Being at the collaborative unit of the London College of Fashion (LCF) has been an arduous task for me because I am the accustomed to working independently. My fear of teamwork was portrayed even at the beginning during the networking events set up by LCF. After those networking events, I was too scared of socialising and did not join any proper group. Seeing that other students had found their partners reduced my confidence even further. Another point I felt dysphoric was my ideal project， ‘Physical Interface,’ which was hold by Digital Anthropology Lab (DALab), London College of Fashion, only accept the applying as a group. I contacted a group through my classmate, but I did not expect them to reject me and choose others. I think they rejected me because they were not familiar with me and thus assumed that I would not be good enough. Thismade me very disappointed and frustrated. Fortunately，I found Diane Wallinger, who was looking for group members for the ‘Physical Interface’ project. Interestingly, Diane and I were successful in the presentation campaign, while the group that had rejected me failed. The experience of choosing partners made me understand the importance of initiative and confidence in social interaction. I should therefore try to change my ingrained habits and weaknesses, and gradually build up my courage.
After joining the ‘Physical Interface’ project, I always felt honoured for the excellent opportunity to experience future technology and explore creative ways to present fashion. The organiser, Digital Anthropology Lab, is an avant-garde department of LCF that focuses on digital material frontiers for garments. In that excellent opportunity，our group rapidly made an executable plan for an outcome film, which was affected by the break-out of COVID-19. The UK and many countries locked down, and everyone had to stay at home to save theirlives. Our partners could not go to school to finish their costume design. It was even more difficult for our team to create a film. The distinguished research for the film, exhibition and meetings that had run for nearly one month seemed to be all in vain. We even completed the preliminary design of the exhibition. Had the epidemic not occurred, the exhibition was projected to possibly have a positive conceptual future living environment surrounded by artificial flowers. We were optimistic of the positive outcome. Following the epidemic, weimmediately adjusted and explored a new present with new media technologies in response to the current situation. It was an online interactive exhibition with story videos, images and character filters created by 3D software. The story was inspired by science fiction, ‘Woman on the Edge of Time’ (Piercy, 1985). From the collaborative unit I have been part of during this isolation period, I have learnt that we should have a positive attitude in the face of unforeseen events. For this article, I will analyse the lessons I have gained from the project.
The first critical incident could be described as the challenge of learning 3D software. Cinema 4D, Blender and Spark AR are complex operating systems that are entirely different from video software that I have used before. First, I felt anxious and had a rush for quick results as every software had extensive tutorials that I needed to watch. Secondly, I considered it an unusual experience to enrich my skills. 3D film is a new trend for the fashion industry due to the current requirement that everybody should stay at home. There are no fashion shootings and fashion weeks, what could directors, photographers, stylists and make-up artists be doing at this particular time? Faced with abrupt changes, creative people must adapt to circumstances by learning new skills or inventing new solutions. Coronavirus has accelerated the development of fashion media and we must keep pace with it. After analysis, I realised the importance of patience and optimism in the course of the unsuspected changes. In conclusion, I should not be anxious about the new circumstances as I could improve the situation by maintaining a positive attitude in the rapidly changing era. My action plan was to follow up fashion industry news daily and to spend two weeks learning 3D software with high-quality online lessons.
Another challenge I must describe has been time control. I spent too much time on the primary objective of learning the software and I did not show any target results for the online meeting over the first two weeks. In the meantime, the members of other groups as well as my group members showed their test results from Blender or Spark AR. I did not know how they managed to complete their homework for other classes while at the same time learning the complicated software. I therefore felt stressed and also inspired by the fact that I had brilliant team members with whom to work together. Therefore, I evaluated the exercise as a beneficial experiment since my outstanding partners became the driving force of my progress. This challenge was determined to be related to study capability and work efficiency. The term ‘effective’ implies ‘executive’, which means getting the right things done (Drucker, 2018). I think I did not do the ‘right thing’. I forced myself to finish each of the 67 Cinema 4D lessons in 30 minutes, something that was unnecessary. By the time I started to make special effects, I had already forgotten many of the functions. Thus, I had to review the tutorial again, wasting a lot of time. In summary, the most important thing I learnt from this experience was to set a detailed plan and outline clear steps for each job. I need to know what I should do and what I should not do. I think time management is a vital part of my work and the key to success. I need to learn and pursue efficiency in my whole life.
For the last experience, I want to share about team management. Every member of our team was in a different country because of coronavirus. Nevertheless, our online communication was prompt and effective and everyone was optimistic. We all felt immensely blessed to have such a team. Everyone was responsible and did a magnificent job. This incident has been evaluated as a good reference point for teamwork in the future. A unique learning experience does not always necessarily come from mistakes. After analysis, I think team goals were proven to be a very productive strategy. There are three questions in the NHS staff survey questionnaire; 1. Does your team have distinct goals? 2. Do you work closely towards team goals? 3. Do you regularly summaries the work and discuss how to improve it? The answers to these questions are closely related to patient treatment (West, 2012). Our team had a distinct objective namely, to create a virtual utopia drawn from the online exhibition. We cooperated firmly and summarized the aim frequently. We also picked up a team name, ENAY, made up from all our names. To sum up, team destinations were the keys to corporation. At the same time, I also realized the gravity of academic research for teamwork. Faced with a similar situation in the future, it would be a good idea to focus on the team targets and read more team management books.
In conclusion, I benefited a lot from these three experiences. First, the changing plan and learning a new skill has taught me how to maintain a positive attitude. Secondly, working with brilliant partners made me realize the need for more efficient time management. Lastly, teamwork has taught me how to get along with team members, which is a significant preparation for my career development after graduation. This cooperation has made me aware of my strengths and weaknesses. In the face of sudden challenges, I can be positive and calm. Though I was afraid of socializing and teamwork, I had a strong desire to try and change. My ability to teamwork, especially getting along with others, has improved a great deal. At the same time, I also realized that my social skills, time control and team management need to be improved. Thus, I set objectives for my future study. First of all, I will force myself to improve my social skills, be more confident and show more initiative. Besides, it would be worth considering the management of time and teamwork. I also feel grateful for my team members. We helped each other to make progress together. Their patience, kindness and talent inspired me a lot. In this challenging period of epidemic, the DALab leader adjusted plans with us for the ideal outcome. The supervisor followed up on our project development every week and forced us to achieve more profound creations. The project would be perfect and due to everyone’s contributions. I think this is the meaning of teamwork.
Research References
Drucker, P. (2018) The Effective Executive. London: Routledge.
Piercy, M. (1985) Woman on the Edge of Time. New York: Fawcett Books.
West, M. A. (2012) Effective Teamwork: Practical Lessons from Organizational Research. New York: John Wiley & Sons.