1. Checking in

This week was the halfway point of the project. With most of our research done and first ideas explored, it was time to bring it forward to Adrian, the head of Picacho con Futuro. At the end of the project, we will need to deliver a presentation of our final pitch; this meeting was an informal preview of some of what we have planned for week six. We showed him our initial branding ideas, stakeholder relationship maps, events that we suggested take place at the cafe, and more. I also gave him the pamphlet I had laid up and printed out to help convey the more visual aspects of what we had planned for the final presentation. This proved to be an incredibly important step for the ongoing development of Barrio Mio as there were several important points of instruction that I think will be very useful in guiding us for the remaining two weeks. For example, he highlighted several tweaks he wanted for the logo design, and communicated that he wanted more detail on the practical side of the everyday running of the cafe (how many spoons, forks, and knives will be needed, how much should a cafe tinto cost? etc.).

2. Struggling to engage

We have struggled to engage the volunteers who signed up to assist us with the project at UPB. Despite creating a group chat and communicating specific and achievable goals, most volunteers did not reply, and those who did were too busy to help out meaningfully. This has meant that some plans that we had for working directly with the members of the Picacho Corporation had to be changed at the last minute. I believe this has taught me a valuable lesson in leadership, however. When you are trying to lead a team, flexibility is key to having successful outcomes. If we were too stubborn to our initial plans, we would not have been able to carry out any of the work we needed, as the volunteers were not available. Changing our plans, compromising, meant that we could make some good out of an unideal situation. In future, I will strive to identify where there is the possibility of weak points, and make alternative plans even further ahead so that we can act even faster and more effectively.

Aside from the issues with the volunteers, however, I have found that a more pressing struggle this past week has been how our group dynamic has led us off track of our goals for the project. After the group trip that ended at the end of last week, a sense of tiredness took over the group, which was recovering from the activities of the days before. However, instead of taking a moment of reprieve, we soldiered on and wasted time with unproductive work. Instead of understanding each other more, we had fallen out of the sync that we spent the first three weeks developing.

3. Staying on track

My hopes for next week are that we all take a moment to reset, and rather than forcing ourselves to be together constantly. As our tasks have been delineated more and more, it is becoming more essential to recognise that we each work at different paces and that while coming together for important decisions is vital, working in our own time may be the best course of action at times. Given that we can no longer rely on the volunteers' help, we will need to reevaluate what tasks each of us has to do. These considerations will inform our final acts of leadership here in Medellin.