University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 2

CynClara Hilliard
Communication for Project Managers: ENCE424
Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman
Introduction
“What would it take for you to continue building your LinkedIn network after this class
ends?” this is a question you asked me in the First Pearl Diving assignment as a response to me
saying I probably will not continue my usage of LinkedIn once class ends. Though as time has
passed, I have learned maybe my inability to find use in LinkedIn was because I was actively
ignoring it. Since updating information and the type of opportunities and connections I was
looking for I have found internships and scholarships that have interested me, and I qualified for;
I have applied for three already and I am working on the fourth. Learning how to use different
tools to network and communicate can help if you learn to utilize them properly. A large portion
of the class so far has been focused on how to appeal to different audiences, people with different
personalities, how to identify your own personality, etc. If you choose to take these skills and
learn to apply them, it could hep you be an effective communicator and leader. This essay will
demonstrate my ability to effectively communicate issues with others, take away key ideas form
assignments, solve conflict, and self-reflect on personality.

Email

Good evening team,

I know there has been a lot of talk surrounding last week’s concept and model
presentation. Our company has a standard that we are all aware of and mostly everyone has
agreed that the presentation last week did not uphold that. I have seen the emails and have taken
the time to talk to you each individually and I have identified a few key issues that could have
caused this and how we will go forward in addressing them. The major problems faced were the
timeline, time management, resource management, and communication and understanding. This
email will cover this because I know you all dislike having meetings.
All of you answered the survey sent out after the presentation and a resounding 94%
answered that there was not enough time or time management efforts to complete the project to
the standard, I know we can all produce. Looking back on the schedule I must agree with those
results. The client came to us only two weeks ago (one week before the bid was due) and asked
us to submit one. Management accepted because it was such an interesting project and they
thought it was a reasonable amount of time, and you and I know that it was not. I have a meeting
set up with Natalie and Julie where we are going to discuss what is a reasonable time frame for
us to create presentations, bids, and models for each project type and size. I will refer them to the
average time we have those projects and the results we produce with each time increment. This
should reduce the number of times we are put in the situation, but in case it is unavoidable we
will also focus on making clear what is a priority and how much time to allot to each task. We
spent too much time on smaller details of the presentation that it only highlighted, what we
lacked overall. Though the color choice and theme of the presentation was immaculate, in this
situation I think that time could have been spent better somewhere else.
Another place we wasted time in was resource gathering, specifically in history and
topography of the site. We have submitted bids for this area before, I would like you all to think
back to the Franklin project from May of this year. Those documents should have been available
to everyone, and they were not and those who had the related documents were away from office
for that week. To make sure that this does not happen again we are going to start a shared drive
where all projects and related documents will be stored and labeled. This way multiple people
can have a copy at once and you can enjoy your vacations without worrying if you made sure to
hand over all related documents.
Lastly is lack of communication and understanding. I think we all had a good grasp on
what went wrong in this project, but no one spoke up. This should not happen; we all work here
and have a right to have a voice about what bothers us and should not be afraid to speak up.
Therefore, I sent out the survey so people would feel comfortable anonymously sending their
thoughts. I believe that we should continue this so later I will send out an email to another
anonymous survey where you can write tips and suggestions for work and our office, but do not
be afraid to speak to me in person if you prefer.
This is email was not made to call anyone group or group of people out., and no one is
angry, upset, or disappointed in last week’s performance. We just needed to identify the issues
and how to solve them. Moving forward I hope we can do better in the areas listed so we can
continue to make the level of work I know we can.
Thank you,

CynClara Hilliard
Team manager

Group Activity
As well as using pathos, logos, and ethos to construct the email above I used what we
learned abut the different DISC personalities. To communicate with each person, you meet you
must realize what they value and how they like to communicate. Understanding this information
allows you keep the attention of your audience and makes them more likely to listen to your
points. As the platinum says you should treat others the way they want to be treated, so in an
email where I am unsure how everyone wants to be treated, I tried to appeal everyone while also
staying true to my own personality.
As a High D personality, I like knowing why I am being called or messaged. Often
family members will call me asking how my day is, if I have the clothes or food I need, if I have
plans to go to a certain store or if I’m leaving the house that day all trying to ask me for
something or ask me to take them somewhere or to do something for them. When this is clearly
their intention, I will stop them and ask them why they called or if they needed something from
me; they often seem a little thrown off but at least we get to the end of the call faster. So, in this
email I made sure to state the problems with the performance and how we are going to solve
them. Though I did not just state the problems and their solutions.
I understood that this email could come off as maybe direct or like I was disappointed in
my team, so I tried to show that I was not. Both High I’s and high S’s fear rejection and
disapproval, so I brought up the appreciation of the aesthetics of the presentation. I mentioned
that one of my solutions was not only for efficiency but also so they could enjoy their time off.
This shows that I valued them as people and not just workers.
 For high C’s I added survey and the statistics of he results that caused me to make
changes. I also knew that they do not care for the emotional side of things, but care for the
attention to statistics and logic. So, I mentioned a survey and the data collected from these
survey’s so that, the colleagues I was emailing knew there data to support my claims of the
problem.
As demonstrated in this essay knowing this helps make you a more effective
communicator. When I write emails or must critique classmate work, I can use this to give
feedback in a way that they would accept. If a classmate is high D then I can tell them exactly
what works in there design and what does not, if they are a high C I can direct them precedents
that may help them make design choices, for S and C’s I could tell them what I like before giving
advice or a critique. It will also help me handle conflicts as I will be able to find the best way to
communicate with the other person,

Crucial Conversations.
My boss just called me an idiot in front of the whole team how do I react? Well, it
depends on the situation was it a joke was it indirectly or was it a personal comment. If it was a
personal comment or even said indirectly, I would be angry my pride would be hurt, but I would
probably not say anything. Not because I was controlling my emotions as Crucial Conversation
suggests I should, but because when my feelings are hurt, I choose the silence approach. I would
be most likely to withdraw from the situation avoiding the conversation altogether. If I was asked
later to discuss the outburst with this boss, I would avoid truly answering these questions saying
whatever needed to be said to get me out of the situation as fast as possible Later with someone I
trusted I would rant about how I truly feel about the situation. Say the things I felt I should have
said in the moment to my boss. Even after the situation passed, I would not forget the slight or
insult, I would still be cordial and polite but my replies or correspondence with this person would
not be as friendly as before. I would take this route not because I thought it was the best way to
handle the situation, but because this is how I have been taught to handle the situation for most
of my life. I would be stuck in my emotions. Being stuck in my emotions does not help anyone. I
would be emotionally uncomfortable in a space that should feel safe and the boss that called me
an idiot might not know what they said was wrong. To properly handle it I should use the steps
in Crucial conversation to get out of my emotions and address the situation.
The first thing I would do is wait for the initial sting to subside; you should not have
conversation while your still upset you may say things you regret. Then I would have to
remember the situation that caused me to feel this way. I was called an idiot, okay, but why was I
called an idiot? Was it because I did/ said something that I should have known better than to do?
Was it because I disagreed with something that was said? If it was the former my silence
approach is less about being angry and more about being embarrassed from being wrong but also
being called out, if it is the later than it is more about the disrespect of the comment especially in
front of others. In neither situation was the word idiot the right choice to use especially in front
of others. Even if the boss felt I needed to be corrected or that I had hurt his pride the situation
was not the right time to have that conversation. I retraced my path (Grenny, 2011), worked
backwards from my reaction to the situation to identify why I acted the way I did and why the
situation was created in the first place. Instead of “seeing and hear, tell a story, feel, act”
(Grenny, 2011) I did the opposite because I was so stuck in my emotions and need to get to a
place where I could have a conversation about this situation. If you go back to the beginning, you
have a go place to start.
I know my emotions and how I feel about the situation. I know what I want, that any
situations like this are handled privately, and that instead of using words like idiot a clear
explanation of what was done wrong and how to improve. I would probably choose to speak to
my boss via email to avoid that face-to-face contact, that makes me uncomfortable. I would say
the situation I was referring to, how it made me feel, ask if that was the intention, and ask for
clarification why idiot was used and if he would like to expand on what he meant by that. I
would need to know exactly why he said what he said and how I could stop it from happening
again. It also shows that I am open to listening to him and want to create a mutual understanding
of what expected of me. I will not set out to make him a villain or me a victim with mutual
understanding and communication we can get pass this moment.

Storytelling: Overcoming Adversity

There is nothing I love more in my studio classes than building physical models. Taking
your work and concepts and finding ways to represent them and making them tangible is a
challenge that I enjoy. So, when we have the option to break off into group to do our precedent
studies, I typically choose to make the physical model of the site or building that we are
studying. Working with a team to build models is great, for the week you get to learn more about
the people you work with and build a connection past just classmate or colleague. It is honestly a
great experience to work on teamwork, interpersonal skills, and your precision and attention to
detail. Though I have faced situations where that time is shortened and became a lot more
stressful than normal.
Recently I had one of these experiences, I’d like to share with you. Typically, when we
make these models, we are doing it so that our section of the class has a physical place to test
how their building holds up to site context and help share what they envisioned their project to
look like to others. There is another team that at the same time is making a model digitally in
software like SketchUp, Rhino, or Revit to achieve the same result. The physical model group
and digital model group are to work together to make the exact same model so there is
consistency in the people’s drawings and models. Physical model depends on the measurement
and facades from the digital, so they know exactly where to put windows and how far apart
buildings are from each other, etc. Both groups normally share information back and forth
constantly so that both have the full week to work on the assignment, but this time digital model
would not properly work on the assignment or communicate.
On day zero of the assignment, we discussed how we were codependent teams and how
that if they needed help or advice, I would be willing to help. On day one they confessed that
they needed help getting started as they felt overwhelmed, so my team and I sat with them for an
hour to find resources to get the measurements they may need and how they did not need to be
perfect, but close enough to the existing site that no information was lost and affected anyone’s
design. On day two they communicated that they had started but did not share what dimensions
they had used or what they had specifically done. On day three they said they were still missing
key information and once they found that they would be ready to share. We gently reminded
them that we also needed at least two to three days to build the model they created, and they
acknowledged that they understood and would have it in time. On days four and five
communication died we could not get in contact with them, and we did not know what to do. On
day six less than 24 hours before the project was due, they communicate through email “that
they’ll share what they have but it’s not done.”
I expected there to be a few buildings without windows or doors or if they were working
on each building one at time for 1 or two to be missing, but I did not expect every building to be
blank, tilted at an angle, and many the incorrect the shape. I was already feeling a lot of pressure
and concern at this point because we had this assignment and another individual assignment due
all at the same time, but instead of shutting down I prioritized. I realized that I could not control
what the other group did or did not do but I could control how I reacted. I made sure to finish my
individual assignment to the standard of work I hold myself to, and I made my team aware of the
state of the model. We decided on day seven we would explain the situation to our professor and
ask for an extension, which he granted. He gave us two extra days to get what we needed done,
so my team decided to divide and conquer.
Since the class still needed a digital model that would allow them to show case their
designs and we still needed to make a physical model consistent with a digital model I created
the digital model for the class and sent the buildings I completed to my teammates, so that as I
was working to complete all of it they could get started. It took me 10 hours to complete the
digital model, and when I was done, I turned around and helped my team make the physical
model. We set up times to work on it and if someone had a prior engagement, needed a break, or
was too tired to continue we communicated that and adjusted the schedule for it. We were able to
complete it a few hours before it was due on day nine. We did not hear from the digital model
team until we physically saw one of the members on day 9 who said they had to wait until they
heard from their other member who that have not heard from since day 6, he was very
apologetic. It helped me realize that even if something does not go as planned or you don’t have
all the resources necessary with dedication, time management, communication, and a good team
I can complete the task at hand even though it seemed daunting at first. It also helped me get
better at communication because while our professor was nice enough to give us an extension, I
have realized in hindsight it would have been better to communicate with him earlier on. That
way the team would not have felt as overwhelmed as they had. Lastly it helped me realize that
even if a person is inconveniencing you, it is not a personal attack, and the situation may be out
of their hands.

The Big Five Personality Test

The more data and information you have the better you will be at making decisions.
Think about it if you have an object that you wish to acquire you will not just buy the first
version of it you see, you will do research compare prices, sales, and different versions of the
product before making a final decision. The same concept applies to taking these personality test,
you should not just take one and decide this is how I am going to shape how I communicate; you
should get information from multiple sources before deciding your personality and how you will
use it with others. So far, my results have been mostly consistent between the three tests; I am
creative, who values factual information, and mostly introverted. Though there are discrepancies
on how empathetic or emotional I can be.
 I think these discrepancies come form how each tests explains their results. The Big Five
Personality Test defines their results in absolutes, if you are this then you aren’t this. Specifically
with openness, if you are high in openness, it says you are creative and adventurous and do not
care for facts or the concrete. It insinuates that these two are mutually exclusive when that is not
the case for the other test. In my JUNG personality test I am an INTP, this includes both an
intuitive and thinker. Initiatives are defined as creative while thinkers are defined as being based
in logic and the concrete. It understands that these two mindsets are not mutually exclusive, and
a person could be both. Like the Five Star says, “But before you can pitch an original idea, you
need to have a novel idea.” You need to understand how the problem works and why those
solutions work before you can create one that is original and works. The test also disagrees with
the amount I am a team player.
The Big Five Personality test agreeableness is like The DISC assessment steadiness. Both
value teamwork, accommodation, and empathy. Steadiness was one of my lower categories, but
Agreeableness was my second highest category. I do not think I am selfish in my desires, but I
also do not think I put other’s needs before my own. If I must do something and it would
interfere with someone else's need of me, I will tell them that I can’t hep them. I also do not
think my empathy is low I just think it’s situational. I typically cannot find myself feeling sorry
for people who do things they know are wrong and have consequences (if the consequences are
reasonable). It would be different if it was a situation out of their hands, but people should know
that actions have consequences and that they possibly hurting others. All of this to say taking
only one test could change the way you think about yourself and handle situations when the
results may not be correct or the full story.

Conclusion
Storytelling, conflict resolution, and correspondence all relies on knowing yourself and
learning about others. If you know yourself you can take control your emotions, identify your
wants and needs in conflict, and figure out the best way for you to react to a situation. If you
learn about others, you can find the best way to communicate difficult information without
burning bridge or coming across as harsh and difficult. Just as I learned with LinkedIn if you
properly know how to use a tool it can work to open opportunities that you did not have before.

Works Cited
Disc Personality Test Result - Free Disc Types Test Online at 123test.Com.” 123test,
https://www.123test.com/disc-personality-
test/id=fFHCOGPBFHKINDN&version=.
Faulkner, Michael, and Andrea Nierenberg. Networking for College Students and Gradates.
Pearson Learning Solutions, 2017. Print.
Gallo, Carmine. Five Stars the Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great. St. Martin’s
Press, 2018. Print.
Grenny, Joseph, et al. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. McGraw
Hill, 2011.
“Jung Personality Test Result- Free Jung Personality Test Taking Online at 123test.Com.”
123test, https://www.123test.com/report/KPHXPF1EDN7WJDRK1V/.
O’Hair, Dan, and Hannah Rubenstein and Rob Stewart. A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking.
Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2019. Print.

“The Big Five Personality Test.” Truity, 7 Sept. 2022, https://www.truity.com/test/big-five-

personality-test.
10/25/22, 5:13 PM The Big Five Personality Test | Truity

THE BIG FIVE PERSONALITY TEST

R E S U LT S F OR GUE S T

OC T OBER 25, 2022, 5 :09 P M

Your Personality Trait Scores

This Big Five assessment measures your scores on five major dimensions of personality: Openness, Conscientiousness,
Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Neuroticism (sometimes abbreviated OCEAN). In this free report, you'll see a
description of each of these five factors of personality, as well as a graph of your score on that measure.

Opennes s

Openness describes a person’s tendency to think in abstract, complex ways. High scorers tend to be creative,
adventurous, and intellectual. They enjoy playing with ideas and discovering novel experiences. Low scorers tend to be
practical, conventional, and focused on the concrete. They tend to avoid the unknown and follow traditional ways.

O 75%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Conscient iousnes s

Conscientiousness describes a person’s ability to exercise self-discipline and control in order to pursue their goals. High
scorers are organized and determined, and are able to forego immediate gratification for the sake of long-term
achievement. Low scorers are impulsive and easily sidetracked.

FR EE R E S U LT S AR E DELE T ED AF T ER 14 D AY S . UP GR ADE ( / U P G R A D E -T E S T- R E S U LT S / 3 7 6 1 2 8 6 3 ) OR R EGIS T ER

( / U S E R / R E G I S T E R ? D E S T I N AT I O N = T E S T- R E S U LT S / B I G F I V E / 1 8 3 0 3 / 3 7 6 1 2 8 6 3 )
T O S AV E YOUR R E S U LT S F OR E V ER!

https://www.truity.com/test-results/bigfive/18303/37612863 1/6
10/25/22, 5:13 PM The Big Five Personality Test | Truity

C 56%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Ext raver sion

Extraversion describes a person’s inclination to seek stimulation from the outside world, especially in the form of
attention from other people. Extraverts engage actively with others to earn friendship, admiration, power, status,
excitement, and romance. Introverts, on the other hand, conserve their energy, and do not work as hard to earn these
social rewards.

E 42%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Ag r eeablenes s

Agreeableness describes a person’s tendency to put others’ needs ahead of their own, and to cooperate rather than
compete with others. People who are high in Agreeableness experience a great deal of empathy and tend to get pleasure
out of serving and taking care of others. They are usually trusting and forgiving. People who are low in Agreeableness
tend to experience less empathy and put their own concerns ahead of others.

A 69%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Neur ot icism

Neuroticism describes a person’s tendency to experience negative emotions, including fear, sadness, anxiety, guilt, and
shame. While everyone experiences these emotions from time to time, some people are more prone to them than others.
High Neuroticism scorers are more likely to react to a situation with fear, anger, sadness, and the like. Low Neuroticism
scorers are more likely to brush off their misfortune and move on.

N 31%

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100

Your Traits in Action

FR EE R E S U LT S AR E DELE T ED AF T ER 14 D AY S . UP GR ADE ( / U P G R A D E -T E S T- R E S U LT S / 3 7 6 1 2 8 6 3 ) OR R EGIS T ER

( / U S E R / R E G I S T E R ? D E S T I N AT I O N = T E S T- R E S U LT S / B I G F I V E / 1 8 3 0 3 / 3 7 6 1 2 8 6 3 )
T O S AV E YOUR R E S U LT S F OR E V ER!

https://www.truity.com/test-results/bigfive/18303/37612863 2/6