1. During summer term my practicum was to plan the campus-wide Welcome Back Week Barbecue. As part of the planning I learned how to fill out an Action Plan and I established connections with campus scheduling and grounds. I learned how to deal with Food-to-Go and I learned improvisation skills when we didn't have enough volunteers the day of the event. That experience helped me navigate the steep learning curve of BYUSA and prepared me well for all the programs I am over currently. The fact that I knew how to place orders and make reservations helped me better help my PDs as they do the same thing. Because of my prior experience I had the technical expertise to give tips such as "Food-to-Go says they have the account code, but they often don't have the whole thing. Have them read it back to you after you place the order" or "Grounds will charge you a lot more than they originally tell you, so budget accordingly." I was able to help Emily fill out her first EAF, and tell Ben that if all the cubicles in the office were reserved he could go to Campus Scheduling and get a conference room in a different part of the Wilk. Because I had technical knowledge that they don't yet have, I am better able to help them succeed.
2. Sometimes my PDs and I have different opinions on how to best manage issues. :) There was one True Blue Tuesdays event when the men's basketball team was supposed to come. We had hurried to get a basketball signed so we could give it away as a prize that day, and then the team cancelled on us an hour before TBT. My PDs told me that they were still going to raffle it off even though the team was not there, and I put my foot down and said that we were going to wait. This was a problem, because it made me the bad guy of the day and they were frustrated with me. I waited until things were a little calmer and then talked to them. In this situation I had to analyze the issues (including: the team didn't come, the replacement team left early, we had a basketball ready to give away, my PDs had their minds made up, etc.) and solve those problems. It was difficult for me to tell them that I was in charge and we were going to do this thing my way, but I think that was an important call to make. The issues were solved by me making a decision and then talking to my PDs to let them know why I did what I did.
3. I have a unique opportunity to use innovation in my programs. Most of the things I am doing have been done before and so in most cases I don't struggle with building a program up from the ground. My challenge arises in taking the programs from "good" to "great." Right now everything is going well, but there is always room to improve and make it bigger and better than it was before. This doesn't come easily though, because everyone has their own idea of what is best for the program.
I try and support innovation in others by accepting their ideas. When one of my PDs proposes an idea that isn't quite full developed I try to help them work through the kinks instead of just shooting it down. Doing that is a lot more effective than just pushing my ideas onto them.
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