Team Project One
(Ed. note: This is the actual text of the paper I turned in for the team project)
There were supposed to be six of us, but due to factors beyond our control our group only numbered four. Well, technically five, but Byron wasn’t present on picture day.
We started out as four nameless faces that had been thrown together because of the alphabetization of our names. It was immediately obvious that we had four different backgrounds; four different life stories; and four different ideas about how this class would go.
But, as we pulled chairs up to the table and introduced ourselves, it became clear that we all had the same question: Where are we going to take this picture?
The picture in question was the subject of our first project as a team. We had to turn in a picture of our group at a Columbus landmark, and then write a paper about our experience. The paper would be the easy part. The hard part, as all of us were quickly becoming aware, would be finding a place, not to mention a time, to take the photo.
But before we got to the where, we needed to decide the who – we needed to name the team. It seemed pretty easy: something catchy that would describe the group. Since there were three guys and one girl we agreed that simply stating the obvious, and playing on a mid-nineties movie, would be the best way to go. We would call ourselves Three Men & A Lady.
After the group name was declared, we needed to decide on a place to snap a shot. I suggested a place that would set us apart from the rest of the class. I thought it would be easy, and look good too, if we all met at the old State Penitentiary Arch in the Arena District near downtown Columbus.
However, that proved to be a problem because not everyone in the group knew how to get to the Arena, let alone the hundred year-old arch across the street from it. It turned out that everyone in the group, except me, was from the southeast side of Franklin County. So the next most logical place to meet was Rickenbacker Air Force Base. It’s a landmark, it’s easy to find, and most importantly we could take a picture there.
Before we could pose for the photo we needed to write a team charter and mission statement. We thought long and hard about how to they should sound and came up with two great jumping off points. It was decided that Zach and I would take them home and collaborate on the finishing touches over the next week and present the end results to the group during the next class.
Zach really took the reins on this and wrote up a team charter worthy of any corporate boardroom, and then sent it to me. I changed a little syntax, told him “Good job!” and then I did the same with the mission statement, sending it to him for approval. Everything was looking good.
During the next class meeting, we discussed the logistics of the photo: the exact when and where, who was going to bring the camera, and the other loose ends. Mikole said was quick to let us use her camera and I had a friend that would be our photographer. The consensus, after some debate, was that it would be easiest to meet at the DeVry campus on Saturday afternoon and carpool to Rickenbacker.
When the appointed time came, we gathered at DeVry and started discussing the best way to get to the airport. I, being from the north end of town, only knew one way to get there – the long way – yet somehow I became the lead vehicle in our caravan.
After the twenty minute drive, that should have only been ten, we arrived at the terminal at Rickenbacker International Airport. Well, all of us except Zach. He had been right behind me on the road but now he was nowhere to be seen. I quickly borrowed Joe’s cell phone to call him and was surprised to find out Zach had taken a wrong turn a couple of miles back.
After a brief wait, during which I explored the desolation inside the terminal, Zach arrived and we all posed for the picture in front of the historical marker celebrating the Tuskegee Airmen. My friend took two photos – just to be safe – and we were off.
Overall, I’d say the whole plan went off without a stitch. Yes, we encountered a few speed bumps along the way – it seemed almost painful trying to agree on a place to take the photo and then traveling to the site became much more difficult than it needed to be. But, given the fact that we were trying to coordinate four adult schedules and get everyone to be in the same place at the same time outside of class, I think we did a bang up job.
Personally, I learned a lot from this project. Namely, that getting people to work together towards a common goal is a lot harder than it seems. But, once everyone gets on the same page and the goal is accomplished the feeling of satisfaction is well worth any headaches.
