Skill Reflection as an Important Facet of Life - Essay Example

Skill Reflection Word Count: 1491 13th March Module Seminar Leader: Skill Reflection Skills are an important facet of life; attaining and honing certain skills helps people to communicate better with each other as well as improve their interpersonal relations with one another. Not everyone possesses all kinds of skills, especially in the field of business, and one has to really work to incorporate these into their lives. Moreover, only with time and experiences can one understand how not to make mistakes and learn in the process. One also must comprehend where he is going wrong and how that should be taken care of in order to improve personal as well as organisational performance in order to achieve the required targets. The skill tracker provided has helped me in understanding my inadequacies in terms of my professional attitude, by letting me reflect upon my communication skills, commercial awareness skills, leadership and the ability to work as a team member, problem solving and idea evaluating skills, as well as skills in interpreting and using my research and knowledge to good use while conducting meetings or motivating others. In terms of possessing the top ten graduate skills, I would say that I have come a long way in nurturing myself in order to overcome challenges and obstacles that I might be facing in the professional sphere of life; and thus am at least a bit, if not more, farther from the shortcomings that most graduates possess in terms of skills. I feel that I have an excellent eye for detail, and thus have been able to become commercially aware in the last couple of years by paying attention to advertising, branding as well as to products and services sold in the market today and how they appeal to people. From the evidence, it is obvious that I have been at the fortunate end of using money to its fullest value and thus have a knack for selecting products and services that benefit customers more than rip them off. I have a fair idea of the cheaper (however not compromising on quality) products in the market, as well as the deals that are on, on fairly a large number of items. Thus in terms of using commercial opportunities to the fullest, I have been successful, as can be seen through my database of e-commerce websites and the notifications that I receive on the best deals on products like electronics and clothing and accessories. I have been able to transmit this information to many people as well, enabling them in making proper commercial choices as well. With time, my communication skills have become much better as I am able to speak more fluently to people as compared to an earlier time in my life. With the help of recommendations from my seniors and employers, I have had the opportunity to understand that my communication and interpersonal skills with other people in terms of negotiation and agreements are at a very good level. I have had the experience of working with a number of seniors as well as labour workers which has given me a good footing on speaking with different kinds of people and dealing with work on all levels, which I have successfully completed on a number of occasions. Moreover, the use of proper grammar and punctuation in terms of producing documents and mails to associates and clients has been carried on by me in a well to do manner too. Research is another area where I have found that given a little time, I can produce some excellent quality of work; therefore, I am presently trying to improve my research skills in order to be able to communicate better. Even though I might be good at communicating with others, I find that I lack leadership skills somewhere along the line. Talking to people and getting work done is one thing, whereas, organising groups of people and authorising them to work is something else entirely different. Leadership involves taking decisions personally for the achievement of organisational goals – something that I am trying to overcome and achieve because of the reason that I tend to get nervous if I have to make decisions for others. This is something I find that I need to work on, as told to me by my seniors as well. Although I am able to motivate very small groups of people, I would like to be able to motivate larger groups, and thus help them understand that I can be relied upon for work and responsibility. Moreover, coping with people that do not cooperate tends to become tough at times due to the lack of my voice over others and thus this is something I need to work on. On the other hand however, I find that as a team worker I function very efficiently. I learn very fast under the tutelage of a leader and whatever work is given to the team that I am part of, manages to be done in an efficient manner. I am able to motivate my own team members, or people that are working at my level because probably I can understand what they are going through, having undergone the same pressure. I am extremely cordial and manage to maintain good and strong work relationships over prolonged periods of time. Many a times, I have been placed with the same team members for different projects, and have successfully managed to complete them efficiently, proof that I work well as a team member. Situations that include coming up with ideas or brainstorming regarding different projects on marketing and advertising often frequent the likes of my work sphere and thus I have been known to act excellent as a team member in such circumstances and by providing my own input I have been able to contribute to the team as well as benefit myself. For example, the issue of storing information on new ideas was solved when I suggested creating a database of ideas on the work network where people can share and drop their ideas and read those of others’, work on them and elaborate them if necessary and provide feedback, thereby creating a forum for all the employees to discuss and deliberate within. This also provides for an excellent example regarding my problem solving skills, which I feel, day by day, are improving. I am able to understand the issues that crop up and how to go about solving them with the use of minimum resources in the best possible manner in order to achieve full utility for the firm. Moreover, I am able to communicate these plans to the employers and the employees and get their ideas on the same regarding the feasibility. Numeracy involves collecting data and using the information to the best use within the company; as stated earlier, I have reflected upon my research skills rather well and have come to the conclusion that some efforts are required in order to improve upon them. The relevance of the data collected by me for work is still under scrutiny and I need to work in order to make my research more effective so that it can actually be used and I do not spend time or invest energy in researching incorrect information. My mathematical skills are very good, I am able to tackle problems with ease, however applying the problems to the data collected can be a bit of a task because of the level of my research done. However, with help, I am able to get the job done with ease. Nonetheless, I need to place more time into understanding how to research in a better manner so as to tackle mathematical issues with ease and cut down on the time taken to do this by the company on the whole. I have been present in a number of meetings where I have been asked to explain mathematical data to the parties present and have been able to do so quite efficiently, with positive nods from my bosses and employers. I have been called time and again to assist in such presentations and this has provided me with a much required morale boost in order to be motivated and motivate others at the same time. As far as a good general education goes, I am into studying on a daily basis; by this I mean that I try my best to be up to date and aware of the current affairs taking place on the business front as well as others areas that will assist me in my work and keep me at the top of my game. I am confident that my determination will help me stay afloat and make me different from others. The positive recommendations that I have received moreover from my seniors and employers are enough to help me comprehend that I am indeed doing a good job and will continue to do so because I still need to overcome a number of challenges as discussed about. References Supersuccessfulmanager.com (2010) » Management Development Tips – Enhance Your Learning With Reflection. [online] Available at: http://supersuccessfulmanager.com/blog/2010/03/29/management-development-tips-enhance-your-learning-with-reflection/ [Accessed: 13 Mar 2013]. Unknown. (2013) Untitled. [online] Available at: https://lehmanedu.digication.com/effiekoutrosedl2008/Reflection_on_Leadership_Skills_and_Development [Accessed: 13 Mar 2013]. Read More