Technology and Group Collaboration

When working on the client project for the Redfern Health Center, technology has been a tremendous help. Being able to store documents online for the whole group to see allows for more efficient meetings and work can be done individually out of class. Using e-mail was also essential to being able to communicate well to one another outside of class and to assign jobs to group members. It is difficult to imagine how a project such as this one would have been done before the internet came about. Communication and collaboration is made much easier and efficient through computers and the internet.

Ethical Principles

This past week in class we went over ethical principles in the workplace. The example that really stood out in my mind and really blew me away was the Ford Pinto incident. It is amazing to me how the company can crunch the numbers and decide to not do anything about the problem in the car to save money. Personally, there is no dollar value that you can put on the loss of innocent human lives. I learned from this that in the workplace it is important to stick to your own ethical principles.
My own set of ethical principles involves definitely telling the truth, no matter how it may affect the company, I feel like it will be better in the long run. You should always disclose information that may save someones life. Sometimes your job may be put on the line if you go outside the company and release information, but I feel as though its better for the public to know about possible major problems.

Miscommunication at Work

For two years I have been a lifeguard at a community pool in my hometown of Rock Hill. Last year the fill pipe for the pool was broken, and needed to be repaired for the pool to run properly. We communicated the problem to our supervisors who got in touch with a pool repair company. Somewhere in the line of communications something got messed up. The repair man came but did not bring the tools he needed to fix the fill spout. The pool had to be closed for two days in order to allow for the repair man to fix the spout, a simple problem that should have only taken a few hours. The miscommunication could have been prevented by the supervisors taking a closer look at the pipe and accurately telling the repair company exaclty what needed to be done and also for the repair company to give us a timeframe.

Blog For March 2nd

1. We wrapped up class presentations over this past week. I really enjoyed Jesse's presentation on automotive upkeep and maintenance. You could really tell that he new about his topic, and it was a topic everyone could relate to and it was very helpful. He was a really good presenter as well.

2. In the past I have only really made one online portfolio, and that is my Clemson e-portfolio. The portfolio is a very easy way of keeping certain papers and documents organized on the internet where I can access them anywhere. It will also be a good representative of works I have compiled over my college career that I could possibly submit as a writing sample for a job. The only downside is that it can be a painstaking process and may seem unnecessary when you are doing it. However, I feel as though it is overall a positive thing.

Class Presentations

All of the presentations that have been given in class thus far have been very enjoyable. With the students being allowed to choose a subject that interests them you can tell they get into the presentations much more. So far the three that I have really enjoyed are Jeffrey's presentation on Rajon Rondo, Nate's presentation involving coexistence, and Stephanie's presentation on Locks of Love. Jeffrey's presentation was good because it involved basketball, a subject that also interests myself. I really liked how Nate's presentation was a children's story but had a much larger meaning that everyone can learn from. Stephanie provided information about how she had donated hair to the charity Locks of Love and she sincerely cared about the cause. I learned alot from each individual presentation, but the lesson from Nate's presentation really stood out the most to me. What made every presentation enjoyable was the enthusiasm that each presenter displayed.

Cover Letters

When looking at the provided website I would have to agree with all of the points made about making and using a cover letter. Every link from the site is very helpful. Two things really stood out at me, which were the "The Best Use of a Cover Letter" and "Cover Letter Checklist" links. The "Best Use of a Cover Letter" link gave a run down of what to include in certain paragraphs in a cover letter, and what type of layout and order you should use. The checklist was great to look over, and I feel would be extremely helpful when you are writing and looking over your cover letter. One final thing that stood out was how to effectively use the postscript technique, which I had not previously been aware of for a cover letter.

Client Visit and Project

I feel that the client visit helped our group a lot in formulating some ideas for the project with Redfern. Prior to the visit we really had no idea what the task at hand was going to be. We will be working to promote the Healthy Campus Initiative. The way in which we do this is very open, and there is no clear direction that the group is required to take. Some ideas we have formulated so far to create awareness include Redfern sponsored events and perhaps a brochure. We are also looking at similar projects around the nation and seeing how they promote their initiatives. The biggest concern is getting started, and actually deciding as a group what direction we should take the project. The group is coming along well, and we all seem to work well together in the begginning stages of the project.