Week 3 Assignment

            One of the hardest parts of having any supervisory or managerial authority is to let a person go. No matter what the reason it is a difficult situation. When you know that this position is important to that individual for them to pay bills or if they have a family to help support that family, it’s definitely a feeling no person enjoys. However in a situation such as this, you have to do what works best for the company. If there is an employee that is creating an unhealthy work environment, then you have to make sure that this situation is corrected. In my opinion there are a few ways to deal with a situation like this.

            With it being noted that this employee is a confrontational type of person. There of course needs to be a certain level of caution when approaching someone like this. The first step I would make would be to approach this employee about their performance. I would get some proof to show them their performance compared with other anonymous employees as well as the level or standard of work of which the company expects. This gives the employee a chance to see their production and if they care enough, to improve and become a better more efficient employee. The other way of delivering such news to such an employee would be to give the employee “three strikes”. Give the employee an opportunity to change and improve the parts of their job that are not meeting the standards. Give them an ultimatum with a certain amount of time for a deadline, and that hopefully would light the fire under them. Another tactic would be making an announcement among your employees stating that you are looking to hire new staff, for those who do not step their performance up. For the most part an announcement like this one, is one that would improve performance among anyone slacking and improve performance among those who are already solid employees. The last tactic which may prove the most efficient would be active listening. Maybe ask this employee if there’s a reason their performance is a certain level. Maybe ask if there’s a way to make the job easier and the environment more friendly and inviting for them. Regardless there will be reactions that you must anticipate:

Now with these options for approaching the employee, you also have to anticipate their reactions. Depending upon this person’s demeanor, if they’re violent or unstable, it would probably be smart to have security on hand and nearby. They may be emotionally unstable depending upon your approach, which makes things complicated especially if you’re sympathetic. They may be dramatic and start name calling, cursing and acting the opposite of professional. I think all of these possible reactions all stem from the approach.

The more direct and conforming you are, the better chance things will go smoothly. If you are assertive and abrasive, expect the same reaction in return. When it comes down to it, no matter how unruly and satisfactory this person’s work performance may be, they still are human beings and must be treated well.

Internet

Internet. Quite possibly the most influential invention, media tool since the creation of the printing press. The internet is a non tangible concept that exists in the land of mobile devices as well as computers and ever growing cloud companies. Every single business in the world has some sort of connection to the internet. Most companies and individuals use one or all of the previous stated media tools, and all of those media tools are not possible without the existence of the internet. For those companies and individuals who do not use social media or these media tools in some way, are either completely out of “modern times” or their business (if it still exists) is struggling. Of course there are individuals and companies who do not use internet based tools and they probably are doing alright, but that is their decision, and to use the limited tools that are not based off the internet, they are a step or two behind. The Internet has taken over the lives of everyone who uses it. You are able to access any information in the entire world, if you need it. Anyone of any age with knowledge of using a computer or mobile device, is the audience of the internet. The possibilities of new opportunities is simply endless. The market continuously grows in every aspect of the internet. The future of the world, is based upon the internet. To establish yourself, your voice or your brand today, is by far more easier than ever before. It’s very exciting to see the possibilities. I for one, plan on taking advantage of all of them.

YouTube

YouTube. YouTube is an interesting media tool. It combines users who look to share videos of an interest that they have and would like to share, or for some users to film videos regarding anything you could ever think of and become the next hilarious or next disturbing video for the pop culture to share among their peers. It’s caught the type of hype as when someone is looking to search or research a question they “Google” it. Same goes with YouTube. Anything that is shock worthy or funny and something that people feel that should be shared and shown to a large group of people, people would “Put it on YouTube”. YouTube has a very large demographic. People of any age, and any interest. Public companies use YouTube, to feature products or services. Entertainment companies use it as a cheaper way to advertise movies and musical talents. For someone like myself, an aspiring motivational speaker, it could be a great platform for my career. I simply post videos of my speeches, or interviews, and post them to YouTube, in hopes that people with my interest, share the same interest. If you have a mobile device, you could view and post videos from anywhere you are. It creates an enormous stage, and gives opportunities to some people who don’t have the contacts or know the “right people”. Some people who are talented and creative enough sometimes become “YouTube sensations” and from that point on they earn many benefits from having a large amount of followers. In this day and age, it matters even more how many friends and followers you have, this means you are establishing a brand within a very large community.

Facebook

Facebook has taken over the world. Facebook is a social networking tool that allows you to integrate every person that you are friends with as a part of your life. You can upload any type of media as well as, post information regarding your location and who is with you. I think Facebook is very limited. You can only see and communicate with the people that are friends with you. It’s a great tool to spread information among people who share similar interests or friends, but not so great if people don’t have you as a friend or subscribe to your updates. Facebook has become a very big part of the lives of the people who use it. There’s a lot of interpersonal situations that Facebook has developed many problems because of. For example, a lot of relationships (personal, romantic and professional) have been compromised because of the lack of privacy and the constant exploitation of information regarding how linked that person is to their Facebook page. Many if not most companies and organizations use Facebook as the direct way to interact with their demographic, customers. Some even use it as their main website or webpage. It is a great tool, to keep in touch with your contacts that aren’t in your demographic. For instance, if you have friends in a different country or different state, you could easily communicate with them for free. Rather than the “old fashioned” snail mail or post cards. You can simply leave a message on their wall and communicate with them. I’m not the biggest fan of Facebook, I use it often but in regards to using it for professional or media purposes, I think it isn’t as necessary as other platforms.

Twitter

Twitter has created this type of 140 characters or less environment. Twitter is an application that is available all over the world, on either a mobile platform or the use of a computer. You can “Tweet” a message or a status in 140 characters or less. Personally I think Twitter is the most powerful social networking tool. With most businesses and organizations being on Twitter, it takes very little effort to talk about a company, product, person and announcing it to your followers. You in fact are able to contact anyone who is in your interest indirectly. This creates that network. If you are sending out a tweet with a “#” this makes it a public tweet. So anyone who uses a certain word or phrase with the same “#”, this enables anyone who uses the same one, in the entire Twitter network. One of the biggest things about Twitter is that you need to learn to lingo. There are certain ways to utilize it to the maximum. Some people who are not patient or just want an easy to learn/use platform, may be turned away from Twitter. For those people Twitter will be just like another Myspace or Facebook status updating app. Twitter is a great way to share media among your followers as well as anyone in your interest that may want to know about that knowledge as well. Recently, I’ve used Twitter quite often and have made more of an effort to learn the lingo, and my efforts have been paying off. I’ve acquired many more followers and some of my recent “tweets” have been retweeted by some people I don’t know but support my postings!