Name: Nguyen Ngoc Thao Vy

Class: F3

Code: B1909493

Assignment 1: Describe a situation or a case in which a team failed to

complete a task due to laking collaboration among members.
That's the story that happened when I was in 12th grade. A geography teacher gave us a group
exercise for our mid-term practice test. We had to prepare a presentation about where we live
and present it in the self-study lesson. We formed a team, and quickly planned the perfect
presentation.

But it started to lose control as we discussed. These 6 views of us were completely opposite! We
realized that everyone was stubbornly defending their opinion and ignored the comments of
others. The endless argument took place, and in the end we left in anger.

A week before the submission deadline, a friend texted in our group chat. She said since she
couldn't accept stupid opinions, she would present herself. The rest, myself included, were very
angry. We felt that our pride was looked down upon, and there was no reason to sympathize or
forgive. Immediately, a series of dissatisfied messages appeared. We just had the same thought:
made this presentation alone, and showed the others how pathetic their opinions were. My
arrogance did not allow me to give up.

Everything weren't going as well as imagined. There were too many things we had not foreseen
and had absolutely no knowledge of it. Meanwhile, the other groups completed their work
exceptionally well. A sudden feeling of guilt choked me. After school that day, the teacher met
us privately. She didn't scold us at all, but only asked our opinion what caused our presentation
to fail. After hearing the answers, she told us why she let us do the group exercise.

She said: "I'm looking forward to hearing an excellent report, as you always do. But I hope you
will understand that individual cannot achieve real success, especially when they just want to
express themselves”. We should have heard from everyone and assigned work to each of us, no
doubt we got high scores. Furthermore, we treated our friends indecently. Working together, this
seemed very easy but we forgot about it. Collaboration held us together, and it made a success
that no single individual could do.

We all went silent after realizing our bad mistakes. But one person spoke first. She was the one
who texted in the group chat before. She said that all the time she got really pissed off. But then,
when she encountered something she didn't know, no one could discuss with her. And when
shecalmed down, she regretted. Not just me, everyone felt that. We spoke our thoughts one by
one, then we all returned back like we had never had an argument before.
And until now, we still sometimes refer to it as a lesson of collective cohesion. Collaboration is
the first thing you need to do if you want to be successful. I always remind myself of this. (465
words).

Assignment 2: Which collaboration skills do you need to complete the task

“building the structure”?
Building a structure with a toothpick and thread requires the cooperation of all team members.
And I think the following collaboration skills are essential to finish it.

In my opinion, the first and also the most important skill: communication skill. You need to give
your opinions and explain to everyone how you are going to deal with this exercise. Of course,
there will be contradictory opinions. At this point, the team leader must create a conversation so
that everyone has a chance to speak their mind. Everyone must communicate skillfully, while
defending their opinions without disturbing others. Next, the group must discuss with each other
in peace to find the most possible option.

The second is open-mindedness skill. During the discussion, there will be opinions rejected as
inappropriate or unfeasible. The first thing each person needs to do is not to judge maliciously
with any constructive opinion. This is not a simple thing, especially when there are hot-tempered
or vulnerable people in a group. Accept and be open to opinions from others, as long as it is a
better option. Through learning from others, I believe your knowledge will increase and gain
more insight. No opinion is not worthy of respect, so think in a more tolerant way.

Another equally important skill is organizational skill. Not only the team leader, but each person
must understand their abilities. Because the exercises require dexterity and meticulousness, the
team leader must assign them properly. Each person has different abilities and weaknesses, so
the skill of organizing work becomes even more important. Especially when doing such a big
exercise in a short time, every small mistake in the assignment can lead to undesirable results.
Furthermore, each person has to estimate the time spent on their own work. Personally, I think
the fastest way is for each person to complete their own work and in the end bring the parts
together as a whole. Therefore, every carelessness or carelessness comes at a cost. The advice
here is to be careful, and notify everyone when there is a problem for help.

For one thing, by the end of the exercise we will notice that. It is a long term thinking skill. Most
people only see what's ahead and pay little attention to the long term. And so do we. We
originally planned to build a structure with overlapping squares. It sounds pretty solid and time-
saving, especially when it meets the topic's 'high' criteria. But we made a mistake when the
square at the bottom couldn't support the entire top. We should have made the lower support
wider. This teaches us to not only think about what's ahead, but also to consider what's in the
future.
And the last skill, I think it applies a lot in work and study. That is the adaptability skill. Not all
goes well. Your job is to stay calm and focus on what's important and plan for the next one. You
can ignore redundant things.

In short, the construction of this structure tested our possibility of collaboration. Although it was
only a short exercise, I learned a lot of useful things for the future. (523 words)
Name: Nguyen Ngoc Thao Vy

Class: F3

Code: B1909493

Assignment 4: How to foster student’s collaboration skills?

In the long history of humankind (and animal kind, too) those who learned to collaborate and
improvise most effectively have prevailed.
Charles Darwin
Collaboration skills are skills that any student should have. They are not skills that students can
master in a short time. Daily practice is a very necessary thing. Through this course, I have
learned a number of ways that I think will help students effectively foster collaboration skills.

First of all, each student is responsible for the assigned tasks. That means everyone has to be
truly dedicated and put their heart into it. When working together, many undesirable problems
will arise. Each of them must put the common mission first and remove the previous
controversies. There are personal things that must be sacrificed for the collective good, and many
people often do not understand this. It takes the courage to ignore the redundancies in order to
achieve overall success. In addition, do not deny responsibility and blame others. A strong
relationship with everyone is built on mutual trust, and proper treatment of them. If you want to
be a good person, first of all, you need to dare to accept your mistakes and have a good attitude.

Next, I will talk about the role of the leader. It's not easy to run a team, when everyone is friends.
These leaders often have the mentality of not daring to frankly criticize the mistakes of the
members, because they are the same age, the leadership positions are often not valuable. I have
encountered many leaders who fail to fulfill their roles because they are afraid of being
dissatisfied with someone on the team. Team members who don't have a clear assignment often
neglect work and get work done without regard to quality. This puts great pressure on the leader.
They have to manage, run the team, and redo other people's work. The members rely on them too
much. As a result, a lot of people do not want to take on a leadership role (even though they are
indeed competent). Leadership is really hard work. For the leader, I have some advice:

First, it's best to be clear about how to manage your team from the start. And if necessary, set the
rules. Make sure everyone approves of the way you work. Be a receptive and listener. The leader
is the one who guides everyone, so be proud if you were selected. You may not realize how good
your qualities are until you go to work. The challenges you face today will make you stronger in
the future.

Second, sometimes, a member's bad attitude is a sign that you can recheck things you haven't
noticed. Maybe it's because the methodology of teamwork is not good, or your task is not clear.
Spend time talking with the group to define work goals. The clarity will drive the team to work
more efficiently and accurately. However, it is necessary to consider in many aspects, do not
rush to judge through the opinion of a small group of people.

Moreover, do not misunderstand that everyone knows what they need to do. Members who do
not know what their duties are, will become uncooperative. You can help them define roles and
deadlines to make things faster and more productive.

Lastly, keep in mind that a member who has become distant may be because they are feeling
unsuitable for their current job. Praise their skills to other members, or give them the opportunity
to learn more of what they want. Timely encouragement and encouragement is something that
any leader must keep in mind.

Of course, a success cannot come without the cooperation of the members. Understand simply
and quite fully, linking members is the dedication and dedication of an individual's work to his or
her work. It can be seen that a member who is dedicated to work will always feel excited and
joyful, that's when they feel really comfortable both emotionally, physically and consciously at
work. Members are part of the whole. Just like a machine cannot work properly if one part is
faulty. Members, as mentioned above, must put the common interest first. Everyone has their
own ego and pride, especially students, because they are not mature enough to think about
deeper things. Therefore, in order to bring people together, apart from the lead of the leader, each
person must practice seeing others positively. Don't judge or harshly criticize someone just
because they take the opposite view of you. Instead, talk peacefully, and be willing to let go of
past antagonisms to cooperate with the group. I believe that a group that can work well together
is a group whose members really understand each other. Each person is an indispensable piece of
the puzzle, so respect others the same way you are being respected. However, it is important to
be straightforward about your views and thoughts. Therefore, the way to both defend your views
without making others feel looked down is essential to learn. Communication must be practiced
every day, not to miss. For students, the first thing to do is to stay calm in all situations. And if
possible, seek advice from someone experienced. Learning how to control anger and work with
others helps students improve personality and intelligence.

Last but not least, the school should provide students with opportunities to learn collaboration
skills. With mentors and instructors, I believe that students will master them more quickly by
self-study.

In conclusion, the development of collaborative skills for students requires a combination of

many factors. People who cooperate well with many people will easily achieve a lot of success in
work and life. Using your strengths to engage with others for mutual success is always a wise
choice. (956 words)