TEAM LA SÉPTIMA PRESENTS: A Finger Puppet Management TV Production
Management Concepts in the Hospitality Industry
INTRODUCTION Team La Séptima has produced a TV show based on the Finger Puppet Management created by Professor Diasio. We have used the management topics and concepts that we have learned throughout the course “Principals of Management”. The TV show itself is based off an animated comedy call “Hotel Transylvania”. We thought this would be an excellent movie to base our TV show on because it already had a management situation constructed into the theme which is the operation of the hotel. We figured there would be good examples of management topics and concepts as well as the movie being a comedy so there is some entertainment value with it as well. Hotel Transylvania is a top notch resort owned and operated by Count Dracula. This hotel it is a safe haven for monsters so they can get away from it all and be themselves away from humans. Dracula is faced with multiple issues and must learn to address this in the best way possible, by learning management concepts and putting them to use. This is the only way to keep the hotel running successfully.
TABLE OF GHOULISH CONTENTS
Fang-tastic Mission Statement………9 Thrilling Decisions……………...……...10 Chilling Concepts…………………….11 Target Practice (or Market)...………12 Monstrous Profiles……………..…...…13 Eerie Episodes…………………...…….21 Headstones………………………..…..27 Show and Project Execution…...…..31 Scary Storyboards…………………....32 Conclusions on Management…..…37 Individual/Group Reflections..….….41 Recommendations…………….….....47 Thanks…………………………….…….48 References……………………….…....49
FANG-TASTIC MISSION STATEMENT
Mission
Approach
To create a TV series using the lessons we learned as a group from our professor, the tools he provided in our online course, our course text book, titled “Management,� and through first hand experience working together.
As a fully virtual team, we coordinate via a set of collaboration tools, allowing us to leverage our individual strengths for the best-of-team output. We have team clarity on our goals and our path to them. We have produced our show pitch in real-time collaborative fashion, breaking up work into individual chunks for parallel production and speed.
THRILLING DECISIONS Original TV Show Concepts: • A show centered around concepts borrowed from the television series Workaholics, but with a more direct focus on management-relevant material and events • Following the life of a college-bound high school quarterback and his family while he navigates finishing up his senior year, pursuing football scholarship opportunities, and dealing with opportunities to take unethical “shortcuts” in life vs “making the right decisions” • The tensions and events between employees and managers in a post office, dealing with issues of race, generation-gaps, management styles, ethics, leadership, favoritism, and how those issues interact with union dynamics and HR policies • The IT Team of a major regional hospital, the lives their work touches, their relationships, their quirks, and the realities of management in a high-pressure, high-skill environment • A show around the characters from the animated movie Hotel Transylvania, and the experiences the characters go through when their previously sheltered and secret world becomes known to Humans
CHILLING CONCEPTS Hotel Transylvania is a television series played out in a hotel setting using the hospitality industry to outline the managerial concepts we felt were a good match to focus on. Things such as managerial challenges, principals of organizational structure, managing diverse human resources, leadership vs. managing, and decision making are used within the story line to educate through entertainment.
TARGET PRACTICE (OR MARKET) This show has the layers of storytelling that make it accessible to kids, young adults, and adults all at the same time. It’s a great family show, and offers something for everyone to enjoy. It’s also excellent for monsters (who are still figuring out what this better world is like), and Principles of Management course Professors, TA’s, and fellow students.
MONSTROUS PROFILES
Count Dracula
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character • Visionary Planning • Leading-By-Example • Driving Plans to Implementation • Ethnocentric (he’s very focused on “his people”, until
events expand that definition) • Span of Control (too wide initially, but that changes
later) • Change of Leadership Methods • Centralization, then Decentralization of Authority • How Personality Affects Leadership • Rational Leadership, but Emotional (Irrational)
Control
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character • Emotional Awareness • Facilitate Communication • Creates and Grows Compromise and Agreement • Leads Through Example
Mavis
• Manages Inclusively and Builds Consensus • Collaboration • Entrepreneurial - focused on opportunities • Global Awareness • Ambitious
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character • Dependable
Zombies
• Clueless • Externally driven • Prone to mishaps if not carefully
watched over • Stereotypically perfect example of
externally driven employees
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character • Extroverted • Very sociable
Mr. Fly
• A fashionista • Good example of referent power. The
relationships he builds with people whether co-workers or hotel guest helps him achieve different goals
Quasimodo
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character • Non-cooperative • Dictatorial • Irritable/Abusive • Ruthless • Asocial • Cunning • Evasive • Dependable
Suit of Animated Armor
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character • Dependable • Externally driven • Another good example of external locus of
control employee • Not substantively involved in leadership
decision making
Management Concepts Illustrated by the Character
Jonathan
• Leading By Doing / Leading By Example • Power Through Expertise (“Creating Fun”) • Development of a Leader • Excellent example of Referent Power; it’s
through his relationships and his works that he becomes effective amongst the staff and guests of the hotel • Excellent Interpersonal and technical skills
EERIE EPISODES
INTRO EPISODE • Setting introduction • Character Introduction • Insight into the Managerial concepts covered in later episodes.
Intro Episode
EERIE EPISODE 1 • Managerial Challenges • Principals of Organizational structure • Managing Diverse Human Resources • Decision Making
Episode 1 Link
EERIE EPISODE 2 • Dynamic work environment • 360-degree feedback • Decentralization • On The Job training • Span of control • Re-engineering Flat Organization structure • Incentive Plan
Episode 2 Link
EERIE EPISODE 3 • Managing diverse human resources • Leveraging workforce diversity • Planning • Emotional Intelligence • Path-goal leadership theory
Episode 3 Link
RETROSPECTIVE VIDEO
This is a collaborative reflection video from each of the members of Team La Septima reviewing what was learned and in some cases, advise for future students regarding this class.
Retrospective Link
HEADSTONES
HEADSTONES
Headstone 1
Objective
Execution
Each member of the group created a rough draft document of a general idea and concept of a story line for a TV sitcom, then by a majority vote, decided on which concept to move forward with for the remainder of the semester.
While the first part of the deliverable was worked individually, it was necessary to utilize available tools so that the team could collaborate and vote on a single idea, and communicate this to the professor. It was decided that google hangouts would be the primary tool used in group communications. In a charter, it was also worked out roughly the best time for the team to meet for collaboration purposes.
HEADSTONES
Headstone 2
Objective
Execution
To create more in-depth character profiles and personas for the characters in our TV show idea and concept. Management concepts and theories are added to relate to the character and give an idea on how they would react in a given situation. Each team member is to contribute to this objective equally.
Using Google Docs, Google Hangouts, and USF Canvas files, Team La Septima was able to equally contribute and put together a more in depth draft of each character’s profile and create a picture of the management concepts they relate to the best. Once completed, Google Hangouts and a video editing software program called Camtasia was used to record and create a visually stimulating video presenting the PowerPoint document.
HEADSTONES
Headstone 3
Objective
Execution
To create a booklet that defines our group and describes the stages of group development, describes the major concepts of group behavior, discusses how groups are turned into effective teams, explain why organizations use teams instead of individuals for work, and reflect on the concepts from these objectives and chapter concepts through the writing log and design challenge.
Distribute and assign the work evenly within our group that played to individual strengths and allowed for parallel production. Held group discussions using the app Google Hangouts as well as video conferences to iron out any discrepancies and to ensure each member was on the same page with what was necessary to delivery.
SHOW AND PROJECT EXECUTION This project was created entirely through virtual communication and other online tools/resources. Firstly, a team charter was organized by a team member and everyone read through and confirmed their agreement to adhere. After working out kinks in understanding’s regarding the course layout and expectations, La Septima dug right in. Weeks would begin with simple communication through Google Hangout’s group chat where the team would discuss their availabilities for the week and figure out a convenient time to collaborate for work to get done. We would schedule times to meet for the assignment and we would meet through Google Hangout’s Video/Audio chat. Among the tools used was PowerPoint. Luckily a few team members were proficient with this program; it ended up being a great suggestion and the basis for this entire production. Other useful tools the team used was USF’s Canvas. Canvas allowed the team to post and organize finished files in a common place. Google Doc’s was also utilized. Team members could post and share content between each other with ease that way. Also a great factor, was the software Camtasia which gave the team the ability to splice video and audio tracks together while recording the PowerPoint Presentation being narrated via voice over. All of the narrating audio was delivered directly through the Google Hangout’s audio chat which the entire team was tuned into at once. Finished assignments were turned in by a dedicated team member who would then screenshot the confirmation and post for all members to see as proof for submission in the Canvas group files.
SCARY BOARDS
SCARY BOARD 1
SCARY BOARD 2
SCARY BOARD 3
I know what my father said but I think we should really emphasize all the amazing amenities we offer.
Look at these pictures, we should focus on advertising about our location!
How do we shut him up before he really upsets the boss??
If you guys don’t need my ideas, maybe you don’t need me or a commercial!
Hmm…that’s an idea
Look, how about we include your location pictures with the descriptions of the amenities offered??
SCARY BOARD 3 CONT.
CONCLUSIONS ON MANAGEMENT Becoming an effective manager is an intensely personal experience because it requires looking at oneself as a selfmanageable entity (Hitt, 2012, p. 287), and then developing the skillset to do so. It also doesn’t stress enough that collaborative management happens in a high-functioning team, where team members aren’t just externally managed resources steered around by a central-leader “boss” but where each team member contributes to management activities. It is important to be able to self-lead and provide management services to others in the team along with accepting management services from other team members.
CONCLUSIONS ON MANAGEMENT CONT. Hitt, Black, and Porter (2012) very early on tell us that management is “…the process of assembling and using sets of resources in a goal-directed manner to accomplish tasks in an organization”. While this statement is true, in our view such a definition is mechanistically distracting from the human-involved realities of actual management requirements and functions. In our view, learning how to “be able to identify a goal, determine that it requires a particular activity, which itself requires a certain resource, then deliberately acting to obtain/produce the resource, apply it to the activity, and validate that the goal has been attained” is more in tune with the realities of effective management.
CONCLUSIONS ON MANAGEMENT CONT. With the continuing progression of technologies that create collaborative, constructive opportunities; with the ongoing expansion of information availability (Hitt, 2012, p. 5); with the increasing complexity of business processes combined with the increasing specialization of roles to accomplish those business processes; and with the need for those “more pieces, more actions” to still accomplish their economically productive goals, it is most helpful for a student to develop an internal personal understanding of what “being a management-activity-accomplishing person” feels like and means to them personally.
CONCLUSIONS ON MANAGEMENT CONT.
This integration of management concepts into personal identity makes collaborating effectively an easier thing to recognize, understand, and actually do. It also makes it easier to act as “a person creating a part of the world” instead of “a person coordinating resources”, and makes it easier to identify worthwhile goals (entrepreneurship(Hitt, 2012, p. 14)), determine how those goals can be accomplished (getting the job done), and determining when those goals have been achieved (getting paid).
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS Because of my history as a technologist who has worked on many types of teams in a wide range of environments over time, and that history being almost entirely while working from home full time, I am substantially experienced in the realities of how virtual teams can function well, and how they can malfunction. There are a few critical components that must be in place for a virtual team to have successful, “low friction” results. One critical component is a set of collaboration tools that, at absolute minimum, fit the working-goals requirements of the team. If work requires being able to collaborate on a document in parallel, then the team needs tools that allow either multi-person document editing, or allows desktop sharing with multiple people able to remotely-control the sharing system’s keyboard and mouse. File sharing, a method of making files available to all team members. And so on. If a goal-critical collaboration tool is missing, then the virtual team can’t function. La Séptima has been able to assemble and become effective with all the collaboration tools required to achieve the goals set before us for the semester. Another critical element is team goal clarity: Everyone on the team must share an understanding of the team’s goals, and share agreement on those goals validity. Otherwise, the team cannot function as a whole working toward solution; instead, the team produces 2 or more outputs at least one of which (and possibly all!) just doesn’t meet the goal, requiring additional work and possible serious amounts of rework to fix. La Séptima has clarity on the set of tasks for the semester, working with Dr. Diasio and T.A. Weakley to clarify goal understandings, and have discussions as needed to hone in on exact goal requirements so we can work effectively toward them as a team. The other major component of successful team function is capable team members. Normally in a work environment, the hiring process produces team members who are reliably capable to the tasks assigned. In the classroom environment as we are, the process is entirely random: Teams are randomly assigned, and we get to “hash it out” along the way. Very fortunately, we in La Séptima got lucky: We’re each capable of contributing effectively toward producing group deliverables, and we’re all committed to doing so.
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS CONT. With my experience in the realm of school group projects, they tend to be very stressful due to lack of participation from members. Due to this, and my personal issue with letting go of control, I reluctantly stuck with this class instead of dropping it within the first week. Ironically, even after I managed to be a part of a very successful group in one of my classes in the Spring 2016 semester, I still had apprehension jumping into another group project. So far, I have gained in experiences that while everyone has a different learning speed and way of going about a task, as long as the dedication is there, the job will get done. My best working times is not the same as the next person, and that is ok. Just last night, I had to remind myself that it was ok that there are some in the group working on their parts of the project while I went to bed; needless to say, it is still a work in progress. I have also discovered that you can do the parts that you enjoy, and it is still team contribution. It is also nice to be able to rotate into different roles, sometimes taking the lead, and at other times learning from other as they lead. One particular skill I realize is very important is communication and patience, things I may externally practice but need to continue to work on internally. Luckily for our particular group, we all seem to have a different skillset which compliments the group as a whole. To me this is a great example on how diversity can work in a business’s favor and that it is important to embrace it instead of trying to have everyone fit into some kind of corporate mold.
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS CONT. My individual reflection is that I still have a lot to learn in the world of management. I have also learned the importance of time management and how getting a jump start on assignments saves you a massive headache down the line. My biggest takeaway from everything so far is how to be a member of a team without ever physically being with your team. As society and the world evolves more and more meetings will be virtual so I believe I have started to grasp the concept on how to be more technologically sound to facilitate meetings.
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS CONT.
To be honest I was not looking forward to this group project as I am not an extrovert person. However, over the past month the group project has taught me quite a bit. I have learned that even though everyone has a chaotic schedule and living in different areas, planning and working together can make the project possible. I feel very fortunate to be placed in a great team who works well with one another. Each one of the members in the group have unique characteristic   and brings their different personality and skill to help put the project together.
INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS CONT.
Reflecting back, I have learned a lot about management thus far. I learned that the management field is constantly changing and it does so at a fast pace. I really feel I am gaining an understanding for this concept at a deeper level. Learning how to Plan, Organize, Lead, and Control is much different while interacting with other collegiate students on a diverse task versus simply reading the concepts in the text and testing through it. I was able to gain a real life understanding of the material and learn it in a way that wasn’t just memorizing the terms. Instead, I gave substance to interactions in my life that I already experienced and “learned” from by reflecting back through writing logs how the new material has already presented itself prior in my life. This time around I gained context from my experiences and I am grateful of this teaching process.
GROUP REFLECTIONS
Dr. Diasio’s Principles of Management course started out hard and fast. Our group had to work through the process of connecting up informationally and technologically; getting to know each other as people and classmates; gelling as a goal-focused team of contributors each with strengths and weaknesses; achieving clarity on the weekly-due personal and team deliverables; become functional as a team despite the reality of our disparate schedules and wide geographic separation; build and refine our collaboration toolchain so that we could be fully effective as a virtual team; and start producing ontime deliverables, all within scant days of our formation. Though the initial collaboration technology setup actions we did felt like (and pretty much were) extra-work “overhead”, it turned out having those tools in place made everything else about working together as a team gracefully possible. Now practiced at working as a fully “virtual” team, La Séptima has been able to accomplish our tasks at a best-of-the-team contribution level, because we’re able to pool our strengths together and act as a “virtual person”, a team-whole greater than our person-parts. We’re excited to finish the course not only having learned Principles of Management but as both more effective professional solutions providers and more effective people.
RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FUTURE STUDENTS •
Be flexible and prepared to step up if necessary.
•
Be familiar with online meeting apps, document sharing tools, and online collaboration tools, especially when taking the class online.
•
Familiarize yourself with video editing software, PowerPoint, and social media websites such as YouTube and Instagram. All will be used repeatedly throughout the course.
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Last but certainly not least: Do not wait for day one to dig deep into the syllabus.
THANK YOU!
Team La SĂŠptima thanks you, the Monsters of Management, for considering our show. We also thank Dr. Diasio and TA Weakly for their continued support throughout this experience. This concept draws an audience with a wide age range and array of backgrounds, maximizing advertising range. Â Our show also has many opportunities for consumer product placement spots, increasing its marketability to advertisers and revenue potential. We appreciate your time, and look forward to developing the show!
References Hitt, M. A., Black, J. S., & Porter, L. W. (2012). Management (3rd ed.). Boston, Massachusetts: Prentice Hall. Murdocca, M. (Producer) & Tartakovsky, G. (Director). (2012). Hotel Transylvania [Motion Picture]. Â United States: Columbia Pictures. Episodes
Presentations
Intro Episode Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Retrospective
Final Presentation
Midterm Presentation