Blog 8- Team Goals

1. Summarize and report out on the results of the SKS exercise.
Start-communicating with additional partners, creating more concrete milestones as we move forward
Keep– good group dynamics and working meetings; regular schedule, check ins, and communication among team
Stop– multitasking while in meetings, jumping right to work during meetings without taking time to check in with each other/getting to know each other as if we were in person

2. Team Goals and Personal Goals

Personal Goals
Hannah: Improve work ethic, become better at systematically researching
Kate: Gain research experience, collaborate with peers to make a global impact
Sarah: Develop impactful solutions, collaborate with diverse teams, learn about entrepreneurship,
Menglin: gain collaboration skills with people across the world, understand the actual problem and what vulnerable populations need.

Project goal:
Our goal is to develop a scalable solution that will help individuals make better, data driven decisions about their health. By addressing air pollution exposure on an individual basis, we hope to help people improve their overall health by providing the data and recommendations needed for them to limit exposure to air pollution. Initially, we expect that our customer base will be centralized around AlmaU but as we improve the product and enhance our outreach, we can grow the customer base to include a wider area. We also believe that our approach can be scaled to include other cities throughout the world that suffer from poor air quality.

What are the metrics for success for what we’re producing?
-Decrease in respiratory diseases and other health impacts associated with air pollution
-Improved awareness of and willingness to address air pollution
-Number of monthly users

3. Roles

Who is responsible for which deliverables?
So far, we are all responsible for the same deliverables that we delegate among ourselves. We have not specified out roles on the team so for now we complete similar tasks.

Which deliverables that require collaboration, subgroups & individual work?
Deliverables that require collaboration are tasks such as large scale decision making. Delegating smaller deliverables that require individual work also require collaboration such as research, individual writing and smaller scale tasks that coalesce to create a larger impact.

Who does each person depend upon to succeed?
For each task, each member of the team depends on someone different. It solely depends on the task at hand, However, for each task each member of the team depends on themselves as well as their fellow team members.

Do we need a project manager to coordinate?
Our team does not need a project manager to coordinate, as we are a self driven team and we often work to manage each other.

What are the deliverables each person is accountable to produce?
Each person is accountable for what is assigned to them after team meetings.

4.Procedures

Decision Making
Since our team is small, we generally come to a full consensus. I imagine when we are faced with conflicts that divide our team the goal will be to convince the others their ideas have more promise. Hopefully when we look at the problem from every angle (including using outside resources) we will be able to come to an agreement on the best course of action.

Effective Meetings
I think our team has effective meetings. We use check-ins and longer meetings when they are necessary and we try to be productive in every meeting. If we do not get everything done in the meeting we delegate the work and have it done by next time.

Meeting roles
We have decided to assign a scribe for our meetings going forward and alternate who will take the responsibility. Hannah tends to take the role of facilitator; some more roles are outlined below. The whole team watches the time.

Communication
Our team has a groupchat and we make sure everyone is on the same page. We have a weekly meeting with our faculty mentor (Professor Duvanova) as well as a meeting for just the students the day after. We schedule meetings as need be, which has been a good system thus far. We do use google docs and presentations for most of our work and we tend to be responsive at most times.

5. Relationships
Our team has a small diversity (American culture), but we are eager to learn from different cultures. During our research/learning phase, we conduct individual research in our own free time and would share our findings in our weekly meetings. In order to come up with solutions for our team, we would have active discussions on the topics and provide personal opinions/perspectives on the problem. We arrive at a solution by consensus. Each of us has different learning styles, experiences, goals, and skills.

Listening
We allow everyone to fully participate and share one’s opinion during our discussion in our weekly meetings. We take into consideration each other’s perspectives while solving a problem.

Team Name
Almaty Assistant – the name for our APP
We hope to assist every Almaty resident to reduce their exposure to air pollution through our APP development

Hannah
Major: Psychology and Economics
Moderate knowledge on survey and analysis
Learning Style: trial and error, and logical thinking.
Role in the Team: Coordinator
Recommendation for the team: each team member should specialize in different areas to be more efficient

Kate:
Major: Behavioral Neuroscience
Knowledge in psychology, survey skills
Moderate sustainability and air pollution knowledge (elective classes)
Learning Style: Visual learner, brainstorming, asking questions, experimenting with solutions
Role in the team: Shaper, Teamworker

Sarah:
Major: Environmental Engineering/Energy Systems Engineering
Previous work in air quality, data analytics, and environmental issues
Experience with community engagement
Learning Style: visual learner
Role in the team: Specialist, Teamworker

Menglin:
Major: Environmental Engineering
Moderate knowledge on air pollution (taking class on air pollution currently)
Extensive experience in lab data analysis
Cultural background: Chinese (Asian) Culture
Learning Style: visual learning and validate points by asking questions
Role in the Team: Sharper, Implementer, Completer/Finisher
Language: Chinese (Mandarin)

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