University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 1

Amanda Varden

Communication for Project Managers: ENCE424

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

June 27, 2020

Introduction
The engineering field is generally viewed as containing those individuals that have an
interest and knowledge in subjects such as math and science. Most of the required courses for
engineers are indeed courses from these subjects. For me personally, only one public speaking
course is required to complete my engineering degree in addition to one technical writing course.
Communication for Project Managers highlights the importance of communication in the
engineering field in addition to the technical knowledge requirement. For a project to be
completed on time, within budget and on scope, all members of the team, most importantly the
project manager, must be able to effectively communicate with each other. Students in this
course are required to complete certain readings each week, participate in the weekly online
discussions and apply the skills learned during these activities in their daily lives. In this paper, I
will discuss the important concepts I have learned from the required readings and class
discussions, how I have increased my networking potential thus far and I will finish by
discussing my DISC Personality Assessment results.

Concepts from Readings

The first particularly interesting concept from the readings is the existence, prevalence
and the effects of crucial conversations not only in the workplace, but in relationships,
communities and personal health. Before this course, I wasn’t sure what exactly a crucial
conversation entailed. However, when I thought of a crucial conversation, my mind goes straight
to a conversation between a worker and their boss where the worker is asking for a raise and
bringing up an issue in the workplace. After reading Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking
When Stakes are High, I have been made aware of what crucial conversations are and that crucial
conversations occur way more frequently and in way more scenarios than I previously thought.
A crucial conversation is a conversation where opinions vary, stakes are high, and emotions run
strong. These conversations are crucial because they can have a big impact on quality of life
(Patterson et al., 2012,). I found it interesting that although crucial conversations are
conversations where it matters most how we handle them; we seldom handle them well. When
dealing with a crucial conversation, you have the option to either avoid them altogether, face
them and handle them poorly or face them and handle them well. As humans, we often fear these
conversations and avoid these conversations. However, those who can master crucial
conversations are the individuals who are deemed the most influential (Patterson et al., 2012).
The importance of being able to handle a crucial conversation effectively has really been
highlighted in this book. One major takeaway from this reading is the fact that projects can fail,
relationships can fail, and people can get injured or even die from staying silent during these
conversations.

A second topic covered by the readings that I found interesting is how to manage speech
anxiety which is something I personally struggle with. According to O’Hair, Rubenstein and
Stewart (2019) in A Pocket Guide to Public Speaking, speech anxiety can be desirable when
channeled properly. First, it is important to determine the cause of the anxiety like a lack of
positive experience, feeling different or being the center of attention. Next, it is necessary to
determine the onset of the anxiety. Anxiety can be triggered during the pre-preparation phase,
preparation phase, pre-performance phase or during the actual presentation. Finally, you must
learn techniques to minimize these anxieties. The most important methods to minimize these
anxieties include properly preparing your speech and practicing it multiple times, thinking
positively and visualizing a successful performance (O’Hair et al.,2019). In addition to these
methods, it is recommended to meditate and induce stress-control breathing. After reading these
techniques, I realize my anxiety is prevalent during the pre-performance phase. To address this
anxiety, I plan to practice my speech repeatedly using notecards and tell myself I am prepared
and that there is no need to be anxious.

Another important and interesting topic discussed in the readings is the power of
storytelling. When reading Five Stars: The Communication Secrets to Get from Good to Great,
the story that really stuck out to me was that of Haseeb Qureshi, a former poker champion who
gained interest in software coding. When looking at his qualifications on paper, he didn’t stand
out. He was older than many of the other individuals in his field and had very little coding
experience. However, once he was able to get in-person interviews, the offers began pouring in.
This was due to his advanced storytelling abilities. Although he had the technical requirements,
the communication skills he possessed made him stand out from the other applicants and landed
him a job with Airbnb making $250,000 (Gallo, 2018). This really stressed the importance of
storytelling and communication skills to me. I am currently working on my ability to interview
beyond addressing my technical skills. I am placing focus on creating connections during
conversations and job interviews. Empathy is key to successful communication and I am
working on understanding the feelings of others.

Concepts from Class Discussions

The first particularly interesting concept from the class discussions is the importance of
non-verbal communication. Before this course, I always focused more on the content of my
speech rather than what I was doing with my body during it. I was absolutely blown away when
Dr. Webster-Trotman said only 7% of the audience’s impression of you is based on the content
of your speech while 55% is based on your body language. Some examples of these non-verbal
techniques include resting face, eye contact, hand movements and posture. I was even more
blown away when I learned it only takes someone 7 seconds to form an impression of you. Our
class assignment for this lesson was to develop a list of things that can ruin a good first
impression. Our group came up with ideas such as lack of personal hygiene, using vulgar
language, a weak handshake and. After learning this information, I plan to focus on being more
aware of my non-verbal communication. In daily life, I will be focusing more on my facial
expressions to avoid an uninviting resting face, I will be focusing on keep my posture upright,
and avoiding touching my face or hair during conversation. By improving my body language, I
will be able to enhance the verbal message I am trying to convey.

A second pertinent topic covered by the class discussions is the DISC personality types.
We began this topic by discussing the platinum rule which states “Do unto others the way they
would want us to do unto them”. This means to treat others they way they want to be treated
instead of treating them how we want to be treated. I found this rule interesting since I have
never heard it before or even thought of it. In order to effectively communicate, the receiver
must understand your message. Regardless of your personality type, when talking to a D
personality you should conduct your message like a D personality type to ensure your recipient
gets the message. This concept was new to me since I grew up being told to treat others how I
would want to be treated, but it is hard to convey a message to someone in a language that is not
their own. From this point forward, I will try to determine the personality type of people I
converse with. This will allow me to speak to them in their own language which will ensure they
are able to effectively decode the message I am trying to convey.

Networking

Since starting Communication for Project Managers, I have realized that networking has
such a high importance early on in your professional career. Before reading Networking for
College Students, I thought networking was something you didn’t have to worry about until after
graduation when you began your professional career. However, it was made apparent to me that
networking is essential for college students to ensure their success in the future. The first thing I
did to increase my networking abilities since starting this course was exchange contact
information with one other student from class. I took this a step further and reached out to
previous college professors just to see how they are doing. College professors can write letters of
recommendation, can serve as references on resumés and can even provide useful insight
regarding future courses, internships and careers. In addition to reaching out to previous
professors, I have maintained contact with managers and coworkers from my previous
internship. I often reach out to past coworkers and ask questions about the progress of the
projects I assisted with during my internship in addition to any interesting projects they are
currently working on. One manager from my previous internship was able to help me with my
resumé which will benefit me in any future job hunting. In addition to these methods, I plan to
make more connections with fellow students and Dr. Webster-Trotman in ENCE 424. I believe a
class is easier to complete successfully when you have other students to talk to and I believe
developing a relationship with the professor outside of the classroom will make you more
memorable down the road. Finally, I have been working on making my “elevator statement” for
use at future networking events such as career fairs or job interviews. Elevator statements are
branding statements that demonstrate you have the other person or company’s interests at heart. I
will be creating this statement to include information such as my background, relevant skills,
knowledge, experiences and any other things that make me unique (Faulkner and Nierenberg,
2017).

DISC Personality Assessment

Communication within a project group is necessary for the project’s success. Project
groups are most effective when the team consists of members with different personality types.
Each style has its own strengths and weaknesses so no one style is superior. My results show that
my dominant personality type is compliance followed by steadiness, influence and dominance. I
have no significant objections to these results. I believe that I am not a very dominant individual
since I am rarely ever firm, forceful or strong-willed. When it comes to
compliance/conscientiousness, I do find myself to be very analytical, precise and afraid of
making mistakes. Regarding influence and steadiness, which are my two middle personality
types, I find myself to only exude some of the traits that go along with these personality types.
When it comes to steadiness, I believe I am even tempered and tactful, but not necessarily
accommodating or patient. When it comes to influence, I believe I am outgoing and enthusiastic,
but not necessarily optimistic or high spirited. Overall, these results did not surprise me, and I
think my results for this DISC assessment represented me accurately. By learning what
personality type I am, I would be able to identify any gaps in my leadership skills. By knowing
what my weaknesses are, I know what I need to improve. Also, by knowing what motivates me, I
would better understand how to motivate members of my team as a project manager.
Conclusion
While engineering majors are mainly required to take technical courses like physics,
calculus, statics and chemistry, very little emphasis is placed on written and oral communication.
Communication in engineering teams is crucial to ensuring the success of any project. This
Communication for Project Managers course provides engineering students with the tools needed
to effectively communicate in a team setting. In this paper, I discussed the important concepts I
have learned from the required readings and class discussions, how I have increased my
networking potential thus far and I finished by discussing my DISC Personality Assessment
results. I plan to utilize the information I have gathered from the readings, class discussions and
my DISC personality assessment to improve my communication skills both in my personal life
and in a professional environment.
The engineering field is generally viewed as containing those individuals that have an
interest and knowledge in subjects such as math and science. Most of the required courses for
engineers are indeed courses from these subjects. For me personally, only one public speaking
course is required to complete my engineering degree in addition to one technical writing course.
Communication for Project Managers highlights the importance of communication in the
engineering field in addition to the technical knowledge requirement. For a project to be
completed on time, within budget and on scope, all members of the team, most importantly the
project manager, must be able to effectively communicate with each other. Students in this
course are required to complete certain readings each week, participate in the weekly online
discussions and apply the skills learned during these activities in their daily lives. In this paper, I
will discuss the important concepts I have learned from the required readings and class
discussions, how I have increased my networking potential thus far and I will finish by
discussing my DISC Personality Assessment results.
 Works Cited

Faulkner, M., & Nierenberg, A. (2012). Networking for College Students and Graduates.

Pearson Learning Solutions.

Gallo, C. (2019). Five stars: The communication secrets to get from good to great. London: Pan

Books.

O'Hair, D., Rubenstein, H., & Stewart, R. A. (2019). A pocket guide to public speaking. Boston:

Bedford/St. Martins.

Patterson, K., Grenny, J., Switzler, A., & McMillan, R. (2012). Crucial conversations. New

York: McGraw-Hill.