1st Quarter Final Stretch

This quarter has taken the cake for the busiest quarter yet. Generally, the rule is the 2nd year is a bit easier because you are taking classes you're interested in and therefore all your groups are motivated around the topic. Also, often teachers recognize many second years are working through the year, so they don't pile on the work. Well, I chose four really interesting courses, but I think I picked the four classes with the largest workloads. Add to that a 50% TA position and I am pretty busy.
My most important class is experiential learning. I have always had the policy that whenever I do projects for outside companies that I would prioritize those projects to go above and beyond expectations. Luckily for me, my team shares that commitment. We have taken what appears to be a different strategy versus other class teams. My team has allowed me to act in a traditional "management" role; I delegate tasks, keep the team on the same page, handle administrative duties, represent the team with the company executive team, and prepare and lead all presentations. I, in turn, assign the team members to roles of specialization responsible for specific sub-projects.
Most other teams assign a person to co-ordinate meetings but all members share roles equally and generally try to come to consensus on most issues. I think our approach has allowed us to move very quickly and create some very advanced tools. The risk is that you reduce the amounts of collaborative inputs from other team members. I try to minimize this risk by having sub-project updates at our regular meeting to highlight major issues and gather group feedback. We decide the best course of action and the responsible member implements the decision. The other drawback is that our structure requires a great deal of trust amongst its members. I have learned that it can be a delicate balancing act keeping all team members support in my leadership and belief in the other members. Nine weeks in, we have overcome our challenges and I think we are on track to deliver a very sophisticated model to our company.
I have greatly benefited from the feedback from our consulting mentors from McKinsey & Co. They have made a number of great suggestions on how to present our thoughts, approach important issues with our clients, and how to manage the whole process. Their feedback has helped me greatly improve my project management skills.
Work in the other classes in just as busy. The other classes each have a major project due in the next few weeks. I will also have one final exam for financial statement analysis and a team War Game for competitive analysis.
I am really enjoying the competitive analysis class. It really suits my natural ability to look at a pile of data and identify patterns. Professor Lane has done a great job of showing us a systematic way to establish a CI program in any company and help it grow to become a critical strategic pillar for a company. I have enjoyed the teaching experience so much that I have decided to sign up for two related classes next quarter.
As for financial statement analysis (FSA), it is still a necessary evil. Only really strange people love diving into the depths of financial statements, but the information they offer is very powerful (provided you understand them). It is hard to say I am highly motivated in this class, but I have definitely taken away a number of important lessons. The course started off horribly when the teacher really had a great difficulty leading an effective class. To her credit, she has listened to feedback and gradually refined her approach. She still is not a great teacher, but I respect anyone dedicated to improving. The workload is enormous, but again a necessary evil. You can't learn it without getting dirty and doing the work. That said, I will not be taking the second part of this course offered next quarter. I feel good with my solid overview of the topic.
Global teams has been another great experience. The course is less lecture based and more focused on structured group activities designed to teach important lessons about cross-cultural and virtual teams. There are a number of projects that this course requires. Some of which I am not sure deliver true learning value, but the Global Team project was a great learning experience. Over this past month, I was teamed with four students from Seattle, Helsinki (Finland), and Hong Kong. We were asked to research the business practices of another country and create a powerpoint training guide. I won't say the quality of our work was fantastic, but just the experience of trying to coordinate with the team and produce the work was a great learning experience. I have a list of key takeaways from the project that I am sure will help me in the future.
So final takeaway - bloody busy and tired. I am looking forward to the quarter being over and taking a break. On that note, Lindsey and I have decided to go to Europe for the Christmas holidays, but more on that later.