Individual Management Development in Relation to Group Practice - Assignment Example

Individual reflective review of Management development Group work Introduction The society has experienced diverse changes in various aspects. In the 21st Century, there is a high level of globalization, thus individuals and organizations today have to adjust to the changes brought by globalization. Nonetheless, there are challenging opportunities, as well as uncertainty that individuals and organizations face today. Therefore, in order to succeed in this kind of environment, it is imperative that one develops effective management skills. This is important both at the individual and organizational level, and mostly involves planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. As a student, it is important that one prioritizes their management development for personal benefit as well as future benefits in their career. In this paper, I will explore my individual management development in relation to group practice as a result of studying MDP2 2. Personal contribution and team contribution Since taking up this course, I have experienced significant management development as a result of the course content and practice. This management development however, has been possible due to my personal contribution, as well as team contribution. Most importantly is the last group project that I was involved in, which opened me up to the aspect of management and enabled me learn diverse elements in management, as well as practice management at the group level. In the group project, I participated in the planning process of the project. This involved identifying goals for our project, as well as brainstorming on the most effective strategies that we as a group would use to achieve the goals we had identified. The planning process was a success, as the outcome of the project was commendable. Nonetheless, planning is an important aspect of management. It is imperative that managers know how to plan activities and programmes, for effective functioning of the organization. Apart from planning, the group project enabled me to learn how to organize activities. Here, I assisted in structuring and organizing work in order to achieve the objectives of the group project. I also assumed a leading role, since I was involved with people, and delegated some work for successful completion of the project. Additionally, I participated in monitoring the project, including work performance of group members as well as other people to whom work was delegated to. Each individual in the group had their own specific talents and skills, and this was quite beneficial to the group. Some were skilled in decision-making, while others were good strategists, among other skills. All these talents and skills from individual members contributed highly to the success of the group, as they provided for diverse ways of running the project. Key issues in project progress I consider the experience of the whole project to have been of great essence to my personal development, as well as my future career. The group project was filled with diverse challenges. However, as a team, we managed to sail through the challenges and complete the project successfully. I realize that the nature of the project, and the area of project implementation were quite incompatible. The project mainly dealt with philanthropy, and this was being implemented in a college environment. For this reason, it was quite challenging to collect finances from college students. However, it was easy to obtain other donations in form of clothing and foodstuff. College students have many unused clothing, which they would not mind to give away. However, this cannot compare to finances. In this project, it was important that we also collect finances from students. Therefore, in order to tackle the challenge, I proposed that we come up with print-outs, which could be distributed to each student. These print-outs contained information on the needy people in society, and why it was important that the privileged people helped in abating their suffering. This also included information on why financial assistance is important, and how financial donations could impact the lives of needy people. Another key challenge was the low level of commitment and cooperation from some group members. At the beginning of the project, some members would show up late or never showed up for group meetings. This therefore, was demotivating to the highly committed members. However, I suggested that each group member should be assigned duties, which they were to perform on a strict deadline and report to the whole group on the progress. This was effective in ensuring that all members were committed to the project. Funding the project was another major issue for our group. The group needed funds in order to perform some of the key activities. For instance, there was need of finances to buy collection bins, and to design and print posters and hand-outs. Although this did not require an enormous amount of money, we had to look for an effective means of raising the amount. Nonetheless, we reached a decision to subdivide the total amount by the number of group members, so that each member contributed same amount of money towards the project. This was effective, as no member felt overburdened. Personal and Professional Development The management development I acquired during the group project did not end immediately after the completion of the project. Instead, the project spurred a continuous personal and professional development in me, as far as management is concerned. Since the start of the group project, I was able to apply the key management skills that I learnt to other areas of my life. For instance, when it comes to organizing, I have greatly improved in my organizational skills. For instance, today I organize all the activities in each day. I prioritize the most important ones, and the others follow. This has helped me to direct my attention to all areas that require my attention. For instance, I have managed to balance between studies, family, and friends, and pay my attention to them in that order. When it comes to the aspect of controlling, which is important in management, I have also improved, owing to the group project. Today, I can effectively control an activity. For instance, in group discussions for other courses, I have learned to control the discussion. Part of this involves ensuring that members of the group remain on the right course of the discussion without deviating to an inappropriate topic. In addition, I have learnt to ensure that all members in a group discussion participate in the discussion. Today, I have also come to appreciate team work and the aspect of working in a group. The group project exposed me to team work, as initially I was used to working individually. Whenever I have a task and get the opportunity to work in a group, I always grab the opportunity. This is mainly for the reason that in working as a group, one is able to achieve better results as compared to working alone. My confidence and self-esteem has risen considerably. Before the group project, I thought I had a high level of self-esteem and confidence. However, I realize that the group project experience heightened my level of confidence, as well as self-esteem. In the group, I had the opportunity of arguing out my points, and appreciating criticism. Therefore, after the project, I continue to appreciate any form of positive criticism that is directed towards me, especially where my opinions and views are concerned. In addition, I have become assertive, and appreciate positive debate with my peers. I continue to uphold this as I believe that it is healthy and necessary that a good manager be outspoken. Reflection on process of MDP2 in general and own learning in particular (Kolb, Revans, Scholes, Tuckman, Maslow etc). (approx 400 words). Up to 20 marks available Successes and failures as project progresses An important lesson that I learnt from the group project is that a project can experience both successes and failures. In the group project, the major success was that the group upheld team work. Although at the beginning this was quite a challenge, with effective strategies, this was resolved. All members were committed to the project, and each ensured that they performed their assigned tasks on time. Furthermore, any member that had difficulty completing their tasks asked for help, and the other members would help them with ideas on how to go around the task. This has taught me that it is important for a group to exhibit high level of team work, including offering a helping hand to other members that experience inefficiency. In my other group engagements today, I encourage members to be team players, as I proved that team work is beneficial to a group with regard to achievement of objectives and goals. The group I worked with exhibited a sense of maturity. This became another major success for the group. We forged a healthy relationship with our client, hence enabling the smooth running of the project. It is important for an organization to relate well with its clients. This might attract more clients and also retain the present clients. In our case, our client, “The Light House Charity” was supportive throughout the whole project. After having a plan of how the group would run the project, it was important that this be presented to the client. The client observed some mistakes and recommended other more effective ways. Nonetheless, the group demonstrated great maturity by appreciating the criticism from the client, and designing the project to run in the manner the client desired. Nonetheless, this allowed for the smooth running of the project, without hindrances from the side of the client. Apart from the successes, the group experienced one major failure. However, this did not make the outcome of the whole project to be negative. This was related with time management. I consider the group did not demonstrate time management skills. For instance, although members were committed and keen on their tasks, these were given long deadlines for simple duties during the planning stage of the project. This led to a lot of time being wasted before the project could be launched officially. The group therefore, was left with minimal time for project implementation and completion. Members therefore had to rush through most activities in the implementation stage. Time management is important and has an influence on the final outcome of any project. Therefore, if my group would have been time conscious at the start of the project, the outcome of the project would have been better. Reflection on process of MDP2 in general and own learning in particular Works Cited McLeod Saul. “Kolb - Learning Styles.” 2013, Web. Center U.S.A. “Action Learning.” n.d. Web. Read More