Pearl Diving Assignment 2

Catherine Kasica

Communication for Project Managers: ENCE424

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

March 30, 2023

Over the past few weeks, this class has taught me new skills about communication and
personality styles which have helped broaden my knowledge and I have been able to apply in
real life situations. Communication plays such a crucial role in our lives and our relationships
with others, so it is extremely important to understand the different methods and styles. I have
learned how to cater my own communication to the specific scenario I am in so I can more
effectively work with others, which in turn helps me. The Big Five Personality test especially
helped me learn the roles different personality traits can play when conversing, and provided me
with a better understanding of how I can use those to my own advantage.

A. Team Email

Appealing to ethos, logos, and pathos, I have created an email to address my team's lackluster
performance. I began by using ethos to establish the credibility of not only myself but my team. I
then used logos to specifically address the problem and state the facts. Lastly, I closed out the
email by appealing to pathos to generate an emotional connection to the team members reading
the email.

Dear Team,

I hope this email finds you all well. Over the past couple of weeks, I have been
monitoring our team’s performance and that has been a cause for concern for me. We
have not been meeting our deadlines, and this is an issue I would like to address head on.
I want to make sure that we are all putting our best work forward to meet the expectations
of our clients. We need to take accountability for the lackluster performance that has been
occurring over the past few weeks, and as team leader it is my responsibility to ensure we
continue to uphold our great reputation and surpass client expectations.

As a team, we have a very strong reputation and have been recognized on multiple
occasions for the excellence in our work. Last year, we were named the number one team
at our company conference. This was an amazing accomplishment, and I want you all to
know I am extremely proud of you and impressed with the work everyone put in to
receive this award. As a team, it is our goal to uphold this reputation, and in doing so we
must take accountability for the work we are delivering to our clients. My years of
experience in the industry and motivation for excellence have also been recognized by
the company at these conferences, and without the help of you all this would not have
been possible. Just like this would not have been possible without you all, that means this
must make a team effort to maintain these fantastic reputations we hold, and we must
take responsibility for our recent actions.
 Last week, our team missed the deadline for our current project. We were expected to
have the floor plans submitted for approval to our client by Thursday, yet we did not
submit them until Monday. As a result, we are now behind schedule and must work hard
these next few days to ensure that we catch up so no more deadlines have to be pushed
back. This is now my main priority, as our current performance may lead to financial
losses for the company as well as damage our stellar reputation.

I know that our reputation for excellence is important to everyone, and in order to
maintain this we must all work together to achieve our goals. I understand that we all
have things going on in our personal lives, and I am always available to meet if someone
wants to talk or is feeling overwhelmed. We owe it to ourselves and our other team
members to not let that impact our performance as a team.

I would like to organize a meeting next Thursday with you all so we can discuss our
recent actions, and create a game plan to ensure this does not happen again. We need to
put our best foot forward, and I look forward to having a conversation about how we can
meet our goals. I am committed to supporting you all in every way that I can, and look
forward to meeting with you all next week.

Best regards,

Catherine

B. Appealing to Different Forms of Leadership

One concept that we learned about in class recently was the different styles of leadership
people can hold, and how to appeal to each one. Understanding the DISC personality and
leadership style of the people you work with, as well as yourself, is crucial in being able to
communicate effectively with them. In week 5, we were assigned a group activity in which we
received a type of leadership style and were tasked with writing an email to them that would
appeal to this style. My group was assigned with the DISC personality style influencing, which is
people oriented and more outgoing. When drafting our email, we made sure to create a personal
connection and also engage in small talk, which is something that people with the influencing
style enjoy. It is so crucial to understand one’s DISC personality because it can help you with
communication, conflict resolution, and overall understanding their style of work by being able
to speak in a way that appeals to them.
One way I was able to apply this concept recently was during an interview. One of my
interviewers asked me if when working with others, I prefer to take on a leadership role or act
more as a background support system. I was able to use the knowledge I learned from taking the
DISC personality test to answer this question. I told the interviewer that the way I respond to
group scenarios is heavily dependent on who I am working with, and understanding what the
leadership style of my peers is. I told her that if I am working in a group that has people who
tend to take on leadership roles, I tend to act more as a support system to help them achieve our
shared goals. If I am working on a team with people who tend to stay more in the background,
then I have no problem taking on a leadership role and organizing a plan of action. I used the
DISC personality test as a specific example, explaining to her that I took an assessment which
actually ranked me equally in each category of leadership style. I explained to her that this means
I am able to easily adapt to whatever situation I am in, which in turn helps me communicate and
work effectively with others, no matter what style of personality they may hold. I believe this
answer really impressed her and at the end of the interview, I received a job offer.

C. Team Scenario

If my boss called me an idiot in front of the entire team, despite not being happy about it,
I would try to handle it with professionalism. The first thing I would do is take time to reflect on
the incident, so I am not speaking rashly and letting my emotions take control. As stated in
Crucial Conversations, “when stakes rise and our emotions kick in, well, that's when we open
our mouths and don't do so well.” I would ask my boss if I could have a meeting with them in
private whenever they get a chance. After having reflected on what happened, I would use the
STATE method in Crucial Conversations to outline the conversation. This stands for sharing
your facts, telling your story, asking for the other’s path, talking tentatively, and then
encouraging testing.
Upon meeting with them, I would start out by explaining that I did not like how they
called me an idiot in front of the entire team. Using ethos, I would establish my credibility with
confidence, another technique outlined in Crucial Conversations. I would explain that I have a
very great reputation at the company and have been repeatedly recognized for my hard work. I
would then say that the contributions I have made for the company have made me a very
respected person in what I do, so I should be treated with the same respect. Using logos, which
appeals to logic, I would then explain that being called an idiot not only reflects badly on me, but
badly on my boss as well. It was a very inappropriate thing to do in front of a large group of
people, and as a result other team members may lose respect for my boss and the way they
handle certain situations. I would say that instead, if there was an issue with my performance,
they should have just pulled me aside for a private conversation instead of making it a public
ordeal. Lastly, I would use logos to appeal to their emotions. I would tell them that being called
an idiot in front of the entire team made me feel very upset and as a result caused me to doubt
myself and my work. Being disrespected like this made me less motivated to complete the work
that my boss wanted from me, since I know that I am not being treated with respect by them.
After outlining the facts and sharing my side of the story, I would invite them to share their side
of the story and explain why they felt compelled to call me an idiot in front of everyone. After
listening to them, I would then discuss their point of view and try to come to a mutual agreement
regarding the whole situation.

D. Personal Story

During my freshman year of high school, I was required to take a physics class as part of
my curriculum. Having grown up in a household with a parent who majored in physics, I was
excited about the prospect of learning more about it. After my first class, I quickly realized my
passion for learning more about this subject might be clouded by the teacher who was in charge
of the class. This teacher was new to the school, so not much was known about him, but it was
easy to gauge his personality after the first day. He spent the majority of the class talking about
himself and belittling the knowledge of the students in the class. He appeared very close minded
and his attitude gave the impression that he did not think much of us, with the exception of one
student who he had deemed as his ‘favorite’ for no particular reason. I tried to not think much of
this, telling myself that maybe he just was having a bad day. It soon became clear to me that this
is how he composed himself all of the time, making learning conditions very poor. It also
appeared that he personally had something out for me, the reasoning for that beyond me, but I
tried to not let that get to me.
This continued until one particular day, when we were given what I thought would be a
fun assignment. We were all given the same physics problem, which was structured as a brain
teaser. We were then told by the teacher that the first person to get it correct would be awarded
extra credit! I have always loved thinking analytically and problem solving, so I was very excited
to begin. After about fifteen minutes of independent work, I had reached what I believed to be
the right answer. Extremely proud of myself for being the first one to complete it, I took my
paper up to him where he began looking over it. “Your answer is correct…,” he began, “but I
think you cheated.” After he said these words my mouth dropped open. I took pride in myself for
being a good student and cheating is something I have always been very strongly against, and
even if someone had wanted to, it would have been physically impossible to cheat on this type of
problem. He walked up to the person who was sitting two seats away from me and glanced at her
paper. “She has similar work to you, that is why I think you cheated. Therefore, I will not give
you the extra credit.” I was stunned because of course she would have similar work to me if she
was on the right track to solving the problem. We were all given the same question and there was
only one right answer. “Yes,” I said, “she has similar work to me because she is solving the
problem correctly. There is only one way to solve it, so if she is on the right track our work
would be the same, just like anyone else’s who is on the right track. She also has not finished the
problem yet, so how would I have been able to cheat when she doesn’t even have an answer?”
He refused to listen to this, and just continued repeating that he would not be giving me the extra
credit. About ten minutes later, the next person to finish, who just so happened to be his favorite
student, took their finished work up to him. He congratulated them, saying that they would be
receiving the extra credit. He then went over the problem on the board for the rest of the class,
and not to my surprise, the correct work and answer were exactly what I had on my paper. This
incident left a really bad impression on me and the unfairness of the situation shocked me.
We had parent teacher conferences a few weeks later, and he was extremely rude to my
mom, who had decided to go to them. He told her “she is nothing more than a B student” and
that really upset me. I have always done well academically and that was something I took
extreme pride in. As a student, there was not much I could do on my end, except to prove him
wrong. On the last day of class we received our final exam grades back. Before handing them out
to us, he told us the highest grade in the class had been a 98% and the class average for the exam
was 70%. When I received my exam back, there was a 98% circled in red at the top of the paper.
I’m sure it pained him to give that back to me, as his “nothing more than a B student” has just
earned the highest grade and finished the class with an A+. This was a challenging situation for
me, because as a student there was not much I could do about having a bad teacher, but through
my hard work, resilience, and ability to not let his words and actions get to me, I was able to
prove him wrong, which I believe was the most I could do in this situation.

E. Big Five Personality Assessment

The Big Five Personality Test measures and ranks you based on the five major
personality traits: openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism.
Going into this assessment, I was not really sure what to expect and did not have any
preconceived notions about which traits I would rank the highest in. I ended up ranking the
highest in openness, which describes one’s tendency to think abstractly and in complex ways.
The definition listed for openness on the test initially surprised me, as I thought it would pertain
more to one’s willingness to listen to new ideas and meet new people. After analyzing my
results, I definitely agree that openness is a trait that I strongly possess. As an architecture major,
I would describe myself as creative and a problem solver, which both align with the definition
listed for openness. I often have to come up with new and innovative ideas for design solutions,
and although I do base a lot of my decision making on facts there is still that element of
creativity I possess. I scored 83% for openness, which I believe is accurate as I am on the more
creative side but still tend to be very practical in my decision making, which accounts for 17%.
The second highest trait I scored in was neuroticism, with 79%. Neuroticism is described
as one’s tendency to feel and experience negative emotions like fear, sadness, guilt, and anxiety.
Although I hate to admit it, this is definitely a trait that I feel I possess strongly. I have struggled
with depression since I was really young, and this is something that I feel definitely still affects
my life on a daily basis. I do believe though that having developed it at such a young age has
helped me figure out ways to handle it on my own, which I have over a decade of experience
doing. I also experience anxiety pretty strongly, but again have been dealing with it for a while
and have found methods to control it that work for me. I would say currently that anxiety is more
prominent for me, especially during this time in my life where I have to make big decisions that
will affect my future. The past few weeks have been especially stress inducing for me, balancing
schoolwork, my current job, and interviews for post-grad positions. One specific example of this
is that I recently had an interview with a company that I would love to work for and I believe
aligns very closely with my career goals. I thought this company was one that I would have to
wait to apply for in a couple years after gaining more experience in the industry, so I was
extremely excited when they reached out to me and showed interest. I have not received a
decision back from them yet, and sometimes I will find myself constantly checking and
refreshing my email. I also will start overthinking it, and tell myself that the reason I have not
heard back yet is because they are not interested. Whenever this happens, I have to take a step
back and go over the facts in my head, which are that the interview went well, the timeframe
they gave me for getting back to me regarding their decision has not even passed yet, and that
whatever happens is not the end of the world. Grounding myself by going over the facts and
using logical thinking has definitely helped me manage stress like this a lot. Although I do
believe I strongly possess this trait, I disagree with the test that high neuroticism scorers are more
likely to react to a situation with fear, anger, sadness, and the like. I believe that since I am
self-aware enough to know I strongly possess this trait, I am also aware of the different ways it
can manifest itself in my life and take that into consideration when handling situations. Having
dealt with it for a long time has also helped me decrease the impact it has on my decision making
and I feel strongly that I make my decisions based on logic and facts, not letting my emotions
lead me.
The third highest trait that I scored in is agreeableness, with a 60%. Agreeableness is
defined as one’s tendency to put the needs of others first, and choosing to cooperate rather than
compete. I would consider myself a people pleaser, so I believe this one is pretty accurate. I also
tend to put others before myself, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but something that I need to
be better about in certain situations. I would consider myself very trusting and forgiving, another
thing that might not always be the best in certain situations but it is something that I am actively
working on. I always feel very satisfied after helping others and enjoy doing this in both my
work and personal life. I think 60% is an accurate reflection of this trait, because although I lean
more towards being a people pleaser, there are still cases where I won’t make sacrifices on my
end for others if they could negatively affect me.
I scored a 54% in conscientiousness, which is defined as one’s ability to exercise
self-discipline. I think this is an accurate reading because this is something I struggle with, but it
also is dependent on the situation. Sometimes I am extremely organized and have a checklist
with things I need to do planned out, but when I get really stressed out I can become
overwhelmed and get easily sidetracked. This is something I have been working on getting better
at and I believe having my days structured with to do lists has greatly helped me stay on track. I
find it really rewarding to be able to check things off of my list and feel extremely satisfied at the
end of the day when everything has been marked as completed, which is motivating to me.
Lastly, I scored a 25% in extraversion, which I agree with wholeheartedly. This is also
situational for me, and I find that when I am put in a group with more introverted people I tend to
be more extroverted. On the other hand, when I am working in a group of extroverts, I tend to be
quieter and act more as support than taking the lead. I find that the latter is usually the case, so I
would say the majority of the time I tend to be more introverted.
Overall I agree with the results I got for the Big Five Personality Test. I believe the
results also strongly correlate with the results I got from the JUNG Personality Test and DISC
Personality Test. For the JUNG Personality Test, I was labeled as an ISTJ, which is introvert,
sensor, thinker, and judger. I scored low on extraversion in the Big Five, which matches up with
these results. I also think that sensor is very similar to openness, as both traits tend to think more
creatively and outside of the box. For my DISC personality, I initially scored equally in each
category, meaning I am able to adapt myself to any situation. Like I mentioned in the analysis of
my Big Five above, the dominance of certain traits is highly dependent on the situation I am in.
The only trait I would say is fairly constant is neuroticism, but having a good understanding of
why I possess that allows me to manage it effectively. Understanding these different personality
assessments is extremely beneficial because it allows me to understand the best ways of working
and communication for myself, as well as recognize it in others. Using this knowledge, I can
tailor the way I problem solve and communicate to best match the needs of others.

Conclusion
The knowledge I have acquired throughout the course of this class has been extremely
beneficial in helping me in my own life. I am able to more effectively communicate with others
which has helped me answer job interview questions. I also have a better understanding of
myself and how I work best through learning about the different personality traits that I possess
the strongest. This class has really helped me learn the importance of communication, and how
that plays such a large role in our lives.
 Works Cited

Gallo, C. (2019). Five stars: The Communication Secrets to get from Good to Great. St.
Martin's Griffin.

Grenny, J., Patterson, K., McMillan, R., Switzler, A., & Gregory, E. (2022). Crucial
Conversations: Tools for talking when stakes are high. McGraw Hill.