Professional Accounting Skills for Business Decisions - Essay Example

?Introduction; This paper is a reflective writing of what I have experienced through the professional accounting skills in decision making module. There has been a lot of development which I have gone through which includes skill development, communication, transactional analysis development, psychological and physiological development, and personality development (Phillips, 2005). Skill development; The skills that I have acquired in professional accounting skills in decision making module group works include cognitive skills, perceptual skills, motor and perceptual skills (Luden, 2001). 1. Cognitive skills; cognitive skill is the intellectual skills that involve thinking process. Through the group works that I was a member, I developed the skills of being able to think deep in my presentations. The group members demanded that everyone has to contribute in the group works which made me to think deeply before making my contribution. This made it possible for me to give relevant contributions that were within the context of the topic. 2. Perceptual skill; perceptual skill is the skill of being able to interpret information presented to you. As a member of the module group, I was expected to interpret the topics that we were undertaking. Through my time in the group I developed the ability to interpret issues brought to me. This helped me in reading the questions to discuss and come out with an explanation on what we are supposed to cover. Thus, I developed the ability to illustrate problems we are supposed to work on from the assignments allocated. 3. Motor skill; motor skill is the ability to move and control muscle. As a group member I benefited in this skill as the group involved a lot of field work. There were assignments that involved getting to the field to learn practical experience covered in our module. Thus, I experienced a lot of movement in collection of information that were needed in compiling field work findings. Through this exercises I gained motor skills in movements and stretching muscles. 4. Perceptual motor skill; perceptual motor skill is the ability of being able to think, interpret and move at the same time. As illustrated above, the group work involved deep thinking in contributions. To be able to think in a relevant angle that is of benefit to the group, one had to be able to interpret the assignment the way it means. The experience I had with the class group exposed to a level of being able to interpret first correctly. This helped me in thinking in the right context of what is expected of us in order to make relevant contribution. Also, the group assignments involved getting to some practical experience in the ground field. Thus, in our field work learning it involved going to different work places to get what is involved in the real work (Healey, 2000). I gained in the skills of being able to move through various stations interpreting what is going on and thinking deeply on what needs to be improved on all at one. This was a great skill development that I gained from my time in professional accounting in decision making group works. To earn these skills, I underwent personal stage developments that shaped how I viewed the module, and follow it in my group work (Stewart and Joines, 1987). The personal stages that I went through are unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence and unconscious competence (Lapworth and Sills, 2011). Personal stages; 1. Unconscious incompetence; unconscious incompetence is the stage where a person in a group has no knowledge of what of the problems and how to fix them. During my first encounter with the group I was assigned to, I had a difficult moment understanding the group. At this stage I had the feeling that there is something that something was amiss but I lacked the knowledge on to identify it and how to fix it. This involved problems that I faced involved lack of leadership that caused problems in arranging venue to hold discussion and share tasks. I felt that as a group we were not taking the right decision in arranging meeting. At that time I lacked the knowledge to realise the problem was lack in leadership, thus, I had no idea on how to fix it. 2. Conscious incompetence; conscious incompetence is the personal stage whereby an individual in a group has the knowledge of the problems surrounding the group. The individual is able to tell the problem facing them but lacks the ways on how they should be solved. After taking time in the group I was assigned, I was able to realise some of the problems the group was facing for its success. The problems that discovered in our group were lack of a group leader, lack of contacts and cultural barrier. Though I was much aware of the problems facing us, I had no idea on how to solve the problems. At this point I felt unhappy of myself for not coming up with solutions that will benefit the group to move forward. The feeling made me think of abandoning the group, because I felt the problems may never be solved which would have caused the group fail in its mission. 3. Conscious competence; conscious competence is the stage whereby a person in a group has the knowledge of the problems facing the group and has idea on how they should be solved. The individual has the problem solution but he is not efficient in advancing the ideas. As we progressed further I was able to come up with some ideas on how the problems the group was facing should be solved. The solutions I had in mind were, the group members select one amongst us to be leader of the group. The leader was supposed to be the one coordinating the meeting venues and setting the agendas to be discussed on. The second idea I had was that the group to write down their contact in term of email addresses and cell phone numbers. Also, for the group to be able to solve the problem of cultural barrier, I had the idea that the group leader needs to arrange a special session where the group members can have the opportunity to meet and share their cultural diversity stories. Through this I believed that the group would solve the problems facing. The difficulty I had in getting the ideas I had was due to lack of confidence in making the suggestions to the group. When I raised the issue in the group during one of our meeting, it took a lot of time to convince the members to understand my concerns. The group members were at first hesitant in accepting my proposals which made me feel uncomfortable in the group. I realised that the only way to make the group realise the need to adopt my proposals was to keep reminding the group members what is required of us. Through this I believed that the group members would soon realise that the only way to make us accomplish our goals was by adopting my ideas. 4. Unconscious competence; unconscious competence is the stage where the individual is able to identify, and be efficient in coming up with solution needed. At this stage I felt part of the group as the group had taken some of the ideas I had proposed. The group was at this point more effectively and efficient in discussions. At this stage the members were very cooperative in group works because the discussions and arrangements were being taken care of by the leader. Through undergoing the personal stage developments, I was able to become more effective in the group discussions (keirseiy, and Bates, 2001). The group faced communication difficulties as the members were from different cultural backgrounds that made it uncomfortable in making presentations both in group work and in the class presentation. I experienced a lot in communication during my course of professional accounting in business decision making presentations. When I joined the module I had difficulties in making statements that required structured presentation methods. The communication skills that I learned through my time in professional accounting skills in decision making class were forming, storming and performing. Communication skills; 1. Forming; forming is the stage where the group members are in their initial meeting. At this point stage group members in making their contributions in the groups stayed away from contributions that look controversial or conflicting for the fear of offending the rest. I also like felt limiting myself from making contributions in the group works that might raise questions or arguments because the members were new to me. I felt that by raising contributions that might raise argument, I would be sidelined from the group which would make me not pass in the course. It was hard to contribute ideas that would have called for more commitment from the group members for fear that I would hurt other. Also, since the members of the module were from different backgrounds, communicating with different members was limited from issues that might hurt the person’s culture. Thus, in my class presentations I was very cautious in terms of words to use, to make sure that they do not offend some of the members depending on their cultural and religious backgrounds. 2. Storming; storming is the stage whereby the individuals in the group gain a comfort level in communication and start to feel to be part of the group (Widdowson, 2009). At this stage I was free in raising serious issues in the group discussions on matters that I believed the group should address. Communicating with the class members and the group members fine in the first two days. Also, I was confident in making group presentations without fearing questions that might be raised as I had gained the confidence in responding to any questions. 3. Norming; norming is the stage where the individuals in a group seek for rules to be set. At this level communication in the peoples’ groups is much polarised and rules are needed to prevent conflicts. During our group discussions, there were no rules on how the discussions should be carried out. It reached a point where some of the members felt that their contribution should be considered as the best. This made the discussions in our group meetings evoke arguments among the members trying to have their views considered as the right ones. This made communication among the members turn polarised with different groups starting to blame others. At this point the group leader intervened by proposing a need for rules to guide how individual views shall be captured and discussed. This brought an end to the blame game between the members as the rules made it clear how the views should be made in the group discussions. The rules agreed on were that, any member with a new proposal to hand in a written submission to the group leader two days before the group met. The leader was expected to notify the group members once they meet and the issue was discussed in the next meeting. In making contributions on the topic under discussion, the leader was to lead in the directions the debate should be conducted. Also, it was agreed that any member who disobeyed the leader’s direction will be sent out for the remaining time of the current discussion and apologise in the next meeting. This helped in smoothening communication between group members. I gained that communication skill of enforcing rules when communication becomes hostile to safe the group work from collapsing. 4. Performing; performing is the stage where communication in a group becomes generous among the members. After the group members came up with rules governing how communication will be conducted during group meetings, communication turned very generous. The members started respecting other’s contributions and made contributions that were of benefit to all as a group. This was very encouraging to everyone as it promoted the level of discussion. During my time in professional accounting in the business decision making module, I benefited a lot in communication skills development. In order for communication between groups to be successful, communication must undergo a transactional analysis (Keirsey, 2006). Transactional analysis; Transactional analysis is the ability to analyze personal relationships and interactions where there is conflicting ego states corresponding to your role. During my time in the professional accounting skills in business decision making class, I had to agree with other members on a number of interests. I agreed with the members why they want to do something, this involved group agreement on how the group is to proceed in achieving its goals. The group had arrangements like going to the field to capture the practical part of accounting skills application. In attaining my course work requirement, groups were formed where the group you join remains your group for the whole coverage of professional accounting skills in business decision making course (Steiner, 1990). I had to agree the members of the group with whom to work with in achieving my course goals. In joining the group, I was supposed to agree with what they are going to do in order for the members of the group to achieve their goals. To achieve the course goals, I had to agree with the rest of the members, when given a personal assignment, by when to submit without failure (Kroeger, and Thuesen, 2002). Also, due to the nature of the course, some expenses had to be incurred in making class presentation and transport expense to gather information from field work. Thus, I had to agree with the rest of the members on any payment or charges fees to make. Transactional analysis exists in three ego states namely parent state, adult state and child state. 1. Parent state; parent state is the collection of feelings, thinking and behaviours that we inherit from parents and significant people. When I joined the class of professional accounting skills in business decision making, my thinking of how the accounting knowledge is used in making business decision was based from what my parents talked about accounting studies. My feelings and thinking of accounting knowledge was that an accountant job is to calculate and record the amount of money the company has. I did not know that the accountant work involves also making decisions on the investment decisions. 2. Adult ego state; under this ego state, feelings, thinking and behaviour is influenced by immediate and prevailing instances. During my time in professional accounting skills in making business decisions course, I realised that accounting skills is applied in solving immediate and prevailing problems in the business. During the group work assignment that I was a member, we visited several accounting firms to learn how accounting skills are applied in the real business world. I discovered that accounting skills not only involve recording the track of company’s money, but it involves keeping track of how the current economic situation is, and making prediction of coming scenarios to help in business decision making. 3. Child ego state; child ego state is a collection individuals replay from their childhood. When I joined the professional accounting skills in business in decision making, my expectation were that the course involved getting involved in accounting practice. I expected that the class will be involved in practicing real accounting practice in some selected accounting firm. This was because from my childhood perspective, a class teaching skill application involves getting to real practical exercise. Transactional analysis has a descriptive model that explains how effective or ineffective the transactional analysis is. The effective model means that communication passed is likely to accomplish a purposeful response or result (Ellis, 2009). During the time, I experienced a time there needed that, when I receive information involving group works, I take necessary actions to maintain a good relationship and development. From my experience this maintained the desired and necessary intentions in the present and in the future. When we were in our works we maintained that whether we agree or disagree, good relations should always maintain. To maintain this group, we worked very hard on structuring good communication channels, supporting each other, being co-creative and playful. The group avoided ineffective modes that would make communication between the members get misunderstood from its intended meaning (Keirsey, 2006). This was done in order to avoid discomfort and misunderstanding among the members of the group. To avoid this, the group members discussed that members should avoid perception that other members cannot do things better than them. I noted that group members might create the possibilities of some members not being loyal to the group which can cause differences. Also, it was agreed that members should respect the assignment awarded to individuals and let them handle it. The members also raised the issue of opposing views in the group discussions. It was agreed that members should be allowed to think freely without facing resistance in their wish of making views. This was to help the members feel free in communicating with other members. Personality skills; Personality is the individual’s ability to combine emotional, attitudinal and behavioural pattern of responses (Berne, 2010). Personality components according to Sigmund Freud theory are id, ego and super ego. The id component refers to the pleasure principle that individual’s face and goes for and how they avoid pains. During my time in professional accounting skills for business decision making, I had the pleasure to has undergone through friendly members and meeting professional accountant in their work place. Also, in my course I always looked forward to getting in touch with more professional and get their contacts. During that period I always avoided incidences that might make me not to finish my assignments. This was to my fear that it might cause me to fail and thus, not proceed to the next level. The ego component refers to the personal consciousness feeling (Harris, 1995). Persons take issues as they are presently. Also, the function understands that corresponding consequences are part of our behaviours (Berens,1999). My understanding of the topics we were covering was guided by how I view the information that I got and personal interpretation. The super ego component refers to the way in which persons contain values and morals. During my time, I was able to understand peoples’ personalities by studying their values and behaviours in order to realise the members to rely on. I observed group members to understand their level of their values and behaviour in order to be able to know the reactions of such people during our discussions. Time management skills; Time management is the development of processes and tools that tend to increase someone’s efficiency and productivity in performing assigned activities (Phillips, 2005). During my time in professional accounting skills in business decision making class, I gained time management skills in assignment time allocation. The strategies that I developed in time management were; 1. Developing blocks of study time and breaks. I came up with blocks of time of when to have my study time that suits me and break times to have a snack, relax and re-energise myself. This helped me to come up with flexible schedule that depended on the weight of task that needs to be worked on. 2. Dedication of study spaces. I came up with venues where I could have maximum concentration that is free from distraction of friends and hobbies (Phillips, 2005). During that time, my best venue for study times was the library. This is because the rules prohibited any form of discussions in the library. This helped me in concentrating deeply in the study times as there were no distractions in the library. 3. Weekly review sessions. The course had deadlines set out on when to finish assignments and exam times (Ellis, 2009). Thus, I was required to undertake weekly reviews to enable me meet the deadlines and be ready when exam time approaches. My weekly reviews used to be on Sunday because on Sundays there were no class activities. 4. Prioritising assignments. The course had some difficult tasks compared to others and some had short time deadlines. Thus, I came with the strategy of allocating time to assignments according to their agency and the weight of task involved in it. Assignments that were of quick agency got the first priority as they had to be completed as earlier as possible. Assignments that were most difficult required more time and when I am energetic to handle them. This helped me in completing my assignments without a lot of pressure and strain. Report writing skills; Report writing is the task that involves examining a particular problem and coming up with practical solutions around it (Phillips, 2005). During our group assignments, some of the tasks involved coming up with a report on certain problems we were supposed to investigate. Thus, I learned the skills involved in writing reports that I did not know before joining professional accounting skills in business decision making class. The skills I learned in report writing were as follows; 1. Developing the object of report writing. This I learned involved analysing the information given on what you are supposed to investigate (Ellis, 2009). To develop the objective, the group drew consistent conclusions and made recommendations that are sensible and practical in report writing. This helped the group in coming up with what is required to solve the problem at hand. 2. Techniques on report writing. The group adapted methods on how to present report in writing for examination and class presentations. This helped me gain the skills on how in future I can make report presentation for the objective and solution under it to be understood easily. I learned that, if the report writing is substantial and the issues are detailed the strategy on how to solve it needs to be simplified. The strategy to employ in dealing in such with such cases is to seek specialised computer software. This helps in arranging data collected and rearranging it for easier and logical writing as the data accumulates. Also, I discovered that in presentations, structures, enclosures, index and title, is required in writing a report. Learning cycle; During my time at professional accounting in business decision making class, I underwent a learning cycle similar to the one of Kolb 1984 learning cycle (Phillips, 2005). The stages that I went through in learning cycle were concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract conceptualisation and active experimentation. 1. Concrete experience; at this stage an individual learns through specific experiences and by relating with people. During group works there were assignments that required field work in real accounting firms. Thus, I experienced the skills of accounting by participating in field assignments with the rest of group members. Personnel’s in the accounting firms were very generous in giving us the work involved in accounting. Thus, I learned by way of relating with persons in the accounting firms how accounting as a profession is undertaken. 2. Reflective observation; at this stage in learning cycle an individual learns by way of making critical observation before making judgement. Thus, an individual first gets a reflection of the environment before making decisions. During group work discussions one was first required to understand the assignment details before coming up with decisions on how to seek for answers. This helped us to do the right thing as required in the group assignment during class presentation. 3. Abstract conceptualisation; at this stage of learning cycle, an individual understands a particular situation by logically analyzing ideas and acting intellectually. In making personal contribution in the group discussions, I particularly prepared first before giving my contribution by analysing the questions logically (Phillips, 2005). This helped me in making logical and intellectual contribution in group works. 4. Active experimentation; at this stage in learning cycle an individual tries to influence others to follow a particular way by taking actions. As a group member I learned how to influence the group to be active by taking initiatives in making follow ups. This ensured that each member in the group does his or her part in personal assignment in the group works. Reference Berens, L, 1999. Dynamics of Personality Type : Understanding and Applying Jung's Cognitive Processes (Understanding yourself and others series). California : Consulting Psychologists press,. Berne, E, 2010. Games people play. The psychology of human relationship. Chicago. Chicago publishers, Ellis, R, 2009. Communication Skills. Stepladders to success for the professional. Chicago. Chicago press. Kroeger, O and Thuesen, J, 2002. The 16 Personality Types That Determine How We Live, Love, and Work. London. Oxford press, Keirsey, D, 2006. Character and Temperament Types. California. Telos publication. Keirsey, D, 2006,  Understanding Yourself and Others, An Introduction to Temperament. California. Telos publication. keirseiy, D and Bates, M, 2001. Please understand me: character and temperament types. California. Telso publication, Lapworth, P and Sills, C, 2011. 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