This week had high and low points in the project for me. The high points where that I have completed not just one, but two large features and a review. I am also feeling a lot more confident in my abilities as a writer because of the good feedback that my work is getting. The ability to take on-board advice in regards to changes or error is a part of my professional and in some ways my personal work ethic where I feel I was flawed, I have had a tendency in the past to become defensive about constructive criticism but I really feel that I have managed to get over that in this second year of the degree. I have also learned the value of having someone in a management position that is astute and knows what they are doing to look over my work and suggest changes. This leads to an enhancement and that is a good thing. However it is a shame that this constructive criticism does not come from the group, but from the teaching staff. I feel we should be at a level where we can self edit and work on each others work.
Often in a group situation I seem to naturally take a leadership position, and while this isn't a bad thing I don't think my interaction skills people are as good as they could, or should be. I am not very good at being diplomatic, and while I feel I have improved a lot since starting at university, on this project I was hoping that I would be able to sit back and just complete my areas of the project and not worry as much about the over all picture. However, sadly several members of the group have not put as much effort into the project as the rest of us and as a consequence I've found myself doing what I didn't want to have to do, and that is in a sense Marshall a few of the other guys to get them to work. I understand that we are marked individually, but I in a group situation I always believe in the team and try my best not just to do well for myself, but for the rest of the group. The dilemma I see myself in is should I ignore what comes naturally? The desire to lead and try and help people who are falling behind to do better, or to throw those feelings aside and just work for myself and my own mark?.
On the plus side there are some really talented people in this group, half of them turn up on a regular basis, but It is becoming asyemterical in terms of work load. Julian for example, has taken on a higher workload than anyone because he designed the cover, and is also working on an extra feature to fill the gap that other members have left void because that have not done anywork. I also feel that the group has left Julian down because he put himself out there to get the magazine printed thanks to his family contacts but they group cannot even provide a fixed number of pages because we don't know how many we are going to have due to not knowing who will actually have work finished on Tuesday.
I am hoping that the entire group, the whole roster will be there on Tuesday with finished features and we can get to the production stage. The people who were there this week decided that the deadline for work to be submitted would be the following Tuesday, and that if they don't have completed work by then it would not be going in the magazine.
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