doku a&it teambuilding workshop 2008-12

transfer beratung & training

Ulrich ZeutschelAlter Postweg 26a

D-24558 Henstedt-UlzburgFon (+49-4193) 77 98 96

Mobil (+49-170) 380 06 74

eMail: [email protected]

Documentation

Haus Nordhelle

December 01-02, 2008

A&IT Teambuilding Workshop

transferberatung & training

FH Köln, Campus Gummersbach

Master Program „Automation & IT“

Teambuilding Workshop

Haus Nordhelle, December 01-02, 2008

1

Orientation: Goals and Agenda

The agenda on the right reflects

the actual sequence and timing

of topics.

Agenda December 01

10:15 Orientation

10:45 Who is here?

• Personal posters (individual work)

• Presentation in plenary

• Reflection

11:45 The First 50 Days of A&IT

• Positive & challenging experiences

12:45 Lunch Break

14:15 • Presentation of group findings

15:45 Coffee break

16:00 FEDs and how to deal with them

• Input by Siegfried Stumpf

• Strategies to overcome FEDs(breakout groups and presentations)

18:45 Dinner

20:00 Perceiving and handling intercultural differences (Input and reflection)

21:00 Closing round

Recreation activities (table tennis, etc.)






2

Personal Posters: The Studio

In order to disclose relevant

background information about

themselves to share with the group

participants prepared personal

posters and presented them to the

entire group, answering additional

questions.






3

Personal Posters (1)






4

Personal Posters (2) ... ... and Insights






5

The First 50 Days of A&IT: Breakout Groups

Taking stock of the first 7 weeks on

the A&IT program, participants

worked in four breakout groups to

exchange about their impressions

and experiences with regard to the

A&IT group, study and university life,

and the German community.

Particularly positive impressions and

challenging or frustrating experi-

ences were summarized on green

and orange cards, respectively, .






6

The First 50 Days of A&IT: Findings (1)






7

The First 50 Days of A&IT: Findings (2)

As a conclusion, major impressions

from the overview of findings were

discussed in the plenary and are

documented at the right.






8

FEDs and How to Deal With Them

Multiple Objectives

FEDs Reported by Foreign Students

� Getting in closer contact with Germans

� Mastering daily routines

� Segregation and isolation

� Complying with rules and regulations

Basic Adviceon How to Overcome FEDs

☼ Try to come in more intensive contact with Germans:

� work with them,

� in small groups in order to reach a common goal

☼ Learn the German language

☼ Try to understand German cultural standards

☼ Try to win German friends

☼ Try to come in contact with the beautiful aspects of German culture (landscape, sightseeing, cultural achievements)

Goals

Reaching final degree in one's

field of study

Learning a lot in one's

subject area

Under-standing a different

culture and learning from it

Learningthe German

language

Finding (German) friends in Germany

To put the A&IT group’s experiences

into perspective, Siegfried Stumpf

presented “Frequently Encountered

Difficulties” (FEDs) reported by

many foreign students.

Becoming aware of other objectives

besides academic goals as well as

some hints on countering FEDs

could help to develop coping

strategies.






9

Strategies to Overcome FEDs

Focusing on main challenges from

the first 50 days, three breakout

groups worked out advice and good

practices. The results were then

presented in the group plenary

[sorry, the poster on “Meeting the

Germans” somehow escaped my

camera – I tried to reproduce it from

memory].

A fourth group worked on Proposals

for the A&IT program structure; their

results are documented on page 20.

How to Get into Contactwith Those „Rigid“ Germans

* Take the initiative

* Use the German language, even just a few words

* Work with them, or find a topic of

common interest for serious and in-depth discussion

* Join sports clubs (handball, basketball) or church groups

* Be persistently friendly

* Get a German girlfriend (or boyfriend)






10

Developmental Phases* in Handling Cultural Differences

(1) Denial

(2) Defense

(3) Minimization

„Really – there are othercultures?“

„Differences always carry value – and we / the others are superior!”

„Differences are marginal, because we’re all equal(in a way that I see it).“

EthnocentrismEthnocentrism EthnorelativismEthnorelativism

*Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity

(DMIS), Milton Bennett, 1986

(4) Acceptance

(5) Adaptation

(6) Integration

„Different strokesfor different folks.“

„To get along with othersI need to understand them

‘from within’.“

„Unity in diversitymakes us successful.“

NOTE: The presentation slides on the DMIS were handed out

in the workshop. An article by Milton Bennett describing the

model in more detail is available as a separate .pdf document.






11

Entering Day 2

As a warm-up and as introduction

into the topic of group cooperation,

the “Pipeline” Exercise served to

reflect on helpful ways to organize

project and study groups effectively.






12

Group Cooperation: The Pipeline

It took only few attempts at self-

organization to solve the task of

transporting a small wooden ball

from one end of the room to the

other, even on an obstacle course.






13

Debriefing of Pipeline Exercise

After an immediate reflection on

helpful practices with regard to the

Pipeline task, potential learnings for

collaboration in A&IT project and

study groups were discussed.






14

Dimensions of Group Cooperation (1)

From an input on aspects of group

cooperation (see below),

the question

What is important to mein working together in

A&IT project and assignment groups?

was discussed in four breakout

groups.






15

Quality Criteria of A&IT Group Cooperation (1)

(1) Goal Achievement

• To achieve our set goals (for the group)

• Achieve the goal

• Get the best result

(2) Work Process Mgmt.

• Less errors / error-free because we check on each other (better understanding tasks)

• Easily manageable and more productive

• To reduce work load, able to do the task in a shorter time

(3) Communication

• Appropriate group size yields better communi-cation structure

• Exchange ideas

(4) Knowledge Mgmt.

• Exchange experience

• Possibility to learn from

others

• Getting benefits from

others’ expertise and vice versa

• Better understanding of

individual subject knowledge

• Gain additional knowledge

• To improve our cultural/ language skills; broaden

our horizon

(5) Group Atmosphere

• Good atmosphere for work

• Working as a group is more interesting

The group results were clustered

into nine quality criteria, which were

assigned short headings.

(See also following page)






16

Quality Criteria of A&IT Group Cooperation (2)

(6) Recognition

• Respect other’s ideas

• Individual recognition (giving credit)

• Group performance: recognition from the outside body

(7) Conflict Mgmt.

• Better conflict management

• Don’t blame others

(8) Committment

• Feeling of commitment (time bound)

• Being effective and active

• Others should do their jobs

(9) Mutual Support

• You are not alone

• To be supportive and helpful

• To enhance personal relationships






17

The A&IT Group Monitor

Working individually, participants

rated each of the nine quality criteria

according to the question

How satisfied am Iwith regard to this dimension

at the present time?

The individual ratings were then

transferred to the group poster, and

the resulting distributions were

discussed by the entire group.

Communication, Group Atmosphere,

Commitment, and Mutual Support

were rated highest, while Work

Process Management and

Knowledge Management were

regarded to be closely correlated,

and the latter dimension was seen

seen as particularly important in an

academic work environment.






18

Open Questions and Responses

Prof. Scheuring and Prof. Klasen

joined the workshop at noon on the

second day and responded to open

questions and proposals (see next

pages) which had been prepared

by the group beforehand.

Responses by Program Management

>1) MEng and MSc have the same value in

Germany; MEng was chosen for the A&IT Program to indicate subject focus

>2) Information available at International Office at

Cologne campus; there will be an extension of that office at Gummersbach campus after February 2009 (also as liaison to Ausländer-

behörde); please provide information on specific visa requirements to Prof. Scheuring!

>3) Three on-campus projects in third semester, counting 10 credit points each; no standard

lectures

>5) Collaboration with other universities or with industry is possible, if relations to FH Köln

exist already or can be established directly (needs to be arranged individually).

>4) Thesis project is provided by university, or can be arranged elsewhere, as stated under (5)

Workshop on employment perspectives can be

organized (e.g. by International Office extension in Gummersbach) at the end of the second or at the beginning of the third semester.






19

Proposals (1)

Comments by Program Management

� Language course only as an add-on -

it can not be integrated into the credit-

point program

� The group’s design proposal will be

considered (contact: Prof. Scheuring)

� Mandatory German course (full time,

4 weeks in September) is endorsed by

group and will be considered by

Program Management

- Support from Internationalization

Office?

- Collaboration with Cologne Campus?

� Please send information on personal

experience with external courses

(e.g. 3-months DAAD course)

to Prof. Klasen


� Acquisition of subject literature in English at

university library is currently under way

� Please notify Prof. Scheuring if lecture slides in

German continue to be a problem

� Administration forms will be available in English for

the next A&IT program cycle (responsibility of

university administration

� Instruction leaflet for internet portals (esp. PSSO)

will be prepared






20

Proposals and Comments (2)

Proposal: Info on exam regulations

� Clarify exam regulations (requirements,

procedures, deadlines, etc.) in each course during the first two weeks

� Provide students with written documen-

tation of the agreements reached.


� Extensive “Prüfungsordnung” (legal text) is

part of program certification requirements

� There is some flexibility with regard to

course specific regulation, e.g. a choice of

written, oral, or presentation exam formats

� Grades a weighed by credit point number for

the specific course

� Exam procedures are described in module

outlines (that document will be mailed to

participants by Prof. Scheuring)

� PSSO registration for exams is not neces-

sary for A&IT group

� Prof. Stumpf as head of the Examination

Committee supports the proposal (see

above) of clarifying exam procedures within

first 2 weeks of the semester;

Prof. Scheuring will inform the staff

accordingly


� Prof. Scheuring will discuss with Prof. Kamp-

mann and Prof. Holland-Moritz solutions for

teaching basic contents to students without

Bachelor background in the subject.

� Options for “catching up” on basic course

content:

- tutorial at beginning of semester

- extending courses into semester break

� Further option: differentiating standard and

advanced course levels:

- Standard: being able to work in the field

- Advanced: acquiring specialized expert

knowledge

� Prof. Scheuring will discuss course contents

and program structure in general with A&IT

teaching staff and students.






21

Review of Workshop

� From an initial “Is is necessary ..?” to insights about others in the group, about integrating into the German community, and about group cooperation

� Giving feedback to professors [2x]

� Becoming aware of problems and of strategies to resolve them

� Break of normal routine to reflect, and to get to know each other better

� Learning about German culture (“rigidness”)

� Constructive feedback from Program Management to questions and proposals

� First-time experience: intercultural insights, group cooperation, getting to know background of other group members, and exchanging about problems encountered

� Changed conception of negotiating with professors

� Regained perspective on challenges from first 50 days

� Better understanding of problems as basis for possible solutions

� Good timing of workshop after 50 days on the program – refreshed personal commitment

� Interactive, participatory format of working, leaving room for new insights

� Concerns were listened to openly (this gave new direction)

In a closing round, comments from

everyone to the guiding question

How did I got into this workshop –and how do I go out of it?

were documented as summary

statements.






22

Tired but Happy – the Final Picture

doku a&it teambuilding workshop 2008-12

Documents