The Final Outcome

It can be very difficult to work with people, especially if they are intentionally uncooperative.  One of my previous entries mentions my biggest management problem this semester, which is to successfully carry out my scene in the BASU fashion show.  My original team members bailed on me by just not answering my messages; my next set of team members (which were the replacements I mentioned in my previous entry, "In a quandary") had busy schedules so they couldn't really assist me either; my final team was the actual two producers of the entire fashion show.  At first, I was glad to work directly with the producers, but things kind of went south still.

I wasn't sure if I was overreacting, but I felt as if they didn't want my scene to go well.  The producers told me not to come to any of the model practices until the last 2 dress rehearsals, which I personally thought was incredibly weird because they kept saying how they wanted my scene to be the biggest scene of this year's show.  Why would you not rehearse the biggest scene until the very last minute???  Maybe they didn't want my face to be shown??  I was at the first model practice; they just skipped my turn to introduce myself to the models as a choreographer for one of the scenes.  Perhaps it was because I wasn't a sister of their sorority anymore and they always spoke of wanting the choreographers to be exclusively from their organization.  

Communication with the producers was kept limited.  It was as if I was supposed to be intentionally left in the dark about things... Money - I had to constantly bug them about getting money for the scene.  I wasn't really given any except for $550 to pick up 14 traditional East Asian garments for my scene.  Now, to get authentic ones, it definitely requires more money, but that was all I had, so I made it work somehow.  2 people also generously lent some of their cultural garments for the show.  Props - ummm well, I wasn't going to get any more money so I had to lay out everything myself and get reimbursed later.  I got help from my brother to mix the music.

Dress rehearsal wasn't really utilized effectively.  I came late to the first one because I had to lug my 8 by 4 ft scenery by foot and up 29 flights of stairs to my apartment with my brother (since it didn't fit in my elevator).  Now, I had informed the producers I'd be late, but I guess they forgot to tell my models this.  When I finally arrived, I got to practice my scene a little bit.  The next rehearsal never happened because the models assumed I'd be late again I suppose and didn't come until later probably, and I had to leave because I had to go and buy paint for my scenery.

When it came time for the absolute last chance for rehearsal right before the show, one of the producers then told me there'd be no rehearsal for my scene.  I got so frantic.  How can that be?  The choreography was never finalized and the models don't know what to wear or what order to go in.

All or nothing?  The scene happened.  5 models were still in makeup, and the producers decided to go on without them.  Models were directed as they went out onstage by one of the producers.  Then, after the clothes were modeled, there were drummers and a lion dance performance.  Even though the producers almost entirely disregarded my layout for the scene and did not let me use my other props except for the background I painted (drawn by a friend), it went okay.  The models did a great job, and I heard some good feedback from the audience.  (There's probably some bad too, but I cover my ears for that.)

After reviewing the whole experience, I'm glad I went through it.  It could have been better if I got some more help preparing for the scene and actually was given the chance to rehearse it during the regular model practices during club hours, but the producers somehow made it work last minute.  

A Deeper Look into the Golden Arches

What would happen when something unexpected is thrown into an incredibly systematic situation?  Take a look at the setting of a toy factory that runs in an assembly line.  Let’s say a worker was drinking something by his station and spills some of his drink into a machine.  The machine probably will stop working and the process of making the toy will become chaotic.  Just like this scenario, McDonalds used to be disorderly when it had to take customized orders that strayed too far from its set menu.  Employees did not know how to fulfill orders that weren’t straightforwardly labeled on their cash register either.  Probably because of the complaints for poor service and competing fast food chains like Burger King succeeding in fulfilling their slogan, “Have It Your Way,” McDonalds realized that it had to improve employee-customer relations.  Thus, its customer service has surely improved, and it can be seen through a simple experiment.

On April 10^th, I walked into the McDonalds located at 213 Madison Street with a Spanish-speaking friend around 3:30pm.  I figured that since the neighborhood was mostly Hispanic, the employees would be bilingual.  My friend could translate the employees’ remarks made in Spanish (if any).

I asked the cashier for “1 small hamburger with exactly 4 pickles and 1 small order of well done fries with no salt” and the receipt.  Due to the cashier’s difficulty in comprehending me and entering what I asked for into the register, I repeated the full order.  She still had trouble understanding my request for exactly 4 pickles but eventually realized that she could enter it in as “extra pickles.”  Because she didn’t understand the word “salt,” my friend had to say it to her in Spanish, and after 1 minute and 20 seconds, she finally took my order. 

When the cashier went to tell the workers in the back my order, she remarked that “She (me) is trying to make us work” in Spanish and joked about it with them.  Then, she went to check on the fries.  She started pacing around the register area probably because she had nothing to do but to wait for my order to be completed.  When she came by my way, I asked her for the receipt again because she had forgotten to give it to me after I paid, and she apologized for the mistake.  She walked back to the workers in the back and joked around with them a little more in Spanish.  After, she told me that my fries will take a little longer and that I could sit down first and she’d let me know when my order was ready, which was nice of her to say.  (I continued waiting by the counter so that I could observe them better.)  To make sure she grabbed the right one, she kept asking one worker, “Is this my burger?  Is this my burger?” She then walked to get the well done fries with no salt, packed my order, gave it to me, smiled and wished me a nice day.

My order was completed in 5 minutes and 53 seconds, which is a bit long to carry out a small order when the place isn’t busy but understandable because a new batch of fries had to be made.  A total of 3 workers got involved – the cashier and the 2 kitchen workers.  From what I experienced and understood, I thought the service was good, but when my friend told me what the cashier said in Spanish, I was irked a bit.  If I was a consultant to McDonalds, I’d recommend that employees keep comments to themselves or say them when customers aren’t around.  The order preparation was okay, considering the fact that they stayed calm while fulfilling my special requests.  Communication could have been better.  She should have understood the English word for “salt,” so I’d recommend that the cashiers’ English-speaking and comprehension skills are up to par, or at least be enough to take down an order correctly and fully, which can then improve efficiency.   Coordination-wise, the workers did well, except when the cashier got nervous when she didn’t understand me fully while taking my order and when entering it into the register.  She shouldn’t have been pacing either because it made it obvious that she was bored; she could have spent that time talking to me, the customer.  My only other suggestion is for McDonalds to come up with a better way to relay specific customized orders to the kitchen staff because the cashier I dealt with had to keep shouting to the back to make sure they got my order for my hamburger correct.  This way, things would be more efficient and the cashiers can spend more time interacting with the customers.

For the most part, my experience at McDonalds was okay.  It did a decent job fulfilling its mission statement of being “the world's best quick service restaurant experience… so that [it can] make every customer in every restaurant smile." (http://www.samples-help.org.uk/mission-statements/mcdonalds-mission-statement.htm).  I left smiling so I say McDonalds does a job well done when something like unexpected, customized orders come its way.

The Assessment

When doing the test, I was so sure that the results wouldn't be accurate because I couldn’t even decide what characteristics described me and the test results were supposed to be based on my responses.  For a test to describe me so well when I couldn’t even do so myself is amazing.  

I am a C high S.  I definitely like and need to plan and organize before making any serious decisions, and I like examining things thoroughly to ensure quality and accuracy.  I take a methodical approach towards situations, handle conflict in a subtle manner, would like to work in an environment where one gets the opportunity to demonstrate his/her expertise and get acknowledged for it, have others lead the discussion, and definitely need to develop more tolerance for conflict. 

Sometimes I do wish I was another type, perhaps have some of the characteristics of an "I", because I let my opposition get what they want too much, making it seem like I’m too much of a push-over. I don’t like conflict so I do my best to avoid it, but sometimes it’s the worst thing to do because I just know I’m right.  When the outcome comes about and the opposing side turns out to be wrong all along with their decisions, I just can’t help but regret about not being more forceful with my opinions and ideas.  I know I’ll never be domineering because I will always have the tendency to examine things very thoroughly before making any decisions, so I aim to be more influential and persuasive so I can shape the environment around me.  I think this is very possible; I just have to work at it.  As I get more group work experience, like in this class, I see the importance of verbalizing my thoughts and to participate in the teamwork process more.  I don't want to completely part from being a "C," though.  It's good to analyze - just not good to over-analyze.

It is definitely helpful to examine a person’s management “type” so that you can better understand where the individual is coming from and perhaps he/she can better understand him/herself.  Tests like these allow for the manager or leader of a project to know his/her workers a little better so the individual can understand who he/she has to work with, which will allow him/her to control the work environment better.  Also, sometimes it’s hard to realize what type of worker you are until you take a test of this sort and have it all laid out for you so that you can reflect on it and say afterwards, “That’s actually true.”  It then allows for the individual who took the test to see his/her faults and to see what he/she can work at to move a letter up or to just improve their weaknesses as a worker.  

Tests like these could be helpful for other personal interactions.  Like Professor Kurpis said, D's and C's probably wouldn't get along in a relationship because a D would want to make quick decisions while a C would want to spend time analyzing each of the D's decisions; it would definitely get annoying since they are opposites.  But, on the other hand, as the saying goes, "opposites attract each other."  This type of test can allow you to understand your partner better so it will be helpful regardless of anything, but it may not necessarily be accurate.

For the winter survival scenario, we discussed in class (“Stranded!”), it would have been best to have a “I high C” type leader.  It’s good to have a leader who motivates and encourages other team members to getting the task done within the time constraint while still weighing out all the options, which is especially vital for that task because we needed to come up with the exact top 4 items the military chose that were needed for survival.