What did you learn from your TeamWork experience?

Over the course of the TeamWork project, I learnt two key things: while you can attempt to work by yourself within a workplace, co-ordination will greatly facilitate the completion of tasks; and being more definitive with the means through which work is undertaken is fundamentally invaluable. I am by nature a relatively independent worker, which is why I thought that participating in the TeamWork project could provide me with unique skills that I did not master beforehand.

Having the opportunity to work in tandem with other individuals over the course of the project from such international backgrounds really compounded the teamwork experience for me. Having been somewhat limited to the diversity of people that I was exposed to during my upbringing, the opportunity to work closely with people from different backgrounds was a fundamental means through which I understood that the blend of experiences is the optimal means through which one can maximise the quality of collaboration. While this led to surprising linguistic barriers (a humorous example being an American student misunderstanding British English slang), overall we were extremely efficient in the means through which we manoeuvred around issues that we faced.

What was the highlight of your TeamWork journey?

The highlight of the Teamwork journey was almost definitely, on the day of our final presentation, the manager of our project rung me and offered me to work at their upcoming conference in Poland, a future work placement in their company, and the prospect of a graduate job! This was extremely redeeming, and highlighted to me that workplaces are indeed looking to these kinds of alternative projects as a means of searching for potential new talent.

What would you say to other students about the benefits of the TeamWork programme?

I would say to students that the inherent advantage of the TeamWork project is the possibility of online working, over relatively limited time during the week, which still allows for a great deal of flexibility around one’s travels and other commitments. If you truly attempt to maximise upon the experience, then you can very easily make hugely productive contacts within the leading industries across Europe and the world. I would say that students stand only to gain from such an experience.