CDent2010 Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Hey guys, I was practicing some CDA interview questions and this one seemed to come up very often, so I was wondering if someone could add to my answer since I have a strong feeling it will come up one way or another. You're in a group with very difficult dynamics making it hard for your group to complete the assignment, what do you do? -attempt to mediate between the members. if this fails: -stay calm – at this point there is no point in getting mad, it will only aggravate the situation -try to calm everyone else down -start clearly thinking about a plan (assess your current situation) -look at your options - suggest different solutions such as: having a democratic process, ie: vote on how each part of the assignment will be done; ask older students their advice; ask the prof/TA for more clarification (maybe this is caused by lack of explanations from the prof); have each member take care of each part of the assignment and put it all together, etc. -the solution has to be convenient for everyone -try to write down a structured plan of the assignment (what needs to be done) that way you can visualise it better – try to determine which aspects of the assignment that need the most immediate attention -prioritize -work on the thing that matter most first, try to have a assignment that is complete before working on the quality -this may mean that you will get less sleep that day Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cDAT Posted March 21, 2011 Report Share Posted March 21, 2011 Yeah, I think the important thing to show is that you have good communication skills since this is most likely the competency in question. It is also important to state that you take into consideration the feelings of all parties involved which I think you stated. Also, if the group assigns tasks and then each goes their own separate way to work on their section you should try to keep in contact and keep each other updated on what has been completed. I think you got the right drift though, all of the points you made are valid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blondie87 Posted March 22, 2011 Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Yeah that sounds really good. I was brainstorming earlier a question similar to this.. (about two group members bickering) so this is what I put to start: A) First listen to the reason they are bickering .If it is about something personal (not serious, but also not project related) you have to be sympathetic to both of them but you also have to tell them in a persistent way that you will help them resolve the issues- but the project is a top priority at this moment If problem is work/project- related, find out specifically what they are fighting about and see if it can be resolved reasonably with you as a mediator in order to fully weigh how much of an impact their fighting would have on the success of the project C) If it seems improbable that they can ever resolve the issue, ensure you emphasize how important the project is to your/their career/academics (Take leadership and explain how important it is to finish the project. Outline the consequences for all 3 of you for not finishing the project) D) Delegate tasks to the group/ set rapid deadlines so that tasks can be completed on time- especially if group members have not resolved their issues, hopefully time apart will allow the group members to cool off That's all I had to begin, but your points to finish are awesome too. I think monitoring the group dynamics throughout the process and also using a democratic approach throughout each component would work great too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CDent2010 Posted March 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 22, 2011 Yeah that sounds really good. I was brainstorming earlier a question similar to this.. (about two group members bickering) so this is what I put to start: A) First listen to the reason they are bickering .If it is about something personal (not serious, but also not project related) you have to be sympathetic to both of them but you also have to tell them in a persistent way that you will help them resolve the issues- but the project is a top priority at this moment If problem is work/project- related, find out specifically what they are fighting about and see if it can be resolved reasonably with you as a mediator in order to fully weigh how much of an impact their fighting would have on the success of the project C) If it seems improbable that they can ever resolve the issue, ensure you emphasize how important the project is to your/their career/academics (Take leadership and explain how important it is to finish the project. Outline the consequences for all 3 of you for not finishing the project) D) Delegate tasks to the group/ set rapid deadlines so that tasks can be completed on time- especially if group members have not resolved their issues, hopefully time apart will allow the group members to cool off That's all I had to begin, but your points to finish are awesome too. I think monitoring the group dynamics throughout the process and also using a democratic approach throughout each component would work great too. Good answer, I think if you combine your elements with mine it would be a high scoring answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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