Third week of January, year 2010.
Second CG1108 “Electrical Engineering” laboratory meeting.
First graded requirement.
The NUS Computer Engineering students were tasked to create a forklift robot using LEGO Mindstorms NXT 2.0 Robotics Kit. It must traverse through a course, pick up a load and deliver the load to a platform.
We had three hours to work on the challenge: two hours to build and program; one 5-minute timeslot to demonstrate a successful run; the rest was grace period.
This challenge was presented to the class a week earlier. The teams were formed and assigned and I found myself working with a very multicultural team of FIVE: five members, five native tongues, five religious beliefs, four nationalities and four races - all these differences in one team. We all met each other in this module the first time.
Given this intercultural scenario, the following are highly probable: there could be language barriers to effective communication that we might likely encounter and cultural differences that might introduce conflicts.
With the pressure of finishing the task under a constrained environment, effective team communication was of the essence.
So how did the heterogeneous team proceed with work in spite of these two foreseen difficulties?
We communicated consciously and sensitively.
If one had difficulty speaking to convey his idea, he or she would try to explain visually while the other party focuses on having listening eyes to understand. Everyone consciously tried to communicate in a manner that each understood and was being understood.
We bridged gaps and built connections.
We quickly set-up an online communication platform and made a point to hold a meeting prior to the testing day. The meet-ups and constant communication developed a relationship among the team members. Shyness and inhibitions were overcome. Trust was developed. An open intellectual exchange of ideas became easily achievable.
Thankfully, after successfully working in a heterogeneous intercultural team, the motivation to overcome the challenges made all of us reach our homogeneous goal - finishing the forklift robot challenge. As an icing to the cake, we even achieved one of the fastest times to finish in our laboratory group.
REFERENCE
1. LEGO.com Mindstorms Homepage (Content): http://mindstorms.lego.com/en-us/default.aspx
2. NXT Forklift Building Instructions (Content): http://www.nxtprograms.com/NXT2/forklift/steps.html
3. CG1108 Electrical Engineering Forklift Challenge - G02 Performance Test (Video): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhQ5tq4ViHs
6 comments:
Hi Paul,
Congrats on getting one of the best times.
I can see that you have once again included a picture in your blog post, which once again provided better picture of what you are talking about... literally haha.
I can really SEE that you weren’t exaggerating when you said stuff about each members coming from totally different backgrounds. It is during times like these that we realize how important intercultural/interpersonal skills are. It was also kind of impressive how your team managed to work out the differences and eventually succeeded in finishing the task given to you.
However, it is also important to put those skills into action even when the entire team seems to be from the same cultural group. For example we can have one whole team of Chinese people, but you can also have Singaporean Chinese, Chinese nationals, Indonesian Chinese, and Chinese Muslims. All examples given above are in fact, very different in terms of cultural background. What may appear to be true on the surface may be something totally different when we look inside.
After looking at your example, it kind of reminded me that my very own CG group’s composition is something very similar... (You are included as well!).
So let us try our very best, put these skills that we learnt throughout this course into action and hope that our team will be able to mimic the success of the example you have posted here.
Cheers
Zhen Yong
Hello Paul!
Congratulations on the Lego Forklift challenge! It was definitely fun compared to other labs in our other modules (no prizes if you guessed which)!
Your picture above really shows the cultural diversity of your group. The way your group overcame whatever difficulties that were due this diversity is worth commending. I like how you brought up the "listening eyes". It just shows how many different ways we can communicate as humans.
Building connections and closing gaps is very important in intercultural communications. To successfully complete the task at hand, it does not matter what race or culture, communication within the team is essential.
For my case, I am thankful to be fluent in both mandarin and the english language. It makes communication that much easier between cultures as we have a common language. Nonetheless, I am very happy to be able to interact with other cultures through the use of effective communications.
Cheers
Qinxian
Hi Paul,
First of all congratulations on the Lego Forklift challenge and for achieving one of the fastest times!
It was very pleasing to see how nicely you have explained the importance of intercultural and interpersonal communication entirely by using the CG1108 lab as an example. This is something to which we all can relate to (all the CG1413 students are doing this module) and hence can learn a lot from your blog. Also this makes your post very interesting to read.
As you might be aware we both are in the same lab group and have our benches directly in front of each other. Hoping you might have noticed, my situation is also quite similar to yours. Thrown into a team of 5 students, each student from a different culture speaking a different language. Fortunately, we have English to the rescue but still problems do arise as everyone is not so fluent as the other. This is the place where interpersonal communication comes into play. Effectively communicating with the help of proper body language and proper signs was the only way to succeed. And yes, as you mentioned even we had our share of icing on the cake. Thought took a little bit more time than your team did :P
Hopefully we all will be able to learn from these skills from this module and use them in our team projects.
Cheers,
Saurabh Arora
Hi Paul, I would like to congratulate your group for doing well for the robotic exercise. Majority of us are afraid or sceptical of working in a multicultural team. However, I think after watching the video and knowing that it was a mission accomplished by a team made up of totally different cultures, it could change some of our mindsets. I thought it is really suitable to use this as an example to show that intercultural communication is still possible in a multicultural team.
It also relates closely to us CEG students who did the exercise too but may have different results from your team. We could learn from your team on how to work as a team.
I think this exhibition of teamwork not only illustrates that good cultural relationship is possible, it has shown that good interpersonal skills can remove barriers and bridge cultural gaps.
I also agree with you that communicating consciously is the key to your team’s success. Often, we could not be bothered with using the right tone at the right time and some of our actions might irritate others. This shows that in a team, everyone needs to put in an effort to keep the relationship smooth and enjoyable as everyone has different personalities to begin with, not considering a team with totally different cultures.
Lastly, thanks for posting this video so that I get to see a really fast robot as I have not seen one so far.
Jian Hwee
Hey Paul,
Congrats on having done a wonderful job for the challenge! In the laboratory, I noticed how well your team communicated and worked together. This is now clearly translated to the great achievement your group attained!
It’s really inspiring to know that everyone in your team puts in effort to overcome the barriers and challenges that arise from cultural and racial differences. I can also see characteristics of an effective team being displayed as you have mentioned that the members consciously tried to communicate in a manner that each understood and was being understood. It portrays the team spirit and I think that the meet-ups and constant communication must have played a crucial role in kneading the group as one! Your team is also a good example of achieving goals successfully even with the multi-nationals and diverse culture present.
As for my team, we also have a diverse nationalities but culture does not seem to be a barrier. The real challenge that we have been facing is the faulty equipments we were unfortunately given! To make matters worse, we would only discover it when the sessions came nearing to the end. However, despite the “challenges” we faced, I feel that my team also pulled through and did not give up trying till the very last minute. I find that these might be blessings in disguise to help us bond as a team in a unique way!
I hope that we’ll have fun and fruitful experiences working in our teams!
Warm regards,
Win Yee
Hi Paul,
First of all, I would like to congratulate you and your team for achieving one of the fastest times on the Lego forklift challenge. You have very well used the CG1108 lab to illustrate the importance of intercultural communication when working in a multicultural team.
I agree to your statement “Given this intercultural scenario, the following are highly probable: there could be language barriers to effective communication “.This is where I think feedback comes to rescue and becomes more important as it helps in enhancing the communication between sender and receiver. Moreover, the most important thing we should keep in mind is that we shouldn’t assume the people from different culture to see things in the way you see it as it might break the communication between the members. Intercultural communication also helps in breaking the barriers between the members and helps in building a strong relationship with the team members and also helps in building a positive energy within the team. Therefore, effective communication plays a vital role in every team’s success and I am sure that you will agree with me.
It is a pleasure to read your blog as I was able to learn a lot and through your post, I hope that our team members acquire the necessary skills and implement them in our forthcoming projects.
Regards,
Santhosh
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