Communication among the ASA Staff - Assignment Example

Exercise 8 or Exercise 8 8 Analysis The Acadiana Symphony Association (ASA) uses cell phones and internet communication regularly and in an organized manner to help it with the progress it intends to make in efficiently implementing the Do-Re-Me (DRM) curriculum. Cellular contact is helpful in real-time communication among the ASA staff. The workers are able to inform the administration of their immediate requirements for any particular projects timely and the management is able to transmit any important instructions to the workforce instantly. However, the cell phone usage is, in one way, detrimental to the goals of any projects because interns and staff members are sometimes annoyed about the assignment of new tasks through phone contact when the personnel are in the middle of an official exercise into which they are thoroughly involved. Still, the abundant and cunning employment of communication technology for establishing teamwork and cooperation within the organization is of great help to ASA in the pursuit of its objectives. For instance, the online literature updates by the ASA’s IT department have greatly helped me and other interns keep track of our responsibilities in our jobs and guidelines for the work we perform. The communication can, however, be further enhanced through the establishment of exclusive internet message boards or forums where the people working at ASA can crowd-source the information each person possesses, thereby providing a mass resource of information, and present and respond to queries and problems of any and all staff members. 8.2 Analysis I have interviewed David Stelford, the Choir Head Instructor for ASA’s DRM program. David has one of the most demanding jobs in the team of ASA instructors as he has the responsibility to work, along with his subordinates and peers, to organize kindergarten children for their performances in chorus. On top of the physical and mental exercises David performs in the fulfilment of his responsibilities, he has to fill out reports of all scheduled and official activities managed by him. The submission of reports by employees is, nevertheless, quite an effective way of keeping track of both the performance of each employee and the delivery of services to ASA’s clients. The reports are assessed by the respective Project Directors and recommendations based on the reports are made at the quarterly and annual board meetings. Even though he feels the reporting puts an extra burden on the employees, David acknowledges that these sorts of quality control measures are what would bring in better business statements for his organization. However, he also thinks that the reporting process can be made more convenient, not only for the reporters, but also for the evaluators, if instead of having to write paragraphs, standard checklists could be devised by the Human Resources team on which the workers could fill in responses to particular indicators mentioned in the pre-formatted reporting forms. 8.3 Synthesis: Linking Knowledge and Experience Identifying information. A client, in the case of the job I was deputed to perform in my role as an intern, was usually considered to be the student of the ASA conservatory rather than the person paying the fees for ASA’s services, which was, normally, the guardian of the student. Firstly, the information I need to identify is regarding my own personal strengths and professional proficiencies related to the role I am supposed to perform. Secondly, the age and academic record of the client must be known to me so that I can better decide upon the methods and approach I need to use in managing the client. Thirdly, I need to know about the personality and skill level of the music instructor I would be working with. And finally and most importantly, I should know the coursework of the particular music class or classes that the client is enrolled to and be able to provide both learning and teaching aid materials to the instructors and the client. Presenting problem(s). The client in my case is Eva Hunt, a fourth-grade student enrolled in the String Instruments course offered by the ASA conservatory. I would be responsible for assisting the two String Instruments instructors with organizing the music students in class, providing notes and assignments and collecting them, filling in for the instructors when they are on leave and formulating reports pertaining to students’ course performance and class participation levels. Hence my job will include observing Eva’s performance and class participation and assisting her and the instructors in enhancing her learning experience. History of presenting problem(s). A few weeks ago, I observed Eva when she was attending classes that were a part of the DRM program. It was early days in my internship, so I did not get to have much contact with the clients and assisted the coaching staff in the performance of auxiliary functions. Eva lives thirty-five miles away from the training center and the travelling clearly exhausted her as it did the other students who came from far away. Eva was quick to pick up the instructions of her teachers during the DRM program. Social history. Eva was shy and reserved in the DRM activities and this kept her from discussing her thoughts with the music coaches. Also, she found it hard to mingle with the other students even though I always found her to be in a playful mood during the choir lessons. Finally, she has a single parent who has paid her fees for the String Instruments but was not particularly concerned about Eva’s participation reports of the DRM activities. Goals. The goals of this care plan are to place emphasis on the specific needs of particular clients and the focus currently is on Eva Hunt. In particular the plan should (a) Ensure that the client gains a great amount of useful experience through her attendance of the music classes. (b) Address the particular social and cognitive needs of the client. Plan. The plan for addressing Eva’s particular learning requirements is multi-faceted. I would draft a form enlisting the names of the various students in which I would record the number of questions asked by each student in each class. Secondly, I would personally approach the students, including Eva, regarding the technical music learning problems they were facing and direct them to the relevant instructor who I would also notify. I will take a proactive approach to my job responsibilities as an intern and look to view each client as an individual rather than part of a group. 8.4 Synthesis: Linking Knowledge and Experience Subjective. An eight-year old boy with compromised eyesight, having difficulty in following the String Instruments coach’s instructions regarding the movement and placement of fingers over the instruments. Objective. Instructor’s experience: 7 years, working with special needs children: less than 1 year. The primary modes of music learning for the student: sound and touch, musical instrument expertise: performed as a drummer at school functions. Assessment. A fifth-grade student with special needs being taught through traditional means in a String Instruments course. Has a weak eyesight, but is not handicapped – not enrolled in special needs classes on this basis. Instructor not experienced with such types of students. Plan. The student has been suggested to continue with the current course. Application has been lodged with the Conservatory director for organization of supplementary private tutoring sessions with a Special Needs coach. Any further action will be taken after the evaluation of the next performance-assessment report. 8.5 Synthesis: Linking Knowledge and Experience An ASA conservatory student I had a particularly good time managing was Christopher Broncos, a ninth-grade African-American student. Not only did I help out Christopher with his drumming technique from my own experience as a backyard and a college-band drummer, but I also learnt a lot from Christopher’s theories about music and its effects. Christopher was declared the best matched-grip (Mizuno, Ishizuka, Kajiyama, Miura, & Yoshinaga, 2004, p. 8) learner in his Snare Drum Technique course which was attended by over twenty-five students. I was deputed by the Percussions Head Coach to organize equipment and literature for the whole course. As I saw that Christopher was eager to learn, I started providing him with videos of snare drumming techniques as he had asked me because he did not have access to the internet at his dormitory. 8.6 Analysis ASA’s IT department maintains online records of both attendance of the students and their academic performance. In the report card section, a client can see messages addressed to him or her by the instructors. These messages are updated every week as the instructors guide the students based on what they observe of them. The online publishing server and database are secured through a yearly contract with the computer security systems provider Symantec. Clients normally have to send in their identification information and fees for scheduled courses over the internet, however, they can choose to provide these items by post or in-person if they wish. The clients are provided a password to initially log in to their accounts at the ASA website, but can later change the account information. This use of computer databases is quite an efficient way of maintaining client registration and performance records compared to physical paper records as the computer records can be duplicated and stored as backup very easily. It is vital that the institution renews its contract with a top-notch computer security firm punctually so that the sensitive information contained in the registration data of clients remains secure. 8.7 Analysis The administration uses a system of report writing to evaluate the performance of its employees and the requirements of its clients. Also, there are financial reports which not only provide the board of directors with the financial statistics for each budgetary period, but also allude to the monetary requirements of the institute as well as the business progress, customer trends and resource requirement forecasts for upcoming sessions. I, being an intern, was not involved in the administrative report writing process, nor did I get a chance to observe it. However, while working with the music coaches and academic instructors, I saw the process of evaluation of students and that of the employees. The student-teacher documentation is what helps ASA keep its educational standards high. The students’ performance evaluation forms addressed everything from the students’ participation levels to their academic performance, to their disciplinary records. 8.8 Analysis The organization where I interned uses fund-raising as the primary method of financing its volunteers and charity work programs. Usually, the ASA teams up with school districts of Acadiana, such as the Ascension Parish School Board and the Lafayette Parish School System to support its philanthropic services financially. In return for the publicity these school districts provide to the ASA, the institute offers some of its free services at the school sites of these governance boards. All public funding is accounted for in financial statements which the ASA also mails in printed form to its creditors who have donated more than a certain amount of capital. The financial transactions and spending by the ASA is audited by Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Limited. The ASA has a policy of mentioning the names and contribution amounts of its creditors in its financial statements; this helps it maintain its reputation and funding. Most recently, one month ago, the ASA organized an exercise in “Family Involvement” for children with single parents and sent instructional teams to orphanages in Acadiana. 8.9 Analysis As stated above, the ASA sends its volunteer teams to various places in the region of Acadiana for the implementation of public welfare initiatives. In addition, the agency also organizes concerts which help it collect funds and also bring it to the limelight through the endorsements by popular musicians. Often, these musicians perform for zero or minimal fees, in respect of the philanthropic vein of ASA. The organization also publishes an arts magazine by the name of “Overture” every month which has a circulation of over 6,500 copies. The lack of targeting of the lower classes in its publicity strategy seems to be a policy decision as such publicity would increase the influx of beneficiaries of the ASA’s welfare programs. 8.10 Personal Reflection: Observation of Self and Others My most respectable attachment during my internship was my stint as a curriculum advisor. There were only two interns in a board consisting of twelve members deputed to present the training staff’s curriculum recommendations to the board of directors regarding the DRM plan. Because the final draft of recommendations was to be presented at the next executive board meeting, the advisory board decided that each member should convey his or her views in the form of a formal presentation. I presented my views to the advisory board three times, twice after revision from the previous set of suggestions. The exercise seemed daunting at first, but after the third time, I was ready to present the final paper to the executive board if required. I have realized that I am not fazed by obstructions to my speeches in public, unlike most other people, and that I can take criticism of the content and style of my presentation constructively. I have come to the conclusion that public-speaking is an activity unmatched in potential of providing valuable life and learning experience. Therefore, I now look to intrusively offer my services as a presenter at any gathering, be it a wedding ceremony. 8.11 Analysis The highest level meetings I was able to attend during my internship were those of the curriculum advisory board of ASA. During these events, I observed that while the verbal communication among the board members was quite beneficial, there was little to no exchange of written or recorded ideas. As a result, the board members were often found misconceiving other members’ thoughts about changes in the DRM curriculum. I felt that there needed to be a protocol for official meetings where some important information, such as the jotted down recommendations of each member, would be available in printed form to all the attendees of the meetings. References Mizuno, M., Ishizuka, T., Kajiyama, H., Miura, Y., & Yoshinaga, T. (2004). U.S. Patent No. 6,759,583. Washington, DC: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Read More