As this project has come to a close, I have learned many lessons throughout this experience. To start, especially with this transition to online learning, adaptability has been a key lesson that I have learned throughout this experience. Working with clients in a different country can be challenging, but in a virtual environment makes it harder. Also, before the project started, I did not really think about the language barrier that was going to be present between my team and our client. The lesson learned here is to always be able to adapt in a certain situation, as it will pay off to yourself, your team and client if everyone is on the same page when changes need to be made. I also learned the importance of following up with regards to people you have reached out to. For instance, in our project, there must have been a miscommunication about who would be reaching out to a certain group of people regarding a section of our project. Because our work got so busy, we realized a few days went by without responding to an email. This can not happen when doing projects, and it is something I am now very much aware of. Giving a response within a day is the goal, and what you aim for when working on client projects with many moving pieces.
A transferable skill that was developed during this course despite not being able to travel to meet our client was the importance of relationship building. From the first day of class, we learned how important the people in Bolivia valued building a relationship with the people they were working with. With this being said, each meeting we had with our clients, we made sure to talk generally first before talking about our work, so that we could form that connection and trust between them. I found this to be very helpful, because we learned more about our client and CEOLI as a whole. I also enjoyed being able to watch a video about Bolivia, as it gave my group more insight on what it actually would have been like to travel there. It was also valuable when my team had a session with Melissa during one of our classes in the beginning semester. The people on my team did not really know one another, and meeting over zoom was not ideal. With this being said, Melissa encouraged all of us before each meeting to talk and get to know each other for about 10 minutes in the beginning of the meeting to just catch up with one another in a casual setting before the work had to be done. I felt this was very beneficial for my team because it gave ourselves a little time to get to know each other. The better your relationship with your team members, usually the more successful you are with your project, so I thought this was something that was really helpful. Relationship building is an important skill that will help in my professional life, because I feel it is very important to get to know the people you are ultimately working or doing business with. Having a strong relationship will help you understand what your client or business partner wants, and leads to having an open line of communication throughout the project, or the time working with one of your business partners.
The importance of relationships when conducting working towards our deliverables was very important. When working towards your deliverables, it is very important for your team members to be on the same page, so communication is very important. It is important to assign tasks early so that it makes the rest of the project go smoothly, especially when everyone’s schedules get much busier as the semester goes. I think Pitt’s existing relationship with our clients at CEOLI helped our group deliverables because they were already so involved with the organization. It was important that we knew what CEOLI needed, so that we could benefit them moving forward. Obviously being online was very tough, but we did not lose sight of what the organization needed us to do. Proposing this art show and being able to plan it was very exciting. The main goal was to make people aware of who CEOLI is and what their organization does. Through the art show and giveaways, I am confident that funds will be raised and CEOLI’s United States presence will grow. I think being able to continue the project while in the midst of a pandemic really showed CEOLI how committed Pitt Business and Pitt students are to helping these non-profit organizations. There was any excuse in the world to not help this year, and I think it is really a testament to Pitt Business and the relationship with our clients that it was not even an option or thought to not help them out. This experience has been extremely rewarding and one day I really hope to be able to travel to Bolivia and see CEOLI firsthand to interact with the children and get a glimpse of what life is like there. Overall, Pitt’s relationship with CEOLI is amazing and I am so excited to see the work that will be done in years to come.
When in a professional interview, I am going to be so excited to talk about this experience, because it was truly a once in a lifetime experience. When talking about it I am going to start from the beginning of this journey, which started first semester sophomore year. During this time my group in the Certificate in Leadership and Ethics program was in a pitch competition, pitching to Hillary Koller ways that Pitt Business could still keep their connections with their abroad clients while in a virtual world. My team came up with the art show idea to benefit CEOLI and won the pitch competition. As a result, we were able to work on this project and have this experience. As a result, we planned and budgeted the art show, and outlined the way it would run while in a virtual environment. When talking about this experience, I am going to elaborate on the connection my team formed with our clients in Bolivia and how we were able to benefit their organization through our hard work. Even though we have only planned the art show, I am confident that my group put the pieces together to make it a smooth transition to get the art show up and running this summer. I am very excited to attend the art show when it happens, and I hope the show raises funds as well as awareness about CEOLI and that this helps CEOLI raise their presence in the United States.
The three most important things that future groups need to know is whenever your group feels like you have hit a roadblock, you need to talk to people and be able to explain what your ideas are. Getting feedback from an outside perspective can be very beneficial because it can give your group an idea that no one has thought about. In some cases, the idea given can then help move you along in your project and guide you towards the end. Also, do not be afraid to ask questions. While you may think it is a dumb question, odds are that it is not. Getting clarification is always beneficial, because before getting too far into the project and doing it wrong, asking questions and getting clarification saves you time down the road when working on the project. I also always believe having an open line of communication between team members is very beneficial. If you are unfamiliar with your team members when starting the project, take some time in the beginning to get to know one another. By doing this, it will make your team dynamic stronger, and will allow your group to work better together and be able to build the trust in one another that you will need in order to succeed. I found this to be very beneficial for my team, because given the online environment we were all in, I did not know a few of my team members beforehand, so I took this as an easy way to get to know one another and also building the team dynamic at the same time.
In conclusion, having the opportunity to work on this international project while in the midst of a pandemic has been really rewarding. I have grown personally, professionally as well as academically. This project has taught me time management, communication as well as the importance of working on a team. The many valuable lessons I have learned will follow me throughout the rest of my academic time here at Pitt, and beyond when I am out in the real world. Having real world experience from this project at a young age is very important, and being able to see this project from the very beginning is something that will make me proud. Even though my time consulting with CEOLI has come to a close, I will forever cherish the experiences and relationships I was able to have during the semester.