Amani AlSaffar

MGMT 260-01

Chapter 5 Exercises

Essay Questions

1. Describe two situations that involve delegating work to other people. The first is a

positive example that worked well, and the other is one that did not. Analyze the reasons

for the success and failure of the two examples using the information about trust and

personality types from this chapter.

Let’s say I had a high position in an advertising firm, and I have 5 employees

working under me. Before representing a business or accepting a client, a full detailed

research needs to be conducted by myself in order to reach a decision. An example of

positive delegation would be involving the employees working under me in the decision

making process. I could delegate a part of the research that needs to be conducted to one

of the employees and ask for feedback. The reason this delegation would be successful is

because it would first motivate the employee and allow him to feel like he plays a major

role in the decision making process. Secondly it would minimize the time spent in the

research process; therefor tasks will be done faster. Third, it also gives me room to correct

any mistakes the employee did while conducting the task I assigned him or her since I’m

asking for feedback, this way there is room to build trust between the 2 parties, and if the

employee does a mistake, I will not have to pay for it. It will also give me room to

understand and get to know the personality each employee holds.

An example of negative delegation would be if I asked the employee working under

me to make the decision on his own regarding accepting the client or not and to proceed

unless I intervene, as I was preoccupied doing other tasks. Unless I have worked with that

employee for a long time to the point where I know his personality type and I completely

trust him, this delegation could backfire. This would allow the employee to feel

empowered, which is good unless you choose to go against his decision, which would

reverse it into being bad. If I choose to go against the decision of the employee after he

spent time and effort it would humiliate him and cause him not to trust me the next time.

It would also be hard for me to trust the employee again and delegate. This approach is

sort of like throwing a child in the deep end of the pool for him to learn how to swim;

they either succeed, or develop fear of the water. In order for delegation to work

effectively, the delegator needs to know the personality type of the employee he or she is

assigning the task to, and they need to trust them.

2. Choose a project with which you are familiar that does not have a good elevator story.

Attempt to create one and explain how it could be used to promote the project.

Project Story of an Innovative App

An entrepreneurial project team at Wentworth Institute of Technology is creating the

‘Instant Assistant’ App. The App works like Uber, but instead of requesting cabs, you’re

requesting assistants that can do any task for you within the categories the app offers. The

team developed 3 different categories thus far: House Maintenance, Education, and

Errands. Let’s say that you’re swamped with work, and there’s a storm coming so you

need to probably pass by the grocery store and prepare, but you don’t have the time,

Instant Assistant would be the answer, you can hire an assistant to do the shopping for

you! After a customer states the task needed to be done and requests a customer, the app

allows different assistants to browse and accept request offers. The project team will then

receive a commission from every job conducted using the app. The project team saw a

market gap, and they believe that the app can fill it and go a long way.

The project story can help promote the app, as it holds all the key information needed

to understand the app and how it works, its short in length so it can be appealing to the

listener, but not short in depth as the listener receives all necessary information. The

project story explains the app, how it works, and why it’s needed. The story basically

allows the app to self itself.

Amani AlSaffar

In taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, I learnt that it people are identified by

having 1 of 16 personality types, and that there is no measurement for personality, no

personality type is better than the other one, each having their weaknesses and strengths.

Through taking the test people can find out more about their personality and how they work.

From the results of the test I learnt that I was innovative, full of ideas, and that I dislike

schedules and routines, which is all very true. Just like the MBTI, the Jung Typology Test

also tells you more about yourself and your personality type. The Jung Typology Test also

tells you the type of careers that suit you best, as well as the types of people you are most

compatible with.

Amani AlSaffar

I never thought that emotions could be measured or improved through training. Before

reading about emotional intelligence, emotions were simply a card that you’ve been dealt. After

reading about Emotional Intelligence and taking the test, I learnt that it referred to the ability to

control, evaluate, and perceive emotions. Emotional Intelligence can also be strengthened. It has

everything to do with reasoning with emotions, understanding them, and there for managing

them. Emotional Intelligence doesn’t only teach you more about your emotions but how they

affect the people around you as well. When a person has a high EI, he or she becomes easy to

communicate with, easy to work with, and are good to be around. This has a tremendous value in

a working environment. A person with a high EI gets the job done effectively and is great to

work with.

Amani AlSaffar 2/11/2015

According to the text, the agenda displays a management meeting. Management meetings

are long in duration but are shorter then leadership meetings. The meetings are taken place to

insure that all members of the project including people, who have interest, all have an

understanding of the project scope. It is set up to review the background and goals of the project,

as well as set up short term plans. As stated in the text “Management meetings are longer in

duration and are focused on planning. They are oriented toward developing plans, tracking

progress of existing plans, and making adjustments to plans in response to new information.” As

seen in the agenda, the project manager has left a section directed towards discussions regarding

the project next steps. Management meetings generally include a combination of creativity and

fact telling. The project manager both sets down the facts and encourages team members to

develop ideas regarding the projects next steps based on the information provided.

In order to insure the success of a management meeting, there needs to be trust flowing

through the invitees of the meeting itself. Team members are encouraged to speak their mind and

contribute ideas in any way possible, without trust team members will hold back. The agenda

given somewhat generates the trust atmosphere but not fully. During these meetings team

members are encouraged to contribute and discuss ideas, and the agenda creates a sort of formal

atmosphere where the members might feel like they’re stepping out of line if they do contribute.

No sections were dedicated towards discussion, and rather all the time was divided between the

project manager and project sponsor. This would probably give the team members the idea that

the project manager himself is untrusting.