University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 2

Dana Huang

Communication for Project Managers: ENCE424

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

July 9, 2022
Introduction

As an undergraduate student, majoring in civil engineering with a minor in project management,

most of my schooling consists of technical instruction in subjects like physics, calculus, statics,
or dynamics. Communication for Project Managers emphasizes a very important but highly
ignored subject in the engineering field, communication. Communicating effectively as a project
manager is paramount to the success of any engineering endeavor. 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. This essay will highlight the
use of rhetorical appeals to address a team’s poor performance in an email format, the changes in
my thinking by discussing the lessons learned in readings and class discussions, the importance
of crucial conversations and storytelling, and the insights gleaned from completing the Big Five
Personality Assessment.

Email

In the email below, a team leader is writing to address his team's poor sales performance over the
past month. This is primarily due to poor communication among new and old employees. The
team was not meeting their bimonthly sales goal and needed improvement. Hence, the team
leader plans to call for a team meeting to address and solve the problem.
________________________________

Dear Team,
As you all know, our company, XYZ Sales, values honesty, integrity, and inclusion.
However, we are experiencing a lackluster performance. Our team’s bimonthly goal is
$1.000,000.00. Yet, our team’s sale has dropped 10% since the end of March. according to the
finance manager, Ted, we are less than 50% toward meeting our goal with only a month left in
the game. Our current sales are $401,987.00, and I would appreciate it if everyone pushed harder
to finish the month strong.
I understand that many are new to the team, and others are just coming back from a long break.
Hence, there are many communication problems in the office. In XYZ Sales, we strive for
excellence, and I would like to work this out in our upcoming meeting this Friday.
Stay positive and keep selling! If anyone has any concerns or troubles, please let me know, and
we can work things out.

Best,
Your Team Leader
________________________________

Concepts from Readings

The first particularly interesting concept from the readings is the importance of communicating
through storytelling. The reading, Five Stars, The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to
Great, highlights the importance of storytelling when communicating to your audience.
According to Five Star, “a great story hooks your audience the same way a great pop song hooks
its listeners” (Gallo p.171). When communicating with one another, I would find myself telling a
story to the other person. Whether it is about an employee at work, the drive on the interstate
highway, or what I ate for dinner last night. These examples are many types of stories. Stories
can help can an idea or point across to the audience, and it is a way to help resonate with the
audience. When storytelling, there are many times when an emotional connection between the
speaker and listener occurs. Most importantly, emotion is the fastest path to the brain. This is
because, in the human brain, our prefrontal cortex is involved with emotional regulation and
decision-making. Hence, storytelling can help drive emotions. It is important to me because it
helps drive a conversation and creates a stronger connection between the speaker and listener. It
also helps build trust with your audience. In the future, I plan to use the technique of storytelling
by doing a long presentation to help the audience and me resonate with the topic of the
presentation. When I would give a presentation, I would lose my audience’s attentiveness due to
the lack of emotional appeal. The audience would space out and become bored of the
presentation. Hence, in the end, my point was not made across to the audience. Therefore, to
make my future presentations more effective, I could incorporate storytelling. As a result, my
audience would be more interested or hooked to the topic, and it will help get my purpose across
more easily or efficiently.

Another important and interesting topic discussed in the readings is the importance of having
proper networking etiquette. The reading, Networking for College Students and Graduates,
highlights the importance of having proper networking etiquette. According to Networking for
College Students and Graduates, “networking and good manners are compatible” (Faulkner
p.141-142). Networking etiquette is important because it helps establish healthy boundaries
among the relationships built through networking. Some of the common networking etiquette
include arriving early, making eye contact with the speaker, manners at a dining table, proper
introduction, and follow-ups after a networking event. One networking etiquette I struggle with
the most is follow-ups. Yet, follow-ups are very important in maintaining a connection with a
network. Before, I would be shy and scared to message a person I met at an event because I do
not know what to say. As a result, I would lose the connection with the networks I made.
Therefore, follow-ups within the networking etiquette are an important technique to me. In future
networking events, I would be able to maintain my connections and build stronger relationships
for many years to come. Understanding the etiquette of asking for a follow-up, emailing, texting,
and phone calling for a follow-up will help me feel for prepare in future networking events. I
would understand the proper ways of following up with my networks and most importantly, feel
comfortable asking for a follow-up or while maintaining a conversation. Therefore, both sides
can build a healthy relationship and trust.

Crucial Conversations

There is a scenario where your boss called you an “idiot” in front of the entire team. In a case
where a scenario like this occurs, I would first make sure I am safe, second ask to speak in
private with the boss, then address the name-calling concern, and lastly have the continuing
crucial conversation with the boss.
First, I need to make sure the situation I am in is safe. This is an important step because
according to the reading, Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, “when
it’s unsafe, you start to go blind” (Patterson p.26). This is where a conversation can turn violent:
physically or verbally. You can feel threatened or fearful if the conversation feels unsafe to
continue in the environment. Hence, a healthy conversation cannot continue. In a situation where
my boss calls me an “idiot” in front of the entire team, I feel that it would be best to address the
concern privately. This is because if I were to address the situation in front of the entire team, the
boss could feel embarrassed or feel counter-attacked. Depending on the boss’s personality, the
boss can say something even meaner and start using attacking words right back at you.
Therefore, I would wait until the boss and I are removed to an environment where other people
are not around to talk privately.

Second, once the entire team disperse and I are in a safe environment to comfortably talk about
my concern, I would go up to my boss and ask, “Can we please speak privately for a moment
about a concern I have.” If my boss rejects, I would ask again and add that it is urgent. Foremost,
I believe is it best to approach the boss when not many people are around because you want the
boss to feel respected too. If I address the situation in front of another colleague, the situation
may become awkward because someone else not involved in the situation is listening in and can
interrupt. Therefore, it is the best option to talk about the concern face-to-face with the person
privately instead of the entire team because you want the boss to be treated the way you want as
well. If I were to call out the boss in front of the entire team, he would feel disrespected. As a
result, there is no mutual respect between the boss and you. According to Crucial Conversations
Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High, “there’s no reason to enter a crucial conversation if you
don’t have Mutual Purpose, it’s equally true that you can’t stay in the conversation if you don’t
maintain Mutual Respect” (Patterson p.32). If I want respect from my boss, I also need to respect
him as well. Afterward, a conversation can start to address the concern.

Then, when the boss and I are in an environment where I feel safe, for example, in his office, I
would address my concern to him. I would say something along the lines such as, “First, I want
to say that I appreciate you meeting with me right now to address my concern. Earlier today, I do
not appreciate that you called me an idiot. I felt attacked and disrespected by you and in front of
my peers [how you feel]. I would appreciate it if you would not call me an idiot in front of my
peers, and if there is a concern concerning my work and job, please address it clearly and
personally to me. Thank you.” When saying this, one should say it in a respectful manner and
tone. It is important to address the concern, how you feel, and how the situation can be fixed/
solved. Therefore, my boss will clearly understand the situation we are currently in. Your boss
would not feel as if you were trying to argue with him but a crucial conversation.

Lastly, my boss and I would continue the conversation in the direction needed to address the
concern by having a crucial conversation. However, there would be a case where your boss
questions your worth to the company and doesn’t believe you have earned his respect. I can also
continue my crucial conversation with supporting evidence of the effort I have put into the
company. For example, successful projects, team involvement, work schedules, and/ or client
and employee feedback. This will show my boss the amount of contribution I have put into the
company over the past few years. In the end, you may even win so respect from your boss.
Hence, creating mutual respect and purpose. Your boss will understand your worth and will treat
you with respect because the boss and I are working towards a common goal in the company to
strive for excellence.

Overall, this would be my go-to plan in a scenario where my boss calls me an ‘idiot’ in front of
the entire team. In the end, I was able to address my concern, solve the concern, and maintain
mutual respect. However, depending on a person’s personality, the results may be different
because different people behave differently in different scenarios. This approach has been
personally effective to me in the past when the boss was easy talking and understanding.

Storytelling

Seven years from today, I can still remember vividly the words screaming from my cross country
coach, “Don’t settle!”

“Run faster! Pick up the pace! That’s not fast enough!” Coach screamed. My legs were numb,
and I could barely feel my feet hitting the ground. What had I gotten myself into?

During freshman year, I tried out for the field hockey team. I did not make the team. Sad,
disappointed, and confused, I did not understand why I did not make the team. My second option
was cross country, so why not try something new? I knew most of the runners had been training
over the summer, preparing for an upcoming meet. However, I have not been to any of the
training and was not prepared for a large amount of mileage every week. I was one of the slowest
runners on the team. Every practice, I would be the last one back from long runs and the last to
finish interval workouts. During workouts, I felt like a disappointment to my team and myself.
My coach often walked away and headed toward the others with their times, not even bothering
to time me. Because of that, I felt left out as if I had let the team down. I was frustrated, and at
times I would feel sad. I wanted to prove that I could become better—perhaps even a leader.

Despite a horrible first-year experience, I stayed on the team. The team is one-of-a-kind, and I
love practicing with my teammates. They were very encouraging, high-spirited, and kindhearted.
They have become another family for me and gave me the perseverance to continue. Because of
that, I attended every summer practice and pushed myself to the limit on every run and workout.
By the end of my sophomore season, I had run my personal best—3 minutes faster! Even though
I am not the best on the team, I made an impact by putting in a hundred percent effort every day.

For the next two years, I continued to see improvement. My 5k race times and workout times had
been improving every second, and I have been increasing my mileage since I started running
cross country. Until one day, I realize that I have fallen in love with the sport. Although I was not
a champion or medal or ribbon placer at a race, I have built a relationship with the sport. Every
race I ran made me feel better about myself.

Ever since my commitment to the sport made me realize that I do not need to be the best to be
noticed; it is the effort and perseverance that allows me to be seen. Not everyone is perfect or the
best runner, but one can improve by putting in the effort, showing commitment, and bringing a
positive attitude to practice. By demonstrating the qualities of a good teammate and by showing
commitment, I have obtained one-of-a-kind memories and lifelong friends.

While improving my mental strength and strengthening my commitment, I juggled a load of

academic work, the devotion to the team, and the commitment I made to myself— never give up.
However, there is no impossible challenge. From all my hard work, I became the captain of my
team. My coach, friends, and parents have given me confidence, making me hopeful and grateful
for this opportunity. I learned never to settle and keep on pushing through. My commitment to
both the team and the sport helped me become reliable, trustworthy, and perseverant.

Cross country has shaped me into the person I am today. This experience has brought me
confidence and growth. I have learned to take on new and harder challenges and responsibilities
every day. I once said a quote by Tim Notke that said, “Hard work beats talent when talent
doesn't work hard." I have always believed in the saying and kept pushing through the tough
challenges. I believe nothing is impossible if I am determined and work hard to achieve a goal. I
am prepared to overcome any obstacle that comes along my path.
Big Five Personality Assessment
People are made of many personality traits. The Big Five Personality Assessment is a test that
evaluates are personalities by rating the accuracy of a statement that describes who you are. The
assessment measures openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism
on a 0-100 scale. Based on the results, I agree partially with the results. For openness, I got a
score of 83%. However, I think that it is a little high. I agree with the description of being
creative, adventurous, and intellectual. However, I am also very practical and focused on
creativity with it comes to decision-making. I assume that it would be around 60-70%. For
conscientiousness, I got a score of 81%, and I agree with the score. I am organized and
determined. I am someone that does not give up easily and would give my best in trying to
achieve a goal. For example, on my steel bridge team, we had to overcome many challenges such
as the bridge design, steel shortage, and construction difficulties concerning time for the
competition. Although, the result was not the best. We learned from the mistakes we made. We
improved and corrected the mistakes on our bridge. Also, we prepared a list of things we should
be more aware of and ways of improvement for next year. For extraversion, I got a score of 54%.
I would agree with the score because I believe that I am an introvert. The previous Jung
Personality Assessment also assessed that I was an introvert too. For agreeableness, I got a score
of 96% and which was the highest of the five personality traits. I do agree with the score. I tend
to think of others first before me. For example, I was at a bar with some of my friends. I was
having a great time. However, I noticed that one of my friends was not comfortable with the
environment we were in. Seeing her unhappy made me worried, and I could not stop thinking
about it. Therefore, I executed myself and my friend from the environment, and we found an ice
cream place nearby where we were all happy, comfortable, and able to enjoy ourselves. Lastly, I
got a score of 27% for neuroticism. I think that the score is about right. Personally, it depends on
the situation I am in. In an adventurous setting where I am exploring and trying new and exotic
activities, I am usually all in. I am fearless and enjoy craziness. However, in a more professional
setting, I tend to be more reserved because I am not in my usual environment. This is where I
would develop some anxiety and fear, especially talking to new people or giving a speech.
However, from the reading, A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking, I understand that it is okay to be
scared and have anxiety when giving a speech to an audience. Understanding how to manage my
anxiety and fear will help me in the future and make me a better public speaker.

From the Big Five Personality Assessment, I was surprised that the result was very close to how
I view myself. By understanding our actions in all areas of life, I learned that every small thing
we do correlates with our traits. It explains how our traits influence our experiences in life. The
Big Five Personality Assessment is pretty much like the Jung Personality profile and DISC
assessment. It all contains a set of questions that pertains to the way we think and our actions
which overall correlate with our personality traits. The difference is the way these questions are
rated. In the DISC assessment, it was choosing the item we would mostly do and then not do
whereas, in the Jung Personality profile, it was answering a list of questions. Lastly, the Big Five
Personality Assessment was ranking the items based on their accuracy. The ways the questions
were grouped and answered were its mechanism of difference.

Taking these tests allows us to have more self-awareness of our personalities. Knowing the
different ways we handle and react to a certain situation based on our personality, can help us
better handle the future situation more effectively. For example, if we usually handle an
argument aggressively and impulsively. It can lead to the endangerment of one’s safety.
Therefore, by understanding our personality and learning and controlling the weakness in our
behavior, we can create healthier and long-lasting relationships.

Conclusion

Communication plays an important role in our careers and day-to-day lives. From the readings:
Networking for College Students and Graduates, Five Stars the Communication Secrets to Get
from Good to Great, A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking, and Crucial Conversations Tools for
Talking When Stakes Are High, and class discussion, I have learned that people are about 95% of
the time communicating in project management and in our daily lives and 65% of our daily
conversations are through stories. Communication can occur through storytelling. This is
because we think in narrative. With storytelling, there is usually an emotional drive in our
stories. Knowing that emotion is the fastest path to our brain, we can create positive engagement
in communication. However, when telling a story, one must remember to stay in dialogue,
especially in a crucial conversation. Therefore, a healthy conversation is maintained. Everyone
has a unique personality. Having self-awareness of your personality will put you at an advantage
in the future. It helps you understand your weaknesses and strengths. Knowing your behavioral
patterns, one can improve or adjust their behavior to help make them an effective communicator.
The Big Five Personality assessment is an interesting tool used in determining our personality
scale. Just like the DISC and Jung Personality test, understanding our personality can help us in
the future to find the best fit for our career, working environment, or team. Overall, the essay
highlights the important information obtained from readings and class discussions and the insight
from personality assessment to help me become an effective communicator.
 Works Cited

Faulkner, Michael, and Andrea Nierenberg. Networking for College Students and Graduates.

Pearson Learning Solutions, 2017. Print.

Gallo, Carmine. Five Stars the Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great. St. Martin’s

Press, 2018. Print.

O’Hair, Dan, and Hannah Rubenstein and Rob Stewart. A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking.

Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2016. Print.

Patterson, Kerry, et al. Crucial Conversations Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High.

McGraw-Hill Professional, 2011. Print