University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 2

Christopher Hooper

Communication for Project Managers: Ence424

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

April 8th, 2024

Hello team,

I hope this email finds you all well. I’m emailing regarding our team's performance, which
requires immediate attention. As a team, we have a written agreement regarding our performance
level. I am sensitive to the extenuating circumstances in everyone’s life. Still, it is also crucial
that we help each other, acknowledge known issues, and work together as a team to push
forward.

First, I want to address our sales goals. In the past several weeks, we have been inconsistent with
reaching the number of sales we set to meet every quarter. Our daily quarterly earnings
calculation numbers show a decline in imports and exports. The number of people here and the
lack of luster and loss of some employees are to blame for these shortcomings. We must confront
these recent bumps in the road and find new clients to reach our earnings goals again. We as a
team need to recognize these challenges and make sure to attack them head-on rather than
pushing them aside.

We are among the top 10 sales companies in this country and have a reputation to uphold. As a
highly respected company, we hold ourselves to high standards and take pride in our work ethic,
efficiency, and client relationships. The people we work with hold us to high standards as well.
We have significant responsibilities for our partners, and if we can't keep fulfilling them
efficiently and on time, our partners will drop us. You must all recognize what is on the line here
and do better.

I apologize for my abrupt harshness. I care about all of you and the success of our team. We have
had a rocky few months, and it's time for this to change. If we improve our performance and
proficiency, we are setting ourselves up for success. This is what we do here at Supplement Inc.
High performance leads to client satisfaction, and following this model helps our reputation and
brings us more business, which means an increase in revenue and more opportunities for
bonuses. If we improve ourselves in these ways, we are more likely to succeed in the future.

Moving on, I want to address you all as our team. We are all here for a reason and have the same
goal: to succeed. As a team, we are all here for each other and to support one another. When one
of us is down, it is our job as a team not to help one another and stay caught up. When we
succeed, we celebrate with each other. I know all of you have great potential. I’ve seen you all
grow since the beginning, and I know we can overcome any challenges that come our way.

Finally, I want to talk about the action plan moving forward. Let's first understand where we are
messing up and find a solution immediately. Next, let’s understand how this problem started and
how we can avoid it moving forward. Finally, we need to communicate with one another about
our mistakes and do our best to learn from them in the future. Once we have incorporated this
action plan, let's make sure that we work together for the rest of our team’s future. This will be
an adjustment, but this is why we must adapt and overcome. We will do whatever it takes to
bring ourselves back to our full potential. If that means working overtime to understand
something or offering extra support to people who need it, we will do whatever it takes. Figure
out what works best for you, and stick with it.

I am confident that if we take the necessary steps, we will succeed as a team and be even
stronger than before. It’s all about taking the first step, team. So, let’s get together and finish the
job we’re assigned. Thank you, and I can’t wait to get started on this.

Best,

Christopher Hooper

Important Concept

During weeks 5-9, one particular concept stayed with me. This was the story's spine
structure. Storytelling has now stuck with me ever since we talked about it on March 5th. What
has stayed with me was our guest speaker's story and how he was able to convey his story. I
doubt I would be able to forget it. Even though the story spine structure stuck with me, I initially
thought about how I would even use this. Later, after the professor explained it and I
incorporated it into my storytelling, it was able to apply to many things. It was very valuable for
me to see how this could be applied to architecture because, at first, I thought it wasn’t applicable
to architecture. After diving deeper, I was able to break down the storytelling method and
incorporate it into my work. I found it especially useful when giving a presentation about the
work that I created. With the storytelling method, I am able to lure my audience in and keep
them hooked with a major climax that leads to improvement or discovery.

At first glance, the structure doesn’t seem that it would fit, but when trying it out, I
discovered that it is very versatile. I specifically enjoy this so much as I can use it for school
work, my everyday life, and even job interviews. The structure is so versatile and helpful that it
can act as a cheat code for answering questions. Another thing that stood out to me was how it
could easily keep me on track with answering questions or explaining something. It also acts as a
checklist that I am able to go through in my head. It makes it so I can tell if I am on track with
what I am trying to say and keeps me from going off on a tangent. One thing I struggle with is
rambling. The story spine structure allows me to talk about the project in an organized, concise
way that helps my audience to better understand. Moreover, as I move into the field of project
management and architecture, I recognize the importance of storytelling in shaping the
environment and making connections with people and spaces. By framing my architectural
discourses with the content of the narrative I am trying to explain, I can make my design more
impactful and engaging. Something I also struggle with is crafting my work to relate to the
audience. I tend to make my work more relatable to me, so something that the storytelling
structure will help me with is finding the qualities in my work that help me tell my story.

Each new challenge in various projects presents a new opportunity for narrative
development. How do I plan to use it moving forward? First, I will use the story spine structure
to craft my narrative. I am going to speak to the audience in a specific tone, so they feel what I
designed relates to them. By applying this narrative, I can further enhance the coherence and
clarity of my work, ultimately fostering a deeper connection to it. I intend to leverage the spine
structure in professional practice by compelling design narrative, putting me in place to not only
design but be able to tell a story through the whole design, making me a highly sought-after
target for design, leading it to boost me in the job market. Finally, I plan to use the story spine
structure in my work by looking at the prompts and what is being asked and attacking it from a
storytelling perspective. By viewing it this way, I can create an environment that is more
enjoyable for the people who get to experience my story and build a foundation to grow on.
Regardless of the project, it will give me a new plan of attack when designing my work moving
forward. Finally, the story spine structure is a structure that any field should follow because of
the way it sets you up. One can incorporate it into any field, as people will always need to share
experiences in any field. With that, I can use the story spine structure to push me further to
develop in school and my professional work moving forward.

Scenario

There are many techniques throughout Crucial Conversation that can help me tackle this
situation effectively while remaining professional. In this paragraph, I’m going to highlight three.
First, let’s refer to Chapter 5 of Crucial Conversations, which appeals to mutual purpose. Firstly,
it’s essential to keep a respectful work environment. In a situation where I was offended by my
superior, I would ask to speak to them privately and explain how I didn’t appreciate the way I
was talked to. I would hope they would sit down and talk to me, which would lead me to
emphasize how I know it is a stressful time right now, but they shouldn’t be taking their anger
out on me as we need to maintain a positive and respectful environment, especially in front of
everyone. Discussing this with them relates to Crucial Conversations, as on page 38, it states,
“Sometimes when you recognize the purposes behind another person’s strategies, you discover
that you actually have compatible goals” (Grenny et al., 38). This best relates to this situation as
addressing the boss and speaking to them, I found that they are also stressed about what is
happening at the company, and so am I, so by addressing him, we can come to a mutual
agreement that it is hard right now. I’ve chosen this approach cause I have been yelled at before
in front of people. I handled it horribly; I didn’t maintain composure and instantly snapped back.
After reading the scenario given and going back through Crucial Conversation, I felt that Mutual
purpose was the perfect compromise to this scenario. Mutual purpose is crucial when trying to
solve any problem because, at first, you might not see it from the other person’s perspective until
you talk with them.
The second technique I picked for this scenario is from Chapter 6, which is mastering
your emotions. As I mentioned earlier, I have been yelled at before, and I reacted poorly, but ever
since, I have grown and have improved drastically in confrontational situations. This is why I
picked mastering your emotions from crucial conversations. It best represents something I can
relate to, but it also works as a great technique. How I would approach this scenario is to try my
very best to keep my composure; in Crucial Conversations, it mentions “that if they don’t control
their emotions, matters will get worse. So they try something else they fake it. They choke down
reactions and then do their best to get back to dialogue” (Grenny et al., 42). I would also follow
up with my boss after the fact so I can talk alone with them. I would also make sure to hold my
composure, as professionalism is critical, especially when having to stand in front of everyone.
What I would say later to the boss is that I feel as if what they did earlier didn’t make me feel
good, and it seemed like they were trying to belittle me. I would also state that I am not trying to
make them upset, and I just want an explanation as to why that happened. Hopefully, with a
resolution, we can come to a cooperative conversation with no tension. Finally, I have chosen
this course of action as people experience a wide range of emotions every day, and controlling
them is a hard thing. Still, if we are able to, then we can adapt to almost every situation and
address them later.
The third and final technique is to refuse the fool's choice. I would address this situation
the same way, by pulling my boss to the side after hours have passed so I can gather my thoughts
and time to cool down from this heated situation. When approaching my boss, I’m going to make
sure that I’m approaching with a smile on my face so I do not off-put them in any way, and then
I’m going to ask to speak privately. In this scenario, they accept, and I start my conversation by
addressing my concerns, but I get interrupted, and they start talking and apologizing, which is
nice of them to do, but I do not want to fall into the fool's choice. This is stated in Crucial
Conversations, “Clarify what you don’t want, add it to what you do want, and ask your brain to
start searching for healthy options to bring you to dialogue” (Grenny et al., 28). Refusing the
fool’s choice ensures that I am not compromising and falling for my boss’s games. It’s essential
that I see what I didn’t like and make sure that I am heard. The reason I chose this course of
action is because there is a power dynamic here. Being the worker and having to go to my boss
about a conflict between them and myself, there is a chance for there to be an abuse of power. So
that is why standing your ground and making sure to get everything across before they interrupt.
My concerns are important, and if I compromise, I'm falling to the fool's choice.

Personal Story

Throughout my life, I have encountered many challenges. One intriguing thought was provoked
when writing this, and that is the story I will tell you right now. When I was younger, my family
and I took a family trip to the Bahamas. At this time, I was 12 years old. First off there were
multiple times on this trip I had to overcome adversity one being this was my first time being on
an airplane and I was so scared but the end of that day I had no choice regardless but i was still
afraid and I was bale to go on and now to this day i love airplanes. Another time on this trip i
overcame adversity was swimming with dolphins being a little kid i was scared to touch the
anmals for some reason even though they were trained and for some reason all i had to do was
touch them and i enjoyed the feeling of the rubber and was then able to go with them. last
climbing a rock wall was very ahrd and i was able to do it

Big Five Personality Assessment

Based on my results, I would say I fully agree with them. The first trait is Openness I scored
81%, which means I am open-minded, imaginative, creative, and insightful a person is. The only
thing I disagree with is the open-minded component. I am open-minded about certain things,
such as trying new foods, but I also would call myself picky. It honestly depends. Another thing
is that I’m less open to hearing certain things just because I don’t agree with them, which comes
off as bad, but I’m trying my best to work on it and be more willing to hear people out. All of the
other categories that fall under Openness I agree with as I have always scored high in these
categories on other tests as well as feedback from others. Next is Conscientiousness I agree fully
with this. I would say when it comes to this, the subcategories definitely stand out in good ways,
such as organized, hard-working, and goal-directed. These traits I strongly agree with based on
how i live my life. I love having a goal that needs to be reached and when it happens, I continue
to set them as I live my life to be set up in a particular way. That one reason I'm not too fond of
surprises is because I want to know what is going to happen. The next trait is extraversion.
Again, I agree with this one in terms of being sociable and talkative. I would say I'm active in
this and enjoy learning new things, but I also understand why it scored 48%, as it isn't one of my
strong suits. But what I can say is that when needed, I can be all of those. It's one of those things
I can turn on and off. The next trait is Agreeableness. I would say that as a person, I'm pretty
friendly and polite and tend to treat everyone correctly. It's only when someone does something I
don't like that makes me act a certain way toward them. But, I would also say that even if
someone does something, depending on what it is, I still will associate with them to an extent to
which I will make them feel some type of way. I will just speak less to them and kind of put them
in a box. Another subcategory that I relate to is being affectionate. This one I would speak highly
of for me as far as caring and dealing with others, especially for people that I am close with. I
will make sure they’re good, and I tend to want to help them to the best of my ability if I'm able
to. Actually, now, looking back, I think agreeableness should be higher up than extraversion.
Even though close, I think they should be switched as I would say I'm more agreeable than
extraversion, but even then, the difference between them is significant enough to disagree with.
Lastly, neuroticism is last, and I completely agree with it as I tend to be less emotional and
constantly have feelings affect me, so this being on the bottom makes complete sense. I would
say it is a rare occasion when emotions affect, so I understand why it is at 29%. When it came to
comparing the other assessment I had to take in the first pearl diving assignment, I would say
they all had similar results. Looking back, I could say that in all the assessments, I agreed with
the results with the exception of slight things that appeared in the subcategories of the final
results. This makes me realize how these assessments are very accurate. This also makes me
think about how, throughout my entire life, I've taken different assessments, and still to this day,
they have only changed a little but still are similar, so it does make me think about how my
personality has or hasn’t changed over the years. Finally, there are many benefits of taking a
variety of assessments as they give you an idea of who you are even if you think you know who
you are already. I would say an important thing I can take from these assessments would be that I
should take them every couple of years to see how my experience at that time affects my answers
just to see how effective the test is as well as to have the knowledge for myself.
 Work Cited

Big Five Personality Trait: Openness, www.crystalknows.com/big-five/openness.

Patterson, Kerry, et al. Crucial Conversations. McGraw-Hill Contemporary, 2002.