in the group have used positive perceptions to make our work environment comfortable and enjoyable. We use all the factors of perceptions to have good attitudes, reachable expectations, and solid work ethics. These perceptions keep us on track to complete a well made multi-media project. In addition, our decision making is unanimus. We never go through with something if one of our team members feels left out or does not feel comfortable with the decision. What's really been a positive experience is how quickly we volunteer to do certain parts of the project. This means no one is being forced to work on something they don't want to. Consequently, our team continues to push forward to complete this project in the most positive and efficient way possible.

Mike Oszuscik's Perceptions

Factors that make up perception include attitudes, motives, interests, and expectations. All of those factors have been positive within our group. Everyone has good attitudes. We all seem to like eachother and we all work well together. Our motives and interests are pretty similar in that we all want to be able to complete this project successfully and feel good about our final video. We all keep realistic expectations of what can be done with the project, therefore we're able to work efficiently.

The group's decision-making process has been positive as well. When it comes to certain decisions to be made, I don't think we always completely agree with eachother right off the bat, but if we don't it never becomes a problem because as a group we always talk out different possibilities and once everyone hears what eachother has to say we can usually reach an agreement. Everyone's always rational and keeps an open mind.

Jessica Ansburg Perceptions and Decision Making

I really feel that the perceptions of our group have played a very positive role. I feel that we all have a positive attitude. I think that we all agree that our group is working well together we are all putting forth a good effort and effectively collaborating to put this project together. Having such perceptions make it a very positive enviroment for everyone in the group to work in. I think that since we have had the semester to work on our projects that it hasn't been to much of hassel to find time. We also get to work outside of a classroom on our project which helps make our perception of the project more positive. I really do feel that the project we are doing really interests all members of the group and when everyone is interested it helps to boost morale and also our perceptions.

Although we are all interested in the project we are doing, we are 5 different individuals with different opions and ideas. This could be very difficult if you do not have a good decision making process. We have collectively found a way to agree on which roles everyone in the group will have. Based upon these roles we all tend to stick to making the decisions which pertain to our portion of the project with the input from all members of the group. I belive that the way we have been handling decisions has been very effective and has had a very positive impact on the group.

Jessica Ansburg

The most dominant trait I discovered about myself is my absolute willingness to compromise and get along with others. I think that this has definately played a positive role in our project because when working with any group you have to be willing to listen to what others have to say and incorporate everyone's ideas. By being a team player it is making the diffucult tasks of this project seem a little easier. Another one of my dominant traits was that I am caring for others. I care about the feelings of others and how they would feel if their ideas or opinions were not included. It helps to create a very safe space and be inclusive of everyone's thoughts so I would say that helps me to play a positive role in this project as well.

I also thinkg that the group experience has been affected in a positive way because of the high morale that my dominant traits created. No body wants to work in a group that they feel unvalued or not as included as others and by making sure to include everyone it gives everyone in the group a more positive experience. Also no one wants to be in a group were the other members are not willing to compromise or work through dilemas rationally. So I think that haveing that compromising dominant trait adds to the positive experience of being in the group.

Stuart Willicombe's personality traits

My most dominate personality trait is in the area of Extroversion on the big 5 test. I feel this really helped when our group first started working together because I love to talk and crack jokes to make our group have a more comfortable atmosphere. I’m a really social person so working with groups is a thing I look forward to and the last thing I want to do is let them down in a project. In addition, my Jungian 16 type personality ENTJ suggests I’m outgoing but I’m also imaginary. This will really help with the video part of the project, which is a part in the project I play a large role in. Our group doesn’t have any conflict which seems to be the case because myself and others in the group have a compromising conflict handling style. Lastly, the personality test suggests that others trust me, which is good because I don’t want to let my team down in any way during this project.

Mike Oszuscik's Traits

As far as my basic personality, my most dominant trait is conscientiousness. Basically this means I'm a responsible and dependable person, so I can be counted on to get things done. I don't like to forget about things or to leave people hanging, so my group won't have to worry about trusting me to do things. My Jungian personality is INFP, which among other things means I'm creative, so hopefully that'll come in handy when we put together our final video. The instrumental values that I value the most are truthfulness and honesty, so my group can rest assured that they won't catch me lying to them about anything through the course of this project. Finally, going back to basic personality, I scored high in emotional stability, meaning I'm good at staying calm about things, so if a problem ever arises with our project I know I'll be able to help handle it.

Personality Traits for Lauren Rozman

My most dominant basic personality trait is conscientiousness. This has a positive impact on my group because I am very responsible and achievement oriented. This will allow my team-mates to rely on me to complete the necessary actions on time. My preferred conflict-handling style is compromising. This has an impact on my group because I am able to give up something in order to avoid problems. This is a positive trait because my group will be able to overcome conflicts to produce the best results. I scored above average on how well do I respond to turbulent change. This has positively affected my team because I adapt well to a changing environment. Lastly, I am highly engaged. I take school seriously and am able to commit to my team until the multi-media project is complete.

Dominant Personality Traits for Jessica B.

Having extroversion as a dominant characteristic has enabled me to be sociable with my group. I can effectively communicate and work with them because I outgoing and enjoy talking! My most dominant characteristic is conscientiousness which has allowed my group to be dependable on me; they know that I will complete my tasks on time and do them to the best of my ability. My Jungian 16-type personality indicated that I am ESFJ, stating that I have good interpersonal skills. I have used this to work well with my group as well. Although we haven't had any conflict in our group, my preferred conflict-handling style was compromising. This will be useful if our group comes to a disagreement because I can help our group to be reasonable and come up with a respectful solution. Finally, I had a turbulent change score that was average, so if our group had to adjust some of our tasks I would be comfortable doing that as well.

Jessica Ansburg's Attitudes

My overall experience with this project has been good so far. I feel that our group is very diverse and everyone has something valuable to add. We work well and although group projects are hard to work into your schedule with everyone's different work and class schedules and also personal lives I think that we have done a pretty good job of making it work. Congnitively I think that everyone is contributing and taking the reins in fields they are a little more comfortable in and it seems to be working well. Affectively I feel that we have a done a good job at taking turns on being responsible for sending in the milestones and we all make very good contributions to them. I am happy about everyones participation thus far. Because our group shares the responsibilities of the work required for this project I want to keep adding my input and working on this project with them. This hunger cleanup was the perfect project to do that incorporated all of the ideas our group had that would change the world. So far working on this project with my group has been a very positive experience for me and I look forward to continuing work on it and participating and finding others to participate in the actual cleanup its self.

Stuart Willicombe's attitudes

Overall, my attitude for this multi-media project and my group has been a very positive one. Our group has little conflict and can easily figureout milestones and who is working on specific tasks within the project. For the congnitive component, this has been an enjoyable project with everything from working with my group to working with new things like video editing. We work well together, are very efficient, and have positive attitudes towards the project. Next, for the affective component, this project seemed scary at first. But, ever since we have started my group and my project I have been nothing but happy with the results. We all get along great and can even joke around while working together to make a more positive atmosphere. Lastly, for the behavioral component, I wan to do this hunger clean up because it makes me feel good and helps out the community. In addition, I want to help my group whenever I can to keep up the good work on turning in milestones and just getting quality work completed. This group and project have been a great positive experience so far and it seems like it can only get better for the weeks ahead.

Mike Oszuscik's Attitudes

I've actually enjoyed this project so far, so I'd say I have a positive attitude on a whole. It's never exciting news to hear that you have a huge, semester-long project that's due, but once we got into groups and got going I've enjoyed it. I think the event we ultimately decided on taking part of is a great idea and something that will have positive effects on those involved. As for the components of my attitude, I have a positive outlook on this whole thing. I've got a good group and we've got a good idea/topic, so I've got a positive opinion on what we're doing (there's my cognitive component). As for my affective component, I'd say I've had nothing but good emotions up to this point. I'm happy I've got a good group, happy we get along, happy we've got a good goal in mind for our project. So, I'm happy. Finally, for my behavioral component, I want to help out my group as much as I can. We all work good together, there's no slackers or what not, so that motivates you to do your part with everything.

Lauren Rozman's attitudes

I have a favorable attitude toward this multi-media project and toward the group I am working with. I feel that volunteering for the Hunger Clean Up event will affect me, my group, and make a difference in the community in a positive way. My group has worked well together completing milestone assignments each week and setting goals for the future. The cognitive component of my attitude is a positive one. The affective component of my attitude is happiness with what our event will accomplish and how many people it will help. The behavioral component is the intention to devote time and effort throughout the semester to help my team complete the multi-media project.

Volunteer Information

Hey Everyone!
Just want to let you know that there is a sign up sheet now for the food bag distribution. It will take place on Wednesday April 16th from 3-6. I think we should find a time that works and all go together. I have class at 5:30 though so I'd have to be back for that. Also, please email me with the name, email, and phone number of other volunteers you are having sign up for the Hunger Clean Up.

Attitudes for Jessica B.

My overall attitude about this project is that our group has selected a project that accommodates all of our individual desires to change the world! We have worked well up to this point, by assigning roles and following through with them. We have also completed multiple tasks to keep our project on track. I am very happy with our progress and how well the group is working together. My cognitive component on the satisfaction of the project overall have a positive effect because our group continues to work together. It also makes doing this project more enjoyable. My affective component is that I am happy with the choices we have made thus far. We had to reschedule our interview with the director of the Center for Volunteerism and Student Leadership and because we've all had a positive affective attitude we were able to easily overcome this obstacle. The behavioral component of my attitude is that I want to work well with group members and help out as much as I can. I offer input on all of our assignments, and we are all taking turns in submitting assignments. I have fulfilled assignments designated to me and plan to continue to do so. This has allowed our group to successfully complete all of our assignments on time. Because our group has a positive attitude we have been able to agree on things easily and if there is disagreement it has been quickly eliminated through discussion and reevaluation.
I think our group works well together, we all participate and offer to do whatever task is at hand. So far we have done an equal amount of work and demonstrate great work ethic and interest in our project. These are all my cognitive and affective components of my attitude towards the project. Overall, my attitudes towards our group, the project, and mini-tasks have allowed us to stay on top of our action plan. We communicate effectively and I look forward to completing this assignment in the same manner.

intro to project

Our change the world project is volunteering for the UWM Hunger Clean up which takes place on April 18, 2009. We will all be recruiting other people to volunteer with us for this event. The event sends volunteers out into the community to help with projects such as river, park, and neightborhood clean ups, stocking shelves at food panteries, and collecting and delivering non-perishable food items to a local food bank. We also plan to help in distributing the bags for people to leave their non-perishable food donations.

We decided to help with this event because we believe it will inspire others to volunteer and it makes a great impact on the community. It also encourages other UWM students to participate in events similar to this.