Final Reflection

Jillian Simmons wrote the paper and commented on the other groups' blogs. 

Jillian Simmons

Ball State University

Final Report

            What I learned from this course is the power of using successful marketing strategies and how to put together a workshop. Using marketing strategies, such as face-to-face communication and having a practice workshop is that face-to-face communication is the best way to get message through to the person all the way and for them to gain a better understanding and appreciation for what it is you are trying to do. More often people will say no to you over the phone or through email, because all of their questions tend not to get answered or they don’t remember you as much because they don’t have a face to put with the program in order to get them to remember to call or email you back. It also may seem that you don’t take your own program as serious when you don’t commit to meeting with organizations face-to-face in order to get them to come on board with your workshop. I had never put together a workshop, so I learned a lot by just doing it. The practice workshop I had with the other members of my group was extremely helpful, because the majority of the people who attended the workshop were there to voice their opinions about what they wanted to do during the workshop. Once again, face-to-face communications with facilitators at the organization really helped me when it came to getting the workshop together. They helped me with getting a room (that was the perfect setting for the workshop) ready, letting me use the TV and DVD player, and letting me know that if I needed any assistance with anything they would help me. I also learned to be aware of the people attending my workshop. For example, when I was going to get cookies for the workshop, I bought the soft cookies because some of them might not be able to eat the hard cookies. I also put together a presentation for the workshop, because I knew that some of the people attending had not read the book yet, so I wanted to have something to inform them about the book and the event.

            What I liked about the class is that I got a chance to work with an organization and organize a workshop. The reason I majored in Executive Development is because I want to work for an organization one day and do stuff, such as organizing workshop. This class really gave me a taste of that.

            I liked the leading discussions. I felt that everyone did a great job. I learned a lot about working with adult learners and about different organizational strategies. However, I do wish that they related more to the workshop. I felt that they just lightly touched on some things.

            I like that my group really worked together when we were a group. We continuously had great communication whether it be through text messaging or by email. We always kept each other up-to-date on things, which was really great. I liked that we all worked together to get things going and everyone was on task and on time for meetings and organizing the workshop.

            I think that the workshop helped me understand a lot of the marketing strategies and organizational structures. The marketing strategy that really stuck out to me through this process was using pedagogical approaches, because it is what I mostly used when marketing for the project by using things from the program that would relate to the people in the organization, such as themes in the book like the burning of books and future technology. The organizational theory that really stuck out to me was the micro perspective, because it helped me with organizing my workshop around the structure of the organization when it came to relating to the residents and staff at Morrison Woods Health Campus who were attending the workshop. It helped me figure out that you have to understand the behaviors within an organization in order to provide something that they would want to be apart of.

            I connected the organizational theories, such as Theory Z and the 7 S’s: strategy, structures, systems, styles, staff, skills, and shared values to the practical world, because you have to know how to not run an organization like the people working there are robots. You have to cater to their needs in order to not only get them to cater to the organization’s needs but also to get them to like their jobs and to want to be there. I think what we learned about people wanting to feel like their jobs are not just jobs, but a place where they want to be really connects to the real world and how people feel. I think that the part we read about organizational culture really relates to the practical world, because when you are working in a place every day, the other employees and employers really do become like a family to you. Without that connection or feeling of family in the workplace, I feel that you really do start to not want to work or you don’t put as much effort into your work.