Estes, H. | Mueller, B. | Lowman C. | Greeson C. | M.

El Hariri 1

Team Charter | Assignment One

Team Name: The Thinkers

Slogan: Esse quam videri “To be, rather than to seem”

Mascot: (The Thinker) Logo:

Communication
When working with a group, communication is key. Our main way of communicating
will include texting via a group chat. This, along with making a plan about what needs to be done
for the week or day before or after every class. If someone will be late, miss class, or unable to
do their assignment should all go through the group chat so everyone knows. Our goal is to give
everyone a voice, so if there are any conflicts within the planning process, we will talk it through
using the Six-Hats communication technique to look at the issue from multiple perspectives.

Accountability
The group members will plan to attend every class, but if under certain circumstances
someone cannot make it, notice should be posted within the group chat. In order to make sure all
of our assignments are up to the group standards, we will set a deadline a few hours before the
actual assignment deadline to make sure everyone gets it done or if further collaboration is
needed.

Member Strengths Weaknesses Top Values

Hannah Estes Organized, Planning Perfectionist Balance, Resilience

Chase Greeson Efficient when Being creative, Balance,

focused, organized, reading Communication
reliable

Charles Lowman Problem-solving and Reading and writing Family, Time

decision making

Brenden Mueller Effective Getting off task Growth, Purpose

Communication and
Efficiency

Mohamad El Hariri Problem solving and Procrastination Positivity,

Estes, H. | Mueller, B. | Lowman C. | Greeson C. | M. El Hariri 2

determination improvement
Using Critical and Creative Strategies
Depending on what the problem is we can incorporate the Six Hat Thinking Method. The
Six Hat Thinking method will help us stay on task and break down the problem into each
identifiable piece. We can also use this method to perform parallel thinking rather than arguing
and getting in each other’s way. It will allow us to build off of one another’s ideas while keeping
an open mind. Another strategy we can use is brainstorming. This will allow us to all contribute
ideas for a list of possible solutions. We felt like Brainstorming is the easiest way for us to
bounce ideas off one another because a lot of our strengths incorporate effective communication.
The Thinkers also plan to use the paradigm preserving, stretching, and breaking techniques to
really look at a problem in another light. We’ll perform paradigm preserving to identify the
problem from a perspective that we’re used to and comfortable with doing. Then we’ll move to
paradigm stretching to attempt to view the problem in a way that we’re not comfortable or used
to. Doing this may allow us to come up with an even better solution to whatever the problem
may be. Lastly, we’ll use paradigm breaking if need be, to completely tear down the way we’d
look at the problem. We agreed that we may only use this strategy if we are stuck and agreed that
we have no further options. We agreed to this because paradigm breaking is one of the harder
techniques to perform so we saved this as a “last resort” kind of strategy.

Strengths
The strengths of the members of this group will help lead our group to success
throughout the duration of the semester. There are four engineers in this group so the problem
solving and organization of the group will be one of the overall group strengths. All of the group
members are hard workers and focused so we shouldn’t struggle with completing assignments.
So far, our group has had good communication and we will continue to do this so we can know
exactly what the status of our assignments are. Our group is also very efficient at getting work
done when we are focused so we can complete our assignments in a timely manner as long as we
stay focused and on task. Overall, our group is well equipped to complete the assignments of this
class in an effective and timely manner.

Weaknesses
What we realized was that each member of the group has a strength that opposes the
weakness of another. Hannah and Chase’s primary strength is organization whereas Mohamad’s
weakness is procrastination. This helps Mohamad overcome his weakness by working in this
group. Another example could be that Brenden’s weakness can be solved by working with Chase
or Charles. We accomplished the first step in this process which is acknowledging what our
weaknesses are and accepting that we have to overcome them by working together. We also
discussed our weaknesses and agreed to work with one another to help each other get rid of these
weaknesses. Another factor which plays a big role in group work is the sense of responsibility
towards the other group members which forces us to set these weaknesses aside when working
on a project. Mohamad’s procrastination, Brenden’s difficulty getting off tasks, Charles and
Chase’s reading weakness, and Hannah’s perfectionist trait, will have to be controlled since if a
weakness from these was present in our common group work, it will affect the group as a whole.
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This idea also forces us to push each other to be our best selves to get the best results possible as
a group.

Values
It is very important to consider people’s values when working in a professional group
setting. Since Hannah and Chase both have balance as one of their top values, it will be
important to keep an equilibrium between the group. The following values are very important
when reflecting on group productivity: Hannah’s Resilience; Chase’s Communication; Charles’
Time; Brenden’s Growth; Mohamad’s Improvement. These values will work together to create a
balanced group dynamic, emphasising on a constructive work environment. It will be important
to keep constant positivity when working, family oriented respect, and purposeful group efforts
to adhere to Mohamad’s, Charles’, and Brenden’s values. By combining all of these values, we
will strive for an excellent group dynamic that pleases each member.