Yari Greaney, Walk!Man:
Adriana Baird, Micro-Travel:
It was really helpful to have the email response from our Tsinghua counterparts, but the gap between the information we have and what they have already accomplished with the project is still there. This has really stressed the importance of holding a videoconference or some sort of direct communication between us and the Tsinghua students that is more immediate than email. It has also been very helpful to meet and talk frequently among ourselves, either in person, over email, or through messaging.
Click "Read More" to view all lessons learned.
- Don't be shy to repeat questions until you get the answer you are looking for.
- Get verbal confirmation that everyone understands the next action items.
- Follow up conversations with an email.
- It's really fun to collaborate with Tsinghua students!
Adriana Baird, Micro-Travel:
It was really helpful to have the email response from our Tsinghua counterparts, but the gap between the information we have and what they have already accomplished with the project is still there. This has really stressed the importance of holding a videoconference or some sort of direct communication between us and the Tsinghua students that is more immediate than email. It has also been very helpful to meet and talk frequently among ourselves, either in person, over email, or through messaging.
Click "Read More" to view all lessons learned.
Alec Hogan, Micro-Travel:
We are in the very early stages of developing the scope of the project, and as such, we have not been able to delve into the collaboration aspect of this project. I have leaned that it is much more difficult to get in communication with our partners than I originally anticipated. The time difference and scheduling conflicts have proven to be fairly difficult to get around. I have learned a significant amount about Micro Travel and the direction that they want to take the project, but I am still unsure as to what exactly they want us to be doing to improve their current project. That being the case, it has been difficult to gain traction; I have leaned that it takes a longer to get things going when your partners are on the other side of the world.
Valerie Rochel Gamao, Micro-Travel:
First off, I really enjoyed the meetings we've had as a group thus far and I hope that we continue to work well together. From last week, I have learned that composing an email to our Tsinghua partners was a little daunting because I was not sure how formal/informal the email should be. Additionally, thanks to the email sent out by Coco and Sean, I feel more confident about what their project is about and I'm really excited about working with them in the coming weeks. Right now, we just need to find a time that we can hopefully skype with Coco and Sean so we can figure out how to move forward.
Laura Swenson, Green Cloud:
Caroline Nowacki, Green Cloud:
Christina Zhou, Wukong:
Steven Hong, Wukong:
Casey Heier, BreatheChina:
We haven't really had that much communication yet with out Tsinghua students so I don't have a whole lot to say here just yet. Maybe just be sure to allocate more time for setting up skype/video chats.
We are in the very early stages of developing the scope of the project, and as such, we have not been able to delve into the collaboration aspect of this project. I have leaned that it is much more difficult to get in communication with our partners than I originally anticipated. The time difference and scheduling conflicts have proven to be fairly difficult to get around. I have learned a significant amount about Micro Travel and the direction that they want to take the project, but I am still unsure as to what exactly they want us to be doing to improve their current project. That being the case, it has been difficult to gain traction; I have leaned that it takes a longer to get things going when your partners are on the other side of the world.
Valerie Rochel Gamao, Micro-Travel:
First off, I really enjoyed the meetings we've had as a group thus far and I hope that we continue to work well together. From last week, I have learned that composing an email to our Tsinghua partners was a little daunting because I was not sure how formal/informal the email should be. Additionally, thanks to the email sent out by Coco and Sean, I feel more confident about what their project is about and I'm really excited about working with them in the coming weeks. Right now, we just need to find a time that we can hopefully skype with Coco and Sean so we can figure out how to move forward.
Laura Swenson, Green Cloud:
- We need to schedule more time during our video sessions to accommodate technical difficulties and to account for the extra time it takes for translation and asking clarifying questions.
- It was great to book a room in Old Union to have a quiet space to have the phone call.
- Our Chinese partners have done a lot already, so our job is to give them suggestions on how to improve on what they have already done.
Caroline Nowacki, Green Cloud:
- Remind the group of how much time is left 15 minutes and 5 minutes before the end of the meeting so that people talking can adapt. It would help avoid cutting the meeting off two minutes before the end, which I felt was frustrating for our Tsinghua teammates.
- Wear name tags or easy to identify clothes/scarf.
- Send an agenda and send a summary/next step within 24 hours of the meeting.
Christina Zhou, Wukong:
- Communicating in Chinese is next to impossible - sad that I am illiterate. Luckily, their written English seems much easier to understand than their spoken English.
- We don't seem completely clear about each team's responsibility, especially since the Tsinghua team has been already working on the project for some time
- They have a better idea of the distinction between the two trucking projects than we did.
- The Tsinghua students are very easy to reach via WeChat, and extremely responsive! We need to work to figure out a better way to communicate more substantial information and share documents.
Steven Hong, Wukong:
- I need to have a clearer understanding of how the collaboration will work and what is the goal of my input. I also need to understand what the Tsinghua students are expecting from me and Christina and how we can help them. WeChat seems to be the best method of communication, as they responded very quickly.
- A Facetime chat should ensue as soon as possible...
Casey Heier, BreatheChina:
We haven't really had that much communication yet with out Tsinghua students so I don't have a whole lot to say here just yet. Maybe just be sure to allocate more time for setting up skype/video chats.