Corney....But Worth That 5 Extra Points ;)

'Management is the word'
But when it came to that first exam
I thought it was absurd
Man, my grade was so low,
I felt like such a turd,
But thank God we had a class debate
And decided on a curve.
Now my grade wont’t be so bad
And I ain’t gotta be scurred
So once again I can safely say
'Management is the Word'

My Take On This

The use of this whole blog thingy for the management class was an interesting experience for me. It is something that I've never done before and something that I had to get used to. I kinda don't enjoy having to write stuff like this especially papers but to be quite honest this was quite bad at all.

The purpose of the blog was for classmates to interact with each other on topics discussed in class and the various class activities via comments on each other blog. For the most part the comments were helpful allowing you to view someone else's point of view on what you had to say and it did create a way to voice your opinion in a comfortable setting and not having to worry too much on their immediate reaction depending on what you had to say.

The blog did provide a way to comment on how the class activities turned out and to better understand its purpose once you had time to ponder on it for a little while longer then discuss it on the blog and get others opinions.

There were some interesting topics posted on the professor's blog that were not directly related to the class which provided a little off topic thinking to gain a little extra knowledge, basically a little something extra to think about. I found it useful. There can't be too much of these off topic blogs posted since this bares the risk of swaying people's attention to what is needed to focus on to complete the class so therefore the amount posted was enough.

This blog was a great way to earn an easy 20% of our grade and proved to be effective. It in some ways eased the pressure of having to depend entirely on exams as a means of being graded for this class.

Would I continue this blogging after the class is over? Honestly, I don't know yet.

This blog was a good idea and I definitely recommend that it be continued for other classes.

The Dominant Type....No Surprise

We had an in-class leadership test conducted by our professor. At the end of the test it was determined based on my responses that I'm a high D low C in the D.I.S.C. profile. The High D represents dominance, generally these people are described as demanding, forceful, egocentric, strong willed, driving, determined, ambitious, aggressive, and pioneering. The low C represents conscientious and generally those with Low C scores challenge the rules and want independence and are described as self-willed, stubborn, opinionated, unsystematic, arbitrary, and careless with details.

I was once a supervisor in one of my previous jobs and I think most of the staff would agree with the results because these traits may have been put across a bit magnified. But truth be told I agree with the results because I see myself exhibiting those traits.

Do I wish I was another type? No. I'm pretty comfortable with the type of person I am and wouldn't want to change it for anything. Even if I wanted to change I don't believe someone can change who they are. One can try but you will only be pretending to be something you're not.

I do think it is helpful to determine people's management type especially when it comes to filling an open position in a company. Most cases management will know what personality type will produce the best results for which they are looking for. Therefore this assessment can be useful. Also it will help individuals to better understand the decisions made and their attitude towards other individuals or subordinates.

A test like this can help in other personal interactions since these traits can manifest itself in one's day to day interactions with other individuals. It can help you better understand why people and yourself react the way they do.

From Dream to Vision to Reality...Hopefully

We watched a video in class one evening, "The Power of Vision", that explained the importance of vision. Without a vision there is no sense of purpose, no driving force behind you and no will to focus on the future. There is a quote that stood out;

Vision without action is just a dream
Action without vision merely wastes time
Vision coupled with action can make things happen.

Since I was much younger, it has always been a dream of mine to be a pilot but for some reason I never made much of an effort as I should have to pursue this dream. We probably can safely say there was not a strong enough vision to back up the dream. That dream got pushed back even further when I took a finance class a couple years ago and was somehow drawn to that field of study. I am currently working on a career in finance but I still have a vision that someday I will be able to go back and take flight training so I can have the best of both worlds.

I find the finance field to be somewhat intriguing and envision myself completing my degree at Baruch College in finance and investment and even going on to obtain a masters degree in order the fully equip myself for the finance world out there. Many might say that due to the economic crisis we are faced with, maybe that field might not be appropriate at this time, but I'm very optimistic about the future of the country.

I want to be a strong provider for my family therefore I see myself completing school and achieving my degrees and making my progress in the work force to be able to be a strong provider for my family. The possibility of forming my own company is not too far-fetched and is something I intend to work on in order to secure myself and my family financially. I know that providing form my family financially is the only thing they will need, I know that I need to provide for them emotionally, etc, but I want to ensure that they never go hungry or that we are never homeless so that is a major concern for me.

These are just three of the things that I envision for myself in the future all of which will only be done God willing since we have no idea what our future holds, but we can still have visions, we can still have dreams, we just have to make that effort and work towards them and be optimistic and hope that one day we will fulfill our dreams.

Exam Conflict

There were a few individuals in our management class, myself included, that did not do so well on our first exam. The professor proposed an in-class exercise to come up with a way to deal with the results from the exam so that everyone can benefit and work on improving their grade. He left it entirely up to us to make the decision. Of course in a class filled with students, each having their own view and opinion, there will be conflict. We had up until the end of class to make a decision.

Individuals in the class expressed various methods of handling the conflict, there were the competitive set, those that just avoided the situation, those who wanted to compromise, the accommodating ones and those who collaborated with others to get a solution.

As for me I was more of the accommodating type. I had a lot to benefit from a good decision since I did not perform very well on the exam. Based on the reaction of the class and the way in which a decision was made, maybe if given the opportunity again I would most likely go with the collaborating method because at the beginning of the exercise there were a few individuals that formed into groups and came up with a few ideas and tried to present it to the others in the class. Eventually those ideas from those groups were presented to the class and a decision was somewhat made. Maybe next time I can be apart of one of those groups and get to opportunity to present whatever ideas I may have to to group.

Eggs-cellent Way to Plan

Based on the in-class group activity, we as a group addressed every step in the planning process. We defined our goals and objectives by discussing what needed to be done, when we needed to complete our task and how we needed to get the project done. We acknowledged the resources that we will have and as a group determined how we need to pursue our objective. We then plotted out a strategy and assigned tasks to team members based on their skill and knowledge they possess. The product was then created and tested to ensure effectiveness to serve it's purpose.
The end product worked in the manner required and proved the effectiveness of the planning process worked out by the group.
Based on the results, the planning process of the group proved to work the way required therefore the strategy used need not be amended in any way.

Dilemma

I'm trying to figure out a way in which I can stay on top of all my projects at my job. Here is the dilemma, I have to make sure all the projects I'm working on stay up to date and that the permits don't expire. The problem is that out files are not computerized which means quite often I have to go through each file to make sure everything is in order. Is there a better way in which I can manage my files?