Task 1
The portfolio highlights the importance of reflecting on leadership and managerial skills for an individual to improve their levels of productivity. It helps us students to create effective strategies and set realistic objectives and goals. The courses lead to the production of work plans and teach students to manage existing as well as future endeavours. The study has included my reflection on personal and leadership abilities in academics. It has also drawn relevance to identifying my strengths and weaknesses for being successful as an employee of an organization in future. The study also focuses on various leadership and managerial skills along with their pertinent significance in business.
Management and leadership are remarkable units in a business governing many significant activities. Management consists of individuals trying to control a set or group of entities for the accomplishment of goals. Leadership involves an individual’s ability to motivate, influence, and motivate others in contributing toward organizational success (Jaques 2017). Leadership is actually a part of managerial procedures, where the potential to positively impact procedures is brought about by properly driving group efforts. Managers can possess pertinent leadership traits, but leaders are responsible for developing strategies to build and sustain competitive advantages. Organizations need to build robust leadership and management traits to bring about optimal efficiency rates (Bush et al. 2019). Managers laydown structure, delegate responsibility and authority, where leaders provide direction to develop an organizational vision.
Management focuses on planning, staffing, organizing, controlling and directing, whereas leaders focus on building relationships, inducing teamwork and inspiration to persuade their followers in getting work done (Alqatawenh 2018). Managers tend to get their authoritative virtue by nature of their position. They deal with all technical dimensions and content in the job. Leaders are responsible for following their instincts and majorly dealing with the organization’s individualistic aspects.
I have implemented Gibb’s reflective cycle for effectively identifying and analyzing my skills concerning leadership and management virtues. It is a renowned cyclical reflective model where an individual can be led through stages of exploring an experience (Sekarwinahyu et al. 2019). In describing the related events in my academic space, I have been widely acknowledged by my instructors, superiors and peers to have excellent communication skills. I have represented my university for several competitions concerning debates, speech deliverance and quizzes and bagged prices for the same. I am a confident speaker and enjoy speaking in public or front of professionals. It has taken me time to get over nervousness and communicate effectively to induce better outcomes and performances. I have also led my teams to victory whenever group participation took place in any project, seminar or webinar. I have been applauded for successfully accomplishing target goals. As I analyze the events and reports of personal assessment, the majority of my grades have been aided by oral and written communication skills and induction of effective teamwork. I have high regard and expectations of carrying out functions efficiently once I am recruited into an organization. I am used to efficiently motivating my team in various ways to assess the individual strengths of the team members and then assorting responsibilities accordingly. I like to encourage team members, and I have noticed how I have an approach to inducing participation from all team-matesIn future, as viable courses of action, I would continue to utilize collaborative efforts for achieving target motives in a business space. I would communicate with my colleagues properly toavoid tragic loopholes in systematic procedures.
Management and Leadership
I have also evaluated a few weaknesses which might not work in my favour. It concerns my time management abilities. There has been a couple of incidents where I could not submit my work within stipulated deadlines. Being under pressure has a tremendously negative impact on my working style and pattern. It also deviates my focus from achieving targets. In addition, I am a bit indecisive by nature. Whenever situations arise where I have to take critical decisions of substantial importance, I fumble. I cannot give immediate prompts for accuracy. I give the responsibility of taking authoritative decisions to my peers. I have analyzed how I cannot deal with emergent situationsindependently.I am also impatient, which makes me want to quickly achieve results. It often activates a mindset wherein hasty decisions are made as work is intended to be accomplished faster.
In conclusion, I have to create a productive outline of responsibilities to have a direct approach in facing problems. The SWOT analysis and the Skills Audit would help in the generation of a solidified action plan which can be used to eradicate my weaknesses and enhance my strengths.
Developmental Objectives |
Activities undertaken to achieve objectives |
Support/Resources for achieving my objectives |
Target Date for achieving objectives |
Actual Date of achieving objectives |
To enhance my time-management skills |
I have been facing problems in managing my time productively. I have inferred how I need to get tasks done early, and set limits for myself. I should take intermittent breaks but not before gaining desired outcomes. Proper scheduling of tasks is mandatory for functioning in a routine fashion. Excessive workload needs to be avoided and proper organization is necessary to comfortably get tasks done. |
I will utilize the “Pomodoro technique” which will motivate me to use my time in the best way. A workday is effectively divided into 25 minutes intervals (pomodoros) with breaks in between. I will also use technology to have systematic inputs and outputs. |
30/8/22 |
24/7/22 |
To increase my critical thinking abilities |
I should be able to express myself freely in various platforms and induce self-awareness. I feel I need to deeply understand my mental process to figure out differences and develop an efficient foresight. I should be able to ask questions and show curiosity for learning new things, while evaluating existing evidence. I should engage more in reading books. |
Reading various articles and books on cognitive functioning. Asking professors regarding my doubts and clarify subject matter as and when required. |
30/7/22 |
25/9/22 |
To achieve betterment in decision making |
I should be able to take command and be assertive in places that require me to. It would help me gain confidence in having authoritative control. I should actively have a strong voice and opinion in the classroom and beyond. I need to practice weighing out choices and learn prioritizing accordingly. |
The influence of peers is the highest in this regard as most opinions are deviated or shared in an academic space. Asking for suggestions from peers or instructors is important. However, I should primarily be able to trust my own judgement. |
30/6/22 |
5/6/22 |
To be able to quickly plan, organize and give effective resolutions |
I need to have clear goals and objectives in mind to effectively plan for success. I need to learn how to allocate resources by weighing out choices and time required for accomplishing tasks. I need to set personal deadlines for myself which would form micro achievable targets in a day. |
Collaboration is necessary in planning tasks or activities. I need to seek for inputs from different members of teams and groups in class, and share positive virtues to assess their developmental standards. Initially, my family can help me in scheduling my activities as they know me the best and see me most often. |
30/8/22 |
7/7/22 |
To have more patience in personal as well as professional life |
I should be practicing the art of meditation at least once regularly. I need to practice deep-breathing exercises and learn to remain calm under pressure. I need to consciously learn how to slow down when I am rushing through things. |
Practicing mindfulness by the help of yoga or meditation practitioners. |
30/9/22 |
30/11/22 |
The act of exchanging or imparting information through the modes of speaking, writing or other gestures is termed communication (Wordu and Wichendu 2018). It serves as an effective means of receiving or sending information and plays an integral role in business activities.
Communication in a business environment becomes increasingly important to convey strong and clarified messages regarding customer services, strategies and branding. Businesses having the initiative of building a brand name try to reflect consistent messages specifically tailored for the audiences. Internal communication helps build rapport among managers and employees while encouraging collaboration and teamwork.
The efficient and smooth running of a business depends on the proper organization of activities, which requires systematic leadership and direction (Fernandez and Rainey 2017). If information transaction is not proper, most processes would be halted, leading to negative outcomes and performances. Communication serves as the primary prerequisite to the fulfilment of organizational endeavours and objectives. The Linear communication model arguably involves communication to be moving unidirectionally, which is not desirable. However, the interaction communication model includes participants alternating their positions as senders and receivers. This emphasizes the importance of mediation and coordination. In the organization of Tesco, proper coordination and planning is implemented with the mediation of feedback from employees to integrate useful solutions and suggestions. It is acknowledged how employee participation is extremely important for inducing greater productivity, which can only be achieved through effective communication. It ensures that the transaction of information is conducted from superiors to subordinates in a systematic fashion so that no one is deprived of integral knowledge regarding the processes and procedures of the management.
Reflection
Communication helps in the building of morale, and the management ably sells ideas, motivates workers and creates a substantial positive influence on the workers (Goleman 2017). It acts as a part of mediating propaganda, leadership, education and functions of guidance for the management of organizations. Binding employees’ ideas are highly significant to induce collaborative efforts to achieve goals. Language and cultural barriers often cause unnecessary hindrances in workplace communication. On-boarding candidates from diverse backgrounds might make it difficult for them to merge with the prevalent population (Radovic Markovic and Salamzadeh 2018). Disregarding various opinions should be avoided in a workplace to evade irrelevant chaos.
Motivation, derived from, encompasses needs, wants, drives and desires in individuals. It is an act of stimulating people to make them accomplish objectives (Oserneke and Adegboyega 2017). Psychological factors that stimulate, initiate and guide individual behaviour encompass motivation.
Employee motivation is major for inducing organizational success. It involves the level of commitment, energy and drive for a company to make its workers function properly. Organizations would experience reduced productivity levels and lower output ranges if employees are not motivated enough or have an interest to reach primary goals(Abulof 2017)..
Motivation helps in attracting employees, induces methods to retain them, and lead to generally productive outcomes in business. A motivated employee is someone who is satisfied with their job, which gives them a reason to improve their performance in terms of bridging the gap between willingness to function and inherent ability to work. Better performance can reduce the production cost. According to Maslow’s hierarchical theory, an individual would strive to attain better results after the completion of desires as per levels of hierarchy. Basic needs are fulfilled first to finally reach the top-most stage of “self-actualization” (Hopper 2020). It emphasizes on how human motivation depends on individuals seeking fulfilment and how they evolve through personal growth
The fear of failure often demotivates employees to utilize their full potential. Other barriers to motivation can be the mismatch of values between the members of various teams in the workplace. Many disruptive emotions and attribution errors can be traced in the workplace, where employees feel their opinions are disregarded, which causes clashes and affects their performances.
In Tesco, different methods are employed to enable the growth of bonds between the employees to inspire them to function better. The friendly atmosphere, promotion of scheduling flexibility and provision of immediate feedback makes employees aware of their accomplishments. Tesco also arranges rewards, appraisals and incentives for deserving employees.
Personal Development Plan
Empowerment is essentially the power or authority given to a person for doing something (Wahlin 2017). It involves becoming confident and stronger in claiming rights in need.
Empowerment in a business space is an efficient practice of the management to share information, power and rewards with employees. This practice encourages employees to be placed in high regard as they gain the responsibility to guide others and have the autonomy to implement decisions. When employees are properly empowered to initiate decisions that can aid customer welfare, they effectively contribute to business strategies in the organization. Customers are satisfied after finding resolutions to problems and when they are helped by employees who possess tools, authority and the ability to make things right. In Tesco, employees are empowered through delegation of responsibilities, ensuring employees have all the necessary resources, induce flexibility. The management of Tesco also focuses on outcomes instead of tedious processes to achieve things. Including employees in special projects and being open to innovation and inputs can make employees highly engaged with their work.
Sometimes hindrances to empowering employees can be caused by differences in work roles and lack of perceptions (Dennerlein and Kirkman 2022). There can also be inconsistency observed in managerial practices, which might evoke doubts in employees’ minds. Inadequacy of resources, education, training, and insufficient communication, can lead to a few barriers to empowering employees.
Conflict management involves limiting negativity and reasons for chaos for increasing positive group outcomes, causing effectiveness in performances in the organization (McKibben 2017). It is the ability to be identifying and handle conflicts sensibly, efficiently and fairly. It involves procedures by which disputes can be resolved and minimized while prioritizing positive results.
Conflicts are a natural part of a workplace and cannot be completely avoided. Conflict management should be mediated to find creative solutions to relationship issues, preventing environments or circumstances breeding negativity, stress, general unrest, and demotivation. As per the “Thomas Kilman Conflict mode instrument” used by HR professionals, major conflict management styles include collaboration, competing,avoidance, compromising and accommodating. Tesco enables the establishment of clarified guidelines for ensuring employees understand the purpose of discussions induced towards concrete solutions. If employees are overwhelmed by responsibilities, there is an availability of preparing for task spreadsheets with prevalent estimated deadlines. Conflict management helps reduce costs for the ability to make better business decisions are brought forth. It increases productivity as a cohesive workforce helps in retaining top performers. Assessment of risks in a workplace helps form healthier relationships, commitment and morale (Wang and Wu 2020).
In most cases, obstacles to resolving conflicts can arise when employees start getting excessively defensive and refuse to create a pleasant atmosphere. The context can be regarded as insignificant, where employee needs are not catered to well. The inability to empathize with other individuals and stay calm increases chaos and workplace conflicts.
Team effectiveness is a group’s capacity to use their complementary skills, work together in accomplishing goals set out by authorities, leaders or members of the team. The models of team effectiveness help in understanding the best management techniques for getting optimal performance from teams. Working together as a team induces positive team spirits, high-quality work increases productivity and helps achieve objectives easily (Tripathi 2018). Successful outcomes result from effective teamwork abilities. Everyone present in the team needs to receive constant updates regarding delegation of ideas, support, and efficiency and people are supposed to be having an equal set of responsibilities. Teams should embrace mutual respect and trust, have the liberty to embrace innovations and share ideas. Collaborative modes of solving problems can cause profitable outcomes. It can lead to people taking calculated risks and inducing innovation if they have proper team support. Working in teams causes reduced stress, increased job satisfaction and encourages personal growth.
In Tesco, good teamwork capabilities are induced by creating the strategy of building inclusive and diverse teams. Responsibilities between people are distributed according to their talents and abilities, which reduces coalition and power struggles. Trust is found to be recurrently prevalent in the team, where clear and frequent communication is common. Meetings are arranged wisely and systematically to check updates at regular intervals. Feedback assessments generate inferences concerning employee satisfaction in teams.
Hindrances to bringing about proper teamwork include ineffective leadership by the managers or leaders. When leaders are incompetent, team performances are naturally affected negatively. Communication gaps causing confusion regarding objectives cause difficulty in maintaining good team performance (Welp et al. 2018). Lack of trust leads to inequitable decision making. People can also have accountability concerns and become poorly equipped to resolve conflicts.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the completion of this task has led to the careful assessment of my managerial and leadership abilities. I have figured out how my strengths revolve around communication and teamwork while weaknesses are critical thinking and time management. The personal development plan has helped me understand the importance of various activities to enhance pre-existing abilities and remove flaws to an extent. The study has also discussed some pronounced theories regarding a few leadership skills concerning the organization of choice, Tesco Plc.
References
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