A Particular Problem Faced By The Team

There are many challenges and problems the team faced during this period of time. And as our team approaches the halfway mark of the project, I would like to highlight this particular problem that I as the team leader feels the team should address.

And the problem is, the team is too casual and laid-back at times. While this can be a good thing but at the same time it can be disastrous as well. Our team's laid-back and casual approach is most likely caused by our very own doing and that is our own abilities. Our team is very fortunate to have every member being strong in a lot of areas of work in the project. And this leads to the emerging problem of being too casual and laid-back. Members of the team have been excelling in the task that are assigned or handed out to them. As a result the team started to develop a laid-back and casual stance. This problem might develop and become difficult to overcome or to handle in the future. I felt that being this laid-back might be harmful to the progression of the team in the future and might really be detrimental in the long run. As we approach the toughest phase of the project, being this laid-back and casual would only harm the quality of the work that is produced.

However being casual and laid-back can be a positive thing as well. Being casual and laid-back allows the team to remain calm and not to panic when the going gets tough. Since everyone in the team is confident of their abilities and the work they have produced so far has been of great quality, being laid-back and casual might actually be a positive thing to the team.

To be this casual and laid-back allow the team to look at things in a bigger perspective. To come up with ideas or ways to solve a problem. Unconventional ways that could have easily solve the problem could be thought of in a less stressful environment.

Being laid-back and casual allow team members to express their views freely. This is a good thing given that a lot of creativity is needed and is involved in the project. Competition is tough, with all the groups in the module developing the same program. Therefore to beat the other groups out there, is to come up with something different, creative and intuitive. With this current attitude of the team, it allows the team not to be affected by the tough competition out there. But rather to have full focus on our own project. The high level of competition does not get to us and as a result every team member is happy and focused on his job.

However so, this problem has solutions to it. One of the many solutions to this problem is to encourage the team to strive to be the very best. To make use of this casual and laid-back attitude of ours to our advantage. Being the team leader I would want to motivate the team members to beat the best group out there. By doing this, it does not crank or jack up the stress level of the team and at the same time overcomes the problem. This is just one of the many possible solutions to the problem.

Having presented this problem, I would like to close with this. It is good to instill some urgency into the project group. To always keep the team on its toes and to be the best team out there. This is to prevent the team from taking this laid-back and casual approach to the other end of the highway.

Shawn Teo Chee Yong