Introduction
This paper focuses on a Project Management Analysis that seeks to analyze the experience of a group with a community partner. In this light, we chose the Brothers of Change to be the community partner for this project.
The organization is a non-profitable organization that offers courses on cooking and helps the student to get jobs easily. During the interaction with the community partner, the group adopted a method of a participant observer.
This method required the group to take part in various activities of an organization and make the observations simultaneously. Therefore, the community partner allowed us to give direct service to them for fifteen hours.
Also, they allowed us to observe the proceedings of a cooking class, five hours for designing a marketing plan and fifteen hours of indirect service to the organization. This analysis will describe how the group used organizational concepts during the interaction with the community partner.
The analysis will describe the general experience with the partner, communication power, influence, leadership, motivation, team building, team dynamics, conflict resolution, negotiations, emotions, attitudes, stress, and the organizational culture.
General Experience
The team comprised of five participants including Jiahong Lin, Gabriella de Castro, Viveka Yeung, Kerry Xiao, and Fernando Ucha. Gabriella de Castro was the team leader and the main contact person. His main role was to communicate with the partner and update us the other team members on the progress. Also, he was responsible for assigning duties to the various group members.
During the interaction, we had various challenges that faced us. In the beginning, the management did not have a positive attitude towards the group. The management was not willing to communicate with us since we were strangers to the organization. Also, they were not willing to assign duties to the group since they could not trust us. Preliminarily, we communicated through emails that did not help us to complete the communication. However, we decide to approach the management physically and negotiate with them.
At last, we managed to talk to them and carry on with the project. Later, the management assigned us time for various activities including class observations, planning a marketing strategy and serving them directly. Financial constraints posed a serious challenge towards the project and affected the efficiency of the team. However, we applied various organizational concepts to help us eliminate the challenges.
Communication Power and Influence
During the lectures, we learned that communication is the main pillar for conducting a community service especially when the subjects are working in a team. In this light, communication is categorized into internal and external communication. The internal communication aims at coordinating the group members and updating them about various events. It ensures that all the members are involved in the group’s events. On the other hand, external communication facilitates the relationship between the group and the community partner.
Regarding internal communication, Gabriella was responsible for coordinating the group and communicating with all group members. In this light, he acted as the mediator between the group and the community partner. At one point, the group lost communication with the community partner.
As a result, Gabriella informed the group and planned for a meeting with the members. During the meeting, the members decided to approach the organization physically to revive communication. This continuous communication from the team leader helped the entire group to secure the chance of serving the organization. It eliminated the communication breakdown between the involved parties. In this light, the group used internal communication as a concept for serving the community.
Additionally, the group used external communication to facilitate efficient service for the community partner. At the beginning of the project, we communicated to the organization through emails. We communicated to Majeid Crawford who acted as the main contact person for the organization. However, Crawford passed away, and communication between the organization and the group broke down for a week.
We noticed that using the emails was not the best way of communication. Also, we considered that the lecturer recommends physical communication external relations. Therefore, we changed the means of communication and approached the organization. We met the Erris who explained that the Crawford had died. We explained the situation that required us to start the direct service for the organization. Erris allowed us to observe the cooking classes from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In this case, we used efficient communication to eliminate the communication breakdown that had arisen due to the death of the contact person. Also, it enabled us to get the chance for direct service faster than using the emailed communication. Therefore, the concept of efficient communication applied in this context and helped us to offer services to Brothers for Change.
Leadership
During the lectures, we learned that leadership is an essential component for coordinating a group and helping the group to deliver their services to an organization. The leadership of the group, therefore, determines whether it will succeed or fail. During the service, we have had a participant observer status that required us to follow the leadership of the organization. In this case, we became a part of the organization in all aspects of the period that we served them.
Therefore, we served under the leadership of Revered Erris. We followed his instruction strictly to ensure that we did not inconvenience the program of the organization. For example, Erris directed that we should observe the classes for five hours starting from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. We followed this program strictly ensuring that we arrived punctually.
He orientated the group and introduced us to the culinary kitchen attainder called Henry Howard. Henry explained that he coordinated his students during the cooking sessions and cleaning. In this light, we understood that Henry was empathetic to the students. This was a strong attribute of leadership. He could allow students to leave the rooms without cleaning them since they were tired. He told us that he had learned his qualities of leadership from Erris.
This showed us that good leadership is the main factor in the success of a group. Also, Erris was the force behind the growth of the whole organization. He was compassionate to his duties despite his academic ignorance. He was always optimistic too and encouraged his team including us. This encouraged them to pursue their dreams in education. Therefore, he transformed the organization into a center of educational success.
He formed an organization that gave people a new chance in life. He transformed people into useful players of the community. In this case, Henry Howard was his product. Henry used to go to jail regularly due to crimes and poor behavioral conduct. However, he transformed him ad taught him the art of helping others.
Moreover, we had a compassionate leadership from the team leader called Gabriella de Castro. He made efficient communication with the original contact person called Majeid. When he passed away, Gabriella advised us to approach the management physically. As a result, the management allowed us to offer direct services to the organization. His determination developed the persistence of the group towards serving the organization.
His efficient communication with us and the Brothers fo Change was the force behind the success of the group. He always found for resolutions instead of complaining. This inspiration raised our focus and determination leading to fast and efficient proceedings of the group.
Team Building and Team Dynamics
Team building and team dynamics were a major stepping stone for the efficiency of the group. In this light, we built the team in a manner that facilitated fast performance. The dynamics were found on strict rules that saved on time and bound all members to the project. In this light, the group members decided to meet regularly to discuss the progress of the project. All meeting had relevant agendas that enhanced progress.
In the first meeting, the members aimed at the self-introduction. In team building, self-introduction ensures that all the team members are familiar with each other. As a result, they communicate and operate easily with each other. Also, the meeting was scheduled for making rules that formed a legal framework. Therefore, the group’s dynamics were based on this framework.
Regarding these rules, the team decided that the main form of communication was the emails. The members were given twenty-four hours for responding to emails. Also, we decided that the group would be meeting at 12:30 p.m. on Tuesday. Also, we decided that the official meeting room was room 203. This helped the team to proceed with sufficient coordination among the five group members. It ensured that there was a minimum time wastage during the project.
As a result, we proceeded without divided interest. In the second meeting, the group discussed and wrote the proposal. It was completed efficiently, and one of the group members emailed it to the professor. Also, he sent the final proposal to all the group members making it available to all the members.
Therefore, all the members were aware of the document that they had submitted to the professor. The student followed the rule that recommended the use of emails as the means of communication. During the third meeting, the team decided that they would visit the community partner and make a physical approach. The team building and team dynamics helped the group to proceed with efficiency. Also, it ensured that the team was well coordinated and cohesive.
Conflict and Negotiation
There was a conflict of understanding between the organization and the team. In this light, they were not willing to give us the chance of serving their organization. We applied for several times without being allowed by the management. Moreover, they were not willing to assign roles to us. This formed part of our challenge as a team. Therefore, we had to apply the concepts that we learned to ensure that they allowed us to serve their organization.
In this case, we stopped communicating through emails and approached the management physically. In this light, the best negotiations are done through a physical approach rather than online communication. When we approached the management, we met Erris and negotiated to serve the organization directly and indirectly.
We explained that our project was significantly late and behind time. Erris orientated us and introduced the group to Henry who accompanied us during the entire project. The overall group relationship was good and desirable. Conflicts among the group members were solved by the team leader in the presence of all the members. The negotiations were done fairly and in a neutral way. This ensured that all the members felt comfortable. As a result, the project was done efficiently and exhaustively without wasting time.
Emotions, Attitudes, and Stress
During the project, the members had various attitudes, emotions, and stress at some points. The team used the concepts we learned in class in a bid to cope up with these indictments. In the beginning, the members had acquired a negative attitude towards the organization.
This was due to the breakdown of communication with the organization. In this case, the team leader suggested that we had to use another means of communication. This made us approach the management of the organization and negotiate for the chance. After, the first meeting with Erris, the attitude toward the organization changed t the positive and all the members participated happily.
Moreover, we encountered stress due to high workload. In this light, we had fifteen hours of direct service, five hours of observations and five hours of designing the marketing plan alongside fifteen hours of indirect service. Therefore, we applied the concept of distributing the roles among the team members.
For example, Kerry and Jiahong did the first direct service at Fillmore. As a result, they could be exempted in another allowing them to rest. This ensured that each member did not get stress due to a heavy workload. Also, it ensured that we did the work when each one of us was fresh. This led to high efficiency and speed.
Organizational Culture
The team had created a culture that formed their working foundation. In this light, the team had requested the management of the organization to give us the program for our observations and the direct service. Also, we had formed the rules and programs that governed our events. In this case, the meetings were scheduled for Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.
Motivation
The path towards the completion of this project was a challenging one. However, the main secret was that we moved through the path together. In this light, our attitudes changed with time and discouraged our efforts. For example, the team members were discouraged due to the breakdown in communication with the Brothers for Change. However, we motivated each other and continued with the project. In this case, the team leader encouraged us to continue and choose another way of communication.
Conclusion
This Project Management Analysis has focused on various events that took place during the project. In this case, it has described the challenges that faced the team. Also, it has described the concept that we used to meet the challenges to eliminate the difficulties that we encountered. Therefore, it is an all-inclusive analysis that touches on the crucial components of the project.