University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 3

Bethel Afful

ENCE424: Communication for Project Managers

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

August 8, 2020
Email to Team

Hello everyone,

As your team leader, there are necessary steps I must take to ensure we achieve the proper
amount of productivity per quarter. As of late, I have noticed a dramatic decline in not only
productivity, but also quality of work. It is imperative that we do better as a team.

Looking at our production numbers from last quarter compared to this quarter, we have been
significantly slower in terms of producing important documents on time, preparing pitches and
presentations, and overall project completion. We were cutting it close to four deadlines, and we
missed one of them entirely. At this level in our work, this is unacceptable.

Our clients have come to expect a certain quality of work from this company. This is a reputation
we’ve spent years building up. However, it only takes a few missed deadlines for that reputation
to come back down again. We are a hard-working company. I know that as well as you know
that. The fact of the matter is that we need to maintain our hard work to a tee, otherwise our loyal
clients will hire other companies.

I know that the past few months have been increasingly difficult. It’s clear that we’re all
struggling, whether that be with kids, home situations, or keeping healthy. I know that I’ve fallen
short at some points as well; I am no exception to this. What we all need to help each other with
is staying on track. We’re all going through this together, and we can use this shared experience
to lift each other up.

I believe that we can get our performance back up if we work together as a team. Our company
has struggled before, and it may struggle again, but the most important thing we must do is
power through our struggles. I know that we can turn our numbers back around for the better.

Best,

Bethel Afful
Team Leader

Significant Quote

The quote that has stuck with me the most throughout this session was the Maya Angelou
quote from our very first class: “I've learned that people will forget what you said, people will
forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” I think the major
reason I’ve connected with this quote so deeply is because of my nature as an empath.

Part of the reason I identify as an empathetic person is because I’ve been in situations
where I’ve been put down since I was very little: about five years old. I remember the impact
that these interactions had on me at my young age and throughout my formative years. For the
longest time, I vowed that I would never make other people feel the way I felt after those
interactions, and to this day, that vow rings true.

Throughout my life, I have also been taught that being assertive gets things done. This
has been a struggle for me, because I tend to be a passive person. My conflict management
assessment from the second Pearl Diving activity even confirmed this. I generally tend to avoid
conflict at all costs. Upon declaring a project management minor, I assumed that I would have to
compromise my empathy for assertion in every aspect of my career. The Maya Angelou quote
above helped me understand that this was not the case.

In the second week of class, we learned that the key to communication is empathy. I
understood this in my personal relationships, but I didn’t know that my behavior in my personal
relationships could extend to my behavior as a project manager. However, I soon learned that I
don’t have to change the nature of my personality in order to become an effective leader.

Everyone has a different leadership type, whether that’s a dominant type, oriented around
results and firmness, a conscientious type, who focuses on systematic and accurate processes, an
influential type, who maintains an outgoing, lively nature, or a steady type, who focuses on
accommodating human emotion. After taking the DISC personality test, I received a
Conscientious result, but I truly believe that I have the traits of a leader based in Steadiness.
Either way, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of the different types of leadership
helped me understand that there is no right or wrong way to lead. If I am an empath, I don’t need
to harden myself in order to lead properly. I can still value relationships over results, but now I
have a better understanding of how to do so without compromising quality and product.

This ties back to the quote in question. Because I remember how people made me feel in
the past, I tend to hone in on how my interactions with people make them feel. I try to maintain a
positive relationship with everyone I come across, and as a result, people see me as an agreeable
person. However, since I have built up that reputation for myself, I occasionally find people
taking advantage of my kind hearted nature. In those instances, I must make them feel a different
way. I’ve had to be assertive in some cases, which has shocked people. I’ve learned that
sometimes, people feel more intimidated and remorseful when a stern reprimand comes from
someone who rarely gives them. I’ve been able to use this to my advantage in both business
relationships and personal relationships. Learning how actions affect emotions is a necessary
skill for a project manager, and understanding the applications has allowed me to be more
confident in my management abilities.

Conflict Resolution

If my boss were to call me an “idiot” in front of the entire team, I would have an immediate
emotional reaction. This clues me in that I should use the “Master My Stories” method outlined
​ his method would allow me to take control of my
in chapter 6 of ​Crucial Conversations. T
emotions when I am angry, scared, or hurt.

The first thing I would do is retrace my path. I would have to notice my behavior and ask myself
if there was anything I was doing (or pretending not to notice) that could have lead my boss to
call me an idiot. I would then have to get in touch with my feelings on the matter, and assess
what emotions were causing me to feel the way I was feeling. Then, I would tell the story of
what was creating these emotions. After retracing this path, I would have to get back to the facts.
The facts of the matter include analyzing why my reasonable, rational boss would call me an
idiot in front of the entire team, realizing what I want to resolve the situation, and figuring out
what I would do if I really wanted those results.

This is the ideal method to use because not only does it allow me to stay in touch with my
emotions, but it also allows me to rationalize the situation so that I don’t act emotionally, and
instead act logically.

Big Five Personality Assessment

According to my Big Five personality test, I am moderately open (62.5%), moderately

The results of this assessment almost directly correlate with those of my Jung personality
assessment. According to the Jung test, I am an INFP, which is introverted, intuitive, feeling, and
perceiving. I scored low for introversion on the Big Five test, which parallels my high score for
introversion on the Jung test. My intuitive result implies that I pay attention to what is
imaginative and original, which correlates with my score for openness. Feeling relates to my
high scores in agreeableness and neuroticism. As a feeler, I tend to have either very strong
positive or negative emotions, and I’m highly empathetic. Finally, I’m a perceiver, which means
I’m adaptable and flexible. This makes sense given my low-average score in conscientiousness,
which measures my self-discipline.

For my DISC personality test told me that I’m a conscientious type, which I didn’t quite
agree with. Both the Jung personality test and the Big Five test have challenged that result. Prior
to taking the DISC test, I saw myself as an S (Steadiness) type, as I tend to prioritize
relationships as mentioned before. The Jung personality test and the Big Five test have
confirmed that belief, so I’m leaning more towards those classifications and taking my DISC
classification with a grain of salt.

Still, I think the fact that I’ve received unexpected scores on these tests shows that I
might see myself through a one-dimensional perspective. Some parts of my personality may be
more evident than others, but that doesn’t mean the other parts aren’t there. I think it’s important
to take these personality tests because sometimes they can surprise you, and you can learn more
about yourself. Not only that, but these tests can also tell you how to apply the things you already
know about yourself in new and creative ways. I appreciate that these tests never treat any result
as negative or positive; there are strengths in every type of personality, and weaknesses in every
type of personality. The important part is to know where your strengths lie so you can build
yourself up, and where your weaknesses lie so that you can improve.
 Works Cited

Patterson, Granny, McMillan, and Switzler. ​Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the

Stakes are High​. McGraw Hill, 2012. Print.