MGMT 8705M Week 7 Observation Memo Example

Course	MGMT 8705M Organizational Behavior Performance and Evaluation
Week	Week 7
Paper type	Observation memo
Length	About 630 words, 4 pages
Format	Memo, APA 7 citations
School	Walden University
Program	PhD in Management
Updated	October 2026

Free sample paper for MGMT 8705M Week 7

Memorandum

To: Doctoral seminar, MGMT 8705M

From: Doctoral student, observer

Date: November 18, 2026

Re: Observation log of the Scheduling team's weekly planning meetings, October 28 to November 11

Setting and Observer

I observed three weekly planning meetings of the Scheduling team at Larchmont Software, a composite software company, on October 28, November 4 and November 11, 2026. Each meeting ran about fifty minutes in a conference room with a shared screen. The team has six members: a product lead, four engineers and a designer. I was introduced as a doctoral student studying how teams plan work, sat at the end of the table away from the screen and took notes by hand. I did not speak during the meetings. I chose planning meetings because they are where design and code decisions are most often proposed in front of others; I did not observe code reviews or one-to-one conversations.

What this page is doingThe memo states where the observer sat and how they were introduced, because both shape what was visible and how people behaved.

The Log

[after]

The interpretation column carries no readings on purpose; they are held for a later section. Every entry records what someone in the room could see or hear and could confirm.

Table 1

Excerpt From the Observation Log, November 4 Meeting

Time	Speaker by role	Behavior observed	Interpretation
0:04	Product lead	Presented draft plan for the reminder feature on screen	Held for later section
0:09	Engineer B	Proposed sending reminders through the existing notification service instead of a new one	Held for later section
0:11	Product lead	Asked Engineer B to estimate the change; Engineer B gave two days	Held for later section
0:12	Product lead	Edited the plan on screen to use the existing service	Held for later section
0:19	Designer	Showed two layouts for the reminder settings page	Held for later section
0:21	Engineer D	Asked whether layout A worked for screen readers	Held for later section
0:22	Designer	Said layout A had not been checked; added a task to check it	Held for later section
0:34	Engineer A	Said nothing about the reminder feature during the meeting	Held for later section
0:41	Product lead	Assigned the backend task to Engineer B and the settings page to the designer	Held for later section

Method

Flanagan (1954) set out the critical incident technique as a way of gathering concrete, witnessed episodes of behavior rather than general impressions, and insisted that useful records describe what a person did in a situation, not a judgment about the person. I followed that discipline by writing only verbs of action and speech: proposed, asked, edited, showed, assigned. Mintzberg (1973), recording what executives actually did hour by hour, found that their days were brief, fragmented and dominated by talk, quite unlike the reflective planning the textbooks described. His work shows why structured observation is worth the effort: it can contradict what people say about their own work. Bakeman and Gottman (1997) note that observational records become measurable only when categories are defined clearly enough for two observers to agree; a second observer attended the November 11 meeting, and we agreed on 41 of 46 logged behaviors.

Interpretation, Held Separately

Read against the construct defined earlier in the course, several entries are instances of collaboration as defined: at 0:09 to 0:12, Engineer B's proposal changed the product lead's plan, and the change is visible in the plan's edit history. The exchange at 0:21 changed the designer's task list. Engineer A's silence on November 4 is recorded but not interpreted; it may reflect a different assignment, not disengagement.

What the Room Did Not Show

The meetings did not show work done between meetings, private conversations or code reviews, where much collaboration as defined probably occurs. My presence may have changed behavior, particularly in the first meeting. Three meetings are too few to describe the team's pattern.

References

Bakeman, R., & Gottman, J. M. (1997). Observing interaction: An introduction to sequential analysis (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Flanagan, J. C. (1954). The critical incident technique. Psychological Bulletin, 51(4), 327-358. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0061470

Mintzberg, H. (1973). The nature of managerial work. Harper & Row.

The Walden MGMT 8705M Week 7 instructions

In Week 7 you observe a setting where the behavior you have been studying should occur, and record it as cleanly as possible. State the setting, dates, your role and where you sat, and explain which occasions you chose and which you left out. Keep a log with time, speaker by role and the behavior described in words a second observer would accept. Hold all interpretation for a separate section. Explain your method with reference to observation research. If possible, have a second observer check part of your log. Close with what your observation could not capture. Four to five pages around the log is typical, written as a memo. Note the dates and length of each session.

Inside the MGMT 8705M Week 7 example

The sample's setting section describes the team, the room, the observer's introduction and seat and the choice of planning meetings. A log excerpt from one meeting records nine timed entries, from a lead presenting a plan to an engineer's proposal that changed it, with the interpretation column held empty on purpose. The method section explains the critical incident discipline of recording specific acts, cites structured observation of managers as evidence of why it matters and reports agreement with a second observer. The interpretation section identifies entries that fit the course's construct and declines to interpret one engineer's silence. A final section lists what the meetings did not show.

Where the marks sit in the MGMT 8705M Week 7 rubric

Clean behavioral records carry most of the grade. Memos that describe a team as collaborative, engaged or tense, rather than recording what people did and said, score low. Graders look for an observer position stated honestly, a log in neutral verbs, interpretation kept separate and a method grounded in observation research. A second observer's agreement check, if available, strengthens the record. The interpretation section should link entries to the construct without overreaching. Acknowledging what the observation missed shows judgment. A readable log and correct citations complete the Week 7 marks. Logs that mix interpretation into entries lose most of the credit. Omitting the observer's position is a frequent gap.

MGMT 8705M Week 7 help: mistakes that cost marks

The most common slip is the first adjective. Before writing any entry, ask whether a second observer could confirm it; if not, rewrite it as an action. Record where you sat and how people knew you, since both affect behavior. Choose occasions deliberately and say what you skipped. Keep a separate page for interpretations. If you can, invite a classmate or colleague to observe one session and compare logs. List what you could not see. A tutor can help you tighten your log entries, and the planning meeting memo above keeps behavior and interpretation apart. Write entries within an hour of the meeting while details are fresh.

Get a MGMT 8705M Week 7 example written to your instructions

Send the observation memo assignment, its rubric, and a note on the setting your section wants observed, or the case it supplies. A memo with its log, vantage statement and list of blind spots arrives within 24 to 48 hours; there is no fee for a first sample. Observed people appear by role only, never by name.

More MGMT 8705M papers and PhD in Management samples

MGMT 8705M Week 7 questions, answered

Where can I find a free MGMT 8705M Week 7 sample paper?

The Week 7 sample is the product team observation memo printed above.

What does the MGMT 8705M Week 7 log record?

Time, speaker by role and behavior described in verbs a second observer could confirm, with interpretation held separately.

Why state where the observer sat?

The observer's position and introduction affect what was visible and how people behaved.

What is the critical incident technique?

Flanagan's method of recording specific, observed behaviors in situations rather than general impressions of people.

How was the log checked?

A second observer attended one meeting, and the two agreed on 41 of 46 logged behaviors.