Personal Reflection Journal - Essay Example

PERSONAL REFLECTION JOURNAL An introspective journal that outlines and demonstrates engagements on a consulting project for CIRCA Co. This paper is an introspective journal that aims to demonstrate engagement in the project at hand. It will seek to journal my thoughts and feelings about the consulting project for CIRCA Co. Further my participation in the consulting team is outlined. Specifically, the paper will detail the achievement of the consulting team action plan / team Gantt chart. It will delve on the interpersonal dynamics that occurred in the development of the team chatter and what I learned in the process in reference to my personal development plan. Lastly, the paper will relay my experience in giving and receiving feedback in class presentation with reference to my personal development plan and the presentation feedback sheet. The first week was dedicated to forming a consulting team, which would be involved in the project. The aim was to form a team with members from different backgrounds and cultures. The members of the team came from different countries and had divergent views about life, religion, work ethics etc. Once the consulting team was formed, the next goal was responding to the project brief. A project brief is a bird’s view of the issues on the project at hand. The brief explained what was expected to be achieved, that is, improvement of the problems, challenges or issues at hand; key players in the project among other pertinent information. Each member of the team gave introspection on the project brief. Week two through to week six was dedicated to analysis of the external environment (Bradbury, 2006, p.56). On the third week, a team meeting was scheduled and planning of the report for the entire project done. On the same week, the team prepared our team podcast that was to be presented in class. Once the analysis of the external environment was completed in week six, a member was assigned the task of detailing limitation and goals of the project thus they were expected to do from week seven through to week nine. Another member was also expected to give the implication that the external analysis had. This they were expected to work on from week seven to week nine. The same member was expected to do analysis of the target market size, growth and strategy in the same period. Two members were given the assignment of doing a financial analysis on the cost of CIRCA Co. The same members also did a financial analysis on the price of Cyrene. They were expected to accomplish this in three weeks starting from week seven. A member was assigned to do an analysis on the risks that CIRCA Co. faced. Based on the analysis done this far, two members came up with recommendations and how the issues recommended would be implemented. This work they did in three weeks starting from week eight. In week ten, all members were involved in compiling the work that had been done so far. In week eleven the team was involved in creating presentation slides; practicing the presentation and doing a final check on what had been accomplished so far. In week twelve, the team did the final presentation of the project and the submission of the final assignment presented. All team members were expected to draw up a personal reflection journal in week thirteen. Each member of the team was driven and fun to work with. In the development of the team charter, I got to interact with the other six members in a very personal level. We developed a profound interpersonal relationship with each other in the weeks we worked as a team and got to know each other on a more personal level. Each member of the team was different, coming from divergent cultures making the interactions rich and fulfilling. As the project began, we had to establish the team purpose. Each member gave an introspective view of what they felt the team purpose ought to be. As the goal of the project was to consult for CIRCA Co. the views of each team member helped define what it meant by consulting. As the time, which the team was to work on the project was set at thirteen weeks, tasks to be performed by each member of the team was blocked out on the schedule. A consultative interaction on which member or members would perform a given task ensured in our first meeting. The background of the project, objectives and mission of the team was outlined. Further, team operational concept and performance assessment was discussed. It was agreed that once each member had done their portion of the assignment, a review of all the work was to be done the aim of appraising the work and improving any aspect of the assignment that was not satisfactory. I got to learn that members of the team had two distinct attributes that they brought into the process. There were those who were very logical and analytic while there were others that were creative and artistic. We divided the work to suit each members talent. I learned that individuals who were creative and artistic were very good leaders. They could come up with new and creative ways to tackle problems every time we had a glitch. I also learned that the analytically gifted members were very good at solving problems. Once a path had been determined, they could follow it religiously and easily derive solutions. My personal development plan is basically a road map or a blueprint that defines where I want to be in a week, month or years time. I have one for different aspects in my life, that is, social, personal, physical and educational. In each of the aspects listed, I specify what needs to be accomplished, why it needs to be accomplished, when it will be accomplished, who could help me in the attaining of a given goal and the actions I intend to take to make the goal a reality. In each section I may have different subsections. For example, in the education section, I have a personal development plan for the different units I am taking, co-curriculum activities etc. I will refer to my personal development plan for this unit in this section. For this unit, I blocked out time for class attendance, group work, writing of assignment and personal study. On each, I specified what needed to be done, why it needed to be done and by when. Our class presentation practice was based on five key aspects in which we practiced as a team. These aspects included introduction, preparation, organization, creativity and meeting assignment objectives. In the introduction, the goal was to make sure that we got the attention of the audience and also give a preview of the presentation. In the preparation aspect, the aim was to prepare and practice with each member contributing and participating equally. The main object of the presentation was the organization. The presentation had to be easy to follow, well organized, have a stated objective and a body with material that supported the objective. It also had to have a conclusion of what had been presented. We consciously incorporated creativity in the presentation such as popular phrases, jokes, etc. to break the monotony in the presentation, this made sure that the presentation was audience centered. To support the presentation, we strategically placed strong supporting material that was clear and concrete. Each member of the team was expected to deliver their portion of the presentation extemporaneously with the aim of making our presentation more natural and clear. We also had to show a cohesive team spirit during the presentation. One member would do the talking while another was busy with the other projector. At the end of the presentation, a team member gave a summary of what had been presented. My experience in the class presentation wad that most team member have glossophobia. Statistically, this problem affects six in every eight people. In my consultation team for instance, only three members had good experience with public speaking. The rest had a great deal of glossophobia albeit in varying degrees. To remedy this we had to come up with strategies to help improve this area as it was critical in the presentation of our project. Naturally I am not very good at public speaking. As such, I blocked out time on my personal development plan to work on this. I researched on the best ways to improve my public speaking. Having short notes to refer to during presentation seemed effective. I also researched thoroughly on the material I was to present. These two techniques helped me outline the material I was presenting seamlessly. I did some practice on delivery through role playing with other team members. During the presentation, I tried as much as possible to smile, make eye contact with the audience and exhibit confidence in my talk. Gestures, hand motion among other interpersonal dynamics seemed effective in the delivery of the presentation. Once I finished my portion of the presentation, I thank my team members and the audience, gave a summary of what I had talked about and finally introduce the next speaker. Bibliography Bradbury, A. (2006). Successful presentation skill. London, Kogan Page. Read More