The first half of the defining part of our project gave me a lot of insight on how to truly think not only as an innovator, but as a marketer too. It is giving me tools to look at every situation differently when it comes to assessing what needs to be improved in an organization. Not only do I need to diagnose a situation, but using these methods we used in class will help me manage many group dynamics. That is the most important part, as marketing is almost entirely group work, and being on a project team involves a huge amount of that work. By using these strategies learned in the defining stage of this project, I will be able to balance many group dynamics better.
Two different experiences were completely new to me, and that was the sticky notes on the whiteboard as well as just the entire defining process in general. The sticky notes were very new to me just from a straight process perspective. It was something I was not used to at all with idea generation. Usually, we are just throwing ideas out and not letting anyone really have a say if they are quiet, which is a usual group dynamic. Here, we can include everyone in posting and they can voice their opinion, unlike in a normal group dynamic. Everyone has a voice in this situation. Additionally, I am not usually the most creative person and don’t think immediately of ideas, as I want to take some time to consider everything. Sticky notes gave me that slight amount of time that I may not have had in another situation. I felt like I was contributing to the group in a very effective way, as opposed to a normal group where I may stay on the quieter side. The other experience that was new to me was the entire defining process. Usually, the beginning group stage of the project is one or two people dominating the talking and idea generation. The group going through the storming stage is where people get their roles in the group, but with the defining part of the project, we are able to skip all the way to the perform stage because the group is creating new ways of thinking, as well as new ways of generating ideas. Idea generating and voting allowed us to be honest with each other, which usually groups are not able to do at the beginning stages. People usually just want their ideas and nothing else, but this forces people to really consider everyone’s ideas since you cannot vote for your own. All the group working together and looking at other each other’s thoughts allows the group to combine or consider ideas they may not have thought of before. It is more cohesive and easier to communicate, and I will definitely make sure I implement these tools in future group projects in the future.
Multi-voting was another facet of the defining process that is something I will use in the future in all groups. It takes the group dynamic and makes sure everyone is honest, which is not something you get until later on in the project. By having the voting, people are giving a voice to the project without even talking. They can give the reasoning behind why they chose that specific idea, but voicing what ideas are good helps give the group an idea of an universal purpose. The group can then be unified on one topic or one idea rather than someone being potentially left out and disinterested. There is now a goal to work toward, as opposed to just having endless discussion talking in circles without the voting as an endpoint. It brings the debate to an end at one point, which is critical in the group dynamic. If people keep repeating, then eventually it will be boring and people will pick something that is not interesting. Giving the group a plausible endpoint has us working toward something, and that is why it is the most applicable of all the parts of the defining process.
One part of the process that gave me the biggest headache was the persona part. One of the parts that was difficult was that we had to create a persona for someone in the airline industry, which is a vast industry. Having to hone that in on just one consumer that was more specific to our ideas was difficult since many people use planes for a variety of reasons. Our group did not use multi-voting as much during this part of the project either, so that impacted the idea generation too. The ideas were somewhat more focused on what a small majority wanted, which I did not think reflected the entire group’s ideas. However, we reached a persona that we all agree on and will work well with our ideas. The airline industry is hard to create a persona for since airlines are used for many reasons. It was especially difficult since creating a persona is more abstract than usual in some projects. Getting those traits down and communicating them was hard because some traits were hard to explain particularly. For example, we wanted one of our personas to be a millennial that was a loner, but was focused on his work. There was no real way to say that without sounding patronizing to our persona. We wanted to play that facet up, but it took us a while to make sure we had those characteristics down and worded correctly. It is a useful exercise, but it was difficult for our group given the nature of our industry.
Overall, the defining phase is a lot like dealing with change. As we learned throughout class, change is going to make you uncomfortable and will be something that some people do not want to happen. However, this phase is usually where you get the best defining or best change. If you embrace the stage and the processes, then you will generate the best ideas. You need to balance behavioral differences in change, and with the defining phase, it is important to realize these behavioral differences, and that is why doing things like the multi-voting is so important. By seeing these differences, maybe multi-voting isn’t the best strategy and talking about it would be the best strategy. It all depends on your communication. Both change and the defining phase are reliant on communication. If you do not communicate with people in your group, the change you are trying to implement and the defining phase will fail. Your ideas will be bad, and it will fall apart. The defining phase has changed my way of thinking when it comes to approaching a project, and I am very glad that I was able to learn these processes.