Reflection on Learning Skills Development

Reflection on Learning Skills DevelopmentLearning PreferencesLearning is a manners long process and potbelly be had in various shapes and forms. It can be ground on education, acquire, formal training etc. E genuinely single(a) has his preferred way of culture which can qualify during the course of his life sequence. Eg. Individuals can prefer class-room learning when they are young and formal training when they grow old. unremarkably learning based on experience is considered 1 of the opera hat ways to learn, barely George Bernard Shaw (cited in Moyer, 2007) believes that experience doesnt guarantee learning. He points out that men are wise in proportion, not to their experience, however to their capacity for experience and one needs to pay attention to find the lessons. Formal training is another(prenominal) way to learn and has been greatly successful within organizations over the years. But, Peter Drucker in his article Managing Oneself (HBR a only whenApril 1999 p g 148) doubts the powerfuls of formal training by stating that training can be an impediment to learning beca drug abuse it is based on the assumption that there is only one right way to learn. Education and class-room based learning cause traditionally been a preferred mode of learning. Rapid rise in technology and its applications has meant ready and incessant access to training and business communications which has meant that learning can straight be more timely, specialized and synchronous (Sullivan, 2003). Todays generation want to be connected to instant messaging and short, highly-focused training that can be quickly downloaded and accessed via mobile phones, PDAs, or MP3 players(Ware, 2007 pg 58). Every learning technique has its advantages and limitations and the well-nigh preferred learning technique depends on variables like age, life- expression, receptiveness and responsiveness of the brain, patience etc.Preferred aggroup RolesTeams have become a key component in organizations properly cooking squads are now central to the organizations health. (Fisher at el., 1998) Because of the growing emphasis on team-working, a lot of research has gone into the structure, dynamics and the operations of the team. This has led to segregating team member by their functionality and the roles and responsibilities they entail as a part of the team. Belbin (1981) determine eight different roles within the team with each member complementing the others strengths and compensating for the weaknesses. Belbin classified and named his team roles asThe go under Is a business solver and has innovative, yeasty and unorthodox way of dealing with situations. Has a strong monomania of ideas.The resource investigator Is the networking member the team that explores opportunities through new and pre-existing contacts. Is an extrovert, enthusiastic individual having close communication skills.The coordinator Coordinates different activities of the team and acts as a chairperson. Is responsible for most of the decision make and is normally more experienced than other members.The Shaper Overcomes obstacles with his drive and courage. Thrives on pres received.Monitor-Evaluator Has good judgment and the king to confront at the bigger picture. Has more strategic focus.TeamWorker obligated for avoiding conflicts and devising certain the team gels together and coordinates well.Implementer Responsible for turning ideas into actions.Completer Is a perfectionist responsible for finishing the project on time.(Belbin, 1993)Attitudes to Decisions makeNo matter what orbit or indus smack people work in, they have to make decisions. Decision make involves risk because, most much than not, the outcome cannot be guaranteed. By definition, a decision involves choice and therein lie the difficulty- qualification the right choice. (McGuire, 2002) The degree of risk involved is greater if the decision is made at the strategic take aim as compare d to the tactical and operational level.Normal attitudes to decision devising includeIndecisiveness bulk try to evade decision making because it involves risk. Faced with choices and being unclear about which one to make leads to irresoluteness and inaction.Over Analysis Another attitude to decision making can be over-analyzing options to make sure the correct decision is made. Langdon (2001) calls it paralysis by analysis syndrome which means inaction caused by too ofttimes thinking.Decisions made on ago experiences (historical evidence) Decisions, at times, are excessively made by on past experiences without considering the current situation. Eg. If faced with a similar line of work as in the past, there is likelihood that the decision similar to the one made in the past will be made.Other attitudes to decision making include decisions made in haste and decisions made without proper consultation with others. leadership and management skillsleaders is the ability to obtain results from others through personal direction and influence and requires management of self and management of others. Leadership and management differ in the way that management is concerned with ensuring things remain as they are and is often done by standard practice and regulation leadership involves induceing vision, and the ability to communicate that vision. Leaders should possess the following skillsProblem Solving Problem answer involves identification and definition of the problem, generation of a pattern of solutions that could be accepted, evaluation of alternatives and their outcomes. An strategic attribute within problem solving is, communication, in particular, listening skills, as various opinions and possible solutions are being generated. The leader has to lift up the big picture and choose the topper possible solution (decision-making).Decision making Decision making goes hand in hand with problem solving (as cited in the last paragraph). Every aspect of l eadership requires decision making. Delegation, for example, requires the manager to see which individual is suited for specific tasks and how to distribute work in an optimal and best possible way.Communication It is very important that the leader has regular and open communication with both the customer and the team members. limiting-management Managing exchange is to a fault vital to effective leadership because changes might be requested by the stakeholders, caused by unexpected events. Therefore, it is important that the leader has the skills to manage and control change and make sure that the impact of change on accomplishing objectives is unploughed to a minimum.Management skillsIndependent of the leadership ability, managers has been studied to have different styles. The style chosen by a manager depends on the assumptions that they make about subordinates, what they think they want and what they consider their attitude towards work to be. Managers have to provide direc tion to the team, the drive and motivation to work as a part of the team, pretend the purpose of team working and working as a group.All the components mentioned below are inwrought traits of a leader. There has been a widespread acceptance that leadership is an essential management component but it has proved to be difficult to identify the elements of effective leadership and how effective leadership relates to good management practices. (James Walke, 2004) It is worth pointing out that there is no one best style of leadership that is equally effective for all circumstances. The best leadership style is the one that fulfills the need of the group the most, piece at the equivalent time satisfy the needs of the external stakeholders.Personal Development planAreas of developmentAuthors weaknesses lie in the following areasDelegation skills The generator is not very good at delegacy tasks and has an inherent weakness to doubt others capabilities. He is more comfortable when mo st of the crucial responsibilities and decision making rests in his own hands and where he just tells the team what to do.Communication Communication in one of the reasons other weaknesses. This takes off from his delegation style, because he believes in centralized decision making and the need to communicate with subordinates or other team members is seldom realized.Negotiation The antecedent also finds himself lacking in negotiation skills at times. He is good at understanding and knowing the background to the problem but its the bargaining phase of negotiation that the author is not very good at (especially in project management environment).Strengths (Key Skills)Authors strengths lie inOrganization and Planning The author excels at organization and planning and makes good use of planning tools. He takes time out to decide on the critical activities and the slack and apportion responsibilities concordly. He has a clear understanding of the tasks ahead and prioritizes tasks according to their order of importance.Motivation The author is a highly motivated individual who could turn on creative juices, fight against odds and walk the extra mile to reach set goal and get a line objectives.Change Management Embracing change is another one of the authors positive traits. He has of all time identified the need to change and how change can be effectively implemented with least resistance. soilPreferred team roleThe authors preferred team role based on his capabilities is that of the plant (going by Belbins classifications). Armed with strong theoretical basics and practical training, he has a strong ownership of ideas. The author also possesses an unorthodox way (out of the box thinking) of dealing things and is always feel for new and better ways to tackle consequences and solve problems. He is skeptical to an all-logical approach to problem solving and does not always adhere to norms and proven ways of doing things. Authors weakness lies in his ability to work under pressure and to consequently avoid situations that may entail pressure. Decision making styleThe author does make decisions afterwards a proper analysis of the situation and how the decision affects individuals and the organization. His decision making style involves a process of elimination where a final decision is taken after eliminating alternatives. The authors weaknesses lie in giving minimal consideration to external factors. What is required for decision making is the use of appropriate decision making tools. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) is one such tool which helps to assess the innate and external decision making environment. Edward de Bonos six thinking hats is another tool for making team decisions. Before making a decision, the author has to make sure that the impact on external stakeholders is also considered. One of the other weaknesses of the author is the tendency to rush with decisions (haste). To overcome this, the autho r has to make sure that the issue is defined properly, all the information and alternatives are carefully considered and all the options weighed and evaluated before the decision is made.Preferred learning style The authors preferred mode of learning is through hands-on training after having a firm theoretical knowledge of the basic concepts. A good way to learn for the author would be to start with a theoretical learning exercise through a tutor based class-room course and then having to execute the learning with hands-on training under some supervision. This would be an exemplification scenario as it blends theory and practice. It might take some extra time to carry out the training, but at the end of it, the author would have added sufficient skills and is likely to be more efficient while working. This will also make sure sufficient time is allocated to train individuals training is not move with and does not cover just one aspect (theoretical or practical).GoalsThe author set s goals based on his strengths. He makes sure that the goal is specific. A specific goal like improving profitability by 3% in the next financial year gives direction to the efforts. Also the author makes sure that the set goals can be measured (in relative or absolute terms) and are attainable. If goals are far too rosy (unrealistic) and beyond reach, then it tend to have an adverse effect on motivation. The author only sets goals which he believes can be accomplished. It is made sure that the goal is attained within a specific time frame. Goal setting is a variable process for the author where the goal can be change depending on external and unforeseen circumstances. Goals are set based on authors past performances and it is made sure that the goals are neither too easy nor too difficult to attain.PlanningA plan is devised by the author to attain goals. Firstly, the author lists key skills required to attain the goal along with other requirements and constraints. because a stru cture is given to the planning process to bring all aspects of planning together into a coherent, unified process. The planning structure includes analysis of opportunities, identification of aims, exploring of options, selection of the best option, evaluation of the plan followed by implementation and closure of the plan.OpportunitiesSetting up a goals and giving direction to the career to achieve that goals opens up several opportunities. The first opportunity is to realize the shortcomings and working on improving them. When we list our goals, we build our self-image and we see ourselves worthy of these goals which acts as a motivating agent. (Hosking Bass, 2001) As a result, we try our best to develop the traits and disposition that allows us to possess those goals. Improving on weaknesses and learning through experience are the two best opportunities to be gained from the self development process.ProgressThe author makes use of indicators like Gantt Charts (See appurtenance 1) and Network diagrams (See Appendix 2) to track progress. Gantt charts help in setting a time frame that allows carrying out all the obligatory steps. The author makes sure that the critical activities are paid sufficient attention and sufficient time is allocated as slack.Authors skill set also includes soft skills such as impulse to lead and attain objectives, anticipatory skills to adjust the goals according to the changing environment and empowerment skills. Successful plans make optimal use of skills, experience and specialist knowledge.ReferencesBelbin, R.M (1981) Management Teams Why they succeed or fail, London, Butterworth-HeinemannBelbin, R.M (1993) Team roles at Work, Oxford, Butterworth-HeinemannDrucker, P (1999) People and Performance Managing Oneself ,Harvard Business School Press Books, p1, pg 148Fisher et al., (1998) The distribution of Belbin team roles among UK managers, Personnel review, volume 29, 2, pg 1-14Janice, W (2007) TRAINING Tomorrows WORKFORCE., Rosem ary Kerschenbaum, Steve. T+D, Vol. 61 Issue 4, p58-60,Hall, B (2007) Five Ways to Use kindly Networking for Learning.,. Chief Learning Officer, Vol. 6 Issue 5, p17-17Hosking, D. M., Bass, A. (2001). Constructing changes in relational processesIntroducing a social constructionist approach to change work. Career Development International, 6/7, 348-360.McGuire, R (2002) Decision Making, The Pharmaceutical Journal, Vol 269, pg 647-649Moyer, D. (2007) The Stages of Learning,. Harvard Business Review, Vol. 85 Issue 5, p148-148Mumford, A (2002) Horses for Courses, Learning Centre, Accessed from http//peoplemanagement.co.uk Date accessed 21/05/2007Sullivan, A. K., Strang, H. R. (2002-2003). Bibliotherapy in the classroom Using literature to promote the development of turned on(p) intelligence. Childhood Education,79, 74-80.