Proposal Plan Memo
This “Proposal Plan Memo” assignment was the first of six group assignments in this class. Dr. Fricke divided the class into five groups. We had some input as to who we would work with. As I knew one of the girls in the class (Rachel Lambert)and had worked with her before on class projects, we decided to work together again. We did not know the other two guys in our group (Kurt Wood and Mike Rockne), but we quickly got to know each other and became comfortable working together.
As a group we had to come up with an idea for a proposal using a hypothetical or real issue. Previously, Dr. Fricke had the class write “Proposal Idea” memos. We did not use any of our original ideas because they were not “do-able” according to Dr. Fricke. Rachel had the idea of our final proposal issue which was to promote student activity during the spring semester. I think we all really liked her idea and were excited to do this project.
We also had to come up with a way to keep on track and keep our project organized. Often group projects can become unorganized because so many people are working toward the same goal. We decided to have regular meetings to work on the project together so we could keep editing time to a minimum. Projects can have lengthy editing times if they are written by several people separately because everyone has their own tone and style of writing.
We also came up with a system of delegating tasks. The project was already broken down into stages, so we assigned each person in the group to a specific stage. The person assigned to a certain stage would be in charge of the completion of that part of the project, collecting all individual work, and organizing the meetings during their part of the assignment. Overall, I think this method worked out very well. It ensured that everyone participated in the project and that no one person was stuck doing all the work.
The “Proposal Plan Memo” was not very exciting or particularly fun only because it was preparatory work. It did, however, give our group a chance to throw around idea and get to know each other. I think in some circumstances group members might feel shy about giving their input, but our group was able to give their opinions without feeling judged which I think really helped in this project.
