Thursday, February 15, 2007

Class - 07/02/15

The Logo - The logo ideas seem to be coming together and we are getting closer to presenting them to the Firm and the Consultants. For class on Tuesday, it is hoped that we will have our chosen logo designs in their final format. After that we can begin laying them out in a power point presentation and have the classes vote on which logo to be used for Clark & Young Consulting.

Polo T-Shirts - The idea of creating a polo t-shirt for those in the firm has been pitched and mock-ups are in the works. We plan to try and get funding to have the majority of the purchase price paid for. We want to find out if people would even be interested in receiving a polo shirt. We may not be able to get the whole price paid for through our budget and some money may have to come from individuals' own pockets. Would people still want to get a shirt if they had to pay for a portion of the price? We need to find that out.

We discussed this idea with the CEO and he liked the concept. It would be great for helping to market the company, and a great way to BRAND yourselves in the future. Proof that you had experience with a Consulting Firm, maybe even a conversation piece.

Name Tags - The idea was looked into and prices discovered; however, in discussing it with the CEO, we came to the consensus that they were not really cost effective, and the need was minimal.

Business Cards - However, the Consultants do need to have some type of identifier, and personalized business-cards are being looked into. They seem to be more cost-effective and more lasting.

A Firm Website - Once the Logo has been decided upon, our next objective will be to get the Website operational. Anyone with concepts or ideas for its contents please feel free to make suggestions. We will be contacting technology to see where it might be possible to have the site posted, maybe Hosted by the University. If not, we need to look into other Hosting possibilities.

Once the website address has been finalized, we can move forward with business cards, as they need to have the web-address within the contact information. This will be a big venture, and hopefully with the help of technology we can get it launched quickly and effectively.

Brochures - They are being budgeted, but we need to take care of the other priority projects first.


As for my class observation, it's interesting to see how well our group functions when given the opportunity to actually spend the time on discussing the needed items. People have been doing well taking assignments, and we are quickly moving forward. Of course, since this is an Intro. to Organizational Commnication, we are learning alot through the experiences we are having while setting up this organization.

Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Comm 250 Class - 02/08/07

In class today we attempted to create a Mission Statement for the Class, the firm and our individual 5 groups. The idea was a good one, and I am grateful that the mission statement is being created, however I feel that many in the class aren't clear as to our purpose in this class. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that as a class, we are the firm. The concept of the class and the firm being separate seems to have surfaced, but I don't believe that that is the case. Therefore, in creating a mission statement, we need to incorporate both the class purpose and the firms purpose into one whole.

Another item accomplished was the structure of the firm. We now have chosen spokesman from each group that will be assembling together weekly to discuss the various issues, the changes, and new ideas and implementations that each groups has. We actually met after class and took some time to discuss what really needs to be accomplished and as a group of 5, with Bro. Adams involved as well. I think the meeting went rather well, though more could have been accomplished.

I can see from both class and the rep meeting, that we have a ways to go to organize this firm. However, I am starting to see things coming together. Groups are realizing their purpose and figuring out what they need to accomplish. As a result the various groups are beginning to realize what is needed from each group and coming close to the point of requesting the needed assistance.

As with the structure of the class. This item seems to need a little more discussion and clarification. I feel that we need more time in our individual groups to simply accomplish the tasks that we are realizing that we need to do. None of this big group discussion stuff. It has proven to be rather less effective.

Tuesday, February 6, 2007

Class - 07/02/06

Today, we spent some time discussing the concept of increasing our threshold to help dealing with change, or other factors in life. I really like the concept of increasing our threshold, yet I feel that that may take on too much and cross the threshold of dysfunction, in even the attempt to increase our threshold. But I can also see, as we discussed in class, that that is most likely if we are trying to increase our threshold to quickly. Time is a big factor in being able to increase our threshold, without crossing into dysfunction.

Class - 07/02/01

I finally am understanding it. After our discussion on what we will do as part of the organizational consulting firm in our class is starting to make sense. We are essentially working on the internal structure of the firm. That to me seems like a great way to learn about and understand the various roles and positions that play part in a org consulting firm.

I am glad we were also able to have a classroom lecture on the 7 habits of Stephen Covey and be able to see how they play a role in our lives. The pyramid chart that was shown and discussed was also really cool. I really like how it helped to illustrate the various levels of maturity and how the 7 habits are the fundamentals needed to achieve the "We" level, or the level of interdependence.

I am for a while now been very confused in the class, as I am one that needs structure and I need to be able to visualize it both on paper and in my head. The various items discussed and lectured on really started to open my mind to what is required of me, and what the goal for me to learn from the class experience is.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Class response - 07/01/25

My Three Insights

Today’s class was an enjoyable one. I am in the market group and it was a stretch to be able to discover how marketing played a part in the Columbia case study. After a group effort, it was decided that the way marketing played a role in the case study was that there was no marketing done by NASA. It is sad to think that so much money already goes through such a program and it is done without marketing to investors, politicians or the American public. Think of the potential of NASA’s finances if they were simply to begin spending some effort and money into marketing to the American public.
Secondly, we graphed out a popularity graph of NASA over the past few decades and it is interesting to visually see that NASA has really lost the eye and support of the American people. They were popular in the 60’s and 70’s for obvious reasons, such as discoveries, success moon landings, etc. Yet, after every disaster since, they have done little to bring back their image into a positive light. They seem to simply ignore America.
My last thought is that even though it seems to me that we are beating this case to death whenever we start to analyze it again from a different angle, it seems that once we have jumped in and discussed it a little bit more, I gain further appreciation for the things that I am learning. I am learning great ways to learn.

A little side note. Ballroom and Modern aren’t comparable. Only one is really a dance, the other is a weird art like thing. j/k!!

Tuesday, January 23, 2007

Class Responses - 07/01/18

First of all, it was actually alot of fun to play musical chairs again. But it was also interesting that we very quickly went into the social norms of the rules we thought were to be part of the game. With the only rule being that everyone needs there weight to be supported by the chair. It kind of sucked being the first one to be kicked out of the game, but it was also alot of fun to be able to watch others play, compete and some simply walk away and not even try.

Secondly, it was difficult to have an entire class discussion while mixed within a group of clumped up chairs. This may not actually be an insight from the actual discussion, but it is one that I thought was rather interesting. When we first began the discussion, a lot of people were sitting on the desk tops, and some leaning, with a few actually sitting in the seats. However, as the discussion progressed, and students began to release that we weren't going to organize the desks, they began to all slide down into the seats, and fewer and fewer were sitting on top. At the end, all but myself were sitting in the chairs. I just thought it was interesting that many of us seemed to think that we would reorganize the room before getting into a full-blown discussion, but as we realized that wasn't going to happen we gave in and sat down in the disorder.

Last and finally on the topic of the discussion, I had a difficult time trying to apply the lessons in disscussed in class to those of the Columbia Case Study. There may have been a simple problem underlying my difficulty. That being I may have been trying to look too deep into the case. The answer may have been on the surface. I just see the Columbia Case as a problem in the communication of the organization, and had people simply listened to others and taken the time to care about what they had to say, that most likely a solution could have been discovered prior to re-entry into Earth's atmosphere. Communication is the key!!

Thursday, January 18, 2007

Class Disscusion - 07/01/16

I really liked the concept of trustworthiness being someone with the traits with character, Competence, and Commitment. Also, that fact that if weakness lays in any of these traits, that the trustworthiness decreases.

Secondly, I really enjoyed the further discussion on the circle diagram, with trustworthiness being at the center of the intrapersonal circle. The idea that we must work on ourselves to be able to become trustworthy and be able to have the respect and real leadership that comes with it.

Lastly, I really enjoyed the discussion on Love playing a pivotal role in the workplace. With love comes the ability to see people as people and not objects. Be doing so, people will enjoy working for you, and will feel the love that comes from actually listening to them and treating them as they should be. When we objectify people, we more easily treat them unkindly, with disrespect and in return don't get the respect that we need to lead a business or organization