Yes! The preparation part of our research has been completed and it is now time to relax a little bit after a stressful week. As the other international field project teams are almost leaving to Indonesia, we decided to have a little break of our own before starting the data collection in the municipalities surrounding Amsterdam. Easter is a perfect time to gather with family and friends, therefore a few members of the group travelled back home for a week, enjoy good food.

Handing in the work plan and the research proposal was the first deadline we had as a group. Of course, there were drafts before that, but this deadline was the very first graded one. During the last week, the stress levels were getting higher. For some more than for others, like myself. I’m becoming a real “stress-chicken” (like they say in the Netherlands) when deadlines are nearing. Fortunately, our group has very different personalities complementing each other. So while I was stressing, there were others with great positive vibes and reassuring words making it less intense. This was THE week we really got to know each other in good and in more complicated situations. Even if we already worked together for quite a while now, having this intense week made us know the others as “team members” and the group dynamic we were working in. 

In every group project, there are situations we can expect to happen and some we didn’t plan on and with which we will have to deal. We got some of these unplanned situations and we dealt pretty well with them. We got there by putting our thoughts together to solve problems, to correct mistakes, to backup and complement each other when needed. We had an overview of who deals with what and how, but also about who is better in what task. We also got an idea about how we individually, as a group member, interact, react and feel with and about one and other. I believe this will help us in future situations. I don’t say it will be easier, but at least we will have an idea of how we can or cannot react to some situations as a group and as a person. 

We are still in the process of getting to know each other; it isn’t after one deadline that we will know exactly how to be a high performance team. But one thing is for sure, we are now one step closer to getting there.

Written by: Sarah-Maria