Hey guys,
First of all, I would like to say well done with the building of the Chariot. Especially since we had to complete two chariots representing SAS today for the President Visit.
All of the things I’m going to say are all textbook or ten year series answers regarding leadership, commitments, responsibilities and such. We are all young adults and have gone through a lot. But throughout the whole process of the building, I feel that those things which we already know are missing.
There are some of you whom had complains regarding why the management committee had not step in during the whole building process. So let me just clarify this again.
The whole building of the chariot process was entirely the newcomers roles. We management committee are involved in the whole chariot parade programme. So in a way, through this building process…it was a way for us to see and evaluate how you guys performed as a team in a short noticed.
Problems seen during the whole building process. (This are all from feedbacks/evaluation written)
Clashes of ideas.
Miscommunications.
Organisation?
Like I said, why were there clashes of ideas? Why were there miscommunications? Why were things not distributed well?
In a teamwork environment, a leadership role is very important. It get’s the whole discussion kicking. It allows things to be much more organized. In any events, we have an Overall In Charge. I believed if we had appointed one particular person to lead the whole process of the building, everybody would be able to understand what is going on. By having a leader, clashes of ideas would not happen. A leader needs to be strong and make all the important decisions. But of course, those decisions would only be made after finalizing and discussing with your fellow team members. Being a leader doesn’t mean overpowering your authority but respecting and accepting every ideas being thrown. And if you’re the follower, you have the responsibility of respecting your leader.
But of course, this are all textbook answers if you ask me and I’m sure all of you know this already. But are you following it?
Cliques.
Individualities.
Do you notice any cliques being formed? Do you notice individualities among your peers? So how do you solve this problem?
If cliques form in a club, politics would eventually occur. Do you agree? One thing Chiron do not need in the club would be politics. This year is our biggest intake. While it means more friends and more manpower…It also means a higher probability of cliques and politics forming. I already told some of you the story of the politics which occur during the previous batches I was in. I nearly destroyed Chiron. Do we want this to happen again? I’ll answer my own question…NO, we do not wish to do that…So if you happen to be in a clique, I’m not saying you should abandon your friends…but try to involve everybody and not stick to your cliques only.
Just a little teeny weeny warning, if we happen to see you’re clinging too much in a clique…we might have to break it up so that you won’t be working with who you are close to. If you say you work better with someone you’re close to, then I think you would need to learn how to be more versatile.
Chiron works in a team. We need everybody’s cooperation from both the seniors or the newcomers. When a mistake happen or we are lacking of something, I don’t narrow down the cause of the mistake. Directly or indirectly you would be involved.
We need to hands to clap. A motorbike need to wheels. The trolley need four wheels. A CPU needs a Computer Monitor. Chiron needs a team.
Seriousness vs Playfulness
Sidetracking
Deadlines
I understand being serious all the time is very tiring. Trust me, even putting a serious and stern front is tiring. If possible, anybody wants to have fun. We humans would like to have fun in whatever we do. But does that mean we can forget about the seriousness of work? If we are not serious, how can things be completed? How can we meet with the deadlines?
As a Chiron Members, deadlines are very important. You’re given a certain amount of time to complete something. Complete it in the shortest amount of time possible so that you have time to rectify any problems before the deadline. Meeting the deadlines is very important which allows things to be completed fast and not lagging behind. I suggest in the future, if you want to follow this, create a timeline for you to follow. This might give you a sense of urgency.
Well, this are some of the things I have noticed so far. And there is still a lot of room for improvements from everybody. Being it be me…or the management committee or the members as well. Again, if there are any more problems…feel free to approach me.
I won’t bite, I think
Shafiq (Student Advisor)
