If you want to be a boss…

If you want to be a boss…

(Some practical advices for managers just beginning their careers)

This poem is for bosses

Who want to prevent all future losses.

Don’t be stressful

If you want to be successful.

Be innovative as much as you can,

Manage yourself and make your plan.

When your dreams are visualized

They will be easy realized.

Don’t be afraid, be confident,

You will make it and become the President.

Motivate yourself to step forward

And you can get success even in Harvard.

Just do what you are intended

And the new things will be implemented,

And don’t be afraid to start,

I know you are very SMART!!!

Don’t forget to wake up your creativity,

It will help your ability.

Hide your aggravation,

Otherwise, you will loose your employees’ motivation.

Don’t be passive but be active,

Don’t be aggressive but be effective.

Make good impression

And you’ll get progression.

Follow advices and get some experience

And later YOU can make BILLIONS!!!

P.S. This is my first written poem in English:-)))

Communicating via Blog.

         I have never had any Blog before I took MGT class this fall and I was really excited when we were asked by our professor to create one. I enjoyed the Blog and posting my assignment online. I think it has been an interesting, unique and effective way not only to get value from this class but for many other reasons.

          First, the Blog was very effective as a communication tool for the students, some kind of connection between us even outside of the class. We were pushed by the professor to read our classmates’ Blogs and post comments on their wall. Exchanging our ideas and thoughts was a perfect way to learn about and from each other. As we know most of the students and me who take evening classes work full time and we do not have enough time to communicate with each other and, as a result, the Blog was our way to interact.

        Second, the Blog improved our writing skills. To put our thoughts on the Blog is the best way to express ourselves and learn how to organize our ideas.

        Third, the Blog developed our critical thinking. It effectively got us to think about and share our perceptions, thoughts and opinions about our class activity or real life issues.

       Fourth, the best part of the Blog is the opportunity to control and manage 20%   of our final grade.

        Most of all on the Blog I enjoyed the outside reading, the extra credit assignment “The Trip to McDonalds’ Restaurant”. This was a real life management experience. Honestly, I think that there was not enough of this kind of outside reading and, definitely professor should take this into consideration for the future. I mean not getting more extra credit assignment but more outside class activity which deals with a real life experience.

        In conclusion, I wanted to say that I enjoyed posting my thoughts  on my own and on my classmates’ Blogs and I do plan to continue to post my thoughts and ideas online even after my MGT class is over.

A Manager or Leader?

  

     We had an amazing class last Wednesday with our professor. The main reason why I am saying this is that I love tests very much, especially the ones that determine my personality. That day we conducted leadership/management diagnostic test, which reflected our personality. I turned out to be a Cd type, which means I am better in management than  in leadership.
     The C type people:

• pay attention to key directives and standards;
• concentrate on key details;
• think analytically,weighing pros and cons;
• are diplomatic with people;
• use subtle or indirect approaches to conflict;
• check for accuracy;
• analyse performance critically;
• use a systematic approach to situations or activities.

     The D type people:

• get immediate results;
• cause action;
• accept challenges;
• make quick decisions;
• question the status quo;
• take authority;
• manage trouble;
• solve problems.

     The test got the right result: I am Cd type (conscientiousness-dominance) and my conscientiousness prevails my dominance. My friends and even my boss and my coworkers say that this type of personality exactly reflects me. I do not want to be another type because I love being myself. However, I have some characteristics from another types. For example, I am a good listener and can come down excited people, which characterize Steadiness type.

     I think it is very helpful to determine people's management "type" to better understand where they are coming from, what type of personality they are. In addition,  it helps to communicate and interact with them in every day's life. This  test is really helpful for me, and I think for everybody else.Thanks professor for  a great test and an amazing time .

My Trip to McDonald's Restaurant

     McDonald’s? Hamburger? French fries? It may sound weird but I never have eaten in McDonald’s restaurant. I always manage the food that I eat, and I don’t eat any “junk” or fast food. That’s why before going there I asked my friend to come with me, so she can eat my order.                                     

     It was Saturday, November 13, when we went to McDonald’s. It was very nice, sunny and pretty warm day. My friend and I finished our grocery shopping around 12 pm and on our way back home to her house we went to make my special order in McDonald’s restaurant for my extra credit. I was excited and anxious the same time. When we walked in the restaurant I was little bit upset because I did not expect to see so many people there. However, it was too crowded, we waited only around 5-6 minutes to be served. Customer service was excellent and cashiers seemed to be trained very well because they did their job very fast and efficiently. When we approached the cashier my fear disappeared because she was so nice with me. “What would you like today?” she asked us with a big smile. I told her that I need a special order: one small hamburger with exactly five pickles on it, French fries well done with a side of Big Mac sauce. While I was telling her my order she was looking at me with disappointment. “Ok, we will do that for you,” she said. Then I asked her that I want a printed receipt which reflects my exact special order. She tried several times to type five pickles on the receipt but she could not do that. “I am sorry, but I can not put five pickles on the receipt”, she replied. I insisted that I need exactly # 5 on my receipt and it is very important for me. She looked upset and puzzled and then she said to wait for two seconds for the manager. We were lucky because the manager was there. I saw the cashier talking to the manager explaining what we need. The manager was smiling when approached and asked us how she can help us. I explained her again what I need exactly five pickles on my receipt. The manager tried by herself to type five pickles but she could not do that as well as the cashier did not. Then the manager proposed me to put five times extra pickles on my receipt. I said that it will be perfect for me if she does that. In addition, I asked the manager to specify on my receipt Big Mac sauce, but she said that they do not have the option for Big Mac sauce and she can type only sauce. I agreed. As a result, the manager solved the problem and did what I wanted and I got my order and my receipt. Even though, I appreciated the manager for the order I decided to open it at the counter to verify its correctness. Everybody in McDonald’s restaurant was looking at us: the customers were smiling but employees were looking with suspicious. It was very funny situation. My order was exactly accurate and I took a picture which is attached on the last page of this paper. The manager was looking at me with suspicious too. After I took my picture I said them: “Thank you very much!!! It was for my assignment!” Then customers started laughing as well as employees and the manager.

          Organization. The manufacturing process of my special order was accurate and efficient. I was able to see how my order was prepared on the back of the restaurant. The manager and the cahier set up to handle “extra special” order very effectively.

          Communication between employees was effective and professional. I was able to see the conversation between the cashier who placed my order and the manager who was responsive to her employees and customers. Both, the manager and the cashier, were very polite and behave professionally in order to help me. They were customer effective and I have no any recommendations to make for the improvement.

          Training of the employees was very efficient and effective. It seemed that they were properly trained how to satisfy their customers.

          Leadership. The manager displayed true leadership traits during my McDonald’s restaurant visit. She tried to help and satisfy the customers in very professional manner. For example, the manager proposed her own solution for the problem when I insisted that I need exactly five pickles to be typed on my receipt. She proposed to type five times extra pickles and it worked.

     In general, it was very amazing and excited trip to McDonald’s restaurant I ever had in my life. And it is not just because it was my first time placing an order in McDonald’s but more because it was a great experience of observation and solving the problem, and learning how to behave in complicated and unpredictable situations.

The Power of Vision

    

Vision without action is just a dream.

Action without vision merely wastes time. 

Vision coupled with action can make things happen!

     Several years ago I had too many incompatible and unrealistic goals that I wanted to achieve in my life and it took me time to arrange and make them clear in my mind. Now I have very clear ideas and vision what I want to do with my life and I am going to convert my vision into reality.
     My first goal is to succed as a manager in Human Resources. Currently I work in Cardiology office and communicate with people every singe day. I would like to work in this field for a while to gain my experience because I want to be a manager in Health Care Business. I try to learn new things every day because I know it will help me to accomplish my goal in the future.
     My second goal is to live closer to my family because I love my parents very much. Currently my parents live in a different country and I want to do everything possible and impossible to bring them here, to the USA. Since I am an only child in my family my parents tried to do everything for me and now it is my turn to make them happy.
     My third goal is to buy a small house where I can live with my family: my parents, my future husband and our kids. I want my family relationship be based on trust, love and empathy.

Decision Making

     Our class activity on decision making that we completed on Wednesday was based on the results of Exam #1. We were proposed by our professor to make a treatment of the Exam. Our group had around 30 mins in use to come with a mutual decision.
     In the beginning it was a real chaos. The decision making process was frustrating because we did not have  leaders, and students were interrupting each other and yelling to be heard. People behaved different during decision making conflict. I noticed that some students tried to avoid participating, and withdrew from the decision making process because they thought that there was "no chance of winning" for them. Some students competed to win and they tried to persuade that their solution is the best and they behaived inappropriate and even agressive. Personally, I tried to compromise during our class activity and strived "to get something" from the process. I knew that I wanted our exam to be curved and this was  proposed by the majority of students.  I think that compromising  method is the best method during decision making conflict because all members are equal and everybody is heard.
     However, to handle the conflict in our decision making process and get more desirable result sooner and with less conflict, I could have chosen the following ways:
     1) I could have chosen only two leaders who would stay in the front of the classroom and organize everybody ( leader # 1 would listen each student's suggestion and  leader # 2 would write all possible proposals.
     2) When each student was heard and we had all options written we could have voted for every single proposal.
     I think that having two leaders (not around 10 people in the front of the classroom who were overyelling each other) will be more efficient and the process of decision making will be more organized because each student will have the opportunity to be heard.

An Egg-Cellent Way to Plan.

Our plan as a team was to plan, design, and build an “egg-protection” device of our own engineering following the project rules.

RULES:

Materials:  1 raw egg, 8 straws and 2 feet of masking tape

Execution Time:  10 MINUTES

Process:  We drop our egg in its device from a height of 10 feet.  The egg must not break. 

Design Requirements:  The egg shell MUST be at least 50% visible in our design.

     Our first step in the planning process was to define our goals and objectives. We divided our responsibilities and within 10 mins our group completed the following:

1)      One member of our team wrote our team members’  names on a sheet of paper

2)      Another member identified the name of our egg

3)      I drew the design for our final contraption

4)      All together we built our planned design

5)      Kristina brought both, our paper and the egg, to the front of the room before the time was up.

    Step 2: we determined our current status compared to our objectives:  we identified resources (one raw egg, 8 straws and 2 feet of masking tape). In addition, we identified each group member’s strengths that work in our favor and each member weaknesses that can hold us back and as a result we applied each member skills accordingly.

    Step 3: we developed promises and several alternative strategies (primarily we had three different strategies and three different designs). We evaluated the alternatives to access strengths and weaknesses of each. Finally we came up with the final plan and design.

     Step 4: we analyzed the alternatives and made a tactical plan. We chose the alternative most likely to accomplish our objectives. In addition, we allocated jobs and roles. Each group member was participating: one was holding the egg, another one was cutting the straws, the third one was cutting the tape and etc.

     Step 5: we implemented the plan and, as I mentioned above, all of us were participating and the roles were clear allocated.

 However, we didn’t really have enough time to evaluate the results and take any corrective actions and, in addition, we didn’t have a real leader. That’s why probably our plan failed. We could have been more effective and successful if we had more time and a real leader.