University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 1

Lukas Koch

Communication for Project Managers: ENCE424

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

September 21, 2019

Introduction
The course Communication for Project Managers provides students with a technical
background the chance to learn skills in a subject area that is not covered by the classic
curriculum for engineers. Nevertheless, the content taught is one fundamental factor for
professional and social success. Students in Communication for Project Managers must complete
required readings, participate in class activities and, ultimately, employ the skills they learn in
class in the real world. In this essay I highlight two concepts of the first weeks of reading which
stood out to me. Furthermore, I describe how I can improve my skills in business etiquette in this
week and what I have done so far to increase my networking abilities. Subsequently, I evaluate
the results of the DISC personality assignment and analyze how they can help me to become a
more effective communicator and project manager.

Concepts from Readings

The first particularly interesting concept from the readings is the pool of shared meaning.
The reading, Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High highlights that
“The Pool of Shared Meaning is the birthplace of synergies” (Patterson, Grenny, McMillan and
Switzler, 2011, p. 7). Every time people step into a conversation, they have their personal pool of
meaning with a combination of thoughts and feelings. When people step into a conversation,
usually they do not share the same pool. Then it is important that people actively contribute their
opinions to the shared pool. A bigger pool of meaning helps to improve everybody’s situation.
Each member has access to more accurate and relevant information and the larger the pool is, the
smarter are the decisions. On the other hand, withholding information can lead to bad decisions.
When people sit in an open discussion, they take part in a free flow of meaning. Decisions made
from a shared pool lead to better results, but also to more unity and conviction. (Patterson,
Grenny, McMillan and Switzler, 2011).
Applying the concept of the pool of shared meaning in my own life has two faces. First, I want to
try to be more open for the ideas of others. Whenever people have ideas, I will try to give them
the chance to bring their ideas in. In addition, I want to try to motivate people to do so and to
reduce their fear of being not taken seriously or having disadvantages because they shared their
opinion. The second face is that will try to bring in my ideas more autonomously. Everybody
knows the situation when you have something in mind what you think about that it is a helpful
idea, but in the end, you did not say anything and did not share your idea. I will try to prevent
this in the future and to add my ideas to the pool of shared meaning.

Another important and interesting topic discussed in the readings is the concept of
storytelling. Attentive readers will notice that the author of the reading Five Stars, The
Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great, also packs the concept of storytelling into a
story to explain it in more detail. In the reading he wrapped the essentials of the concept in a
story about the Silicon Valley seed accelerator Y Combinator. This firm invests in entrepreneurs
and founders and give them advice, guidance and access to a powerful alumni network (Gallo,
2018). But to be accepted the founders need to convince with their concept during a pitch event,
called demo day. Besides a good concept Y Combinator is looking for founders with who have
great ideas. They also need the have great storytelling skills to match (Gallo, 2018). Sam
Altman, the founder of Y Combinator has a clear vision for what he is looking for in the pitch
and what is necessary to be successful. “If someone cannot communicate clearly, it’s a real
problem” (Gallo, 2018, p. 43). The entrepreneurs he invests in must be able to motivate, inspire,
hire the best people and talk to impress (Gallo, 2018). These skills in communication are not just
valid in situations like the described pitch, but every time when people need to communicate and
to motivate or lead others, for example in project management. Goeff Ralston, the founder of
Yahoo Mail, says that “anytime you try to sell something to somebody, you’re selling a dream”
(Gallo, 2018, p. 42). The same needs to be considered for a person in the business environment.
You need to sell yourself and your skills by convincing somebody of your abilities. Storytelling
is one helpful tool. Storytelling is according to Ralston not just a Soft Skill, it is fundamental and
hard cash (Gallo, 2018). Storytelling is about creating a narrative around products, brands (Gallo,
2018), but it can also include persons. If I want you to get me for the job, I need “to tell you a
story that is compelling enough for you to want to be a part of my story because I’ve created a
change, something new and something interesting” (Gallo, 2018, p. 43). I personally will try to
adapt this concept in my daily life. If for example members of my family or friends, ask me how
my studies are going, I try to cover my answer in a story that is interesting and fascinating. I
believe that when you try to apply this concept in daily situation it will become more easier to
use it in challenging situation like pitches or job interviews. For such situation like job interviews
or the meeting with a recruiter or potential new employer I try to develop and prepare a story that
covers my life and myself.

Business Civility

Communication includes more than speeches or presentations. Rather the small things in
everyday life decide how other people perceive us. Often even competent people are totally
unaware of their self-inflicted behavior that prevents their success. The Essentials of Business
Etiquette tries to help people to understand business etiquette and communication and it
discusses specific skills to help people how they should present themselves to advance in
personal life and their careers. In this essay I want to discuss two different entries from the book
which describe a similar concept. These two concepts contain one of the most important points I
need to improve. One concept is entry five in the book, which tells you, that you should talk to
strangers. This concept says that is indispensable to greet persons in a professional environment,
independent where you meet them. Important is also how you greet people. There are words or
phrases which suit better, and words which should be avoided. In addition, it is a must to respond
if somebody else greets you (Pachter and Cowie, 2013). In my own perception, I think that this is
something I am doing already in a good way. Greeting people, independent from if I meet them
in a professional environment in the office or in the locker room of the gym, is naturally for me.
This is how my parents raised me. Nevertheless, I will focus even more on it. I try to be more
attentive and to greet all people I meet if the situation allows it. More attention requires the
second advice, which says that you should always try to hold small talk with the people. You
never know who they are and if it can be beneficial for you (Pachter and Cowie, 2013). This tip
is aligned with entry number eleven, which tells us to meet new people. Applying this is not just
necessary during networking events, but we should do it in almost every situation. The authors
provide ideas how you can start a conversation best and meet new people. You can for example
pretend that you are the host of the event, or you can go to a person who is alone or to a group of
people. In addition, you can talk to people next to you in a line or to the people who are sitting
next to you (Pachter and Cowie, 2013). I don't think that it is important in which situation you
are, but that you actually start talking to new people and getting to know them. I am in the
perfect situation to apply this concept and to challenge myself. Coming to the University of
Maryland without knowing anybody is a great opportunity. What I want to do to improve my
business etiquette as well as increasing my networking abilities is to talk to strange people more
often and more frequently. I will force myself to talk to people inside the university, for example
classmates, people in the library or in the diner. Also, I will try to talk to people outside the
university. Talking to strange people is a challenge for me in general and in a foreign country
with a language which is not your native language it is even harder. What I need to do is to get
myself in that position and to force myself. I think that practicing these situations and getting
used to it is the best way to make yourself feel more comfortable and to make it feel natural.

Networking

The reading Networking for College Students and Graduates provides me a very different
view on a topic, a lot of university students, including myself do not think about that much. The
authors highlight how essential and important it is to do networking and that everybody should
start working on his network as early as possible. The reading accented that it is not very difficult
to engage in successful networking and that we all have the prerequisites. What I did so far to
increase my networking ability is named in the reading as a branding statement. In chapter 2 the
reading provides information about how to prepare a statement about yourself. According to the
authors, this statement needs to be prepared and should introduce yourself (Faulkner and
Nierenberg, 2017). The most important part is, that “your branding statement should
demonstrate, that you have the others person’s interest, needs or company in mind” (Faulkner
and Nierenberg, 2017, p. 49). This statement has a length of about 20 to 30 seconds, and it
should be clear, concise, enthusiastic and memorable. The branding strategy follows a so-called
sound STRATEGY. Your informercial should be short and succinct. It is important to think
about it in advance. Always remember the results you want to achieve. Be articulate in your
message. The time must not extend 30 seconds. Your informercial needs to be spoken with
enthusiasm and energy. It is important to set a goal to attain. The last hint is to focus on you,
what means the other person and not me (Faulkner and Nierenberg, 2017). For the individual
introductory speeches all students needed to develop one 30 second speech where they introduce
themselves and where they said what their career goal is. This is a solid basis for a branding
statement like it is explained in the reading and I think this was a great way to practice how to
develop such a statement. I tried to adjust the statement to the specifications given in the book. In
the future, I will try to use this preformulated statement to talk to people in a professional
environment when I introduce myself. A statement like this tend to be a great opener for a
conversation, to give the opponent important information about yourself and it helps your
conversational partner to remember you.
DISC Personality Assessment

For being a leader or project manager, besides communication your personality plays a
decisive role. The DISC Personality test determines your DISC type and personality profile. It is
designed to test your personality by calculating your profile based on everyday typical behavior
(“DISC personality test”, 2018). The DISC factors are dominance, influence, steadiness and
compliance. Dominance describes the way you deal with problems, assert yourself and control
situations. The influence factor tells you the way you deal with people, the way you
communicate and the way you relate to others. Steadiness reveals to your temperament, patience,
persistence and thoughtfulness. The fourth factor, compliance describes how you approach and
organize your activity, procedures and responsibilities. The results show an indication of your
unique personality. The highest factor is your most dominant personality factor (“DISC
personality report”, 2018). After taking the test, I got the DISC factors rated in following
descending order: Steadiness, Influence, Dominance, Compliance. Based on the sequence of the
factors, the test provides a number of statements that describe your personality:
 You enjoy interacting with and helping people. You are open to new ideas and
procedures. Although you are calm and controlled you still project enthusiasm and
optimism.
 Your natural supportive, listening and empathetic behavior makes you a good coach.
 Someone people turn to when they need help or advice
For me personally, the results are on one hand satisfying and as I expected them to be, but I am
bothered by some of the results. The result I totally agree with is the first sentence and I think
that this describes one of my strongest personality factors. I do enjoy interacting with people
whether during sport, leisure activities or in my professional life. That is why I want to become a
project manager to work and interact with people. That is what makes me happy and what
satisfies me. I think that also the second sentence describes me as a person well. I am calm and
controlled but also with enthusiasm. I tend to think about decision before I make them, and I
usually do not lose control or patience. I am also very happy about the second quote that states
that my supportive and empathic behavior makes me a good coach. Since I try to be a role inside
my sport team and inside the youth organization, I am active in, I want to be seen as a coach and
as a person people turn to when they need help. One thing of the results I do not like is the fact
that the factor Compliance is ranked very low. I think that I am very well organized, scheduled
and that a have a very planned approach towards my tasks. Also, my responsibility towards other
people, sport teams or in professional life is very high. I am reliable and I perform tasks assigned
to me in the given time. Since the test is organized in a way that some factors need to be ranked
below others, I am satisfied with the results in general because for me the personal factors like
empathy, enthusiasm and the interaction with other people are more important. In my opinion
these tests always have weaknesses and lacks in their results. Often a personal feedback from
your peers, a mentor or colleagues is more valuable and helpful.
Having correct self-awareness of your own personality type is the basis for becoming an
effective leader or project manager. I think to become a good project manager or communicator
self-awareness consists of three aspects. Self-reflection which gives you the understanding about
yourself, your skills, your emotions and makes you happy. Self-regulation which gives you the
opportunity to regulate your actions and responses. Even if your emotions tell you something
else like in the example of Fool’s Choice in Crucial Conversations. The last point is self-
perception. Your self-perception should be as close as possible to the other’s people reality. If
there is gap you have a disconnect to other people which can become a problem. The results of
test can help you to evaluate who you are and what is the best way act with a certain personality
type. It is also a helpful tool for your development towards how you want to be because the tests
show you the gap between you goal and the present. Being aware of your goals and the present
state is the prerequisite for improvement.
Conclusion
Summarizing I think that the provided readings offer a deep insight into the wide variety
of the field of communication. While some of them concentrate on direct guidance for example
in writing and holding a speech, others try to help you increase your understandings in fields
which are less easy to explain and to learn because you need to change your behavior. In general,
I think the readings are a great chance to improve all the facets covered in the books because
they give an on-hand guideline in how to act and what to do to increase the own skills ad-hoc.
For me personally the books about your own behavior like Crucial Conversation, Networking for
College Students, and Five Stars are extremely valuable because they give you advices in from
of stories and real-life examples how to act properly.
Personality assessments like the DISC test are possible aids to get aware of your own personality
and character. This is important, especially for an estimation if others perceive you in the same
way as you do yourself and also to show you the gap between the currant state and your goals. I
personally think that the results of the free DISC test are very restricted and just limited
applicable for myself. Probably the Pro version provides more comprehensive results. In my
opinion these tests always have weaknesses and lacks in the result. A personal feedback from
colleagues, friends or peers is often more valuable and meaningful.
 Works Cited

DISC personality test. (2018). Retrieved from https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-test/

DISC personality report. (2019). Retrieved from https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-

test/id=f2VWM8O99EZYUCG&version=

Faulkner, Michael and Nierenberg, Andrea. (2017). Networking for College Students and

Graduates. Pearson Learning Solutions, Second edition

Gallo, Carmine. (2018). Five Stars the Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great. St.

Martin’s Press

Pachter, Barbara and Cowie, Denise. (2013). The Essentials of Business Etiquette: How to Greet,

Eat, and Tweet Your Way to Success. McGraw-Hill Education

Patterson, Kerry and Grenny, Joseph and McMillan, Ron and Switzler, Al. (2011). Crucial

Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.,

Second Edition