Business Management and Personal Skills - Assignment Example

 Personal Skills Business management involves a wide variety of skills that are not just critical to survival in the workplace but also play a vital role in one’s personal development and success in life. Since the scope of business management is broad unlike other disciplines such as nursing, teaching or hospitality, the principles learnt can be applied easily to any aspect of one’s life. In this paper, the skills learnt during the past two semesters shall be reflected upon along with a reflection of how I have been able to translate them into practice and the challenges encountered. Authors such as Belbin have pointed to the fact that overly compromising or servile behavior as well as engaging in destructive intellectual rivalry can hinder effective team working as no common ground is reached (Belbin, 2010). The delegation of team roles is equally important as individuals in team are required to solve problems, push the team forward towards relevant decisions, offer novel ideas, transform ideas into practice, bring in information from external sources and reinforce the meeting of schedules and deadlines (Hayes, 2002) (Belbin, 2010). Furthermore, the inefficiency of studying in groups has been acknowledged owing to distractions that reduce one’s concentration (O'Day & Budniak, 2012). Individual study has been preferred. Studies indicate that one’s memory of things is enhanced if they are written. Barrass suggests the habit of taking notes by paying attention to key words in the lecture as well as the central ideas rather than detail which encourages creative thought. It is, therefore, important not to ink down everything that the lecturer says (Hartman & Stewart, 2010). The art of note-taking can be developed through “flexible skeletons” whereby missing links are added and reworded by students in the lecture notes (Harvey & Chickie-Wolfe, 2007). Although Power point presentations are provided by lecturers to facilitate learning, they do not include all information and act as counterproductive by inclining students not to take notes (Ellis, 2013). Academic writing involves putting together information from literature, including journals, books, websites, periodicals, reports and other, in a synchronized and organized manner and offer originality of thought to support the thesis. Referencing these sources in the correct manner as per the required citation style (APA, Harvard, MLA, and Chicago etc.) is quintessential to support the argument being made (Tissington et al., 2009). Counterarguments also need to be offered to ensure that the author is well aware of both sides of the argument which enhances the validity of these arguments (Neville, 2010) (Anderson, 2010). However, mere paraphrasing of authors’ ideas and putting them together without synchronizing them will result in a ‘patchwork’ and not an essay or a report (Bovée et al., 2008). It is, therefore, critical to link the ideas with each other to ensure a coherent meaning is conveyed. Although I had strong skills as far as finance and accounting were concerned, my creative writing skills needed refinement as was indicated by my instructors in their feedback. I found it increasingly difficult to organize my free flowing thoughts into a structure and develop a flow throughout my piece of writing. According to Barrass, after scanning through the index to check whether the book is relevant or not it is useful to skim through the text to gather the main ideas (Barrass, 1996). Following this pattern, I took notes after my ‘second’ reading of the text and tried reconstructing outline for the topic. This allowed me to organize my thoughts in a better way. During my study, however, I was exposed to the concept of group studies which is something that has been reinforced by my learning on team dynamics and team working in organisations. Theory suggests the significance of learning through teams (Hills, 2001). However, my experience suggested otherwise. The primary issue encountered was that a lot of time was wasted in tasks that were not relevant to our objective of studying. Much too often the discussions would ramble away from the topic of our main discussion with the result that my concentration was lost and focus was distorted. Also, my tempo of learning was negatively affected with the result that I failed to retain what had been learnt at the beginning of our instances of group learning. Also, my experience for working with a group of friends on a research project revealed that inflexibility amongst team members and the struggle to spot the weak aspects of others’ arguments resulted in destructive debates. Although our group had students with a diverse set of competencies we failed to reach a common ground as to what tasks each member shall undertake. Usually a third person is required to bring the team back on track in such situations (Brosche & Feavel, 2011). In my case, the instructor had to step in to resolve conflicts and assign responsibilities. There were other various instances where I was required to work in teams. Most of the times the instructors would channelize our thoughts and give us step-by-step directions rather than allowing time for free-flowing discussions. Research has shown that actual problem-based learning occurs through team interactions that are usually not rewarded academically (Savin-Baden & Major, 2004). This is something that lacked in my case since time constraints and the pressure to complete the syllabus did not allow for open-ended discussions to take place. One of the most important aspects of academic writing is to avoid plagiarism (Sutherland-Smith, 2008). Poor management of time, weak linguistics as well as little awareness of converting information to knowledge all contribute to students resorting to plagiarism (Carroll, 2002). Considering that I was pressed for time for most assignments it was difficult to paraphrase content and add original thought to it. However, with some practice and feedback from instructors I was able to learn this skill. The use of plagiarism software was a good starting point for me. Software such as Turnitin contain a “similarity index” that shows the extent to which the work is replicated from other sources (Biggam, 2008). In some courses the instructors would allow students to use this software ‘before’ the final submission, while in most of the courses this was not the case. As part of research projects, I was introduced to popular databases including EBSCO host, Taylor & Francis and various others where I could filter content based on the year of publication, type of source (journals, periodicals etc.) as well as keywords. This is because most writing standards prohibit using unauthentic sources such as Wikipedia as the basis of research (Cummings, 2009). Although the online databases dramatically reduced the time I needed to search relevant material, I felt that the results were either too broad or too narrow in their scope. Therefore, I made it a habit to read the abstract first which gave a preliminary idea of what the article entails. Time management was yet another critical skill that I developed over time. Initially procrastination would lead to a lot of assignments getting piled up till the deadline was near. With little time left to complete these assignments, the quality of work used to be compromised often resulting in average or poor grades. However, owing to counseling provided by my mentors I was able to overcome this by making sure that at least a fraction of work was completed on a day-to-day basis. Furthermore, writing down the tasks to be done and preparing “to-do” lists with specific times for the commencement of each task is an effective strategy to counter procrastination (Blerkom, 2012). By following these simple steps I was able to reduce the last minute anxiety of completing work because most of the work was completed well before the deadline. Furthermore, written assignments that had to be prepared on Word Processing software have increased my familiarity with this software. I have learnt functions that I was not previously aware of such as word count, spelling check, referencing as well as paragraph spacing and inserting headers and footers. However, in my finance and accounting courses I found the use of Microsoft Excel challenging. Although I am quick and efficient at mathematics and financial calculations, this software required sufficient practice for me to understand it. My use is currently limited to that of constructing tables and charts and I have yet to learn complex functions such as what-if analysis. Microsoft Power point, however, is by the easiest to use and I have been able to develop presentations using it. However, most authors suggest using a maximum of 3-4 points per slide (Dimmitt et al., 2007). One of the feedbacks from my instructors stated that too much content was cluttered on one slide making it visually unpleasant as well as difficult to understand. To conclude, my learning experience in the past few semesters has led me to focus on the development of my writing skills in particular and develop the habit of brainstorming and organizing my free-flowing thoughts. Although avoiding plagiarism is something that is mastered through practice, I am aware of plagiarism software and how to use it for detecting plagiarism prior to submission. Furthermore, I shall make use of popular online university resources such as “Purdue OWL” that shall enable me to understand various citation styles as well as formats in future. Since procrastination is one of the leading causes of plagiarism, I have made conscious efforts such as preparing “to-do lists” to schedule and prioritize my work. I need to work on my presentation skills, particularly those pertaining to the preparation of an effective Microsoft Power point presentation. For this purpose, I shall make it a practice to prepare an outline of the presentation that shall help me condense information and eliminate unnecessary information, thereby reducing the number of points explained per slide. I have also learnt to use Word processing software for reviewing and proofreading my work before submission which has improved my grades in various assignments. These strategies shall enable me counter my weaknesses as diagnosis is the first step towards cure. I expect to improve in these areas and develop strengths in a wide range of areas not just finance. References Anderson, P.V., 2010. Technical Communication: A Reader-centered Approach. 7th ed. Mason: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Barrass, R., 1996. Study! A guide to effective study, revision and examination techniques. London: Chapman & Hall. Belbin, R., 2010. Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail. 3rd ed. Oxford: Management Teams: Why They Succeed or Fail. Biggam, J., 2008. Succeeding with Your Master's Dissertation: A Step-by-Step Handbook. 2nd ed. Berkshire: Open University Press. Blerkom, D.L.V., 2012. College Study Skills: Becoming a Strategic Learner. 7th ed. Mason: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Bovée, C.L., Thil, J.V. & Chatterjee, A., 2008. Business Communication Today. New Delhi: Dorley Kindersley Pvt. Ltd. Brosche, T. & Feavel, M., 2011. Successful Online Learning: Managing the Online Learning Environment Efficiently and Effectively. Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett Publishers. Carroll, J., 2002. A Handbook for Deterring Plagiarism in Higher Education. 2nd ed. Oxford: Oxford Brookes University, Oxford Centre for Staff. Cummings, R.E., 2009. Lazy Virtues: Teaching Writing in the Age of Wikipedia. Nashville: Vanderbilt University Press. Dimmitt, C., Carey, J.C. & Hatch, T., 2007. Evidence-Based School Counseling: Making a Difference With Data-Driven Practices. London: Corwin Press. Ellis, D., 2013. Becoming a Master Student. 14th ed. Mason: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Hartman, K. & Stewart, T., 2010. Investing in Your College Education: Learning Strategies With Readings. Mason: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Harvey, V.S. & Chickie-Wolfe, L.A., 2007. Fostering Independent Learning: Practical Strategies to Promote Student Success. New York: Guilford Press. Hayes, N., 2002. Managing Teams: A Strategy for Success. 2nd ed. London: Thomson. Hills, H., 2001. Team-Based Learning. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Limited. Neville, C., 2010. The Complete Guide to Referencing and Avoiding Plagiarism. 2nd ed. Berkshire: Open University Press. O'Day, D.H. & Budniak, A., 2012. How to Succeed At University - International Edition. eBook ed. eBookIt.com. Savin-Baden, M. & Major, C.H., 2004. Foundations of Problem-based Learning. Berkshire: Open University Press. Sutherland-Smith, W., 2008. Plagiarism, the Internet, and Student Learning: Improving Academic Integrity. New York: Routledge. Tissington, P., Hasel, M. & Matthiesen, J., 2009. How to Write Successful Business and Management Essays. London: SAGE Publication Ltd. Read More