Integrating Professional Experience - Outline Example

Integrating Professional Experience AFFILIATION: Appendix I – Learning Log of entry Managing and leading an international project for the company Brief description I am currently working in a Multinational Corporation as a marketing manager. My supervisor delegated the task of developing a professional and competent team for assessing the feasibility of commencing operations in China. The primary purpose of this project was to prepare a team of experts who can be transferred to China and manage the business in the new market. Our team was rewarded for developing a practical and realistic business plan for China’s operations. Reflection on outcomes I have always acted as a team member of various projects in my academic and professional life. Thus, getting the responsibility of a leader was a challenge for me. I have constantly underestimated my inspirational skills because I believed that I lacked the ability of motivating people. Also, I think that I need to develop leadership competencies so that I can be a proficient leader in future. The new project of developing a business plan for initiating the operations in China gave me an opportunity of self-assessing my ability of being a leader. There were many challenges encountered by our team as few members infringed their commitments by leaving the project in between. Also, there were communication problem because valuable information was being misinterpreted by two members who lagged behind in English language’s aptitude. However, our team was able to complete the project on time and our business plan attained excellence as the market responded positively within six months of operations in China from October 2013 to March 2014. Reflection on processes Creating a team – The foremost task was to select an individual from all ten departments of the company. Since I had friendly relations with people in other departments, I asked them about their willingness to be a part of this project. Out of seven people, only four agreed to become team members. The remaining three stated that they had important deadlines for the coming months. At this point, I realised that everyone has his/her own set of priorities and people make decisions on the basis of their own preferences. In the coming two months, there were no critically important organisational tasks and I was aware that individuals who declined to join the project had some other reasons for not becoming part of the team. For the remaining departments, I asked the heads of the concerned sections to recommend key people from their respective areas. This approach was undertaken by me with some reluctance as I am a person who doesn’t trust others’ opinion easily. Nevertheless the situation in hand forced me to consider the option of relying on the suggestions made by departmental heads, so I had to include the recommendations received by the departments. Delegating tasks and responsibilities – After the team was created, the next step was to assign the respective duties to each member. In order to identify the potencies of the team members, I asked the team to write their strengths and weaknesses and give their opinion about the prospective business plan. Also, they were asked to give their viewpoint about the amount of time which they can dedicate and what tasks will they be able to perform. To my surprise, three people recommended by the departmental heads were really proficient. Furthermore, the tentative business plan put forward by them was practical and showed a lot of viability for being successful in China. On the other hand, there were few members who were too much optimistic about themselves because they presented their capabilities at an extraordinary high level. I had some idea about their current expertise so I had to be assured that I assign the responsibilities in an objective manner. When the respective roles were decided, one of the members encountered me by claiming that I was being bias and he is dissatisfied with the duties assigned to him. In order to show his resistance, he went out of the room and said that he will not work anymore. Since the project had to be pursued so I rearranged the tasks and made sure that everyone had clarity about their work. Monitoring the progress – Once everyone was consigned the relevant duties and responsibilities, it was imperative to decide about the meeting schedules and milestones to be achieved. This was one of the most challenging tasks as three members immediately declined the importance of attending the meetings and recommended to keep in touch through Emails. However, other people suggested that meetings should be scheduled once a month and during the lunch time. In order to meet the requirements of each member, I decided that meetings will take place on the last Saturday of every month. Everyone was asked to show compliance with this rule so that the project could be progressed smoothly. Also, co-operations was sought from the members who were showing resistance to be present at the meetings. In order to make sure that the project was completed on time i.e. September 2013 (we were assigned the initiative in May 2013), I had to be assured that the progression was effectively done. It was decided that at the end of week i.e. on Fridays every team member will have to mail me the tasks completed during the week and the details would then be reviewed on weekends. In the following week, the milestones used to be decided on consensus basis and I used to give final approval. Despite all the regulations, only five team members complied with the progress report submission requirement and mailed me the documents constantly. Due to a laid back attitude and unacceptable excuses of remaining members, I had to compel them to send me the reports over the weekend. At the end of first month, two members quit from the project as one of them switched to a higher position in another firm and the other person had to be terminated (he was my friend) because he was found engaged in violation of business code of conduct. This project was completed by seven people including me. Motivating the members – Due to declining personnel, the members were getting tensed. I had to boost their morale so that they could focus on their tasks and remain on track to complete the project. In order to enhance their motivation level, I told them that they will be rewarded in the form of monetary benefits if they completed their assigned duties competently. My supervisor was unhappy by this initiative as he told me that we are not allowed to commit any financial rewards. As a result, I was obligated to change my incentive plan. In order to modify the reward structure, I circulated an e-mail that incentive has been changed to year-end bonus and there will be an appreciation on monthly basis in the form of The Promising Associate award. Moreover, the person will be allowed to lead the team for the next phase of the project. This provided them an opportunity of exploiting their potential leadership skills. However, I had to discontinue the recognition reward after the first phase as the team members found the process to be unfair and biased. Furthermore, I heightened their morale by showing them appreciation in their efforts and guiding them to perform the work with excellence. I learnt that a leader has to be a supporter and mentor by providing a helping hand to the subordinates so that they can work with a high level of confidence. Final presentation and documentation – The most important aspect of the entire project was its documentation. I had only two people who possessed the ability of developing excellent reports because they had profound expertise in English language. However, retrieving data from other members who had poor communication power was a bit difficult but I managed it myself. I learnt that there needs to be a line drawn between the leader and subordinate’s task. The compilation of final presentation was done by a person who lost the file two days before the deadline day. There was no backup file available which meant that the entire work had to be done again. I worked with the person for continuous two days so that the complete report and presentation were ready on time. Reflection on the experience of others Team members – All of the team members were asked to give their opinion about the project and their viewpoint about the team efforts. The responses mainly revolved around key aspects such as having the opportunity of working with people who possess varying beliefs, working behaviour and competencies; learning the ability of listening to others and developing strong communication skills; trusting others in fulfilling the assigned tasks; self-motivating in turbulent times and dealing with issue related to absence of three members; being open and honest about the work; and ability to work under a person who has different leadership style. There were two negative comments made by associates i.e. lack of proper communication framework and inability of the leader to fulfil the reward promises. Supervisor – The supervisor was happy with the successful implementation of the business plan. He even appreciated our efforts to work with determination even in the absence of few people in the team. Furthermore, he recommended that I polish my leadership and communication capabilities so that I can carry out the project strategically in future. Colleagues – The colleagues also viewed my work as of high quality. They were pleased with my ability of carrying out the project with excellence and my efforts of handling the issues tactically. However, one of them said that I need to understand the psychology of my subordinates proficiently so that I can get the work done more efficiently. Reflection on personal experience A detailed review of my entire endeavour highlights a range of learning instances. On a personal level, I realised that I have the capability of leading teams and can inspire them to enhance their efforts. I learnt that I have to be tolerant of certain behaviours and have to handle the issues with patience. Moreover, it is important to confront the situation with a calm attitude so that I can resolve the conflicts in a friendly way. There were some instances when I felt like segregating myself from the project but I motivated myself by reinforcing the importance of learning from this endeavour. I even motivated myself towards the project attainment task with determination and self-confidence. However, I even identified the areas which need to be improved so that I can become more competent and have the competence of reaching higher level positions. Even the negative comments of the others hurt me but I accepted them with gratitude because mistakes are the sources of guidance for achieving success. Learning from reflections From this entire activity, I learnt that I don’t have to underestimate myself as I have many unleashed potential capabilities. Since I have never tested my leadership proficiency, this opportunity allowed me to explore my unexploited skills. I even learnt that there are people who have varying range of mind-sets and every one of them likes to work in a particular manner. Moreover, as a leader I have to be prepared always to handle the challenges positively and keep the team inspired by guiding them to undertake the designated tasks. Additionally, I believe that it is important to seek help from senior employees such as the immediate boss who can provide guidance on handling the projects. Also, I have to understand the strategy of keeping a balance between the involvements as a leader and giving complete responsibility to the subordinates. Action plan Since a range of areas were apparent which needed to be improved, I decided to work on them by developing and implementing an action plan. The foremost thing that I have done is to believe in myself and have developed my self-confidence because I can handle the challenges effectively. I have to understand the strategies for dealing with people having varying viewpoints and have to appreciate their individuality. Moreover, I have comprehended that every person is motivated by different incentives and they have to be provided resources to perform their work with excellence. As there is immense requirement of polishing my leadership and communication skills as indicated by my boss, I enrolled in a program which provided me opportunity for enhancing my proficiency as a professional. Also, I learnt the art of working in the form of teams and leading the members with determination and strong will power. Key Learning Points Leadership is something which can be learnt with the passage of time and experiences make valuable contribution in its enhancement. I am not a leader by nature but I do have the capability of developing the aptitudes required to meet the criteria as set by the experts. Trusting others is important because everything cannot be managed by a person alone. Everyone has different intellectual capabilities and it is important that they are given tasks according to their own level of abilities and competencies. People show negative reactions when their demands are not met. It is important to be prepared for unforeseen situations such as people discontinuing their work, unethical practices of team members and inappropriate working behaviour. Contingency planning is important to make sure that there is another strategy for dealing with unforeseen events such as termination of associates, absence of team members, losing of data and others. Communication among team members has to be organised and well-synchronised so that everyone is on the same level. Before making any reward commitment, it is important to consult with the boss so that the members can be promised only feasible incentives. I have developed my self-confidence, reflect on my actions to reinforce the learning points, appreciate the criticisms and polishing my skills to be a competent professional. Signature: Date: Read More