Marketing 6004 Team Characteristics analysis by David Demers

Team Characteristics (D Demers)

The team that I am assessing is my team for Marketing 6004.  The good point of this team is that once we get organized, the work gets done fairly well, although there are some stragglers that finish their parts a bit on the late side.  In fact, that is the big problem, there was no one that “took the bull by the horns” early enough in the project work to divide up the tasks and gets the ball rolling during our first group project.  The result was that our work was somewhat “last minute”.

To attempt to change our ways and shake things up, I have tried to get us rolling for our second group project that is due on 15 April.  I feel like I am being a bit “pushier” than I usually am, as normally I am a follower and not a leader, at least in subjects where I am not very strong (like Marketing).  For the project there are 5 initial questions (1x5%, 3x10%, 1x15%) based on the “case”, then the 6^th question (50%) is to propose a marketing strategy.  I asked the other four members to each pick a question to answer (I will do the remaining one), and also to “put something down on paper” for the marketing strategy (do a virtual brainstorming, then put the best ideas together as our response for Q6).

If I were to assess our team on the “forming, norming, storming, performing” spectrum, I would say that the forming and norming stages were achieved during our first group work.  The division into work units with each person taking one was done, then the revision process leading to the final version was a relatively efficient collaboration.  I hope that my proposition for division of work for our second group work will get the ball rolling, and if I judge our team’s work ethic well, we will do (brain-)storming then performing to come up with a proposed marketing strategy.  That is my hope at least J.

There is a big difference between our team that will achieve respectable results and “brilliant teams” like those that take part in “MBA games” type activities on the marketing side.  Watching teams like those “makes my head spin”, their thought processes are wickedly fast, with the ability to come up with original and innovative solutions.  I believe that our team is doing well with “the elements in place”, and I believe that our results are going to be very close to optimal for our team’s capabilities.  I am hoping that by getting all team members starting on their tasks rapidly that we will achieve very respectable if not spectacular results for our second group project.

Reflective entry by Yuchen (Gratitude journal)

This week was an opportunity for me to make a thoughtful coaching session to think about for whom or which I am thankful, and what I need to do to lead a positive change.

As a coach for this assignment, I tried to connect our grateful journey to our course material, and get my coachee focus on how would she reflect her gratitude and her learning from the person she is grateful for to a situation where she, as a manager, has to help her employees out, and potentially lead a positive change to her subordinates. So I first asked my coachee what she learned from her mom’s methods of supporting in order for her to reflect how she would do in the same situation. Then I went on to see how she would deal with negative energizer or negative deviance if she was placed as manager and her new employee (as negative energizer) was having interpersonal problems. She told me that she would not judge people and she would first reflect on the situation before she spoke with the person involved. In addition, my coachee told me that she would evaluate a person not only by his or her performance, but also by the other aspects, such as the relationship with colleagues. As a manager, my coachee would try to make her firm as a family to all employees and help new comers to build a good relationship with others and perform well. My coachee also explained a few hints she learnt from her mother. For instance, she would try to influence a person’s decision rather than get she involved with the decision making process since she would face less resistance.

As coachee, I tried to open up and felt that I’ve got much more to say than what I've written. I've reconnected with my deepest feeling towards my family. My coach is always able to trigger the conversation and the flow went out naturally as he kept our conversation in the most comfortable track. He asked many interesting questions so that I could share as much as I can. I couldn't remember how we touched the topic of choosing classes where Awa jumped in, and she shared openly with her inspiring story of conquering fears, while David advised me to pick classes that could be quantified so that I could avoid too much written works.

After this coaching session, I could feel something has changed inside me. The gratitude journal makes me be aware of the positive deviance in my life. In addition, sharing the gratitude was also an interesting experience since it’s not very common in my culture to express gratitude. It helped me to re-enjoy the happy moments I had before and really motivated me when I was sharing those moments.

gratitude coaching session (David Demers)

Perhaps the most significant common theme of our (as coach, coachee, observer) gratitude journals was that everyone was grateful for their family, for their support and encouragement.  As a coach, I was surprised and actually a bit in awe regarding the depth of emotion that our discussion of gratitude brought out.  It is difficult to express our gratitude directly to the people that we are grateful for, so just talking about it causes many conflicting emotions.

As coach my coachee expressed his gratitude and his realization that life is fragile.  There was a terrorist incident in the area where his parents live, and while waiting for confirmation that they were OK, he reflected on all he had to be grateful for.  His parents supported him financially and spiritually.  His father was a military officer that was away a lot.  He did not express it in words, but my coachee knew that his father was “pulling for him”.  He was also very grateful for the strength of character of his mother.  It was due to her influence that he was able to study for his MBA in Canada.  He is very grateful for his studies here, as his learning experience has been a mind-opening experience, very different than graduate studies in China might have been.  The presentations and group work assignments are challenging and in some cases “mind-expanding” experiences.  My coachee is a bit reticent regarding taking classes in French, but we (coach and observer) have told him to take the plunge.  He could perhaps start with a course that is more numerical (such as accounting) instead of a course that would require a lot of written work.

As coachee I stated that I did not express my gratitude very often to the people that I am grateful to.  I do occasionally tell my son and daughter that I am proud of them.  I try to make sure that I can be specific about why I am proud of them as I think that it makes it “more meaningful”.  Although I did not mention my parents in the gratitude journal, I am indeed grateful for their support while I was growing up.  They did not push me into any particular direction, but they did support me through my Bachelor degree university studies.

This coaching experience has gotten me to better appreciate what I have to be grateful for.  Even if things are difficult, there is so much good in life to be grateful for.  I will try to take advantage of opportunities to express gratitude and to give specific and positive feedback in my personal and professional life.  To not let those opportunities pass me by, that is my “take-away” from this coaching session.

Gratitude coaching session by Awa DIALLO

This week's coaching assignment really helped me realised that I have a lot to be grateful for. A part from my mother and the travelling opportunities, I could also be grateful for so many things that I take for granted. Being able to go on holiday every year for example, the opportunity to discover different parts of the world; or just because I have received a personal education good enough to be the adult I am today. My coachees also are grateful for their personal lives and for their educational accomplishments. As you can see in other posts in the blog, we are all grateful for our parents and life partners, as well as the opportunity to receive an international education at Ulaval. Those things we are all grateful for are here, I mean it is normal, natural to be grateful about them without expressing it. Just as Yuchen, we do not express feelings very openly in my culture either. Everyone knows that the feeling is here, like my mother knows that I love her. However, I don’t think I ever told her that I feel very lucky to have her as a mother and I am grateful for that. So, after writing about her in my grateful assignment, I started calling her more often (almost twice a day when I usually talk to her every two days), and it kind of made me feel good. Every time she encourages me into being a better person, to work hard to get what I want… So this week nothing really changed positively, but my feelings were emphasised, and I am grateful for a lot of good factors in my life that I take for granted.

Same goes for my coachees, they are very grateful for what they talked about in previous posts. But writing about it made them realised that there is a lot to be grateful for in their lives after all. Not just family and university or work. We all have the opportunity to study a subject we are interested in, we are all meeting new people that somehow turns to be very good friends; and for some of us who are far from home, those friends are family.

Putting more focus on positive change now, I think it is very important to let people know what you feel about them. In a professional environment, do not hesitate, as a manager, to openly congratulate your employees that perform outstandingly. It is a core motivational factor, and one of the best ways to promote positive change in the work place. Be fair and honest about it. You, the manager, have to be grateful for having great employees, and employees in turn have to be grateful for their work position. To emphasize that feeling, I think it would be great to be able to express one’s feelings.

Gratitude Journal by Yuchen

There are so many things for which I feel so thankful, but the first idea came to my mind are my parents, without any surprise. I am so grateful for having them support me. For me, they are the great wall that protects me from negative emotions especially when I am a stranger in this land. Their supportive power surrounds me whenever I feel low even though we are thousands miles away from each others. 

However, they have a very different way of showing their love and care. My father served the army for nearly 20 years and it has made him a tough and conservative man, and a tough man is not good at express his feelings. He’s always restraint about it. I remember that he never said he’s proud of me or complimented what I've achieved; he just stood there and nodded his head like he’s commanding his man. So it’s quite surprising and so happy to me when I heard he said “yes, I miss you son” after I asked him if he missed me while we were in a video chat several weeks ago, and I could see my mom tried so hard to cover her smile. My parents are positive energizers to me. Even if they won’t say compliments about my work, but I just feel so fulfilled and happy when talking those tiny things in our lives, something like mom met an old friend and had a nice cup of tea, or dad played Chinese chess with their neighbor could make me feel that I never so close to my family.

Another thing I am grateful for is my opportunity to study here in Ulaval. No matter how hard my study was and will be, being able to pursue an MBA in Quebec is by far one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had. Being able to study here is rewarding in many ways.

Had it not been for Ulaval, I would have never encountered so many interesting people or experienced such a dynamic way of education. I would not have the knowledge and skill I have now, I would not meet my teammates who offer me a warm and helpful climate for me to nurture my readiness to change.

In China, we always say to know others is easy but to know oneself is hard, but I feel that I understand myself better by having my study in Ulaval. On one hand, having my study in a foreign country means I must push myself to the limit. On the other hand, it is during this hard time of mine that I understood myself better with all the helps from my parents, my teacher and my friends. Now half semester has gone by and I feel I’ve improved myself in many ways with the help of David and Awa during our life balance analysis, I made myself to social, to spend more time on meeting new people. Thursday I have the result of midterm exam due and then it’s time to lock me up again and work hard! 

what I am grateful for by Awa Diallo

My mother, the best person in my life

This might sound cheesy but I am grateful for being alive, healthy and being able to have all my needs fulfilled, as well as my wants. But most of all, I am grateful for my mum. She raised me all by herself and she managed to take care of little brothers and sisters. She is the one that always encourages me to be the best at what I like to do, and she always taught me to respectful to anyone, no matter his situation, from the house maid to my boss. Additionally, she is the most positive and calm person I know; she would find positivity in every situation. Very spiritual and religious, she shows me that even in the current world, you can be kind and polite, and still succeed. Whenever I am lost in what I am doing, what I want for my future… she is the one that I call to put all into perspective. I am grateful to have here in my life, to have that mother that a lot of my friends envy me for. I am grateful for her health, and her being able to provide for me and my uncles and aunts; I am grateful for her kind heart and, most of all, for the 110% support she has been giving me for my whole life and still doing it.

I am grateful for my travel experience.

I am grateful to have had the opportunity to travel for my studies. After obtaining my high school degree in Senegal, I went to France where I lived for 3 years. It was not the best years of my life, but I learned a lot about people. Indeed, it was the first time I left my family to live in another country all by myself. That taught me how to socialise with people with different backgrounds, cultures, and very new and different personalities. I learned the hard way that people are not naturally nice, and they are afraid of the unknown. Therefore, I had to be open minded and understanding. On the other hand, the experience I had in France really showed me examples and ideas I can develop in my country.

After 3 years in France, I went to England were I stayed for nearly 4 years. This step is the one I am the most grateful for. I learned to speak fluent English, and developed my socialising skills. When in France I needed people not to be afraid and accept diversity, It was the contrary, the diversity there was scary. However, working and studying in such environment allowed me to deal with a lot of different personalities. I also had very challenging experiences as a team manager in a big retail store.

Right now, I am in Quebec where I am planning for staying at least 3 more years to get an MBA and get professional experience. I am grateful because I am sure of the good changes I will bring in my country when I go home.

David Demers’ Gratitude Journal

Saturday 15 May 2014

I am grateful for my family.  My wife is “a rock”, the one that everything revolves around.  She is able to juggle work and family life and is also able to progress toward her “other” goals in her religious life (likely to become a priest after retirement).  My son Lucas is a great kid.  He decided to go to French private secondary school after doing his primary schooling in English.  He is smart and articulate – if you can get him talking.  He is doing well at his new school.  He is enjoying being in the junior band (he plays the French Horn) and is looking forward to learning Spanish.  My daughter Sophie is a bundle of energy.  She likes swimming, dancing, singing, and she also had a lot of fun at her cheerleading day camp during her week off of school.  She is smart but not the same kind of “school smarts” that Lucas has.  To keep her interested in school when she gets to secondary school, we are going to have to find some sort of performing arts – study combination school to keep her motivated and enthused about school.  As my wife said, if Sophie could be at the “Glee” school on television, she would fit right in.  The big question will be what kind of school that she can get into when the time comes (she is only in Grade One).

Sunday 16 May 2014

Even though there are not a lot of us that go to church, the people that are there are very nice.  My wife is one of the Wardens at the church – she has been one for several years, and will be stepping down next year.  My daughter is very much a “free spirit”, during the hymns she goes to the back of the church and dances.  Both Lucas and Sophie especially love the “coffee time” at the end of the service, they get to drink juice and especially eat some cookies.  Sophie seems to be taking an interest in playing keyboards, she often asks the organist if she can play the organ a little bit at the end of the service during coffee time.  Both Lucas and Sophie are totally at home at Church on Sundays - they should be, they have been there (almost) since birth.

I am very lucky that I have found an activity that I very much like doing (my “flow” I guess), playing bridge.  I get to play once a week on Saturday afternoons.  When I am concentrating on a bridge hand then “everything else goes away” as it requires my total concentration.  It is a challenging game that never wears out as every deal is different.  I will never be a World Champion, but I do fairly well.  The aspect that I like is that it is a social game, not a solitary game like Chess.  I consider myself lucky to have found a game that can sometimes get me into “flow” concentration, and it allows me to “escape” any “downers” that might occur in my life.

Monday 17 May 2014

Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  Not very many ULaval students get into the St. Patrick’s Day spirit, I have yet to see anyone wearing green today, yet alone a St. Patrick’s Day T-Shirt.  I am a poor example as I did not wear anything green today.  I consider myself lucky that returning to University is working out fairly well for me.  When I found out that my position was cut at work it seemed pretty grim, but it has given me the opportunity to go back to get an MBA, something that was in the back of my mind for the last few years.  The fact that I have been coping fairly well with the course load and my results have been fairly good is promising.  You never know until you start whether things will work out alright, and so far I have been doing better than “just keeping my head above water”.  The fact that my “pension stuff” from my previous employment is working out well was also a very pleasant surprise.  Things could have been so much worse than they are.  I have a job interview coming up for full time summer employment (potentially continuing part-time in the fall), so with that and the “Journée Carrière FSA Laval” coming up I am optimistic that I will find gainful employment this summer.  I have reason to be cautiously optimistic regarding my short to medium term career prospects, which is a lot better than being pessimistic – University life is going pretty well so far.