Exam Notes: Measuring Assignment & Stress Management

Measuring Assignment Part 1

• Due Date (Part 1): Thursday, October 9th.

• Mentor Selection:

  • Find a mentor; list their name, city/country, relationship, and qualities.

  • Avoid relatives/close friends unless approved by instructor; dedicate separate mentoring time.

  • Good choices: someone in your desired career, a professional, past supervisor, or person with life skills.

  • Avoid: current supervisor, close friend/employee at same organizational level (unless discussed and valid).

• SMART Goals:

  • Construct two SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound).

  • Write each goal as a single sentence (or two).

  • Tie goals to instrumental/intangible values.

  • List the course topic from which the value originated.

  • One goal must be interpersonal (focus on how you relate to others, e.g., communication, conflict management, cultural interaction).

• Goal Restrictions:

  • Cannot be about budgeting or saving money.

  • Must go beyond usual work/school/sports requirements.

  • Must tie into at least two different course topics.

  • Exclude Topic 2 (setting goals) and Topic 7 (oral presentations) as primary goals, unless they involve extraordinary challenges.

• Mentor Interaction: Ask for at least $4$ sessions ($30$ to $60$ minutes each). The project focuses on your goals and how the mentor helped you, not just general interviewing about their career.

Measuring Assignment Part 2

• Submission: Copy/paste Part 1 content (highlight changes in yellow). Include a brief sentence on mentoring relationship continuation/closure.

• Meetings Log: List all meetings in a table. In-person meetings require mentor's signature (can be a single signature for all sessions). Remote meetings require an email acknowledgment from the mentor.

• Discussion Summary: For each meeting, summarize main discussion points and mentor's advice pertaining to your SMART goals (paragraph+). Include reflections on implemented suggestions (why/how, results, next steps) or non-implementation (why not). Show progression toward goals.

• Goal Accomplishment: Reflect on whether goals were accomplished (focus on measurable aspects). If not, explain why and what would be done differently next time.

• Lessons Learned: Describe lessons learned, referencing course theory (e.g., "PowerPoint slide Topic $1$, slide $16$" or "Reading $1.2$, page $237$"). These connections must be from two different topics.

• Late Submissions: $10\%$ deduction per business day (extensions possible with prior notice due to client interaction).

Stress and Well-being

• College Stress: A new environment and different expectations from high school often lead to stress.

• Neff's Work Adjustment Problems (Consistent Behaviors):

  • Type 1: Lack motivation, avoid work.

  • Type 2: Fear or anxiety as predominant response to demands.

  • Type 3: Open hostility and aggression.

  • Type 4: Marked dependency, helplessness, inability to initiate action.

  • Type 5: Marked social naivety, lack perception of others' needs.

• Stress Definition: Physical and emotional reaction to a potentially threatening aspect of the environment.

  • Not all stress is bad (e.g., deadlines, athletic performance); this is known as eustress.

  • Anxiety: Fixation on the future. Depression: Fixation on the past.

  • Chronic stress indicators include difficulty concentrating, frequent illness, and sleep problems.

• Organizational Stressors: Occupation type (e.g., sales, emergency services), role ambiguity (unclear rules), role conflict (contradictory demands), role overload/underutilization.

• Personal Control: Workers with more control experience less stress.

• Locus of Control:

  • Internal Locus of Control: Belief that life events are under one's own control (more upset by threats to control).

  • External Locus of Control: Belief that life events are beyond one's control (more resigned to external factors).

• Personality Types:

  • Type A: Aggressive, impatient, restless, competitive (good for rapid promotions, managers/salespeople; potentially detrimental to continued success).

  • Type B: Relaxed, fewer deadlines/conflicts, laid back (often more successful top executives).

• Rate of Life Change (Holmes and Rahe Stress Scale): Score based on points for life events in the past year.

  • <150 Points: Low risk of stress-induced health breakdown.

  • $150-300$ Points: $50\%$ risk of major health breakdown in $2$ years.

  • >300 Points: $80\%$ risk of major health breakdown in $2$ years.

  • Youth provides physical resilience, but high scores still indicate significant health risk and warrant proactive health management.