Assignment:
For this assignment I've chosen a 'conversation' that I participated in last semester as part of my course ORGC 160- Intro to Team Culture. In that course we were assigned a multi-stage group project that ran the entirety of the semester, culminating in a final presentation. This project can be thought of as two separate but linked pitches that were sold: firstly, I pitched my group on how I felt the group and project
should be run, and secondly, we as a group pitched the class and instructors on our ideas regarding the assignment content. I'll focus here on just my pitch to the group, and further condense many group meetings and assignments to a single pitch.
Considering my situation: I first needed to ask myself," What do I want out of this project and course as a whole?" Obviously I wanted an 'A', but beyond that I wanted to synthesize the course material and be able to put it into practice. My approach conversationally was to be open, straightforward and honest about what I wanted out of our group work.
Connecting with my audience: As a group we were quite diverse, although we shared a distinct formal connection- being students in the same class. It took time to establish informal connections, I could conversationally enquire about local weather, family and current events to build rapport. I remember that we felt we had bonded as a team after playing the ice-breaker game , Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. I think this was a great illustration of the power of informal connection.
Communicating my Pitch: As I mentioned earlier we were a diverse group, although it helped we mostly shared broad cultural similarities, conversationally I could reference things like current events or course materials and they would be understood. I think this was an area where having a well defined formal structure such as rules for speaking and building consensus in a meeting were very helpful.
Committing to Action: This was probably where I had the most difficulty, It was tricky having authentic informal leadership and identifying keystone behaviors and traits. In practice l(and others) ended up volunteering to do many of the tasks required, I don't think this would have been sustainable long term; essentially we needed more top down authority to get things done efficiently I felt.
Recently, I have been tasked with securing a venue for a large-scale alutrmi reunion event for the center I work for. This center has a board of directors who have a tendency to keep all initiatives small and low-budget; but for this event, they are pushing for a large-scale impact-driven reception that will impress attendees. I have a background in event planning and have managed a myriad of large-scale events throughout my career; given my experience, I have a distinct vision for the type of venue we would need to secure in order for this event to be both high-impact for attendees, and manageable for our smaller than usual staff. It's possible that our directors will agree with me; however, given that they are used to keeping the purse strings tight (despite the fact I am confident there is plenty of money to go around), I want to approach this conversation carefully to ensure I can persuade them to go with our best option, not just choose what option is least expensive.
Here is how I would apply the 4-step process to this conversation:
Consider your situation - After weeks of research, I have compiled a short list of venues that are available and able to support our event; these venues range in "impact," cost, as well as in the variety of services the price per head will cover. Choosing the least expensive option will create more work for already overburdened center staff, as the price per head does not cover setup/takedown, decor, AV, and other services that the more expensive options will. Given my experience working with the directors, I am not confident they will see the full picture of staff labor needed if they are simply given the costs associated with each venue.
Connect with your Audience - Luckily, the directors are aware of my previous special event experience; however, my concern remains that their attitude towards spending remains limited, and this belief may prevent them from seeing the merits of spending more money on a venue that will be able to arrange a high-impact event for guests without burdening staff. The directors of my center are engineers by trade, and as engineers they like seeing data. In order to connect successfully with the directors I will plan to create a presentation outlining all the hard data (costs, timelines, services offered, photos of the event spaces, etc.) so they can see the data alongside my pitch, which augment this data with personal anecdotes.
Communicate your Pitch - In my pitch I will be sure to strengthen my position by including stories and example. As it turns out, I have direct
experience working with the venue that is the least expensive (and most labor-intensive for our staff). Through my previous experience working with this venue I have learned that they do not have air conditioning in the spaces we would need to utilize for a large event such as ours. Given that our event is at the end of May, it is possible that temperatures could be quite warm, heat rises and the rooms we would utilize are on the top floor of the building. The venue will offer large fans in the event of a hot day; however, large loud fans placed throughout the space would take away from the upscale experience the directors are aiming for. I will lead with this story, and continue to explain how this venue will also rely heavily on our staff; and that our other options, while more expensive, will provide a high impact for attendees and the price per head covers services that the cheaper option does not; therefore, spending a bit more money will be of greater benefit not only to the event itself, but to our center's support staff.
Commit to action - If our directors support my position, I am confident our staff will be relieved and happy with this decision. Collectively, staff will feel more supported and less burdened, and will demonstrate that leadership is willing to make smart investments to ensure staff feel supported. This action has the potential to create a groundswell that will free up more time for staff to think critically and creatively about other ways to enhance this event.