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

 

1. Develop a detailed Collaboration Plan for your team clearly articulating your Goals (Small g and Big G), Roles, Procedures, and Relationships. 

 

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: 

• What are the personal goals (small g) of each member on this team? (Team Member #1,#2, #3, etc) Make sure they connect to the DREAM on the Individual Profile.
• What is the Project GOAL (big G) we’re all committed to achieve together?
• Is our Project Goal scaled to our resources (dreams, materials, skills, differences, etc.) and constraints (assignment, time, skills, etc.)

 

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

 

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. 

 

Procedures

• Decision Making – What process shall we use: consensus, majority rules, deference to expert, default to the loudest, or?
  • 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 – Focus on key, timely decisions together vs. status/update (offline);
  • 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: scribe, facilitator, time keeper
  • We have decided to assign a scribe for our meetings going forward and alternate who will take the responsibility. I (Hannah) tend to take the role of facilitator; some more roles are outlined below. The whole team watches the time.
• Communication – FTF: frequency, time, location; type of technology: (Google docs, Hangout, etc.); expectations for responsiveness; ‘best time to work’ (AM, PM, weekends?)
  • 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. 

 

Relationships

•         Team Diversity – What is the diversity on our team? Disciplines to tap for solutions;  individual learning styles for the stages of invention;  overall team learning style strengths and places to supplement;  cultural backgrounds , work experience, dreams to leverage for scope & impact of goals, new roles, better procedures;  languages for more diverse customer set, bigger market;

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.

 

• 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
  • Goal: End widespread respiratory illness in Kazakhstan and reduce pollution

 

• 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)

 

Listening – Notice my binary thinking, auto-rankism, and go beyond it.

• 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–What’s a team name that captures who we are and what we’re going to do?

• 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