Student Board’s First Professional Development Workshop

On September 14th, The Kendra Scott Women’s Entrepreneurial Leadership Institute (KS WELI) hosted its first professional development workshop. The event welcomed members of the Student Board to expand on their communication and teamwork abilities. Led by a KS WELI community member, participants were placed into small teams and tasked with the challenge of creating the tallest possible structure using only spaghetti noodles, marshmallows, wire, and tape.

I was placed in a team with four other women whom I had never previously met or even spoken to. I instantly felt the anxiety of working with a new team and whether or not our communication tactics would fit cohesively.

I quickly learned that while I liked to immediately pick up the items to see what fit together, others preferred to take a step back and meticulously plan out each step before even touching the items. My team struggled to develop one cohesive plan, varying our strategic approaches. It was almost as if we agreed on an idea, but that idea looked different in everyone’s head.

After about ten minutes, I looked around the room and saw other groups’ sculptures standing confidently high while ours was just a pile of noodles on the table. In an environment like this, it was easy to get discouraged by comparing yourself to others. However, one of the intended takeaways of the program was to demonstrate that even an arbitrary task can take different amounts of time for everyone, especially when working on a team with new people.

My group valued getting to know one another and laughing about our failures together as opposed to taking the competitive edge and aiming for first place.

After the activity was over, participants reflected on which types of communication tactics they aligned most with. This was something new to me; I had never reflected on how I communicate, I have just always known that it’s a skill of mine. I realized I am a tactical communicator, meaning I like to jump right in and work hands-on. I also enjoy taking control, but value listening to others ideas and creating consensus. It is crucial to understand our communication strategies in order to determine what different professional, academic, and personal settings require. .

So while the main goal of the activity was to build the tallest sculpture, the true goals of the workshop extended far beyond this. I learned how to value organization under a time constraint, trust others opinions while never having worked with them before, and most importantly, what communication strategies are the most successful in various scenarios.

Communication builds leaders, so it is important we take a step back and acknowledge how we interact with those around us. I may have had little success in workshop activity, but I gained entirely new insights on my communication style.

About The Author:

Lauren Sitrin' 26

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