Requirements gathering and teamwork lecture brainstorming

Requirements gathering lecture summary and brainstorming:

Team work lecture notes brainstorming:

Improvisation on conflict management

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn86YExfgmQ&feature=youtu.be

We were told to set up a scenario by the lecture where a team will have to deal with a certain conflict.
In our case, it was a web-development team and the leader was Abhishek. The conflict was about how unfairly the works were distributed.

At the end of the sketch that we set up, we deal resolve this situation by an assertive approach. The leader (Abhishek) decides to listen to the members at the end. In the end, the leader has to try to comprehend the situation of his workers and listen to it. At the end, the one who shows better interpersonal skills is voted as the new team leader everyone is happy with the decision in the team.
This democratic approach shows that the team operates in a cooperative way, the differences of different members and the conflicts encountered.

Interpersonal skills

Interpersonal skills
Inter : Between 2 or more
Personal : involving persons

Interpersonal skills are those which help establishing good relationship with other persons. It can be achieved by different medium such as verbal or non-verbal communication.

Benefits of having good interpersonal skills:
1. Better relationship of different concerns (professional or personal)
2. Help with building a better career.
3. Helps working in groups and as a team.

There are different factors which affect interpersonal interactions: 
1. How much attentive you are: For instance you should not be distracted and other external factors should be minimised.
2. Listening skills
3. Time factors
4. Emotional factors
5. ...

Networking Skills

To have good networking skills allows you to create good relationship with many people. There are different behavioral and social aspects that determine how good your networking skills are. There are different ways one can achieve such abilities. For example, one should try being open, prepared, grateful among others, to be able to develop a good networking skill in general.

Assertiveness
There are 3 mains levels of assertiveness:
1: Passive: One where the person concerned is less prone to face problems and raise a voice. 
2: Aggressive: One who tends to be dominant and self-centered. (technically the opposite of passive)
3. Assertive: One who listens/understand others as well as himself. Raises voice for himself and listens to voices being raised against him.

Conflict management. 
5 main ways of tackling interpersonal conflicts

1. Avoiding: A passive way of avoiding a conflict. Basically stepping-aside and letting go the way they are going.

2. Accommodating: Unassertive approach to solving conflict. However it's a fully co-operative approach to solve the problem. The one accommodating must step aside his ego when engaging in such conflict resolution strategy and give priority to his counterpart.

3. Competing: Completely uncooperative but assertive approach of solving conflict. (The better wins)

4. Compromising: This approach is partly assertive and slightly cooperative. It involves making a decision where both parties agree on a decision that partly satisfies both of them!

5. Collaborating: This one which is highly assertive and cooperative. Consist of making a decision after listening and understanding each other and working out their differences. In this case both parties and mostly satisfied after resolving the conflict!

Interpersonal skills-Abhishek Bholah

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

‘’Our ability to manage ourselves and handle relationships [emotional intelligence] matters twice as much as IQ’’-Daniel Goleman.

WHAT ARE INTERPERSONAL SKILLS?

Interpersonal skills, also known as people skills, are related to the way you communicate and interact with people. When employers are hiring, interpersonal skills are one of the criteria used to evaluate candidates.

Skills employers say they seek:

1. Critical thinking skills

2. Problem-solving skills

3. Oral, writing and interpersonal communication skills 

4. Ability to locate, organize and evaluate information from multiple sources

5. Appreciation of diversity and individual differences

6. Potential for continued learning and professional development

7. Innovation and creativity

8. Ability to apply knowledge and skills in real-world settings

1.

LISTENING- Listening is the most fundamental component of interpersonal communication skills.  Listening is not something that just happens (that is hearing), listening is an active process in which a conscious decision is made to listen to and understand the messages of the speaker.  Listeners should remain neutral and non-judgmental, this means trying not to take sides or form opinions, especially early in the conversation.  Active listening is also about patience - pauses and short periods of silence should be accepted.  Listeners should not be tempted to jump in with questions or comments every time there are a few seconds of silence.  Active listening involves giving the other person time to explore their thoughts and feelings, they should, therefore, be given adequate time for that.

2.

Questioning- Questioning is something that often builds upon listening, but it is not merely a device for obtaining information. The listener can demonstrate that they have been paying attention by asking relevant questions and/or making statements that build or help to clarify what the speaker has said.  By asking relevant questions the listener also helps to reinforce that they have an interest in what the speaker has been saying.

TIPS TO DEVELOP GOOD INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

1.        SMILE

2.       BE APPRECIATIVE

3.       PAY ATTENTION TO OTHERS

4.       PRACTICE ACTIVE LISTENING

5.       BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER

6.       RESOLVE CONFLICTS AMICABLY

7.       COMMUNICATE CLEARLY

8.       HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOUR

9.       SEE IT FROM THEIR SIDE -EMPATHY

10.   DON’T COMPLAIN

INTERPERSONAL CONFLICT:

What is Conflict?

 • Opposition leads to Conflict or when a solution cannot be found for a disagreement.

• Is a disagreement where the parties involved perceive a threat to their needs, well- being, interests or concerns?

 • Threat perceived can be physical, emotional, power, status, intellectual, etc.

Interpersonal Conflict is the

• Needs- ignoring our or others‟ needs energy (positive

• Values-holding incompatible, unclear values and/ or

• Unresolved Disagreements negative) that• Feelings and Emotions- Ignoring own or builds up when others feelings and emotions individuals or

• Underlying Stress and Tension- demands groups of exceeds our capacity to deal/ deliver people pursue

• Ego problem- Not admitting own incompatible mistakes, Personality Clashes goals to meet

• Power- trying to make others change their needs and actions or to gain an unfair advantage interests.

Conflict Resolution

Is a range of processes aimed at alleviating or eliminating sources of conflict

1. "Know Thyself" and Take Care of Self

2. Clarify Personal Needs Threatened by the Dispute

3. Identify a Safe Place for Negotiation

4. Take a Listening Stance into the Interaction

5. Assert Your Needs Clearly and Specifically

6. Approach Problem-Solving with Flexibility

7. Build an Agreement that Works

Ground Rules Statements reflecting peoples best intentions regarding how they wish to treat one another in civil dialogue.

1) One person speaks at a time.

2) Commitment to listen, understand first

3) It is confidential, unless otherwise stated

4) Talk directly with the person and not involve others in "gossip" or "alliance building“

 5) Do the our hardest/ best possible

 6) Offer safe environment - harassment free

7) Attack the issues, not the people

Tips for conflict resolution

1. Put yourself in the other person shoes.

 2. Don’t be judgmental. Do not embarrass the other person.

3. Never accuse anyone

 4. Watch your body language as posture, tone of voice, and facial expressions

 5. Do not take it personally in conflicts people night say things they don’t mean

6. Let the other person know that you want to find a win-win resolution

 7. Apologize for anything you may have said or done to offend them.

Resolving ConflictsDialogue:

1. Be Open& Suspend Judgment

2. Keep Dialogue & Decision making separate

3. Speak for yourself and not as a representative & Treat all participants as peers

4. Listen for understanding with empathy, acknowledge that you heard, and that you care

5. Look for common ground& Identify on what you agree

6. Search for and disclose hidden assumptions especially in yourself

Emotional Intelligence

1. Think intelligently about our emotions to think more intelligently, and regulate others‟ emotions by influencing and engaging and motivating groups

2. People resonate to people who connect to them emotionally. Learned ability

3. Can reduce stress by decreasing conflict, improving relationships, understanding, increasing stability, continuity and harmony. Start within by self-awareness and continues outwardly in how they impact.

 Tips To Improve Interpersonal Skills

1. Set the ground for respectful communication

2. Work on your attitude.

3. Have reasonable expectations.

4. Choose the right time and place

5. Watch your body Language, have an open demeanor

6. Actively listen and respond periodically.

7. Avoid “fire starters” such as: hot words, over- dramatization, blaming, guilt induction, and past events

8. Choose to behave assertively. Avoid being aggressive

9. Stay focused on the issue

10. Reflect upon the interaction and get ready to keep developing the relationship.

11. Be ready to change and keep exploring continuously.

Material from our new team member. Adil

Bio

My name is Ali Abdullah Adil Emambocus and i grew up as an only child with my parents. Accustomed to mostly adults, I grew up as a mature child for my age. My childhood was mainly spent in studies and swimming was my hobby in which i won an African championship. I was always keen to know more of life and i used to attend talks and conference which molded me. My parents are the ones who invested lots in my secondary education which I successfully completed with flying colors. Upon my completion of the Higher School Certificate, I was more motivated to pursue higher studies. I therefore joined the ACCA course as a start engine of my tertiary life. Hard work helped me to achieve marvelous results which pushed me to acquire more and more in life. At first I enrolled for the Law and Management course at the University of Mauritius, however that one did not suit my personality. Awaken by the passion in my heart, I decided to apply for the software engineering course. Luck was on my side for I was enrolled in the engineering course from which I am expecting the best. My dream of being a software engineer, aspires me to have my own software business as a living in the near future.

Week 1: effective communication.

Communication is done via different means for example by writing and talking. A communication process consists of a sender who delivers the message and a recipient who receives the message. Effective communication is said to be done when the intended idea could be conveyed, resulting in success.

In order to communicate properly, one should possess good communicating skills to communicate the message, to identify and remove barriers while receiving the message. There are two types of communication mainly the internal and external communication. The internal communication is the exchange of information between internal participants within the organization while external communication refers to exchange of information between an organization and other organizations. Communication can be either oral or written whereby both differ by the way it’s done. For instance oral communication may refer to a conversation as well as a presentation.

There exists a communication cycle which consists of a sender who sends a coded message through a written or oral channel. A recipient then decodes the message and sends a feedback to the original sender and the cycle repeats itself. There are communicating barriers which may be caused by language, on-verbal signals, listening or pre judgment.

For effective communication to take place there needs to be acknowledgement of cultural differences. A checklist and the seven steps can be used as a guide for effective communication.

Week 2 (communication skills, part 1)

Communication skills are of great essence in interviews, jobs and for one’s career. It can be broadly classified into oral, written and verbal and nob-verbal communication.

For effective oral communication the speaker must make sure to have good speaking skills so as to convey the intended ideas while the listener must have listening skills. The listening process is made up of different aspects, namely: receiving, interpreting, remembering, evaluating, responding and acting. On the other hand, the barriers to effective listening are: pre judgment, selfishness and selective listening.

Written communication has got advantages as well as disadvantages. The purpose of writing is to enquire, inform, instruct and influence. The forms of written communication are letters, memos and reports.

A verbal communication may be a telephone conversation, a speech or a presentation. On the other hand, non-verbal communication is considered as body language such as posture, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact and touching.

Effective Communication

To communicate implies sharing of information between two or more parties which can be done by various means. For communication to be effective, the informations to be shared must be completely understood by the recipient. 

The recipient : The one to which one is communicating; the one receiving information.

Having effective communicating skills is helpful in many different ways. Most of the benefits are seen in applied situations such as the workplace, in daily life, in social life and so on. Furthermore, it can also increase you intellectual, problem-solving, decision-making skills along with increase ones' productivity.
It also help to breach the communication barrier between you and your recipient so that ideas are shared correctly and result in concrete results.

There are various reasons why one should communicate effectively. Firstly, to be up to date with the latest technologies around us such as the internet, mails, fax, and so on. Moreover, being able to exchange information effectively also helps to be globally connected (with other countries). Most importantly, this aspect is crucial when it comes to communicating between members of a team to which one belongs to; for instance at the workplace where one has to work in team of several members.

Usually people either communicate by oral or written means.
In oral communication, we share information by talking. Common examples are presentations, one to one meeting or conferences. On the other hand, non-oral communication involves usually written information exchange by different means. For example letters, newspapers, forms, E-mail and so on, are common means of non-oral communication.

Choosing one of these means of communication is important so that the requirements of the information to be shared are met. These are based on different factors such as the speed at which information needs to be passed, the expected response time, the amount of information to be shared among various others.

In the workplace there are different types of communication based on the way information is shared. For example, "vertical communication" is the name given to communication between different levels of jobs. Other ones include horizontal communication, diagonal communication and grapevine communication.

Presentation (formal)- Abhishek Bholah

That is one of the best presentation we have done so far since we all have worked on our weak points and i hope we keep going on such a pace.
positive:
-We were all well formally dressed and that shows a respect for our lecturer which she was really appreciated.
-We were all been able to speak louder and voice out our opinion based on the topic
-We were able to convince the audiences to buy our software.
On the other hand :
-we were a bit lost on the powerpoint presentation since one new member was added in our team at the last moment and we didn't have much time to prepare yet we managed to cope well.
- Somewhere i was lost on the topic i wanted to talk about . i have tried to improvise on that but unfortunately it didn't work out.The audience also were lost on that part.
-Lack of team sipirit

Well, by paying attention to low confidence behaviour , we were not only awaken to areas where we need to improve and strengthen ourselves but also we have begun the process of redefining how we are perceived by others.:)