Managing Effectively

My Current Understanding

Managing Effectively means organizing, planning, and getting feedback on your work to get it done efficiently and with quality, under a deadline. Managing Effectively allows you to structure time, allowing for high quality work and revision. It also allows you to stay on task, even when more enjoyable activities are an option. And finally it allows you to accept feedback and keep an open mind on to how your work could be further improved.

My Growth

 When I first started at SEEQS, I didn't know what Managing Effectively meant. All I understood was that you have to get something done by a deadline. At my old school, I was never really exposed to Managing Effectively. Sure, I had work that had to be done, but the system was loose. I could ask for an extension on something and make up an okay reason and voila! But at SEEQS, I started having to avoid procrastinating. I had to manage my time at home and not just spend it all on my entertainment. 

I still struggle with getting homework done on time because I blow through all my time watching YouTube or chatting with friends. Aside from time management, however, I always do things to the best of my ability when I want to. If I cared enough about an assignment, you could give me a huge project and I would come back the next day with a completed, soaring-level product. I do need to keep working on being able to manage time and put full effort into the things I don't care as much about, or think are pointless and unnecessary. I also never really had the urge to seek out feedback. At SEEQS, I have learned that peer review is vital to high-quality work. Therefore, I've learned to accept the feedback I get and revise accordingly to get very high-quality work. 

My Project

A project that helped me grow in Managing Effectively was from the class EQS Earthonomics. The Essential Question for this EQS is “How can we create sustainable businesses?” Our project was creating a sticker business that balances economic sustainability and ecological sustainability (most of the work done is displayed in the Ohana StiQrs Guide Book). We were the second EQS of that year so we already had the basic foundations that had been made by EQS Earthonomics in the previous semester. 

The first class of EQS Earthonomics had spent their entire semester designing stickers and trying to secure a foundation on which their business would be built. Therefore, when EQS Exhibitions came along, they didn't have a reasonable stock of stickers to sell and couldn't start earning a profit. We analyzed the EQ to come up with a solid business model that could be the foundation for the business. We came up with “Balancing nature and economy for the community.” This model perfectly matched our essential question. We would be creating a sustainable business in two senses. Not only would Ohana stickers try to stay economically sustainable to keep itself running and profiting, but also to be environmentally sustainable so as not to damage the environment. The perfect sustainable business. The first semester had given us the basics, but it was up to us to get the business up and running and not fall into the same rabbit hole the previous semester had. First and foremost, we needed to manage more effectively. 

We began by taking the founding idea of Ohana StiQrs from the previous semester and improving it. We split into two groups, with one group working on branding and the other working on sticker design. The branding group perfected our logo and gave us colors and fonts. The sticker design group began creating our first batch of stickers. For EQS camp we went to Ala Moana mall and a growing chocolate farm that showed us how small businesses start. We then moved into our “work-time” weeks where each week people individually and in small groups would be working on their tasks on our “Task List” to move toward selling stickers and preparing for exhibitions. 

There were always two managers who kept everyone on task, gave everyone new things to do, and gave feedback, all through this Task List. The managers also answered questions and were the middle people between what the teachers wanted and what the students were doing. After creating my first sticker which was a chess piece, I became a general manager which is the epitome of someone who needs to Manage Effectively. 

A manager at Ohana Stickers has 4 main tasks. Task number one: keeping people in order (on task, talking quietly etc.). Task two: giving feedback to students on their work. Task three: assigning people new work. And lastly, Task four: sharing the teachers’ wants and needs with the class. I would walk around with my iPad looking at the task list for people who didn't have things to do and assign them a task or help them create a task for themselves. All the while, people would be calling for feedback and new tasks by raising the volume level. It was also my job to tell someone to stay on task while also having to be on the way to the teacher who wanted me to tell the sticker designers to finish today so we could print the stickers. In this situation, I needed to plan out how I was going to get all of those things done in a timely manner and not cut corners or be sloppy. During my first period of managing, I was working alone so I had to be doing the work of two people.

How It Connects

I've struggled with procrastination and an unwillingness to receive feedback throughout my time here at SEEQS. This project was a big stepping stone in addressing that. As a manager, I needed to stay focused and not get sidetracked by talking with friends or playing games. I think what helped me was the element of responsibility I had upon me as the manager of our workforce at Ohana StiQrs. Because of that, I developed the habit of not carrying my iPad around with me when I was helping people and keeping them on task. 

Not looking at the task list helped me not get distracted by computer games and socializing. I would leave it at my desk and only come back to look at the task list if I needed to. By doing this I saved both my own and other people's time because I wouldn't be tempted to stop and use the iPad when I was supposed to be helping. Therefore, I could fully focus on keeping everyone else on task and optimizing the efficiency and product quality of our business. The responsibility factor helped me realize that, especially in group work, my choices as a leader would directly affect the progress of our business. I made a point of staying on task and doing my best work in the shortest time possible so we could meet all of our goals. For instance, the POS or Point Of Sale document was crucial to our perception of the business’ status and growth. I was able to work closely with the students working in Ohana StiQrs to keep them on task, being time efficient, and providing feedback and suggestions to make the POS document the high-quality tool that it turned out to be. 

However, despite doing well and overcoming my previous struggles when Managing Effectively, there was one thing I could have done that would have made my job so much easier. Feedback. I often struggled when getting people to do what I told them to do. I was too demanding, not very friendly, and not empathetic to the people I was working with. One of the main parts of Managing Effectively that people miss is the feedback. To get high-quality work, you must get input from others on how you can revise and improve. I didn't do that at all as a manager. If I had gotten feedback, I could have improved, and become more liked by the workers therefore, they would do what I asked and we could complete our work by the deadlines required and not gone overtime and had to rush our work to get something that's not full quality. This EQS was still a great place to nurture my skills in Managing Effectively. After all, being a manager is being a manager; it's our job to worry about things like the work quality and efficiency in the completion of the work. To employ strategies like organization, time blocking, and feedback. It's the manager's job to help ourselves and everyone around us Manage Effectively.