Adriana Baird:
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- Communication is a little bit slow via email, but this may have been due to the need to translate the Chinese surveys into English so that we could read the results
- We are most productive when we meet in person, which is great for the three of us but poses a challenge for communication with our Tsinghua counterparts. This might be difficult in the future because Coco and Sean are not very comfortable with Skype, but it is great that Sean is actually coming to Stanford this week!
- We made a timeline for our scope of work assignment, and it will be very important for us to stick to it, given the limited amount of time left.
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Alec Hogan: I have found it increasingly difficult to communicate directly and consistently. We have still been unable to video chat, and the communication over email has been sparse. However, Sean will be traveling to Stanford and we plan to meet with him on Wednesday, which will be very helpful.
With regard to our team at Stanford, I think that we are working together very well. We finalized our scope of work this week, and are all very excited to get moving on this project. However, like I said before, getting everything going has and is continuing to take much longer than I originally thought.
Due to the sparse communication, mainly because of our collaborators being uncomfortable with their English abilities, we do not have a clear focus of what their expectations are for us. As such, we have moved the project in our own direction. They desire our input on their current forms of research and survey methods, which we will definitely be doing. In addition, we plan on conducting our own research and adding a more global, comprehensive perspective on hostel experiences as a whole. Also, we will be connecting youth hostels to urbanization and urban planning, both with regard to its economic vitality and cultural significance.
The biggest lesson I have learned this week is that everything takes a lot longer than I originally think it will take. Communicating, analyzing, etc… are all time consuming processes, and while I want to dive into our own research and fieldwork, there are things that need to be done prior to engaging in those components of our project.
Laura Swenson:
Caroline Nowacki:
Steven Hong:
We need to be really clear and direct, although still kind! Also, we need to nurture a culture of stronger communication between the teams so we can get a better understanding of each other's progress.
We have yet to establish set times to meet every week, as well as a form of information sharing. However, it seems that QQ is one of the best ways to have important meetings.
Yari Greaney + Geena Chen:
It's good to repeat and rephrase questions, and to repeat back what you understood as you move through each item of the agenda.
Sometimes I develop an understanding of an aspect of the project that isn't quite what our Tsinghua partners were trying to communicate, so I need to remember to check with them several times before I solidify the understanding in mind.
With regard to our team at Stanford, I think that we are working together very well. We finalized our scope of work this week, and are all very excited to get moving on this project. However, like I said before, getting everything going has and is continuing to take much longer than I originally thought.
Due to the sparse communication, mainly because of our collaborators being uncomfortable with their English abilities, we do not have a clear focus of what their expectations are for us. As such, we have moved the project in our own direction. They desire our input on their current forms of research and survey methods, which we will definitely be doing. In addition, we plan on conducting our own research and adding a more global, comprehensive perspective on hostel experiences as a whole. Also, we will be connecting youth hostels to urbanization and urban planning, both with regard to its economic vitality and cultural significance.
The biggest lesson I have learned this week is that everything takes a lot longer than I originally think it will take. Communicating, analyzing, etc… are all time consuming processes, and while I want to dive into our own research and fieldwork, there are things that need to be done prior to engaging in those components of our project.
Laura Swenson:
- It really helped that Yipei (one of our Chinese teammates) summarized our meeting and our to-dos at the end of our Facetime call
- Things can change at any minute – one of our teammates is no longer working with us, and only one of our two teammates was able to make it to our Facetime call
- Not everyone has to be at every Facetime call for it to be successful, and it’s a little quicker the fewer people there are to get through questions (though ultimately it’s better if everyone is there)
- It’s fun to get to know our teammates outside the scope of this project! We have been WeChatting pictures back and forth of our schools and it’s a nice way to stay in touch between the Facetime calls
Caroline Nowacki:
- We're getting better at FaceTime and were able to go over all topics we wanted to discuss in one hour.
- The recap email after the FaceTime session was helpful in confirming our understanding of tasks.
- Pictures are awesome!
Steven Hong:
We need to be really clear and direct, although still kind! Also, we need to nurture a culture of stronger communication between the teams so we can get a better understanding of each other's progress.
We have yet to establish set times to meet every week, as well as a form of information sharing. However, it seems that QQ is one of the best ways to have important meetings.
Yari Greaney + Geena Chen:
It's good to repeat and rephrase questions, and to repeat back what you understood as you move through each item of the agenda.
Sometimes I develop an understanding of an aspect of the project that isn't quite what our Tsinghua partners were trying to communicate, so I need to remember to check with them several times before I solidify the understanding in mind.
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