Team Meetings

It was good to finally meet Tom, last week, in Second Life and to have a meeting with all four of us present. But still no Cindy! I have the feeling she may have given up on the course.
I am feeling disappointed with myself today as, for the first time, I am not able to make it to a team meeting in Second Life as I have a work training thing to attend to tonight between 7pm and 9pm. Our team was to meet to discuss our findings for activity 7.1.2. But I have sent everyone an email to inform them that I will not be making it to the meeting and also to give them my thoughts on the activity so far. Hopefully they will be fine with it and will not feel that I have let them down.
I have also asked that someone takes minutes for me to read, either tonight or tomorrow so that I can see what went on and I can keep up to date with the group.
I feel that because we are a team it is important for me to inform the rest of the team, if I can not make it to a group meeting, so they can get on with the meeting and discussing the tasks we need to do with out wondering if or when I am going to turn up.

Topica

For one of our latest activities we have to select and join one of the most active discussions lists on Topica. We are then to watch, without participating, in a topic that is of interest to both myself and at least one other member of our team, for a period of one week.
Sounds simple enough.
But my first problem was I had problems straight away when I enlisted for a topic I was told I could not do it untill I had confirmed my new membership through a confirmation email I had been sent. I checked my inbox of my email but there was nothing so clicked on a link to have them send it to me again, just in case they hadn't actually done it. Checked my inbox again - nothing! I must of done this four times before it occurred to me that my email might be sending the confirmation emails straight to spam. So I checked my Spam folder and there they all were.
This problem sorted I went looking for a topic of interest.
Second problem? Everything was out of date. The latest discussion I could find was last written at the start of last year but most dated back to about 2005/2006.
How could we observe an active discussion if none of the discussions were actually active?
When this was asked at our last team meeting Craig suggested we just read the old discussions and observe it that way.
But it still leaves me thinking :-
Is there a more up to date discussion list we could join to do this activity? and if not there should be.
Could we make the discussions active again by posting a comment ourselves to get it going?

Activity 6.5.1

This was the first real task for our team where there was numerous emails going back and forth between us all.
Activity 6.5.1 - Implications of feedback using email in large groups.
I wouldn't call our group large but we definitely found implications!
Craig started by sending us all a group email which nominated each of us to find advantages and disadvantages of each type of email - HTML, Rich Text or Plain Text Email. Craig and Tom were to research the disadvantages and Tobin and I were to research the advantages.
It started out fine enough, or so I had thought. I started researching straight after I received Craig's email (on the Sunday) and emailed what I had found onto Tobin asking him to look it over and add or delete what he liked so we could forward it onto Craig by Tuesday.
First glitch:- By Tuesday afternoon though I still hadn't heard from Tobin, so decided to email my findings on to Craig. That evening I received a text from Tobin to apologize for missing the last meeting we had and wanted to know what he had missed. I asked if he had checked his emails lately and told him as we were working on activity 6 he needed to do so. I then went on to tell him what task had been delegated to us and that I had emailed my findings to him.
Second glitch:- By Wednesday we found out that we had Tom's email address wrong so he wasn't receiving any of the group emails.
But still our team did well getting this activity done, even with the few glitches we still managed to come up with the following findings:

Advantages	Disadvantages
Plain Text email 1. Can be read by everybody, regardless of email software 2. May apeal to verbal learners 3. Quick to create 4. Can be edited and reused 5. Can be read off line. *6.It's smaller and therefore faster - Plain text email is pretty much that - plain text. There are no embedded tags or codes to be sent, nothing beyond the most basic formatting, no colours or background pictures. This means the email is smaller and therefore needs less time to send or receive. *7.It's more compatible - These days more and more people read email when out of the office, often using a Blackberry or similar device. By using plain text you can guarantee that your message will be readable (No guarantee that it will actually be read however...). HTML/Richtext emails can contain formatting that renders them unreadable on some platforms. Another benefit of being smaller is that that mobile users need less bandwidth and battery power to download your email. *8. It's more secure - You cannot get a virus from reading a plain text email, nor can the sender track the email to see who has opened it. Reference: *http://www.itlifeguard.com/Plaintext.htm	Plain Text email 1. Text can appear plain and boring
Rich text or simple HTML email 1. Text may be coloured, highlighted, bulleted, numbered, aligned. 2. Different font and sizes can be used 3. Can be edited and reused 4. Better for visual and global users 5. Quick for recipiants to download 6. Can be read off line *7. Widely Readable - All major word processors and many other types of programs can read RTF text. *8. Preserves Basic Formatting - Font information and text styling selections are preserved in RTF. *9. Offers Security Advantages - RTF is a more trustworthy format than .DOC, and it doesn't leave an "edit trail." *10. Smaller File Size - Because it doesn't save document history data, an RTF file is smaller and therefore easier to send as an email attachment. References: *http://www.page-house.com/clippings/benefitsOfRTF.html	Rich text or simple HTML email 1. Only people who use Outlook and Outlook Express can see rich text formats. 2. Can't insert tables, columns, forms or graphics
HTML email 1. Bright, modern, visually appealing 2. Allows pictures, diagrams, tables, forms and charts 3. Allows movement 4. Great for visual or global learners 5. Can be edited and reused. *6. Include tracking scripts or invisible visitor counters, which enables you to receive reports on message viewed or click through by recipients *7. Insert interactive hyperlinks that take users to webpage or site of interest *8. Code to automatically opens the browser and connect to the webpage *9. Pop-up windows to grab viewer attention *10. Embedded sound, movies clips and images that download automatically from your webpage when message is viewed--this way you can speed-up sending emails because the images need not be included when sending *11. Include banner Ads with and navigational links to sites *12. Allows you to include images, graphics, multiple columns, various fonts and colors and lay out the message like a web page *13. Include survey FORM tags with submit button, sponsorship links information, forward to a friend links, subscribe and unsubscribe links and more.... References: *http://www.mailsbroadcast.com/email.bolts&nuts/html.or.text.htm	HTML email 1. Some email clients can't read HTML and will attempt to convert it into text, which can result in formatting problems. 2. If a client is reading your HTML email in offline mode, the images from an HTML email will not show up. Also, there are some blackberries and smart phones that do not read HTML e-mail as well as they can read plain text email. 3. HTML emails take longer to load http://www.ehow.com/list_6191837_advantages-html-plain-text-e_mails.html 4. HTML emails have more chances of having a trojan horses, viruses and etc. Some email clients have blocked the downloading of external content (images, scripts). So a reader will not see a HTML messages as it suppose to be when they first see it. http://www.freemarketingzone.com/email-marketing/html-email-pros.html

I thought this activity was great for us as a team to work out how to work together to get something done. Yes, we had a few glitches, but hopefully, over the next few weeks, we'll be able to smooth out these issues and start working more smoothly as a team, so that by the time the Assessments, for this course, come along we will be working well together as a team.
I have high hopes for our team. If we can still get an activity done and posted in the forum with the few glitches that we had then once we start working more smoothly together we are going to be AWESOME.
Go Team Roughnecks!!!!

Readings For Section 6.1 - Cultural Value Orientations and How OAI Characteristics Contribute To Intercultural Adjustment

This was an interesting read, written by Dina Denim, and I couldn't help but try and figure out where New Zealand fits in and what would be my cultural baggage?
I had never considered myself having a culture. I am a NZ European, with a little bit of Scottish ancestry, and have always considered those who have a Maori heritage or someone who immigrated here e.g. from Germany or Asia, to be the ones who had a culture. But I guess looking through their eyes, or from the eyes of anyone in a different country, at myself, I probably do have a culture. But I think it would be hard to put New Zealand, as a whole, into one culture because we have become such a multi cultural society that we would work in all different ways probably depending on factors such as who runs the company, who owns the company, what the company is etc. I would like to think that New Zealand is a very adaptable country.
The following is what categories I think New Zealand falls into:-
Environment: Harmony - Harmony cultures believe that people are an integral part of nature, and as such, their actions and thoughts should facilitate harmonious relations with nature and with others.
Time: This one I was unsure of but I would think that we would fall into more of the  Polychchronic as Polychronic cultures tend to perform multiple tasks simultaneously with a higher commitment to relationship building than to task completion or meeting deadlines.
Action: This I also found hard as it probably depends on where you live in New Zealand. If you lived somewhere like Auckland or Wellington people may be more Doing as Doing cultures stress achieving goals and improving standards of living. But living in Motueka we tend to be more Being as Being cultures stress their affiliations and personal qualities and greater value is placed on quality of life and relationships than on task accomplishment. 
Communication: High Context as High context cultures communicate meaning through words as well as through voice tone, body language, facial expressions, eye contact, speech patterns, use of silence, past interactions, and status and we are good at Saving face and avoiding shame are very important so conflict is dealt with indirectly through a mix of conflict avoidance and third party intervention.
I also think, based on the Maori culture we have, we would also be Formal as Formal cultures value social customs and rituals and respect rules and procedures and formal cultures have a strong sense of history and tradition.
Power: Equality as in my working experience managers are consultant figures more so than authority figures, often seek participative decision making among their employees, and give employees a substantial amount of leeway in implementing plans and performing tasks
Individualism: I found this one hard as New Zealanders seems to pride themselves on being individuals so I would have thought we would fall into the Individualistic culture as Individualistic cultures value individual identity and independence over groups or shared identity but then we also seem to be in the Collectivistic as they tend to conform to group standards, policies, and procedures is expected and motivation is affiliation and security based and relationships are more important than tasks.
Competitiveness: In this one I also think we could fit into both as when it comes to sports we are a very competive country, especially rugby and achievement, performance, and the acquisition of money and material goods are high motivators for us, which would mean we would fit into the Competitive cultures but we also value quality of life, sympathy, nurturing, and relationships like Cooperative cultures.
Structure: I would think we would be more of the Flexible culture as Flexible cultures are more tolerant of ambiguous situations, unknown people, and new ideas. Conflict and change are viewed as natural and inevitable rather than threatening. Although I am not sure that we actually like conflict. I think that conflict is something we try to avoid.
Thinking: I am really not sure where New Zealand fits in here but my guess would be that we are more Inductive as Inductive-oriented cultures prefer to derive principles and theories from amassing facts and analyzing data.
I must express that these are the cultures that I think New Zealand falls into but I would like to challenge you to read the article and debate my findings and tell me what you think?

I have copied and pasted text out of the article fromthe following webite: http://www.tuckerintl.com/general/readings/culturalvalue/CulturalValueP9.html
which was written by Dina Denim

Readings For Section 6.1 - Differences in cultures

Today I have been catching up on the readings I need to read for this section.
I started with reading 'Differences in cultures' . It made think about the one and only time I went overseas. Seven years ago, my partner, some of our friends and I went to Thailand for a four week holiday. I brought a Lonely Planet guide and became very aware of most of the cultural differences between their country and ours. For example the fact that it was frowned upon for women to show a lot of skin so when we first arrived, even though it was extremely hot, I was very paranoid of wearing singlets and short, shorts. I soon discovered though, that even though, the Lonely Planet guide told me this, it became clear that it was not strictly true. But one culture difference that did become clear to me was that every time we entered a shop or restaurant we were expected to take our shoes off and leave them at the door. Even if they did have dirt floors!
I think it is a very important thing for people, when they are visiting another country, to take note of the culture and respect it. I also, living in a very tourist orientated town, expect it of people from other cultures, to respect ours when they come here, even if I do give them a bit of leeway because of the culture difference. It is not hard these days, with Internet access etc, to find out about culture differences before going to another country.
At the end of the reading 'Differences in cultures' there was this quick experiment that I gave a go:
Start by reading this:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS
OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE
EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

Now, quickly count the number of "F"s in that sentence.

On average, anglos find fewer F's than do others. Why?

My first count was three. When I went back I realised that I had missed all the F's in the words OF. Is this what the anglos do? So why do we miss them?

The New/Late Comer

For the last few weeks team Roughnecks has consisted of just the three of us - Craig(our leader), Tobin, and myself. We have known that there should have been another two - Tom and Cindy. But none of us had heard anything from them since our class had been divided into teams of five.
Where were they?
What had happened to them?
Had they somehow been held back from enlisting?
Or had they been captured by the enemy before they could meet with us?
Then yesterday I was doing my daily email check when I noticed Tom had contacted me, with an explanation for why he had not been able to join us. It turns out he had been away and now that he was back he was asking me to brief him on team Roughnecks activities and to offer some input.
How do I feel about this new or late comer to our team?
My first reaction was "cool Tom has finally got in touch, he is still about".
I automatically emailed him back with what Roughnecks had so far done and when and where we were meeting next. He came through with some good ideas that I think we should look into and seemed to have had a good explanation for not being in touch sooner.
I admit before Tom contacted me I wasn't feeling very happy, with the two team members that hadn't bothered to make contact, but as soon as I got Toms email I was happy that I finally had an explanation for at least one of them. I suppose its because I am quite a forgiving person.
Now I am wondering how the rest of my team members are feeling.
Are the excited as I am that we now have a new team member to bounce ideas off?
Are they feeling hesitant about whether he is going to stick it out?
or do they hold bad feelings towards him?
I guess we will find out.

Emoticons, Typographical Symbols and Abbreviations.

Emoticons: I have always thought of emoticons being a fun thing for texting my friends or something to lighten the mood.  I always saw it as being unprofessional and possibly even juvenile. I had never really thought about using them while chatting to someone over the internet, or texting someone I don't really know, to help with setting the mood for what I was trying to say. But the reading I have done this week has definitely made me see it in a different light.
I did not even realise there was so many of them. I have always stuck with the :-) (happy) , :-( (sad), ;-) (winking). I may have to learn more of these emoticons to use and see whether I can come up with ones of my own!
Typographical Symbols: This is something I have noticed I do a lot when texting, posting comments on face book etc. I think it helps set the mood to what I am saying.
Common ones that I use are:-
???? at the end of a sentence which basically means to me WTF? or "what the F!@#?".
...? is used to say "I'll let you make up your own mind".
I often also use xxx to close friends and family as kisses.
It would be interesting to see how other people would interpret these typographical symbols and whether they would use them in the same context or what other ones they use?
Abbreviations: Not one I use a lot. I use to all the time when I had my old cellphone but with my new one I use predictive text so it writes the word out in full and I only ever shorten a word if my phone wants to send more than one text.
I find it hard to interpret what some people have to say when they abbreviate words. I guess it is something that more of the younger generation do now a days, than when I was a teenager.
When I was at school it was really only those kids that wanted to be journalist that learnt any form of abbreviating words or short hand.
As for it being believed that cyber shorthand is widely understood, I can't help wondering that if it was, would I be able to not only understand it while reading it, but also be able to write it as well if it was? or is it just that I am behind the times and need to catch up?

Readings for Section 4.1

Managing Virtual Teams
I must say that when I first read Managing Virtual Teams, at the start of last week, I was rather surprised to learn that so many companies were now doing virtual based meetings. I knew a lot of companies did Skype type meetings but to have a meeting in a virtual world?
But as the week went on and I thought on it some more I started to understand. Why not meet everyone in a virtual world? It would make getting everyone together, who live all over the world etc, a lot easier and cheaper. And lets face it, it is where the world is heading. It would not surprise me if some day in the future hardly anyone, well at least anyone who worked in an office type environment, would even have to leave home to go to work, which would definitely appeals to me as I would be able to work around my children being at school etc.
I was very interested to read about the $8 billion energy company who gave 200 participants access to an online computer conference which they could access via the World Wide Web and how well they did. Not only was it easier for the participants to join the on line discussion but it also changed the nature of every one's conversations when they bumped into each other, they felt like they had something interesting in common to talk about.
I am looking forward to the day when I get to work somewhere where I get to have meetings like this!

Mastering the Miles
I could not help, while reading Mastering the Miles: 7 Secrets for Building Successful IT Project Teams Across the Hall or Across the Ocean, feeling like these 7 steps were familiar and wondered is it what our course tutor is trying to get us to do?
 When I finished reading it I felt all these steps is exactly what he is trying to get us to do so that the teams we are in will be successful and work together well.
I wonder has anyone in our course actually worked like this?
Had Virtual Meetings within their work place?
I would be interested to know if they have and to find out how well it worked.

Team Meeting in Second Life

Two evenings ago we had our first Team meeting of the Roughnecks.
Three words... So Much Fun.
I met Craig, who I have previously met before on Koru, and met Tobin for the first time who I have to say took me by surprise, by being different and was not a person but a Tiger(?).
As the Open Polytechnic meeting place, on Koru, had disappeared it was a great opportunity to go travelling, as a team, to find a new meeting place. We decided to try military or army places to go with our team theme.
I felt we got on really well and also communicated well. We discussed where we were to go and where to meet if someone got lost and we told each other what we were doing.
I had a lot of fun exploring as a team. It was more fun and less stressful than when I had tried exploring Second Life by myself.
I hope this is a sign of what our team is to be like as it was a great start and I am really looking forward to meeting them again.