Author Archives: cl149402

Advice 1: Practice makes perfect. I would advise the employee to making drafts of written communications they need for their job, and then I would review and give them feedback to improve in the future. For oral communications I would assist them by role playing and allowing them to have a dry run.

Advice 2: Learn from others internally. I would cc or bcc them, or share other written communications that I have made so that they can learn from example. I would also let them sit in on certain meetings and conference calls to see how I handled such situations.

Advice 3: Learn from others externally. I would not claim to have all the answers for all people. I would encourage the new employee to seek outside information, whether it be in a book or online video, or by joining an organizations such as Toastmasters, which would allow them to practice their communications in a no pressure environment.

Our group has used google docs to track and monitor everyone’s progress and bounce ideas off each other. The roles were assigned in class based on the interest of each member. The PowerPoint was an actual google docs presentation, and after it was complete we saved it as a PowerPoint document to present to the class. The presentation differs from the written report in that is has much less information written within it. Our method was first to do all the research and write a complete paper, and then from that paper distill the most important pieces of information to include on the PowerPoint, with any additional commentary or information to be shared verbally during the presentation. The Maki and Akerson communication style was used was the Meaning Maker because we were addressing a large social issues and by emphasizing the instinct benefits of helping others, we would be able to make those involved feel more connected with the project.

The social entrepreneur project  I would like to base my Group Proposal on would be the use of cell phones in Africa to help rural farmers. I have read several articles over the past few years about this effort, and food shortages and poverty in Africa is one of the biggest issues that philanthropists are trying to address. The project would benefit small rural farmers who live without access to telecommunication. We would sell them at a low cost mobile phones which would come pre-installed with existing applications that give information about weather conditions, best farming practices, market prices for different crops, as well as supply micro insurance and mobile banking services for the farmers. The way to convince funders to invest in the project would be to show the low start-up cost and quick revenue stream that would make the project sustainable and even profitable within the first 1-2 years.

I think our presentation did not have very effective transitions because there were last minute changes to the presentation, and due to absences we were unable to properly meet before presenting to do a full dry run. Overall I think our group has very good body language and eye contact. The strengths of the presentation was the simply and clear format of our PowerPoint, as well the speaking abilities of our group members. If I was able to do one thing differently, I would have wanted to get to class earlier and done a dry run of the presentation with the entire group.

In business and business school, students are often asked to work in teams. What are some of the challenges that you have faced on team projects? What role does communication play with teams? How important is digital communication with teams?

My leadership style is to lead by example, and I do delegate when necessary. I also believe in explaining to others more than is needed for the assigned task, so that they have a deeper understanding of what the project and their role is. By doing this I find this I avoid getting asked unnecessary questions because by having the bigger picture they can more easily try to solve any issues that come up before bringing to me.

I try to rule by consensus when the outcome affects everyone, however within certain groups having too much many opinions is not productive, so in those cases I will take responsibility for the final decision.

Some challenges that I have faced on team projects primarily are lack of motivation and not meeting the expectations of the project. It is understandable that some will be better suited for certain tasks than others, but when it comes to group projects, just like in the real world, sometimes effort alone is not enough.

Communications plays a large role in team projects, and I’ve found the most effective groups I have been in had constant email communication, using google docs, as well as meeting in person to review and discuss on a periodic basis. The use of cell phones and computers to communicate, whether through conference calls, skype, google docs, or other services is extremely useful, however I also sometimes find people use it as a substitute for meeting in person, instead of a tool to be used with face to face meetings.