Video post from Barcelona

Hey Ya'll,
Yon't want to see some videos from Barcelona?



This is us having dinner the first night we are there. It's operated by Asians, our waitress I believe was Filipino.




This video will explain it all...PS it was about 90 degrees there.





Love Peace Chicken Grease

Week 5: Post 4- Deliberative Democracy

Web Lecture: Deliberative Democracy
I have never known there was so much more information into democracy. I always assumed that democracy means every voice is heard and a decision isn’t made until a majority is settled. Out of the various democracies that were presented into our web lecture I have to say Deliberative Democracy stood out the most for more. Deliberative Democracy asks everyone to participate but it goes on beyond another level. This type of democracy also has all participants to present and listen to arguments. Every voice is heard. It is okay to disagree when you are trying to come up with a conclusion; they want to make sure everyone is happy with the outcome. Sometimes people’s opinions change because they were convinced otherwise. So working together is key in this type of democracy.

Week 5: Post 3- Phatic Communication

Phatic communication is what I would like to discuss as part of Ch 11. Phatic communication is a form of small talk that helps us appear social and gives the impression that we are interested in others. I am a victim of using phatic communication. I am a sales associate at a retail store at Valley Fair. One of the rules that were passed down from corporate is that we must know 4 things about a customer before they leave our store. In order to do that I usually go: “Wow, I love that belt!? Where did you get it?”, or “Did you have a hard time finding parking today? The mall is crazy today! J “ I am sure I have been a victim of phatic communication as well, whenever I am getting my hair cut, or getting a pedicure, 90% of the time I am asked “Do you have a boyfriend?” Typical question… It is mentioned that if we rely on Phatic communication too often, it can be detrimental for us to learn something newer and more interesting about those who surrounds us. What do you guys think about Phatic Communication?

Week 5: Post 2-Competitive Strategy

Competitive Strategy: is a clear statement of why customers should choose a company’s products or services over those of competing companies.
The example I would like to use today is Target vs. Wal-Mart. Wal-mart is always known as the big store that has low prices, and you can find just about everything. However, in this battle I decide to stay with Target. Over the past several years, I feel like Target has really upped their qualities. I find shopping at Target with so much more ease. Everything is nicely organized and put together. Yes, their prices tend to be a bit higher than Wal-Mart. Except, I know there is nothing bad going on at corporate. Target is never in midst of scandals about treating their employees badly, unlike Wal-Mart. I can actually tell people “Hey I got this sweater from Target!” Target offers affordable and cute clothing that isn’t made out of poor quality. I very much am a Target shopper vs. Wal-Mart, Wal-Mart may be able to offer lower prices, but the overall quality of shopping experiences, Target overrules everything.

Week 5: Post 1- Motivation

Motivation: can be defined as “the degree to which an individual is personally committed to expending effort in the accomplishment of a specified activity or goal”. For this section our text is telling us how leaders motivate or discourage their group members. The texts mentions there are two ways of doing these tasks:
1) Provide information and feedback
2) Communicate with concern.
In my work experiences, on our one year review is when my manager gives us a packet of how they thought we did at work. She would circle 1 to 5, depending how satisfied she was with our work competence. I feel like whenever I got 5’s I would be very happy and it would motivate me to continue the way I have been working. If I get a 3 or a 4 under a category it would only make me work harder.

Week 4: Post 4 Creativity and constraint in teams and networks

Rothwell states on page 267 that “team-based organizations face the challenge of balancing creativity and constraint in group relationships and or productivity dealing with diverse interpretations.” I understand that it can be hard when you are formed in whether a small or large group, it can be tough to get your word across. Sometimes I feel like some group tension can be released, meaning that you are in a new environment with people you don’t know; it can be hard to mention something if you didn’t spend the proper amount of time to learn about one another. No matter how creative you can be in the group, maybe there is the person trying to become the leader of the group who pushes your thoughts down saying: “we tried that, it didn’t work”. Maybe the leader should take other opinions more seriously and the work can be finished quicker and more efficient. What do you guys think?

Week 4: Post 3 Types of Teams

There are various types of teams. There are three types of teams: project teams, work teams, and quality improvement teams. According to our text book on page 236, depending on the location of the members of the teams, they could all be considered a virtual team.
Project teams: which help coordinate the successful completion of a particular project.Work teams: is a group of employees responsible for the entire work process that delivers a product or service to a customer. Quality-improvement team: goals are to improve customer satisfaction, evaluate and improve team performance.
I fully understand what a work team and a quality improvement team is. I am a part time sales associate for a clothing store in the mall. The other sales associates and I are responsible for making sure the store is looking at its best, and all the customers are satisfied with our attitude and making sure all the customers are being helped. I guess my job is a hybrid of both of the type of teams I mentioned.
This summer I am beginning to recognize what a virtual team is as well. I am taking 2 online classes currently and one of them is comm41. The teacher assigns us group work; I however is spending the next month across the world in Switzerland. All I can do is use the internet to connect with my group members.