Question:
Students will be asked to submit an individual reflective summary of the key skills considered in this module. This will cover 7 key areas – however students will only need to submit 5 and can therefore decide which 5 of the 7 skill areas they would like to be assessed from the following:-
- Teamwork
- Postgraduate Study Skills
- Decision Making
- Interpreting Financial Information
- Managing Budgets
- Presentation Skills
- IT Proficiency
Questions to be addressed
- Teamwork
- What role do you naturally adopt when working in a team?
- Does the thought of teamwork fill you with excitement or dread?
- What problems have you encountered when working in a team?
- Why are some teams more successful than others?
- Postgraduate Study Skills
- What aspect of PG study skills have you found most challenging to date?
- What PG study skill do you excel in and why?
- What skill/s do you wish to develop and how will you do this?
- Which skills can you also utilise within a business/practical work situation? Provide an example.
- Decision Making
- Are you good at making decisions?
- If yes, why do you believe this to be the case? If no, why do you believe this to be the case?
- Do you think men or women are better at making decisions? Justify your answer with an example/s.
- Interpreting Financial Information
- Reflecting on the in-class activities, what is the value of this technique in evaluating the company’s position?
- Managing Budgets
- What difficulties have you experienced in managing a budget (either at work or at home) or what difficulties would you anticipate in managing a budget.
- Presentation Skills
- Do you enjoy delivering a presentation?
- How do you personally prepare for a presentation?
- What are the similarities/differences between individual and group presentations?
- What mistakes have you made when previously delivering a presentation?
- What makes a successful presentation?
- IT Proficiency
- How would you rate your IT skills on a scale of 1 to 5. 1 = poor, 2 = below average, 3 = average, 4 = good, 5 = excellent.
- How have you developed your IT skills?
- Are there any particular IT applications/packages which you feel you still need to develop? How will you do this?
Solution:
1.0 Teamwork
Roles played in a team
When working in a team, I naturally adopt the role of an implementer. This is evident as I always ensure that things get done in the team. I am equally practical, efficient and well-organized which are the characteristics of an ideal implementer in a team (Norman, 2017). Owing to my conservative nature, I am always rigid and hesitant in accepting a change in a team unless it is validated and its effectiveness understood. In light of this, Tsui et al. (2017 considers this as a pitfall as implementers tend to act before thinking things through, being inflexible and dismissing innovations easily. Additionally, as an implementer, I ensure I play the role of a practical organizer in the team putting all ideas into plans and actions.
Thought of Teamwork
The thought of a team typically fills me with excitement. I appreciate the fact that through teamwork, it is possible to combine different, complementary points. Eventually, this ends up identifying and seizing the hidden synergies chances, overcoming challenging obstacles and achieving objectives which seem to be hard. Nevertheless, I appreciate the fact that teamwork is a challenge in itself. As noted by Norman (2017) the challenging nature of the teamwork can be attributed to its nature as it demands team members to manage their egos, act with utmost humility, communicating efficiently and resolving all conflicts. To mitigate this challenge, I always establish shared objectives, work methods, and communication protocols. Eventually, a culture of visualization of a shared future, motivation and learning with each other to achieve our team objectives.
Problems of Working in a Team
In regard to the challenges encountered in a team, the majority have been as a consequence of the role I play as an implementer in a team. Difficulty in deciding is a major challenge I have consistently encountered. Team members are often rigid to adhere to their positions in the decision making. Also, they make repeated arguments instead of developing new information. Another problem is the poor communication and inability of resolving conflicts. According to Thornton (2016) team members might interrupt or talk over one another in the communication process whereas conflicts might be hard to address in an event there exists heightened tensions with team members making individual attacks or aggressive gestures. Other challenges encountered include power issues and personal agendas, ineffective leadership, lack of creativity and active participation. Dyer and Dyer (2013) noted that when working with a group of diverse individuals in a team, issues of communication and relationship might arise. Hence, the dynamicity and complexity of team demands for a strong and decisive process in roles actualization.
Reasons why Teams Succeed
Evidently, not all teams that are assembled are successful. According to Duhigg (2016) in the most successful teams, members must demonstrate possession of skills such as listening, communicating with different kinds of people and consistently being focused to achieve their targets. In addition, leadership in such teams is prioritized with the members maintaining an appropriate balance of authority ambiguously and unapologetically. In such teams, they have set clear goals and accountability processes used in assessing their progress. In light of this, He et al. (2014) noted that in successful teams, members typically understand the need to succeed and design their metrics of accountability and progress. Lastly, the received company support also determines the level of success. The teams which are neglected by their plant companies after start will eventually fall.
2.0 Postgraduate Study Skills
Most challenging Postgraduate Study Skills
In postgraduate study, research is paramount, and access to information is critical. In this case, one of the major challenges I have encountered is accessing information sources and cultural shock more so because I study in an international University. Since the majority of the work is done individually, I encountered inadequate guidance and mentoring for the indigenous students. According to Perron et al. (2014), in postgraduate studies, the learners are often faced with a significant challenge of lack of coordination of their studies with the real work environment. In the postgraduate studies, the majority of the learning process involves absorption of practical skills applicable in a real work environment.
Excellent Postgraduate Study Skills In my Postgraduate study, I have excelled in skills such as demonstration of academic judgment through gathering of relevant published evidence of data………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….Please contact us to receive this assessment in full based on your level of expectations, your experience and organisation of work
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