University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 3

Austin Atienza
Communication for Project Managers: ENCE 424
Dr. Shana-Webster Trotman
October 26, 2019
Introduction
Too often we are faced with less than ideal situations where we must bring up and discuss
difficult topics. Knowing how to handle these situations is crucial in becoming an effective
communicator. In this essay, I will write an email to my team discussing their lackluster performance and
pushing for improvement. I will then discuss an important concept from the classroom activity. From
there, I will move into handling a scenario where the boss has called me an idiot. To end, I will then
discuss my Big Five Personality Trait assessment.

Email to my team
Dear team,
Being the team leader, I want nothing more than to see all of you succeed. I believe that your
success if my success, and my success is your success. You all have chosen me as the team leader
because you all have said that I am the most knowledgeable on this topic and the most capable of bringing
us all together. With this being said, I want to discuss our previous performance. We have significantly
underperformed, and our work needs major improvements. While it is unfortunate that this has happened,
we must view this as a valuable learning experience and use it to grow and better ourselves.
While this may seem like a difficult task, it is not something that we haven’t accomplished
before. There have been many months where our team was ranked one of the highest performing and I
have no doubt that we can achieve this once again. If we can do it once, then we can do it again. I
encourage all of you to think back to the month when we were ranked as the number one team.
Remember all the laughter, excitement, and pride that we shared knowing that our hard work,
determination, and most importantly, our ability to work well together has paid off. I know that each and
everyone of you is hard working and determined, so that leaves only one area that I see where we have
allowed ourselves to falter: our ability to work well together.
That month that we ranked first, our team worked as a unit. We helped our team members when
they were struggling and we asked for help when we were struggling. This allowed us to overcome any
obstacle we faced. If we can work to build this type of system again, I am sure that an improvement in
overall performance will follow. Look to each other for support. Help others and ask for help when
needed and always remember that my success is your success and your success is my success. I have no
doubt that we can once again rank number one.
Sincerely,
Austin Atienza

Important Concept from Classroom Activity

The art of persuasion is an important skill to master in order to achieve great success. We must
continue to persuade others in different scenarios. Some of these scenarios could be: persuading our boss
to give as a raise, persuading an interviewer to hire us, or persuading a potential client that our company
is the best for the job. An important concept I learned from this week’s classroom activity, therefore, is
the six principles of persuasion.
 One principle that stood out to me specifically would be liking. The idea of this principle is that
people like those who like them or see them as friends. I believe that this is a powerful principle because
people are more likely to do what you want when they see you as a “friend” and therefore believe that you
have good intentions for making them do something. I noticed how powerful this principle is during the
last interview I attended. When I was interviewing for an internship position, I was asked the question,
“Why do you want to work for this company?” I answered the question genuinely, but I also
complimented them in the process. I told them that I liked how their company allowed our scholarship
group to visit one of their construction sites and I know that they donate money that ultimately helped
students like me get scholarships. I told them that I would love to work for a company that I know helps
the community and gives back because I personally know how life changing that can be. By giving this
compliment and answering the question genuinely, I believe that this played a major role in ultimately
getting an offer from them. I will continue to use this technique in the future. I find it easy to give genuine
compliments to others, however, I have not thought about using this as a technique of persuasion.

Using Crucial Conversation Techniques

Being called out in front of everyone is not only rude, but it is also embarrassing and hurtful.
While the easiest course of action would be to either stay quiet or to retaliate, this is often not the best
way of handling it. In this scenario, my boss has called me an idiot in front of the entire team and use
techniques from Crucial Conversations to best handle the situation.
After being called an idiot in front of the entire team, inevitable emotions such as hurt and anger
may arise. However, the first thing that I would do would be to Start with the Heart. With this, I would
focus on what I really want, which in this scenario is most likely the success of the team. While arguing
back with the boss or moving to silence seems like an easy choice, this would be known as the “Sucker’s
Choice.” This would not solve anything and would not get me or anyone closer to the ultimate goal of the
success of the team.
The next technique would be Learn to Look. Here is when I recognize when the conversation has
become crucial and unsafe. At this point, the boss has already called me an idiot in front of everyone, so
the area has already become unsafe and most definitely crucial. Recognizing this is important as it allows
me too see that there is a bigger problem at play and that I must address the bigger issue instead of the
original jab when I was called an idiot. It could be that the boss and I do not agree on the same idea or
that he has felt hurt by something that I previously said.
The next step is to Make It Safe. This is an important and difficult step, especially when someone
calls you hurtful words. Here I would ask myself why safety is at risk. Have I done something that
compelled the boss to call me an idiot? Have I also been respectful in my manner of talking to him? Here,
I would tell the boss that I want nothing more than for our team to succeed. This is our mutual purpose.
We are a team, which means that we both work towards the same goals. We may disagree on the path to
get there, but we ultimately want the same thing.
Once this mutual respect has been reestablished and the situation is safe again, I would then start
to focus on finding the best path to achieving our goal. I would ask questions such as why he wants to go
the path that he does. I would also explain why I want to go the path that I want to go. From here, we can
both work towards the ultimate goal without feeling like the other person is out to hurt each other.
 Scenarios like this are sure to arise at some point or another. Too often these scenarios end in a
hurt relationship and nothing accomplished. Knowing how to handle these situations can make me a
valuable asset to any company. This can also help me keep relationships intact while resolving difficult
issues.

Big Five Personality Assessment

By knowing our personality types, we can become better equipped to face different types of
situations. After taking the Big Five Personality trait, I scored the highest on Openness with a score of
69%. My second highest score was Agreeableness with a score of 62.5% and after that is Neuroticism
with a score of 54%. My lowest score is Extraversion with a score Extraversion.
Based on the description of Openness, I am a bit surprised that I ranked the highest on this trait.
Openness is described as “strongly related to a person’s interest in art and culture” and people who are
high in this trait “tend to enjoy the arts and seek out unusual, complex forms of self-expression.” I would
not describe myself as someone who has a strong interest in art and I definitely do not express myself in
complex ways. What I strongly agree on in this trait, however, is that I do like to think in “abstract” and
“complex ways.” I do enjoy thinking and learning and I can spend a long time by myself, letting my
thoughts run wild.
My next highest trait is Agreeableness and this is something that I strongly agree on more.
Agreeableness is described as “a person’s tendency to put others’ needs ahead of their own.” This is
something that I have always known myself to do. I care a lot about the relationship and feel a strong
sense of empathy with other people. This closely mirrors my result on the DISC personality trait where
my highest score was Steadiness. Both these traits focus on maintaining the relationship with others. This
trait is helpful when I am in a group setting as it allows me to connect with everyone in my team. This
allows me to easily build relationship and trust with other people. Despite this, I also feel like this trait has
its own downsides. I sometimes feel that I put other people first too often, even at the cost of my own
personal well-being.
My lowest score is Extraversion at 46%. Extraversion is described as the “inclination to seek
simulation from the outside world, especially in the form of attention from other people.” This score is
something that I agree with. This also lines up with my introvert personality trail from the JUNG
personality test. I usually do not go out of my way to engage with others and I usually don’t get a “high”
from social achievements. While I believe that it is good for me to not worry and act in order to please
others, I also believe that it would be extremely beneficial for me to talk to actively engage and build
relationships with other people. I feel that I should seek out friendships in order to build connections with
others.
The benefits of taking different personality type assessments is that you get multiple viewpoints.
This is like asking for a second opinion. Here, you can find similarities and differences from the different
assessments that you take. For example, being empathetic and introverted is something that I have gotten
consistently on my assessments. This suggests that this is most likely a trait that I have, use and portray
often. Ranking the highest on Openness on the Big Five Personality Assessment is something that was
very surprising to me. This means that I must reflect more to see if this is a trait that I may possibly have,
or if I feel like I can dismiss this trait as one that I have strongly.
Conclusion
We all have faced and will continue to face difficult social situations. Being an effective
communicator will help in these situations to help resolve the issue at hand while still maintain the
relationship. Knowing how to persuade others can also become a crucial tool in these situations. Finally,
knowing our personality traits can help us learn how we think, feel, and act so that we may continue to
grow and improve ourselves to ultimately become an effective communicator.
 Works Cited

Patterson, Kerry, et al. Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High. McGraw-Hill,

2012.