Egg-Protection Device

I believe our team followed each step of the planning process as shown below.

Step 1 - Our main objective was to build an egg-protection device that would protect our egg from cracking so that we all could get the extra 5 points credit. Working under the deadline given to us, we named our egg and then quickly came up with different ideas about what type of device we should build.
Step 2 - During our planning process, a few people went to the front of the room to examine the materials we would be using and how each material could be utilized in the best way. They came back with other ideas about how to build our device.
Step 3 - We took alot of ideas into consideration but we finally agreed on one idea. In addition, we thought of a backup plan just in case the first idea wouldn't work.
Step 4- We ended up using the backup plan because after examining the materials we all thought the original idea wouldn't protect the egg well enough. We started to discuss how the device could be put together and how it could be attached to the egg while still having at least 50% of the egg visible.
Step 5 - One person started the building process to implement our idea and it became apparent how the device would be built. We also were able to take corrective action after the building process began by improving upon the device and how it was attached to the egg.

I thought our group worked well together. We were all pretty much proactive and each person came up with ideas about how to make our device a better. However, given the time constraints I thought it was difficult to go through each step efficiently. Since everyone wanted to be involved in every task, it was a little chaotic because no one was allocated a specific job to do. I believe if we had more time we would have been able to allocate specific tasks to each person so that there would not have been confusion about who needed to do what and when but in the end our device was successful.

My Biggest Management Problem

What can I say about management? Management is a part of our everyday lives. We make decisions on everything we do in order to live a better more fufilling life. I want to get ahead but the thing I am having a problem managing at the moment is communicating. Some days I have confidence in my communication skills and am able to communicate what I am feeling clearly. On other days I have no confidence and it's on those days where it is difficult for me to convey what I feel. A perfect example is that I sometimes feel like my manager is not being fair to me and am unable to confront him on certain issues like requesting time off. You would think that this would be a simple issue, however, for me it's not that simple. First I send an e-mail to him with my requested days off and then I wait. Usually I don't hear back from him. Days or even weeks would go by and I still wouldn't get an answer even with follow up e-mails. I have also followed up with him face to face and he still doesn't seem concerned that this is an important issue. It's important to me because I want to finalize travel plans and because I am not getting the "ok", my plans have to be put on hold. After speaking with others in my group, I find that he responds to their requested days off without a problem and still today I keep wondering how I should deal with this issue.

About Myself

Hi, my name is Dawn. Raised in Brooklyn, I am now married and live on Long Island. I currently work for an insurance company in Manhattan and am attending Baruch College in the evenings. The degree I am pursuing is a Bachelors Degree in Accounting which I hope will open more doors for me. Outside the work environment, my interests include travelling and photography.