Quality circle in higher education in University of Leicester was initiated by Mr.Ramkumar. As a student from the school of Management, I got involved with the project because I wanted to improve my leadership experience and tackle issues faced by current students in the university.
Our team worked on improving student experience and we formed 3 different sub groups in order to cover different aspects of student experience. I was extremely fortunate to be working on to improve the barrier between local and international students, which I think it is an important issue that needs to be tackled in the University.
Throughout the course of the project, we faced many adversities and hardships including people dropping out of the project leading to more workload on existing members, time management issues with certain members due to exam and assignments etc. However, we co-ordinate and resolve the issues well, leading to successful implementation for the projects.
The main aim of my project is to reduce the barrier between international and local students, to ensure that they have more opportunity to network and communicate outside lessons.
Steps that we take to complete the project:
1) Identifying issues and prioritizing depending on the urgency of each issue- This is extremely important as some issues might be more important than others due to the limited time that we have.
2)Creating a Fish and Bone diagram to find out the cause and effect of each issue
This allows us to analyze the issues in a clear and neat diagram and allows us to locate the cause of the problem.
3)Developed solutions in 4W 1H template (What, When, Who, Where, How)-Ensures that the solution is practical and achievable , makes it easier during the implementation process.
4) Implementation
5) Measuring the impact of the solution to ensure that the solution is effective. We used turnout rate(how many people attended) and user feedback find out if a certain implementation is effective.
Solutions that we came up with
1)Organizing a board game networking session at Tea@Chi- The turn out rate was quite good, and it increased by 50% to 10 people. The feedback that I received from the students were generally positive as it provides them with a platform to network with people from a diverse range of cultures. Using board game as a common ground appeals to most students because it is a game that people are familiar with.
2)Organized a cricket match with the health team to promote healthy living and provide a platform for different students to communicate. Again, this is quite an effective solution as people can understand and are familiar with sports.
Issues that I faced and how I resolve them
1) We used tools like fish and bone diagram and 4W 1H to analyze the problem and come up with a solution. Since it was my first time exposed to these tools, I do not know how to utilize those tools, meaning I had to look up on Youtube and Google to find out how to use the tools.
2)Throughout the project, one of my team members dropped out, which means there is only two members in the team, which means that is more work for existing members. However, due to upcoming exams and assignments, we could not handle extra work. I talked to my project co-coordinator about this problem and he asked another member of Quality Circle to join our sub team to help us.
What I gained from this project
1) Problem solving and analyzing skills
2) Learn how use scientific tools such as fish and bone diagram and 4W 1H to solve problems.
3) Team working and leadership skills (Working with a team to resolve a problem)
4) Presentation and communicating skill( Presenting to staff from the career development office)
These skills contribute to my personal development and growth.The soft skills and hands on experience that I gained during this project will be extremely useful for me when it comes to finding a job in the future.
