Managing decisions day by day...

Managing decisions day by day
Allowing more opportunities to sway our way

Creating a vision filled with action
So we can grab that position for our grand attraction

Communicating with each and every one
Allowing connections to be made more fun

Steps of planning, outlining our objective
To eliminate, be precise and selective

Now take these words of innovation
To create your own revelation

Communicating via Blog

At first, I didn’t like the idea about blogging with my classmates. I thought it to be a waste and kinda weird just because I wouldn’t want someone to come to me and say “hey, you wrote on my blog about ______!” Though later, my preception on blogging had changed. I was able to learn about my classmates a lot better and from the 3 other classes I am taking this semester, this management class is the only class I know more about my classmates then just their names. I believe I have benefited from meeting others online which definitely extended communicating more in class.
Whenever we were given a blogging assignment and my goal was to just answer the questions but I found it interesting that, whenever I did write that I end up providing more information and including more of my preceptions about some of what we did in class. The class activities had important lessons to be learned and of course the only way of remembering it is diagnosing and discussing it.
Blogging as a 20% part of our grade was a gift to the students because all it pushed you to do is just share your thoughts and opinions. The tests in the class was fair in my opinion and I am glad that this wasn’t another class that is heavily weighed on exams because then I think the incentive and motivation to learn would have decreased. Overall, I believe blogging was an excellent idea for the class esecially large classrooms that does not always give you the flexibity to give a chance for everyone to speak everytime we meet. I might consider blogging in the future and possibly in may career but I feel I kind of already do that through facebook. The blog should remain a component of this course though I don’t think there should be any penalities for writing a blogging entry after due date.

The ABCs of DISC

The test determined that I was influential and dominant. I believed it to be accurate especially since my friends and family say the same. I wasn’t surprised with my results but did smile and chuckle a little bit because I would refuse to believe it. Thinking to myself, I don’t think I could be the kind of person who is steady or conscientious. It just doesn’t seem likely for me to be analytical and patient. The times that I have tried it, I always felt uncomfortable.
I think it is helpful to determine people’s management “type” to better understand where they are coming from. There are many different personalities and traits each individual has and because there can be many different problems and circumstances people face; isn’t a type of manager that is perfect for any and all challenges.
I don’t know how much a test like this would help me in other personal interactions but it does confirm my character and of course makes sense. I do find myself to be very influential but at the same time decisive. Yes I can be dominant many times especially during group works because I aim to finish and skip the in-between steps. Overall, this test was interesting and I had fun figuring out the “type” of manager/leader I am.

My Trip to McDonald...

This trip to McDonald’s was a unique task that I did not believe I could complete easily. My perception of the employees at the McDonald’s I chose, on Ditmas Avenue in Brooklyn, is that they would feel much better with the picture buttons of the food rather than numbers and not be able to fulfill my order to exact requirements. When I first placed my order, I was told that there was no option to put “four pickles” or “well done, no salt” on the receipt under my order. After an awkward minute where the cashier looked at me as if there was nothing she could do about this; I had a manager called over. They explained to me that orders this specific were not usual and they had never printed a specific receipt like the one I needed which was why the cashier believed it to be impossible. The first manager then insisted that there was no option on the computer to print my receipt the way I needed. This is when I thought about going to another McDonald’s but I got persistent. I questioned if the manager really knew what she was doing and she replied, “Yes,” but she looked as if she could care less. Then I questioned her status as manager and insisted she bring the head manager up to see if they could help me and she did so reluctantly.
This time the male head manager came to assist me and he brought me over to another register because the customer volume in the store was picking up. I explained the order and lack of help I received from his other employees to the manager and he said he would get the problem fixed right away. He was able to produce the receipt in one minute as opposed to the assistant manager taking almost ten minutes and still claiming it was impossible to do. I watched the head manager go over to the cooks and yell out, “four pickles ONLY on that hamburger,” and then he went over to personally cook my fries. From the moment the head manager came to the front desk, it took only slightly longer than the regular serving time to complete my order; the extra minute was due to a new batch of fries being made. I was annoyed overall but happy the assignment was complete and that they really did put four pickles on my burger. I did, however, refrain from eating the food because I feared that they might have contaminated it with saliva.
Personally, I did not think this assignment would be this hard for the McDonald’s employees and management to fulfill. If I had to consult the head manager at this specific restaurant, I would say he definitely has to train his cashiers and even assistant managers at better knowing all the functionalities of the register. It was surprising that it took 3 people to complete my order and the first two did very poorly and resulted to only calling the top manager with my minuscule yet unique order. Also, I would advise him to get rid of the assistant manager that helped me because she had a nasty attitude while I remained calm during her insolent attempts to fulfill my order.

The Power of Vision

The movie that we saw in class was very motivating because it broke down the steps in how to achieve ones vision. The film identified between vision and action and how they play a role together. My parents never encouraged me to think freely and inspire me to achieve anything because to them, finishing college with a perfect GPA was enough. Luckily, learning from my peers and teachers helped me to realize the path I should take and create visions for myself. There are a few goals that I have that I would really like to achieve in my lifetime and they are…

1. To get a good job in the field of Finance and possibly even moving my way up in a higher position in other related fields that will permit me greater success.

2. To be able to support my mother any possible way so that she lives an easy life to the best of my ability.

3. To buy a house and move out of New York City.

To make my vision possible, I would need to focus on situating my current position to that will get me where I need to be. I plan to take on more internship in the field on finance and get comfortable with what my job would be like. Creating more connections will help me to get a successful career in finance and make my mom proud. When I am financially stable then I will able to support my mother as I move up higher in a managerial position of a company. I expect to move out of New York eventually so that I don’t have to deal with the cold weather in New York and of course afford the house that is reasonable.

Decision Making

I felt that I personally used collaborating to handle the potential for chaos during the class decision making process. I knew that it would almost seem impossible to just get it one’s way. Everyone had different wants and not all can be implemented in a decision making process. We all needed to come together and bargain and negotiate and come with a reasonable solution that would satisfy everyone in one way or another. Everyone’s multiple insights helped narrow down choices as well as combine certain options so that we can all benefit.

In my opinion, collaborating is an effective method in handing conflict. It provides an opportunity for everyone to have a voice to share their approach on the situation. This permits everyone to have an open mind for new ideas shared. Acknowledging everyone’s opinions helped the class to find a successful decision that affected us all in a positive way.

An Eggs-cellent Way to Plan

Our group failed at building an effective egg protector because of our design. We came up with several different blue prints of how we can create an egg protector than will prevent the egg from cracking. Unfortunately, the design needed to be simple and effective but we focused too much in protecting the egg with lots of straws all around it.

The we carried out all the steps required in the "Planning Process." We defined our goal and objective, we determined resources and current status, developed two alternative strategies, made a tactical plan, and implemented the plan and evaluateed results. I believe that possibly we were weak in carrying out the step for implementing the plan and evaluating results because time was running out and we needed to get the egg covered with the straws asap though we did not bypass any of the steps.

I personally believe that we all worked together and shared our ideas to see what would work out best and my team's overall performance was positive and active in trying to complete our goal. If we had the material during the planning phase, then I believe we would have achieved a better design that would most likely have given us a higher chance in coming up with a more effective plan in protecting our egg from cracking.