Introduction

I have always wanted to be a project manager in a large organisation. Having done research in the career field of project management, I have discovered that there are several entry-level positions that align with my choice of course that will lead me to eventually being a project manager. Such include graduate project assistant, assistant project controller et cetera. This report entails giving an elaborate analysis of my personal and professional development plan whilst regarding the aspects of knowledge that I have gained during my tenure of study. To achieve this, the report offers reflections on group work done, company visit to Tekmar Company, guest speaker sessions and the overall experience of studying business and management.

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Reflections

Reflecting on my group activity and the application of business and management course

In the period of study, one of the requirements was to work in a group and together complete a project. The group I was in had the task of choosing a company and then focusing on the philanthropic activities of the company. Specifically we divided the tasks into weekly activities – as depicted in the group learning log in appendix 1. We looked for a company, and then made sure it had philanthropic activities, gathered all the facts, prepared a power point presentation, confirmed the contents of the power-point presentation and lastly did a rehearsal for the presentation. I leant a lot of things from this group tasks as follows.

Firstly, engaging in a group necessitated me to be an effective communicator. I got a glimpse at how communication skills in English can be invaluable in the event of dealing with multicultural individuals. As highlighted by Guffey and Loewy (2013), effective communication is important especially in the realms of business as it is the foundation on which understanding is achieved. Guffey and Loewy (2013) elaborate on some of the aspects of communication that I got acquainted with. The first aspect is that I needed to relay ideas to my group members in a way that they could understand what I meant. Additionally, I had to do this in a courteous manner and in consideration to who formed the audience – group members. Further I had to learn listening skills which meant paying attention to my group members without getting distracted by the things around us. Although this was difficult due to accent issues, I later became conversant and could understand my group members. As emphasised by McIntosh, Luecke and Davis (2008) the ability to code a message such that it can be understood and to effectively decode a message is fundamental to any communication. In addition, one has to learn to be assertive and to use cues such as gestures, eye contact and tonal variation as a way of achieving extra effectiveness. Having worked in a group I greatly improved communication skills.

An additional aspect I leant from group work are interpersonal skills. Some tasks such as confirming the certainty of the content of the power-point required two individuals to go through part of it as the rest went through other parts. This happened severally in the process and I learnt that people are different at need to be handled differently. I became fairly good at creating good rapport with friends and understanding the group at an individual basis. The whole process also instilled the discipline of research in me as I had to get the right content and be accountable for all of it. Mersino (2007) refers to these as people skills and while emphasizing their importance for a project manager, groups them with communication skills, attentiveness and team-work.

Reflection on the visit to the Company.

We visited the Durham County Cricket Club in Durham. The club history notes that it has been in existence from as early as the year 1882. Over the years the club has grown in its appeal to masses of audience and thus found its place in the national map. The club is currently rated as a first class cricket county among eighteen others. In addition the club shares the Emirates Durham International Cricket Ground with other clubs. The club is involved in a host of income generating activities including the main one which is sale of match tickets and club merchandise. However they organise additional services such as hosting non-cricket related events including proms, weddings and concerts. Our research on philanthropy found that they have a foundation – the Durham County Club Foundation – which serves at least 3000 people around the community yearly. It emphasizes on personal development, education and employability.

In this company visit, I learnt majorly the concepts of leadership, delegation, group synergy and the general ideals of running a firm. To start with, the company has hundreds of employees and managing them seemed hard. However, I learnt that with each department considered as a group and work delegated accordingly, running the employees is much easier. Further, the work that seems insurmountable by a few people is possible with the effort of a group. As asserted by Franz (2012) a group achieves more than even the performance of a single individual. A leader’s ability to motivate employees also matters because I learnt that the CEO David Harker has effectively led the club for 20 years with each time achieving a goal using the group’s efforts. I can thus concur with Adeniyi’s (2007) view on leadership as the ability to influence and motivate people towards a particular goal and at the same time creating referent power on oneself. Harker has managed to create a culture of loyalty by letting employees see him as the example. Even though the firm has profit issues, the leader has kept it running because of the trust that subordinates have vested on him. Consequently, I learnt about being resilient and building trust and good relationships with people can contribute to my ambitions of becoming a project manager. The elaboration we were given about CEO David Harker coincide with sentiments of leadership expressed by Richman  (2006) who notes that a good leader needs to see beyond the present and rely in past mistakes to correct anticipated future errors. Richman (2006) believes such skills are important for a project manager.

David Harker has been the CEO of Durham Cricket Club in Durham for more than 20 years in a row. In the visitor’s speech he was highlighted as having transformed the club from the time that it was not known to the current position the club is in. One of the factors behind this was the ability he had to create an effective organisation culture. Organisation culture, in the view of Owoyemi and Ekwoaba (2014), is important being interdependent with the leadership style affects the motivation of employees directly. The emphasis in the empirical research by Owoyemi and Ekwoaba (2014) is that organisation culture enable the manager in charge to control, motivate and enhance the performance of every employee. As such, looking at the leadership of David Harker and the positivie culture of hard work and goal attainment he has set at Durham Cricket Club in Durham, I have learnt the importance of organisation culture ar the practical level. This knowledge will help me in my tenure as a project manager because I will have a way of reaching out to the employees and steering them to the right direction.

In the address by the guest speaker, the issues of a leaders being able to handle the employees at both personal and group level was highlighted. Essentially, the major concept was that people skills need to be the reflex of every manager since at given moments there a firm will experience group dynamics and possible interpersonal conflicts. An empirical investigation by Zaccaro, Rittman and Marks (2001) suggests that group dynamics are set the emotional tone for the individuals in the group and determine their action path. Being able to handle such is a mark of a great leader and requires interpersonal skills beyond conflict management skills. As established above, working within a group gave me great interpersonal skills and since they are required for leadership, I believe that combined with the contents of the guest speaker’s speech, interpersonal skills that I have will be indispensible throughout my career path. Lastly, I learnt from the Durham Cricket Club in Durham visit that social responsibility needs to be on the plate of every leader. The firm has a foundation to empower the educational, employability and personal development facets of the society. I learnt that being conscious of the external environment is critical in the success of any leader.

The help of the knowledge and skills I have acquired to my professional development

As noted in the introduction of the report, I intend to be a project manager after the completion of my tenure as a student. I have learnt a lot of skills such as communication, research skills, interpersonal skills, group engagement and leadership skills. However, this skills may not be ultimate to serve me best in my career and thus shall need sharpening later on. As evidenced in appendix 2, I have tabled down a list of other skills I believe will be handy in my personal and professional development. Currently, the skills I have learnt will contribute to my entry level and post entry career positions in project management

Entry level

On one of the most crucial skills here is the ability to communicate effectively. This is attributing to the fact that a position such as the assistant project manager or graduate project assistant will require me to communicate constantly with my superior as well as take instructions communicate to me. Interpersonal skills will enable me to work in a team since team projects are undertook through the effort of a team of professionals. Additionally, due to my experience in a team, I will value more the input and opinion of others as much as I deem my opinions as okay. Another realisation that will help me is that teamwork creates synergy and thus even the hardest of tasks can be accomplished easily in a team and thus I will better believe in the possible accomplishment of the team I will work in.

Subsequent positions

It is inevitable that in ascending the career ladder in project management, I will have several chances of being a leader of a team, a task force or a department and eventually the ultimate leader. These positions will need leadership skills and as noted in the report the company visit we had gave me a broad view of leadership. In leadership positions thusly, I will be fit to influence people towards specific goals of a project as well as have the capacity to address not only group by individual needs. Better still is the fact that I understand the impact of organisational culture on performance. This will help me in setting the right culture for all the individuals under leadership positions I may hold.

Conclusion

The main aim of this report was to elaborate on my personal and professional development in light of the knowledge I have acquired in my studies. My passion lies in the field of project management and I thusly will pursue a career path in project management that will ultimately make me a project manager. In the course of the study I have acquired skills including leadership, interpersonal skills, research skills, communication skills and group interactiveness. These are skills that greatly contribute to both entry level and subsequent positions in my career path as I will be majorly working with people towards timed goals. However, as established above, this skills will need improvement and for me to learn complementary skills such as time management and personal discipline. Having discovered that learning is continuous, I intend to build up on my overall skills with time.

References

Adeniyi, M. (2007) Effective leadership management. Bloomington, IN: AuthorHouse.

Franz, T. (2012) Group dynamics and team interventions. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub.

Guffey, M. and Loewy, D. (2013) Essentials of business communication. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning.

McIntosh, P., Luecke, R. and Davis, J. (2008) Interpersonal communication skills in the workplace. [New York]: American Management Association.

Mersino, A. (2007) Emotional intelligence for project managers. New York: American Management Association.

Owoyemi, O. and Ekwoaba, J. (2014) ‘Organisational Culture: A Tool for Management for Management Control, Motivate and Performance Enhancement’, American Journal of Business and Management, 3(3).

Richman, L. (2006) Improving your project management skills. New York: American Management Association.

Zaccaro, S., Rittman, A. and Marks, M. (2001) ‘Team leadership’, The Leadership Quarterly, 12(4), pp.451-483.

Appendices

Appendix 1: Group learning log

Appendix 2: Personal development plan