Reflection on Pandemic Experience

"For the past 2 months, we have been playing Pandemic game where we were distributed into teams from both our selection and the instructor's, had to work with strategies, and reflect weekly on our experiences. This blog talks generally about the past two month experience with Pandemic that includes what I've learned about leadership, management, communication, collaboration, resource allocation, and having to follow someone else's leadership and being a member of a team"

• Leadership:

So for me, I am very critical about my leadership skill, my leadership methods changes depending on the members of the team and the goal we are trying to reach. to be a leader, one's have got to communicate, collaborate, understand, and brain storm. My experience as leader in the pandemic made me re-experience the fact that a leader does not have to be the most knowledgeable in the team; they will only have to connect the dots and lead the team with shared knowledge towards said goal. Just like how I did not thoroughly understand the pandemic at the beginning but I still lead the team members to the win we were trying to achieve. Connecting everyone knowledge and asking for them opinion and to criticize me as a leader is a key for me to be a better leader. My experience is more detailed in my blog titled "Leading Pandemic Game".

• Management:

Management is the act of coordinating and organizing. which I would usually do before the game to follow my planned management in the game. In my "Leading Pandemic Game" blog; this is considered a form of management. to know the rules and objective to achieve the goal of clearing all the diseases. 

• Communication:

This is probably - or in my opinion - the most important factor that we had to learn or improve by playing pandemic together. I liked the fact that we could pick our own team members at a time and the instructor would distribute us on his own at other times. It gave me a realistic idea about when I go to the work field, I am not working with my friends necessarily I would meet different people where our characters couldn't be compatible but we would still have to find a way to work it out, and here is where communication would come. Be it a leader or a regular team member, communication is the key factor for a team to be effective. I've improved and actually implemented my idea of having to see things from other people's perspective even if I don't agree with it. Because at the end of the day it is not "me" it is "us".

• Collaboration:

Not that different from communication, almost like a branch that encompasses it. Collaborating in Pandemic game is another thing that team members also had to master if we wanted to get any closer to winning the game. For instance, someone giving 50% of the effort and for the other person to give the other 50%. A 100% would result due to the joint effort of these said parties. It lays down into the most simplest things actually! like how we all would want the class environment to be comfortable for us so - Let's say -  Abdulrahman would bring in the snacks and Amal would bring in the Karak and we would sit there as if it was our usual in between classes hang out. Plus, we would sit there and shout out tips for each other on how to win and would tease each other by the end of the rounds on who won and who lost. This, to me was an example of how we would set a collaborative environment in the classroom...... (Shout out to Mr. Adam for also being a big part of this collaboration and for setting this up 👏).

• Resource allocation:

Hacking the game into using financial - resource - allocation is what had provided this round with what happens in the real world which is why I've titled my blog "Real Life Audition". because, it is exactly what it is. Public Health Administration is -and could- not be a free service. We need money to cure, to travel, to hire, to even make plans, to set contingencies....etc. Resource allocation sets priorities and limitation to the amount and frequency of actions that one or an organization are able to do. Therefore, our strategy will have to be shorter in terms of action and smarter in terms of money distribution. I personally believe that the most important thing in resource allocation is contingency budget. Specially, if we were to be faced with outbreaks or epidemics.

Team/ and following someone lead:

Although it was the biggest challenge for me, being a team requires a lot of sharing and sacrifices. Specially if someone was to believe they are giving rather than receiving. For me however, be it giving or receiving, I though of it as a learning experience rather than a competition. Being a leader to enhance my skills to administer something. Being a follower and see how other people lead and look at their strategies. The idea reflected on this blog, how I was the leader of my own and had to look at other's to get ideas, understanding, or even to assess my performance.