Weekly Log Questions

What went well?

• Over this past week I feel like I have finally gained confidence in my abilities and skills as I work in creating maps as well as checking over other volunteers' work. During the first two weeks, I had been feeling out of place and unsure of the new tasks and responsibilities I took over when working with the British Red Cross.
• For example, during the first two weeks, I felt that I was mapping incorrectly and requested a more experienced validator to check over my work. Now, however, I am not second guessing myself and as a result I have stopped requesting for my work to be looked over.

What could have been done differently?

• I believe that I could have set a better work schedule this week. What ended up happening was that since I wanted to go to a few museums this past week, and all museums in London close at around 5pm, I opted to work in the evening. However, since I decided to work late, I ended up pushing my sleep schedule back. What I could have done is spread out my trips to the museums over the remaining three weeks and allowed myself to work early so that I can go to sleep at a reasonable time.

What did I learn about myself when working with others?

• I learned that I have good communication skills when it comes to explaining issues, setbacks that I am having, and asking for advice regarding specific aspects of the project. So far I have not had any issues where I had miscommunication with someone.

What did I learn about leadership?

• I learned that there is quite a bit of solitude when working in a leadership position. This makes sense since my role is not that of a team member. Yet, it was an interesting experience working on a project alone, even though many people are also involved in this project.

What do I want to develop or focus on next?

• In the next week, I want to focus working on mapping projects that are categorized as difficult. Since I was still getting used to the projects and the organization in the first two weeks, I had been putting aside mapping and contributing to projects that are more difficult and require higher expertise.