DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

Review
Individual performance review
How well did I carry out each task?
I carried out each task to the best of my ability. In particular I am proud
of my ePortfolio, proposal, and my redesign of the final spreadsheet
model. My tutor commented in the tutor feedback that I have “been
highly motivated and maintained my drive and energy throughout”. Each
team member and my tutor gave me a ‘quality of work’ rating of 6, which
exceeded my self-assessment of 5. In addition Amy commented that
“personally [she] thought that [I] was the hardest working team member
out of the 3 [and] produced fantastic documents”.
For my planning I decided to do planning that helped me formulate my
ideas and provided a base for me to work off. In retrospect maybe the
SPB required me to do more in-depth planning, so perhaps I could have
done better there. Also, I could have got more feedback.

How well did I contribute to the team?

I think I contributed a lot to the team. I spent time helping my team-
mates with suggestions on how to make their spreadsheet models and the
most effective ways to create ePortfolios, amongst other things. I
received two ratings of 6 for ‘contribution to team discussions’ on the
performance reviews, including one from my tutor. This is echoed in ‘how
well did I perform as a team member?’ in which I also scored two ratings
of 6.
I also managed the team to a degree. It was me that set the deadlines,
informed the team what they should be doing and encouraged them to
work when their focus wandered. Obviously, though, each of the team
members helped each other out and tried to keep each other on-task
where possible.

Were my opinions listened to?

For the most part my ideas and opinions were taken into consideration.
Neither my enterprise idea nor corporate design were used, but that’s fine
because design isn’t my strong-point and the other ideas were better. I
believe that I handled criticism well, and this is echoed in the personal
review where I received two ratings of 5. I also received a rating of 4
from Amy.
However, I do think that the team was wrong to vote in favour of the form
of plan we used – it was effective at splitting tasks and subtasks logically,
but it’s very time-consuming to update and therefore doesn’t really serve
it’s purpose as well as it could if it were set out like a calendar.

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 1 23329
DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

Did team members support each other?

All three of the team-members are good friends outside of DiDA and
therefore were more than happy to help each other out. In particular we
all did a lot of feedback on each others work, and a lot of unrecorded
suggestions on how to improve each others work. In my opinion I worked
best with Jess, as Amy was often too absorbed in her graphical adverts.
In my personal reviews I two ratings of 5 and one rating of 4, which is
notably less than my perceived rating of 6 – this perhaps suggests that I
could’ve been more helpful. However, I spent much of my time
organizing the group, prioritizing and sorting out work, so perhaps I
wasn’t helpful enough on a more personal level. I did however score two
ratings of 6 for ‘communication with team members’ from Jess and my
tutor (which matches my perceived score), so perhaps this is more of an
issue with my communication with Amy.
We understand the importance of working to a corporate image and
keeping our documents and products in the same style, and spent time
checking each other’s work to make sure everything fitted together nicely,
that we were using the same contact details and so on.

Did I make good use of my diary to record the work of

myself and my team?
I believe that I made good use of my journal to record my work –
however, if honest, I didn’t really take the other team members into
account. I did, however, record their comments during team meetings on
both minutes sheets and the plan.
My journal, whilst functional, could perhaps be more in-depth. This would
have helped me in writing my commentaries for both my ePortfolio and
Proposal.

Did I keep to deadlines and targets?

I kept to deadlines and targets best I could. I made good use of the
contingency time, and only fell behind twice – for the promotional
products (but made up for it in contingency and by not spending an entire
lesson on feedback) and for my proposal (which I completed in
contingency).
My slight delays contrast against some impressive efficiency, however –
such as managing to complete all of my corporate documents and create
a corporate image in under four hours on Thursday 4 January.
I was rewarded with two ratings of ‘6’ for reliability on my personal review
from Jess and my tutor, yet ratings of 4 and 3 for ‘keeping to the plan’.
This could because I don’t religiously follow every nuance of the plan and
cut everything off – I use it as a crutch and for guidance and deadlines, as
plans should be used. Note the high ratings for reliability.

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 2 23329
DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

How did working in a team help me with other work?

In the past I have been more of a solitary worker, preferring to work
alone so that control of everything is in my hands. However, through
D204 I have learnt that with a little organization working as a team can be
a great way to break down a huge project into manageable chunks.
It has also improved my leadership skills as I took it upon myself to keep
the other team members organized. This is showing in other subjects
such as English where occasionally we are required to create small
displays in groups and split the workload.

How have I benefited from working on the project?

The project has helped me understand why organizations in the world of
work operate as a team – to get more done, faster, and with specialists
working on specific tasks. For instance, I now understand why it is better
to have work shared out between a business specialist and a graphics
designer; two heads are better than one, and working as a team
stimulates the imagination and creativity of the team members.
As with the other DiDA projects, I have become more organized and
responsible than I have been previously; for example in the other SPBs I
carried around my feedback in loose sheets which were prone to becoming
crumpled. In D204 I purchased a folder and some poly-wallets to
organize my feedback and blank feedback sheets, as well as my planning
documents, which has resulted in me losing none of my sheets – a first for
me in any subject – and being more efficient in my work.
After my success with organizing my files like this in DiDA, I have started
to organize myself in a similar fashion in different subjects, such as Maths,
English and Geography.

Would I work in the same team again?

Yes, I could not wish for better team-mates. Although perhaps prone to
wander if left to their own devices, with a little direction and organization
Jess is a resourceful businesswoman who is superb at liaising with other
companies and striking deals, and Amy is the best graphical designer I
have met. Both produce great quality documents and are friendly and
helpful.

What would I do differently if I did the project again?

If I did the project again I would concentrating on acquiring more
feedback from appropriate test users. I would also perhaps try and make
my ePortfolio and proposal less wordy, and the promotional website more
attractive and appealing to the target audience.
I would spend more time out of class producing better-quality and more
in-depth planning to satisfy the brief (if necessary), and more time writing
more descriptive who/what/where/why documents. I would also perhaps
look into making my ePortfolio and Proposal more individual. I remedied

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 3 23329
DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

this in the later stages by adding a different colour background for my

proposal, but with a little extra time I could have come up with a whole
new colour scheme.

Proposal review
Does my proposal promote our enterprise effectively?
I consider my proposal to be effective, and verbal feedback that I have
received from others in my DiDA class also indicates that my proposal is
effective.
Whereas some DiDA students have added their proposals as part of their
ePortfolios, I have included mine as a separate sister site. This allows the
moderator and anyone interested in our proposal to view only the relevant
information and not confuse my proposal with my other work for the
project. However, I received tutor feedback that the ePortfolio and
Proposal were not clearly discernable, so I changed the background colour
of the proposal. From subsequent feedback this appears to be more
effective.
Other feedback I have received states that the website is ‘great to
navigate around’, ‘I like the simple yet professional layout’.

Is it targeted at the right audience?

I believe that my proposal would convince businesspeople and charities
that our enterprise would be a low-risk, high-profit success that would be
executed in a professional manner. My feedback also reflects this – ‘[it
would be effective] because it is simple yet professional’, ‘It is
professional, detailed and good for an adult audience’.

Have I added adequate comments to explain my

proposal?
I have included extensive commentary explaining the various products,
documents and models in my proposal that explains the benefits of each
element. Amy Humphries described it as ‘detailed’.

Have I included only relevant material?

My proposal includes only the final documents that are relevant to my
team’s enterprise.
By creating a sister site for my proposal rather than integrating it into my
ePortfolio I have ensured that my individual work is kept separate from
my group’s work.

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 4 23329
DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

Are all the items effectively linked?

Yes, all of the necessary products and documents are located in logical
sections, in groups, and are only included if they serve a purpose. Any
products, documents or evidence links open in a new window, which
reduces the risk of the annoyance of accidentally closing down the
proposal and having to navigate back to where you previously were.
Tutor feedback indicated that including links in both the ePortfolio
commentary and the sidebar was confusing, so I made it clear that the
sidebar contains all the important links for each section and the links
within the commentary are purely contextual.

Team Review
Did we meet our objectives?
At the start of the project we aimed to:
• Finish the SPB without any important elements missing;
• To create an enterprise which is profitable;
• To work well as a team.
I believe that we met these objectives well. Neither my team-mates nor I
can think of anything substantial missing from our projects. The
enterprise is very profitable and, if actually carried out, likely to create a
large profit. In combining our ideas we maximised our potential
customers – rather than just a drive-in car-wash we can also make large
profits from the bouncy castle and selling promotional products.
Structuring our event like this also makes it more realistic to ‘tour’ from
pub to pub as it encourages customers to visit the pub for a drink whilst
their car is being washed, which is profitable for the pub owners.

How well did our team plan work?

I personally dislike the plan, even though in the end it turned out OK.
Amy’s design requires changes to a large number of dates even for small
changes. For future SPBs, I will revert to my calendar-esque method.
Having said that, we timed everything surprisingly well and managed to
keep up with the plan for the most part. Rather than each team-member
having his or her own plan, I kept the only copy and gave the rest of the
team tasks to do on a per-lesson basis. This way there would only ever
be one copy of the plan, which helps to avoid confusion, and it would
quickly become apparent if a team-member was lagging behind.

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 5 23329
DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

How well did we work as a team?

We worked very effectively as a team. All of us accepted criticism fairly
well and was happy to share his or her knowledge and discoveries.
We also have a good range of skills – Jess as a businesswoman, Amy as a
designer, and me as a manager and computer/internet enthusiast – it
made a killer combination.

Was work divided fairly between team members?

Work was divided based on skills. Whilst this allowed us to create some
good products, it did mean that Jess had a lot of boring finance, research
and planning work to do, and I had a lot of coding and simple tasks to do
whilst Amy spent the vast majority of her time designing and making
things. Whilst this was somewhat frustrating it was also logical and
effective and a system used in the world of work.

What happened when people were away or failed to

finish their work?
Amy missed a lesson because of a German speaking exam, I was pushed
for time on the promotions and Jess took a long time to scan in
documents that we all needed for our proposals.
Rather than becoming irate with each other (a pointless reaction which
achieves nothing), we asked for assurance that the individual would catch
up, encouraged the individual to try as hard as they could and asked if
there was any way the other members could help. Using this method we
were all quickly back on track.

Did we choose the right enterprise?

I believe that the charity carwash is the safest way to raise the largest
amount of money and awareness. My idea had too many variables and
opportunities for mistakes (for example ordering too much of one food
and not enough of another), whilst Amy’s had a high break-even point
and the smallest market.
Another benefit of having a charity carwash is that it can be expanded –
for example with our including inflatables. If in the future we wished to
include food or live music, then that would be easy to factor into our
spreadsheet model. Also, we decided to sell on as much as possible (the
buckets and posters, for example) to raise as much money as possible. It
would not be possible to sell on as much if the event were a barbeque or
prom.

What did others have to say?

I interviewed Becky Wilson for her opinion on the enterprise, and she was
very positive. She had previously held a carwash for fundraising and was

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 6 23329
DiDA D204 – Cash 4 Kids

able to help us organize our event and make it as successful as possible

based on her experiences.
We also conducted a tally-survey in our tutor bases and found that many
people were interested in visiting such an event.

How did we make use of feedback?

We all made use of feedback individually on our products. By getting
feedback on our own products we found that we could concentrate on
making them the best they could be.
We printed off feedback sheets in the corporate image to direct our
feedback. We found this produced better quality feedback than had we
given out blank sheets and just asked for opinions. We could direct
questions in such a way that the reviewers were forced to be constructive
and avoid bland ‘I like it because it’s good’ answers.

Candidate Number Dan Foy Centre Number

02145 7 23329