Learn how to manage!

Finals are coming up
and you're a hot mess
You didn't prepare
and you're feeling the stress
You could have easily
avoided all of the crammage
If you'd only learn
learn how to manage

Your boss told you to read
the photo copy manual
But you had a date
with some guy named Samuel
So now you've got some
serious paper jammage
You really need to learn
learn how to manage

It's pretty clear that
your life lacks vision
So for you I've got
a proposition
MGT 3120 with Kurpis
will fix all the damage
You'll finally learn
learn how to manage!

To blog or not to blog?

Initially I felt as though the blog was kind of annoying in the sense that it would further add on to our work load. However, I wasn't entirely against it since they are fairly easy to do. The most difficult part of the blogs would be when we'd have to figure out how the certain steps of management we had discussed in class corresponded with the steps we took in our classroom activities. However -this was probably the most helpful aspect of the blogs as well. I clearly recall a point on the midterm during which I was stuck on a question -I had forgotten one step. I tried to remember the classroom activity (how we had decided to approach the "eggtastic" activity) and the blog and it ultimately led me to remember. It is thus fairly clear that the blogs help make the lectures relateable to the activities. I also think that people sometimes don't really try to analyze the lectures, and don't relate them to every day life. The blogs in a way force them to do that, and although forceful it is beneficial.

While I felt as though it was somewhat interesting to learn more about other students and their opinions -I didn't really feel as though this played much of a role in the classroom's communication. Another point is that although I do appreciate the fact that you (the professor) gave us the chance to rather easily earn 20% of our grade -I do agree with my classmate in that I was rather unsure as to the style of these blogs.

And finally -I'm sorry to break it to you all, but I do not think that I'll be continuing with this blog once the class is over. In my opinion the point of a blog is to voice your opinion to people who are actually listening and wanting to read your material -and once the class is over, I don't think that very many people will be doing that.

Overall, I find the blog to be useful, and I think it should be kept around.

Larisa under the influence...

...of management of course!

According to the test we took I fall under the "influence" category! Now I suppose this is correct to a certain extent because I am a pretty social person and am all about talking it up with people. Actually it's really true - I somehow manage to generate enthusiasm under what others would consider dreadful circumstances. I try to find the best in everyone and every situation. I am also all about giving everyone the chance to talk and offer their input.

The category I had the lowest score in was conscientiousness. This one is both true and untrue though. While I do tend to be enthusiastic about the general picture without paying as much close attention to details as I ought to -there are many circumstances under which this is not true. I am always wanting to know why. However, the differentiation I believe, is that I want to know why but I don't necessarily want to be the one to research why -I just want to be told why. Some may call it laziness -but I think I'm just better at coming up with ideas than facts.

I feel like I'm pretty satisfied with being an "influencer" and don't wish to be another type. However, I do believe that people could become another type. They could do so by attempting to react in the manner by which a person of the desired type would react. But at the end of the day, instilled within them is their natural type. I don't think people should try to go against what they naturally are -there are certain people that are better at some things than others, and one should embrace that.

I don't feel as though this test is such a vital tool in everyday life. I don't think that we should generalize and make conclusions about someone according to the "type" they are. If we feel as though we are misunderstanding someone we should approach them and have them directly explain why because otherwise we my generate misconceptions.

Vision on the path to reality!

After I graduate from Baruch (which will hopefully be by spring) there are a couple of "visions" I have for myself, and ultimately hope to "envision". Of those visions the one which I most hope to accomplish is to travel to every continent (maybe not Antarctica - not a fan of the cold =/).

I would really love to learn about cultures that are different from my own and different from ones I've been exposed to. What better way is there to do that than to travel to all the continents of the world and learn through first hand experience. And when I say "travel" I really mean explore and really get a first hand experience of life in that region - so my spring break trip to Cancun does not rule South America out. I want to not only see the culture but live in it (if even for one week).

One step I intend to take in making this vision a reality is that I intend to apply for an internship abroad. This would be the perfect opportunity to get to live in a different country and be surrounded by a different culture. I am super excited and hope it works out as I've planned!

Collaborating for success!

The method I used to handle conflict during our class assignment was "collaborating". I did not really have as big of a role as some of my other classmates, but I did speak up whenever I disagreed with the proposed options. I felt as though the "drop the lowest grade/curve on the first test" option benefited everyone and thus did not object to it. However, I disagreed with the option of knowing the essay topic before the exam because I felt that if that were the case the professor would just make the essay question a lot harder. I brought this point up to the class and we ultimately decided not to go with that option.

I was a little more indecisive with the options of multiple multiple choice (MC option #1) vs. regular multiple choice (MC option #2) vs. multiple multiple choice in which we knew how many options are correct(MC option #3). I think that initially I just wanted regular multiple choice but the one of my classmates (a girl whose name I don't know, oops!) brought up a good point -we have more of a chance of getting it wrong with regular multiple choice. And while I yet again feared that reforming the test may make it harder in going with the multiple choice option #3, I wasn't quite as fearful.

I therefore bargained and negotiated to get what is somewhat the ideal option for me.

I suppose that the better option would have been "Accommodation". As the professor pointed out there are many students in our class who aren't native English speakers and may thus have more difficulty with the essay portion of the exam. I wasn't really thinking of them when I voted against the proposal of knowing the topic beforehand. This may have really helped them and others who may need an improvement in their test grade more so than I do.

Eggcelent?

As far as the steps go, I think we (or rather the professor) obviously got step #1 done. I also believe we completed step #2 in that we evaluated our resources and tried to figure out how we could best use the straw and tape. However, we definitely didn't do step #3 -one of our team mates had an idea from a previous project we just sort of went with, without really considering other alternatives. Step #4 on the other hand we did complete because although we simply went with that one idea we did think of what the best way to realize that idea is. And I'd also say we completed step #5. Therefore, we simply eliminated step #3 in our planning process.

It may seem as though eliminating a single step wouldn't make much of a difference but I believe that it really made a huge difference. Our plan was unsuccessful and that may largely be because we didn't think of alternatives (aka step #3). But I would like to add that although we did skip step #3 we worked well as a team in getting the rest completed.

my management issue!

The current management problem I seem to be having is actually in one of my other classes. We are supposed to do a group project and one of my group members is a little on the difficult side. It seems to me as though he isn't used to working in groups since he doesn't show much respect for other people's opinions. I could understand if one doesn't agree with another's ideas or views, but I think it's only fair to communicate that in a respectful way, which brings me to another area he's lacking in -communication skills.

I think that the best thing for me to do is to simply see how things play out. If he really becomes an issue then I will definitely bring it up with him, but I don't want to jump the gun.