To fully understand this knowledge strand, I would first like to summarise my approach to multidisciplinary innovation and in my opinion, the main influential factors in teamworking. They are summarised below.

 

Individual processes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Group processes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another point I'd like to make is that I discovered the term 'Meta-thinking.' I feel this is something I naturally do, which complements my decision making process coupled with abductive reasoning. I remain curious to analysing human behaviour and develop ides from there. Perhaps others do not think this way, which may cause futher confusion and disagreement. A solution I can suggest now is the use of 'A/B Testing.' Essentially, it allows for two ideas to be tested, using an iterative process to quickly see the effectiveness of each idea. This can reduce hostility in the group environment, so any ideas from an individual can be tested first to see if they are still useful or appropriate. I believe it is imperative to understand these processes, which ultimately can become compromised within a team environment. The transition between individual and collective creativity is delicate, where in my experience of semester one, decisions made  in teams caused the most impact to our productivity. I feel the individual can lose a sense of self-autonomy which can lead to detrimental teamwork and therefore inferior results. Perhaps this was due to the conflicts of interest and how to progress the project. My self-perceived team role was a "plant." This meant I favoured individual work, where creativity and imagination were used as strengths. Click here for a summary of (Belbin, 1981).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although needed in the creative process of project work, this did bring about conflict in certain areas of semester one. To resolve this problem, I initially used the stakeholder mapping tool as an internal process, to observe which of my team members could contribute to the project. I feel this should be encouraged, and also equate to others' experiences which may help the project. For example, a colleague had worked in a nursing care setting, which was a useful insight during a mental health project. At IDEO, they use a similar concept of 'superheroes' to determine what each member can bring to the project (IDEO.com, 2015)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Establishing everyones strengths heading into a project could have prevented negativity and indecisiveness during pivotal moments. Project Mind was a huge success because we did this effectively. Project Azione was by far the most productive impactful project yet, but I believe that was because we were all in pairs or groups of three, therefore little conflict was present. Others criticised this notion of working with people they are familiar, which caused confusion amongst certain members of the cohort - I for one. In terms of this knowledge strand, I feel as a multidisciplinary team we can take either one of two approaches:

 

1) Work in small groups with those you are most comfortable around.

 

2) Work with those unfamiliar at times and make decisions based on a cohort/large groups.

 

From my experience of semester one, option 1 had the highest success rate yet in for professional development after the course, this may be slighlty unrealistic as we have to work with people we may not work well with. For option 2, projects may suffer in terms of quality but to learn how to work with unfamiliar individuals early and deal with conflict professionally may be a better approach for the long run. Saying that, people are hesitant to make decisions which can delay progress in projects - perhaps colleagues should take more owenership of their work. 

 

 As an introvert, reflective type, I would have to change my outlook on groupwork and alter my personality for the benefit of the team. This would conflict my way of learning and cause frustration in myself, which led me to believe that remaining in my preferred learning style and introvert personality would be detrimental to futher group projects. I personally believe being completely oblivious to the disciplines of design and business beforehand, perhaps made me more anxious to participate more. This I feel made me less confident in my ability, as in previous similar experiences in my undergraduate study, I did contribute significantly in group environments. Peer feedback contradicted my previous studies and indicated I had tendencies to work alone and not communicate effectively with other members. Perhaps feelings of frustration were felt by my colleagues. I understood this and new a change was necessary. Research from (Ratcheva, 2009) stressed the importance of knowledge integration - whereby the expertise that each individual holds is not enough to produce maximum output in a team; it is the teamwork which causes cohesion and productivity.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

However, through completing projects over time, my confidence has increased. I feel my work has made substantial impact with each organisation I have worked with. Colleagues have certainly given me praise which has made me feel I should contribute more in discussions, or at least be more open and approachable. I should also keep reminding myself that thus far, I have only been training as a multidisciplinary professional for little over three months. It is a huge learning curve for me, and should expect incremental improvements - not an immediate, radical change as such. Furthermore, the importance of client relationships should not go unnoticed. Remaining professional is crucial for project work to be successful. Maintining this mindset is a given for my development.

 

In terms of professional development as a multidisciplinary professional, it is of extreme importance to retain a positive working environment, where teams of various backgrounds can thrive and produce innovative results. Learning to work with others effectively is certainly something I will engage in for my professional development, and highly significant in my desired career path. Moving forward to semester two, I will improve on communication. Building stronger relationships with my colleagues is one of my main concerns moving forward. A strategy I will undertake is to simply talk more and discuss ideas with team members, rather than work independently. By improving in this aspect, others in my cohort will benefit greatly. A strength of mine I believe is that I constantly aim to prevent hostility in our cohort, listen well and provide honest, constructive feedback. I am competitive in nature and strive to do produce the best work possible, so I want the people I work with to have the same work ethic.