Archives for the Month of December 2005 on Scrumtralescence
Blogging Assignment
Having nearly completed the blogging assignment for the semester, I think that it proved to not be a particularly worthwhile assignment. I say this because I only made comments as the deadline approached for grading. Most of my classmates also did this. If I had found it useful, I would have been more inclined to make comments throughout the grading period. In principle, it is a good idea to have this additional forum for class discussion. However, I never felt that any of the discussions on the blogs really went far beyond the discussions in class, which were generally adequate for the topics covered. The blogs were mostly done to satisfy the requirements for the assignment and did not add much more to the class.
Tom Mendola Case
The in-class discussion regarding the Tom Mendola case proved to be much more enlightening than I had originally anticipated. Going into the class period having read the case, I was firmly on the side of his needing to be fired. I felt that way because I believed that the company had provided ample opportunity for him to find a job he could continue with and would succeed at. Also, I felt that if he truly needed the job so badly, wouldn't he have realized that he would need to put in some effort to keep it? I think that he squandered his opportunity with the company after repeated reprimands. However, during the class discussion, a number of points were brought up that gave me new insight into the case, including his age and the company's not giving him a final warning saying he will be fired if there is another problem. While my view of his needing to be fired has not changed through our discussion, it was useful in bringing forth ideas that I had not thought of on my own and which gave me some new ways to approach the case.
Performance Appraisals
I feel that the performance appraisals that each group designed for themselves was a very useful activity. It enabled us to decide how we would evaluate ourselves, as opposed to being forced to only use an assessment that we felt would not accurately question and assess each member's true worth to the group. Designing our own assessment also provided us with the chance to look back on the entire HR simulation process and determine what we really found to be valuable, in terms of what each team member brought to the table. Often times, rubrics that teachers provide do not accurately reflect what the group felt were the most important aspects of a project and group assignment. By creating our own, there is the best opportunity for each group to assess what they deemed as important.
ECIU
Having completed one of the ECIU surveys for my team members, as well as the one for myself, I think that it is not a very worthwhile assessment for us to be doing. The primary problem is that we have not had enough experience with each group member. I feel as though many of the questions are hard to have a basis to answer at this point in our group relationship. I answered "don't know" to a large portion of the questions. I feel that it would be unfair to simply give ratings without some knowledge of what their ability is in those categories. These assessments would be very useful after interacting with each member in a number of different activities and over a longer period of time. However, at this time, I do not feel as though I have enough knowledge of each member to give accurate and worthwhile assessment on many of the areas questioned.
HR Simulation
Now that the HR simulation is completed, it is a little easier to assess the usefullness of the assignment. The simulation proved to be useful tool within the context of the overall class objectives. Also, as a group assignment, it was a valuable experience for learning about group interaction and some of the principles of the class as a whole. Our group proved to be quite cooperative and functioned well together. Our roles and responsibilities on the team fit the assignment well and we stayed true to our roles and strategy throughout the semester.