University of Maryland, College Park

Pearl Diving Assignment 2

Jaelyn Boyden

Communications for Project Managers: ENCE424

Dr. Shana Webster-Trotman

April 1, 2023
Introduction
Difficult conversations are a part of our everyday life. These conversations can arise due
unexpected scenarios in a professional or personal setting. Regardless if a scenario is positive or
negative, effective communication is the only way to effectively handle these situations.
Communication for Project Managers successfully teaches students how to practice and
understand how to attack uncomfortable conversations head on by allowing us to understand
how to communicate to different personality types, acknowledging our own conflict
management styles and how to use these as strengths in difficult conversations. Through
specific reading, many class exercises, and videos, this class helps prepare students for crucial
conversations in not only the professional world, but also personal. Over the course of this
semester, my understanding of how to tackle uncomfortable situations has improved due to
these many class activities and other resources.
Team Email
The team email below is based on me being the project manager of a mid-sized
two-story, single-family home in Maryland. The clients of this project are a young married
couple expecting their first child. They have provided signed, pre-existing floor plans and have
given us a little over six months to complete this project. There is a hard deadline of six and a
half months – from early to mid-August – because the couple would like to have no less than a
month and a half to prepare their home for their baby.
Thus far, the team has completed the pre-construction process, understanding the state of
Maryland's schedule and weather conditions. Since the construction phase will begin during
spring, lots of rain is expected. Additionally, we completed the first two steps of the
construction process, excavating the site and laying the foundation, but after, the process slowed
down for no reason.
During the pre-construction phase, we reached out to our subcontractors for electrical
and plumbing. They notified us that their teams are also very busy and could fit us in on May
20th-25th. The subcontractors also told us that if we need to push the deadline back, it could be
at least a two to a three-week setback. With this background information, the email states:
Good day Team!
I hope this email finds you well. First, I would like to say a great job with the
pre-construction phase of the client’s project. As you know, we have completed our two
steps within the construction phase, which is excavating and laying the foundation of our
client’s single family home. Since we had no delays with the foundation's curing
process, the wood framing process has begun! The framing process should have begun
Wednesday, March 29th. After assessing the project's progress today, March 31st, we are
not as far along as we should be.
Per the schedule, our electrical and plumbing subcontractors will be coming May
20th-25th, in order for us to stay on track with our project’s deadline. Our next two
steps, including the framing process, will take about 21 work days, if weather permits.
This gives us only three weeks of make-up days for weather. Given that safety is our
priority, we do not want to work in rainy conditions. So far, it will be raining this
 Wednesday, Thursday, and the weekend, which can already push us back almost a week.
I understand that the client gave us a pretty early deadline for the project, causing
our schedule to be tight. But, unfortunately, they are not willing to move their deadline
more than a week or two. With this, I want to ask if there is anything I can do to help or
support you all through the process. Please do not hesitate to contact me with any
suggestions! Have a great rest of your day.

Thanks,
Jaelyn Boyden
Project Manager

In order to effectively address the “lack of luster” of the team, the email should consist
of ethos, pathos, and logos. In order to appeal to emotions, the email began with a warm
opening, followed by the acknowledgment of successful work that has already been completed.
Doing this eased the mood while showing appreciation for the hard work. Next, I state the
problem and support it with logic or facts. In this context, facts were pulled from the
well-understood schedule, hard deadlines, and the given restrictions. Before closing the email,
pathos was used by acknowledging that the project was challenging with the timeline given. In
order to wrap up the email, I appeal to both credibility and emotions by asking ways I could
help or support the team, whether that is hosting meetings with clients for a slight extension,
bringing more people on the team – if possible – or even providing my time to help on-site.
Important Concepts or Techniques from Class
The first concept from Communication for Project Managers I found important was
understanding the DISC personalities and how to approach each professionally or personally.
Understanding the different personalities is essential because I am considered a high "S," or
steady personality. Which means I look for acceptance and security. With this, certain
personalities are harder to understand or relate to, primarily through writing. For instance, when
sending emails, I am very high-spirited and personable and want the recipient to" feel" the
genuineness of the email. Although this may be my intention, not all personalities have the
same way of reciprocating the same ideas. For example, high "D," or dominant personalities,
maybe straight to the point with emails, use less "exciting" punctuation, or sometimes might be
short and sweet.
Sometimes, these emails can come off as impersonal and non-enthusiastic, which is only
sometimes the case. Understanding the personality of a highly dominant person now helps me
understand how to interact with them. Highly dominant personalities in the workplace do not
like being taken advantage of or appearing weak to their peers. With this, they can come off as
direct and sometimes forceful to those who do not understand them. So, in order to
communicate with them effectively, a person would have to be straightforward and factual and
come up with potential solutions. For example, we participated in a class activity where we had
to email our "boss," who had a highly dominant personality. Although it was not like most
emails I sent, it opened my eyes to understanding how to interact with other personalities in
order to effectively communicate a problem, which could lead to a more successful solution.
The email had less "fluff," more logistical statements, and a way to solve the problem. In order
to use this concept taught in class, I adjusted my personality to accommodate the other
personalities within the workplace, especially a higher-up.
A technique I learned from this class would be the YouTube video "Six Ways to Control
Stage Fright" by Bill Lampton. As an architecture student with a minor in construction project
management, there are a lot of presentations and opportunities for public speaking. Given that I
am an introvert, who suffers from anxiety and large amounts of self-criticism, presentation
anxiety is typical for me. After watching this video, Lampton was able to help me relate to not
only him but celebrities like Barabra Streisand, who still have anxiety when speaking to an
audience. Additionally, Lampton emphasizes that you can never eliminate stage fright, only
control it (00:00:17). Understanding that you can never stop it puts into perspective that
everybody experiences it. Some just understand how to manage it better than others.
One of the six ways that stuck out the most to me would be thinking about the
symptoms. In this section of the video Bill Lampton lists the common symptoms of stage fright
but then explains that these symptoms are "internal, not external" and that the audience may not
notice them. With this, Lampton suggests having someone record your presentation, so you can
play it back later (00:02:11). Once you play your presentation back, you may realize that it was
alright! Another tip he provided was to "forget impressions," in this sense, he explains that as
the speaker. Forget the audience's first impression of you, but think about how you want the
audience to view your message. Do not worry about whether you "mispronounce a word" or
make an improper gesture; your main focus is to get your message or idea across to the
audience in an effective way (00:03:35). The last piece of advice Lampton provided that stuck
would be that you, as the speaker, hold "the trump card" (00:03:52). In this context, the speaker
had the trump card because they are the only ones who know what was meant to be said or what
was left out (00:04:05).
In order to use the tips provided by Bill Lampton, I will utilize the technique of having
someone record my speech, so I can understand how I felt while presenting versus how my
image demeanor looked to the audience. In regards to forgetting the audience's impressions of
me as a person, I will focus more on ways for my ideas to make a lasting impression. Out of all
the advice given, the trump card would be the most useful for me because I struggle with harsh
self-criticism and overthinking, and analyzing. With this, after the presentations are over, I
begin to overanalyze what I did not say, what I should have said, and what I stumbled on; but,
Lampton stated, only you, as the presenter, know what was missing in the presentation
(00:04:20).

Crucial Conversations Techniques

In the scenario of my potential boss calling me an “idiot” in front of my entire team, I
would first acknowledge what was said and understand how it has made me feel. At the
moment, I would not address the situation to keep everything professional on my end, but after,
I would approach my boss to express my discontent with his choice of words. Although this
would be a difficult conversion to have, I would be encouraging myself to refuse the fool's
choice” of choosing peace or honesty on how I feel (Grenny). If the situation becomes heated on
my bosses side I would make the situation safer by removing myself if I feel uncomfortable,
until my boss has calmed down, this will allow me and him the opportunity to understand the
conversation will consist of and how to handle it appropriately (Grenny). After stepping away
from the conversation, it can allow me to figure out how to reword the given issue.
Once I am ready to return to the conversation, I would something along the lines of “I’d
like to talk about what may have upset you, which resulted in you calling me and ‘idiot’ in front
of the entire team,” this could give my boss an opportunity to understand what his feeling were
toward the situation that caused him to use such name calling (Grenny). If he is willing to talk
about his feelings in an effective way, I would allow him the floor as long as mutual respect is
maintained throughout the conversation. After discussing and coming to an understanding of
what the situation intelled, I would ask if there would be a better way of handling their
frustration without calling their associates outside of their name.
Overcoming Adversity Story
Growing up, I was not the brightest kid in the classroom. I loved being in my imaginary
world, where I would daydream, doodle, and create fictional stories. Although this was the case,
I did not hate or dislike school. It was just hard for me to pay attention and retain information.
In the first grade, I moved from a private school to a public school, where I had to make all new
friends and adjust to the pace of the new school’s environment. At this age, most students knew
how to read, write and do basic math, whereas I was still struggling with basic words like “the
cat in the hat” and understanding the difference between the letters “d” and “b” or the numbers
“6” and “9.”
In public school, we were required to take standardized tests. During elementary school, these
tests comprised math, reading comprehension, math, science, and history. There were three
primary categories for the results of the tests, basic, intermediate, and advanced. Given that I
struggled so much with school and anxiety, I would always place myself in the basic category.
Since I was so young and still self-critical, I did not understand what was wrong with me and
why I did not understand the concepts. As I matured, I started to work harder and find ways to
improve academically. I began to ask my parents for help, but that did help as much as I
expected. When my father helped with reading, he would often get frustrated with me because I
was having so much difficulty. When it came to understanding math, my father would get
frustrated because he did not understand and then shortly would take the frustration out on me.
Growing up during this time, my grandparents lived in Texas while my family and I still lived
in Maryland. They would take months at a time to visit us. During these visits, my grandmother
would make sure to take the time to help me with schoolwork. She would listen to me read,
coach me, and help me understand what I had just read. When it came to math, she was patient,
worked with me, and tried her best to understand what was asked of me. While visiting once,
my grandmother found out I was having trouble with my vision because when I read to her for
homework, I would insert words that were not on the paper or miss words. When asking me
why I missed or added a comment, I would tell her, “I can’t see.” Although I told my father
many times, he did not always believe me until my grandmother spoke. A few months later, I
went to the eye doctor and completed my eye exam and found out I was severely nearsighted,
meaning I could not see much more than a foot and a half away without glasses. That day I
came home with glasses, I felt like I was living in a completely different world.
After getting glasses, I was able to pay more attention in classes and began to study more.
Once I started sixth grade, I received my first 4.0-grade point average! From there, I wanted to
get good grades. I still struggled with math at this point, but I was significantly better. In middle
school, I was placed in all honors classes, and once I attended eighth grade, I started Algebra
Ⅰ. I loved this class, my teacher was terrific, and I viewed every equation as a puzzle. After
this excellent foundation for future math, I was excelling. A year later, I attended high school. I
told myself I wanted to be in the top two of my graduating class. So, I worked hard, paid
attention, studied, asked questions, stayed with teachers, took advanced placement classes, and
took college courses. After four years of backbreaking and stressful work, I was able to
accomplish my goal of being Friendly High School’s Class of 2020 salutatorian!
Although I have put so much into my academic journey to overcome adversity, I still have
struggles that I am working hard to overcome. With all this hard work, I did become harder on
myself and feared any type of failure because of the idea of feeling incapable again. Although
this is the case, I have recently started giving myself more grace and understanding because I
have come so far. I understand I am only human, and continuing to put myself under so much
stress will not do my mind or body well. I have also been reassuring myself that if you put in all
your effort but do not receive excellency, it is okay because there is always room for
improvement, and all you can do is do your best.
This journey taught me a lot about myself and my capabilities. Although I have flaws and
personal struggles, I have learned that I can overcome anything with patience and hard work.
Big Five Personality Assessment
Based on my big five personality assessment, I agree with the results. The assessment
states that I am 92 percent "openness," 81 percent "agreeable," and 92 percent "neuroticism." In
regards to openness, people who score high on this portion are usually intellectual, complex,
creative, and much more. I agree with this statement because I have always been a creative
individual who is open to new ideas and creating new projects regardless of them contradicting
what I already know or have experienced.
Agreeable personalities rather not compete with others and tend to be empaths who love
to care for others. All my life, I have put others' needs before my own and have always been a
person who can feel others' feelings. With this, being around too many people with different
energies and emotions can drain me, and this can cause me to go into a hole until I fully get a
hold of my feelings.
Lastly, neuroticism is a person who is more prone to negative emotions, whether they
can help it or not. Given that this is the case, we tend to handle situations with these negative
emotions. I can relate to this because I have always struggled with controlling my feelings,
especially in arguments; this has been something that I have been trying to work on as I have
grown older because I realized it does nothing but escalate a situation.
Based on the JUNG personality assessment, the results were similar, if not the same. The
JUNG assessment identified me as an INFJ personality type, meaning I am an introvert,
intuitive, a feeler, and a judger. An Introvert is described as reserved and private and can pull
energy from being alone ("Your Jung Personality Report"). This type of personality matched my
low score in the extraversion category, along with my agreeable nature. In order to be intuitive,
an individual focuses on imaginative and "original" information, which matches the openness
type in the big five personalities ("Your Jung Personality Report"). In regards to the feeler type,
an individual has a strong inclination to care for and help others, matching my agreeable
personality ("Your Jung Personality Report").
The DISC personality assessment also agrees with the results of my big five
personalities. My overall DISC personality is "steady," meaning I am a "patient, persistent," and
thoughtful individual. In regards to the big five assessment, this goes hand in hand with my
agreeable personality type, where I enjoy taking care of others and tend to care for them more
than I care for myself. The benefits of taking these tests help an individual become self-aware of
her tendencies. Although personality is made up of more than we may think, these test coils
help a person understand why they may act the way they do. Given that this is the case,
individuals may be able to use these results to predict how they may or may not react within a
given situation. Additionally, they can help understand why some people may or may not
gravitate towards a particular group, why they may feel better in their own space, or crave being
around others.
Overall, personalities can help a person in a workplace because each has its benefits as
well as flaws. Still, some personalities can pull from others, when it comes to their weak areas,
this can make group assignments easier because tasks could be delegated based on the skills of
each personality type. Within a team, they could create a beautiful and productive group that
can open each others' eyes to different ideas and new skills.
Conclusion
Overall, difficult conversations can make for an uncomfortable situation, but
understanding the situation, your feelings and maintaining mutual respect can allow for an
effective conversation which can result in a mutual understanding. Within communication,
understanding personality types can be critical because it helps an individual understand how
to interact with someone in a professional setting, while also coaching someone on how to shift
their personality to get the most out of a conversation. In communications for project
managers, we are taught how to use our experiences and turn them into inspirational stories
which can help show how we may have overcome adversity by using ethos, pathos, and logos.
Furthermore, in this course we are exposed to many scenarios which allow us to either be
vulnerable or attack crucial conversations head on. With this, the class prepares its students for
personal situations and the professional world.
 Work Cited
Grenny, Joseph, et al. Crucial Conversations. Second ed., McGraw Hill, 2012.

Lampton, Bill. “Six Ways to Control Your Stage Fright.” YouTube, 20 Apr. 2007,
https://youtu.be/P2yvpOHuvZA.
“Your Jung Personality Report.” Edited by 123Test team, 123test, 123test Team, 20 Feb. 2023,
https://www.123test.com/report/PRBCR2X8HDF6BXKHRV/.