Academic and Personal Development

This report discusses the importance of academic and personal development in higher education, specifically in business management studies. It covers the skills needed for effective team working, communication, time management, analytical and critical thinking. The report also includes a SWOT analysis and a personal development plan.

Academic and Personal
Development

Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
Importance of effective development of academic skills............................................................4
SWOT analysis............................................................................................................................5
Personal development plan .........................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
Academic development is related to learning and gaining in depth knowledge of subjects
by an individual. It provides them with objectives and skills in classroom which assists them to
achieve professional success in their life later. It is considered with operating in collaboration
with departments and faculties to enhance learning of students (Bowen-Chang and Hosein,
2018). Personal development is considered as crucial part of a personnels progress and growth. It
allows them to explore aspects of self improvement by making plans for development. It is long
process through which people can assess their qualities and skills in relation to their goals and
aims in life.
This report highlights the academic skills needed for higher education in business
management studies. It covers effective team working skills and reflect on key personal
attributes required for academic and future success.
MAIN BODY
To become an effective student in business management in higher education, I developed
number of skills. These skills are related to the challenges I faced during learning about business
management. The first challenge was to connect with new people from diverse background. I
face issue of communicating and sharing my thoughts as well as opinions with them. It became
major issue to search for like minded people in diverse population (Braxton and Francis, 2018).
As I understand that selecting reliable peers is essential both for my personal and academic
development, I strive to acquire skill of communication.
Communication skills- I seek to make my communication better with my peers to
understand their point of view and knowledge on business management. I talked to people with
different backgrounds and tries to reduce my hesitation. For this, I actively listen to what people
say and tried to make my opinions as clear as possible so that they can understand me as well. I
worked on my body language and made sure that I appear accessible to my colleagues. To solve
my queries with teachers, I made notes of what I was unable to understand and asked them
briefly so that my communication with them can improve (Leupold, Lopina and Erickson, 2020).
I took a moment before I speak and think extensively about what I was going to say or ask. I
maintained a positive and open mind throughout the module so that I can mingle with other
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students effectively. My communication skills becomes more better with assistance from
academic skills which leads to enhanced sharing of messages and thoughts.
Next challenge I faced was not being able to schedule all the subjects concerned with
business management in specific time limit. I face the issue of not completing my group
presentations and assignments on time due to poor management of work with time. It gets
difficult for me to balance my academic work with my personal life which leads to affecting my
academic career. It reduces my punctuality and quality of work which leads to missing deadlines
of assignments. I was easily distracted and used to procrastinate my work, thus I intend to
acquire time management skills.
Time management skills- After I missed several deadlines of my assignments, I assessed
that being good at managing my time can help me achieve my goals and produce high quality
work. To study business studies in higher studies, it is important that one understands to delivers
expected results on time (Burgess, van Diggele and Mellis, 2018). Thus, I worked on my time
management skills by setting SMART goals. For that I made a list of goals that I wants to attain
which includes assignments deadlines, proper study time, research about various aspects of
business management and many more. I set my weekly priorities and made sure that I am using
my time efficiently. I avoid multitasking so that I can give my all attention to one task at hand. I
made sure to follow the time table I made so that I do not procrastinate and improve my
productivity. I eliminate the distractions which hinders my progress of becoming efficient
student of business management.
Next challenge I face is not able to acquire, gather, visualise and assess the information in
detail. In addition to that, I found it hard to see at a problem from other people point of view.
This also creates the issues of not being able to solve complex problems and make effective
decisions. It gets difficult for me to analyse which information is more important for me and
which is just wasting my time and resources. To solve this challenge, I acquire to adopt
analytical skills.
Analytical skills- Each day in the group, all the members of the team collected some
information related to subject of business management. Thus, I make a plan to write down all the
information at one place and with help of other team members decides which was essential to
expand our knowledge of business management (Casanova, Zarza and Orejudo, 2018). I strive to
make decisions by listening to every individual of the group and taking help of our teachers. I
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become more observant of what is happening in my surroundings and actively engage my mind
in group activities. I played puzzles and brain games so that I can keep my mind at one place for
longer time. I made my research about the subject more extensive and analyse large set of
information in clear minded way. I acknowledged other members viewpoints and explanations of
same thing. This helped me solve issues quickly and made effective decisions which were
effective for our knowledge of business management.
Another issue I faced was not being able to think critically in situations of problems. I
also arises problems in my managing relationship and responsibility given to me in group. I
found it difficult to overcome the barriers and issues accompanied in my studies (Mair and Frew,
2018). As I take major roles in group, I became more authoritative which hinders my relationship
with others. To solve this issue in my higher studies, I seek to acquire skill of critical thinking.
Critical thinking skill- This skill helped me to learn range of discipline to adopt in my
life. It assists me use critical thinking to depict and assess information I collected from various
sources. I started to talk less and listen more which allows me to embrace the information I
gathered. It allows me to understand same thing from other people perspective (Crow, Whitman
and Anderson, 2020). It made me question my earlier beliefs and assumptions I had about the
subject of business management. I started to ask more questions so that I can extensively learn
about a topic and learn new ways of thinking about certain things. I evaluate my work and my
strength in order to understand where I needs to improve. I used more logic on principle of
rationality to explore optimal solutions about a problem. This skill will help to become an
excellent student of business management as I will be able to draw solutions of complex issues
through critical thinking.
Another challenge I came through is adjusting in new environment. As I select to study
for business management from different location, I found it difficult to work in team. I face issue
to getting adjusted with new values, beliefs and culture and thus I wont be able to learn properly
in team. Not being able to understand what my team members wants from me, I creates
situations of conflicts. It forms cases of misunderstandings between team member which leads to
hindering our productivity. To solve this challenge, I tends to acquire team working skill.
Team working skill- This skill is important for me to adopt as it will provide me with the
chance to connect to everyone of my group and expand my knowledge as well as understanding
of business management. It will help me to create meaningful relationship in my group. To
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effectively acquire this skill I comprehend my goal properly as I understand that all the people in
my group is working towards common goal. This way I realised my contribution in group and
knows other people participation. I also clarify roles of every member so that no one interferes in
anyone's working and everybody can enhance other people knowledge. I keep my mindset
positive so that I can promote supportive environment. It helped us to solve problems as and
when they arrive (Gottlieb and Travis, 2018). This skill also facilitate me to share my enthusiasm
with my team members about learning new things in business management. We all ensures to
give appropriate credit to team members who done best work. This skill was also improved by
having an understanding of self awareness. We all asks for feedbacks and takes critics positively
so that no one feel out left from the group. We use empathy with each other so that we can all
understand what the other person is feeling and how are they taking other person's opinions. It
helps me to develop leadership quality and motivate my team members to become an effective
student of business management. It allows me to communicate better with my team members and
open up clear line of communication which will further help me to make a good career out of
business management. It is required from individuals working for organizations to have good
communication, time management and team working skill thus working in this module allows
me to develop all these so that I can became an effective student.
Importance of effective development of academic skills
Developing academic skills helps me to improve my performances and productivity in
strategic manner. The skills which I acquired were communication, time management, team
working, analytical and critical thinking skills. These greatly helped me to get better
understanding of the subject business management which I acquire take in my higher studies.
These combination of skills facilitate me to attained my determined objectives both in academic
and personal career (Helens-Hart, 2018). It also increases my confidence level to take on more
opportunities in future and develop my personality as an excellent student. It improves my
practical as well as professional knowledge and allows me to conduct in depth research about the
specialised subject. These set of skills adds more value to my knowledge and behaviour towards
others. Academic skill development helps in ways which are described below:
 Communication and time management skills have assists me to handle several tasks as
well as topics of business management so that I can achieve my goal of becoming an
effective student of business management.
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 They maximise my productivity and success in studies.
 Critical thinking skill have allowed me to think deeply about a topic and analytical skills
have facilitated me to solve complex issues effectively.
 By properly communicating with peers of my groups, I have been able to make strong
relationship and understand better other people's point of view.
 Team working skill have helped me to allocate big tasks to group and work together in
one direction to finish a topic or research faster (Kutor, Raileanu and Simandan, 2021).
 Effectively working in a group enable me to share my ideas, opinions and perspectives on
a topic and helps me to reduce my burden of over studying.
SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis refers to the effective tool which helps me to determine my internal
strength and weaknesses as well as external threat and opportunities in order to improve my
abilities for career development. It helps to evaluate my skills, knowledge and abilities to know
about the area for improvement as well as how can I develop necessary skills which helps me to
achieve success (Pifer, Baker and Lunsford, 2019). Strengths refers to the ability which I am
good in and my achievements as well as weakness refers to the area in which I am weak at or the
skills which I need to improve for the better life. The opportunities refers the possibilities and
various chance which I will take for better future. The threat refers to the challenges , problems
which I need to be careful in future as well as I have to faced in my professional career. The
SWOT analysis to determine my skills and area for future development are as follows-
Strengths
 The biggest strength of mine is I am
good in leading people and task which
helps me to become good leader in
future as well as make effective plan to
complete project with more perfection.
Also I achieve many certification in my
academic life to lead a team or take
first position.
 Another strengths of mine is good
adaptability and learner which allow to
Weaknesses
 My biggest weakness I found
difficulties to manage my workload as I
am poor in time management which
decline my productivity and delay my
work.
 My biggest weakness is I am not good
at communication as well as I am not
good listen which unable me to interact
better with other as well as understand
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learn new things in less time and adopt
changes in my practices (Simonton,
2019).
their problems while working in a team.
Opportunities
 Many opportunities related to the
further studies are forthcoming which I
can use to get more knowledge and
become professional in specific area.
 New and advance course are the
another opportunities for me which I
can learn and en roll in a institute to
upgrade my skills in order get better job
opportunities.

Threats
 I am low in thinking deeply about any
topic and opportunities which prove as
a threat for me . As the result of this I
lost many beneficial opportunities in
future.
 Poor time management and analytical
skills is also threat for me as it increase
my work load and stress level while
perform a task related to my job and
higher studies (Wrye, Chafin and
Higginbotham, 2019).
Personal development plan
What do I want
to learn?
What do I have
to do?
What support
and resources
will I need?
How will I
measure
success?
Target date for
review?
Team working
skills
There are various
ways of
developing team
working skills by
establishing
It is advised by
the manager to
allocate tasks and
divide them in a
manner and also
I will measure my
success with
observing my
collaboration and
team tasks.
Post 30th June
6

communication
and dividing the
tasks among the
team members as
per the
capabilities of
each team
member.
focusing on
boosting the
morale of the
employees to
work in a
collaborative
manner
(Mohamed Osama
and Gallagher,
2018).
Time
management
skills
In context to time
management
skills, there are
various ways
such as setting up
the limits,
providing breaks,
scheduling task
according to the
deadlines, using
technology and
also focusing on
each task at one
point of time.
In reference to
manager, they will
advice me in
management of
the activities
through allotting
the time as well as
providing
feedbacks
according to the
time allotted.
I will measure my
success through
accomplishing
objectives or
goals of the
allotted activity
on time.
Post 29th June
Communication
skills
With the help of
communicating
with more and
more individuals
I will be able to
boost and
For the purpose to
improve my
communication
skills, I will be
have a brief
discussion with
Ensuring that I
have attended all
agreed high
priority training
which help me in
developing my
Post 25th June
7

improve my
communication
skills. Moreover,
it is very
important for me
to ensure that
feedback
provided by the
team members
which is
basically related
to the
communication
skills will also
help me in
developing my
communication
skills.
line managers of
the organisation
(Neves and Brito,
2020).
communication
skills.
Analytical skills For the purpose
to develop
analytical skills,
there is a need tor
the requirement
of the training
and management
of everything and
also focusing on
managing the
daily activities
which will assist
me in developing
Advice from my
line manager and
team feedback.
Monitoring as
well as
performance
appraisal during
development
programmes.
Post 24th June
8

my analytical
skills.
Critical
Thinking Skills
By analysing
each and every
aspect of project
in effective
manner I will
develop my
critical thinking
and will carry out
effective
decisions which
help me in
developing my
decision making
skills and critical
thinking skills in
more effective
manner.
My team members
will assist me that
decision taken by
more are correct
or not.
Along with this,
project manager
will assist me in
the same on which
I am working and
which will result
in overall
development of
my critical
thinking skills.
Feedback from
team as well as
the project
sponsor. Taking
feedback from
higher level
authority for
ensuring that
taken decision are
correct or not or if
I am lacking in
carrying out
effective
decisions for my
organisation.
Post 25th June
9

CONCLUSION
From the information presented above, it has been concluded that academic and personal
development is important in an individual's life as it encourage them to become efficient
learners. This can be achieved by acquiring set of skills as per the challenges faced by an
individual in their academic or personal life. This may include communication, time
management, team working skills etc. which boosts students confidence to participate actively in
group and become effective student in their higher studies. Similarly personal development is
part of procedure of life long learning which allows individuals to improve themselves in every
aspect of their life. An individual can make personal development plan by undertaking SWOT
analysis which will help them to determine their strengths, weaknesses and areas of
improvement.
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REFERENCES
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Bowen-Chang, P. and Hosein, Y., 2018. Continuing professional development of academic
librarians in Trinidad and Tobago. Global Knowledge, Memory and
Communication. 68(1/2). pp.93-111.
Braxton, J. M. and Francis, C. H., 2018. The influence of academic rigor on factors related to
college student persistence. New Directions for Higher Education. 2018(181). pp.73-87.
Burgess, A., van Diggele, C. and Mellis, C., 2018. Mentorship in the health professions: a
review. The Clinical Teacher, 15(3), pp.197-202.
Casanova, O., Zarza, F.J. and Orejudo, S., 2018. Differences in performance anxiety levels
among advanced conservatory students in Spain, according to type of instrument and
academic year of enrolment. Music Education Research. 20(3). pp.377-389.
Crow, M. M., Whitman, K. and Anderson, D. M., 2020. Rethinking academic entrepreneurship:
university governance and the emergence of the academic enterprise. Public
Administration Review. 80(3). pp.511-515.
Gottlieb, A. S. and Travis, E. L., 2018. Rationale and models for career advancement
sponsorship in academic medicine: the time is here; the time is now. Academic
Medicine. 93(11). pp.1620-1623.
Helens-Hart, R., 2018. Appreciative coaching for student academic and professional
development. Communication Teacher. 32(4). pp.220-224.
Kutor, S. K., Raileanu, A. and Simandan, D., 2021. International migration, cross-cultural
interaction, and the development of personal wisdom. Migration Studies. 9(3). pp.490-
513.
Leupold, C. R., Lopina, E. C. and Erickson, J., 2020. Examining the effects of core self-
evaluations and perceived organizational support on academic burnout among
undergraduate students. Psychological reports. 123(4). pp.1260-1281.
Mair, J. and Frew, E., 2018. Academic conferences: A female duo-ethnography. Current Issues
in Tourism. 21(18). pp.2152-2172.
Mohamed Osama, O. and Gallagher, J.E., 2018. Role models and professional development in
dentistry: an important resource: the views of early career stage dentists at one academic
health science Centre in England. European Journal of Dental Education. 22(1). pp.e81-
e87.
Neves, S. and Brito, C., 2020. Academic entrepreneurship intentions: a systematic literature
review. Journal of Management Development.
Pifer, M.J., Baker, V.L. and Lunsford, L.G., 2019. Culture, colleagues, and leadership: The
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Review of Higher Education. 42(2). pp.537-564.
Simonton, D. K., 2019. Talent development in the domain of academic psychology.
Wrye, B., Chafin, C. and Higginbotham, C., 2019. Creating a Win-Win: Designing and
implementing mutually beneficial collaborations between community organizations and
academic programs. Education+ Training.
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