Mastering Team Skills and Interpersonal Communication (Week 8)

 

Hi guys, thank you for stopping by.

 

This post is about team skills and interpersonal communication. I have worked with a lot of groups and I find this information useful, hence the reason I have decided to share it with you.

I have tried to summarize it but I added a link to a more detailed video that will help you get a better sense of the topic.

 

 Interpersonal communication is simply the exchange of information between two or more people.

 
The following are some characteristics of effective team communication that will be useful to group leaders:

• Have a clear objective- Let your team members know what you all need to achieve.

• Share a sense of purpose- Let each team member know their role.

• Communicate openly and honestly

• Reach decisions by consensus- Try to make sure everyone knows why a decision is being made.

• Think in creative ways- Brainstorm collectively wit your team.

• Know how to resolve conflict

Learning the characteristics of effective team communication revealed some things I did wrong in my previous interactions with teams.

Although the work got done and the team finally got along as you can see in the picture, previous knowledge of the above characteristics would have allowed for less time settling misunderstanding and more time being productive.

Watch the video below to get a better understanding of  Mastering Team Skills and Interpersonal Communication.

Thank you for reading!

 

 

Writing- How to get things done (Week 7)

 

Hello, welcome back to Life and Living with Lade.

This post is about writing. The context is basically coming up with a to-do list for yourself to help you get things done.

The reason I decided to share this is because the knowledge and practice of writing has helped me greatly since I began to put it to action.

In this post, I will answer the 5 W’s and 1 H of writing in terms of getting things done and becoming more productive.

5 W’s and 1 H

1.      Who? –

You are writing for yourself. You are the writer and the reader.

2.      What? –

You are writing anything that takes up psychic real estate. Things that you need to get done that distract you from what you need to be focusing on. Maybe you need to buy dog food and you are trying to finish an important homework, write that thought of buying dog food on your to-do list… once you do that, you will find it easier to focus on finishing your homework and concentrating on what needs to be done.

 

3.      Where? –

You can write anywhere. Stationery, when you are in one position or in transit when you are moving from one place to another.

4.      When? –

Whenever, especially when there is psychic noise. Once it comes to mind and distracts you from focusing on what you are working on.

5.      Why? –

There are many reasons why you should write down thought but the most important ones are: it helps to focus on one task at a time, it helps you get things done and most importantly you can refer to it if you forget about what you need to do.

6.      How? –

People have different ways that they write. Some people use planners, calendars, portable devices and soon. The trick is to use whatever works for you. I have found that the old school notepad and pen work best for me so that is my preference.

Thank you for reading, I hope you try to write more often now after reading it. You would be surprised how productive you will become. I wish I started prating this from my freshman year.

Watch the video below to learn more about writing. I also recommended a book that will help you get things done if you decide to learn more about writing to become more productive.

Thank you for reading!

 

 

 

Penn States New Logo (week 6)

Hi guys, thank you for stopping by...

For this weeks post, i decided to share the story i wrote about Penn States new logo.

For reference here is a picture of the two logos, old and new. Please let me know what you thoughts are in the comment section. 

Old logo on the top, New logo below it.

Thank you for reading!

New Logo

It is difficult to determine if the university has achieved the purpose of changing the Penn State logo.

Strength, distinction, memorability, endurance, visual appeal, meaningfulness and legal viability were supposedly the seven elements that influenced the design of the new logo.

However, it is difficult to comprehend how $128,000 was spent on a logo that turned out the way it did.

To put it bluntly, the new logo shows that more value was placed on the opinions of the so-called experts who designed it than the reaction of the students and alumni who have to live with it.

Specifically, the graphic of the lion head in the shield looks too much like a comic, and the font used to spell out “Penn State” is not classy or professional enough.

Many believe that it has failed to maintain the original heritage and prestige of the university. The old logo boasted the year Penn State was founded – a fact that many alumni were proud of. The new logo, however, dismisses that part our heritage by excluding it.

Even though it can be easily argued that the shield and lion head are symbols of Penn State heritage, zooming in on just the face does not convey the power or grandeur that the Lion Shrine has come to represent.

The new logo is supposedly designed to maintain the original heritage while being more friendly in this digital era, compared to the old logo that was developed in the 1980’s. While the logo may be more modern and easier to use digitally, that shouldn’t be the reason to change something that has come to mean so much to the very people who make up this great university.

Penn State has nearly 100,000 students enrolled across its system, with more than 600,000 living alumni across the globe. It is reasonable for the alums and students of Penn State to expect a logo that reflects the heritage of the university.