Professional Development Experiences

This assignment delves into the student's experiences with team-building activities and cultural awareness in a professional setting. It examines a specific team-building exercise, highlighting its impact on collaboration and understanding. The second part explores a cultural awareness activity, emphasizing its role in fostering respect and inclusivity within a diverse workplace.

Running head: PROFESSIONAL ENVIRONMENT
Professional environment
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Topic 1- Team Building Activities............................................................................................2
1. What happened?..............................................................................................................2
2. What did it mean to me?.................................................................................................2
3. What value is it to me?....................................................................................................2
4. How might it help me in the future?...............................................................................3
Topic 2- Cultural Awareness.....................................................................................................4
1. What happened?..............................................................................................................4
2. What did it mean to me?.................................................................................................4
3. What value is it to me?....................................................................................................4
4. How might it help me in the future?...............................................................................5
References..................................................................................................................................6

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Topic 1- Team Building Activities
1. What happened?
The main purpose for this tower team building is to build a team through immediate
problem solving, affluent completion of the task with restricted resources, attaining time-
constraints under stress, following the steps of project planner, and completing the task. The
result was that the team performed well and following the criteria a tower was made that did
not fall and was standing free without taking the support of wall or chair. The team was very
much cautious about the guideline but only the difficult part was that the tower build was not
very tall. However, the overall performance of the team was good. Everyone in the group was
involved and tried to give their contributions in both the planning as well as building phases
(Woodcock 2017).
2. What did it mean to me?
To me this is an extremely successful team building exercise that is satisfactory for both
teenagers in classroom and adults in their workplace environment. What I found to be very
much helpful and effective in this particular activity is that it encourages the problem solving
in a creative way through teamwork. Through this, I learnt many things, as I was the part of a
team. However, I found that the benefits of this activity are to learn teamwork,
communication, leadership, fun, bonding, confidence, responsibility, trust, morale, culture
and the outcome (Miller 2015). Thus, this activity has created the time to pay attention to the
necessity of teamwork and the importance of working in a team. It further helped to work
together in an efficient manner by balancing the strength and weaknesses of the teammates.

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3. What value is it to me?
The values that I think I got from this team building activity is it increases the
productivity because all the team members in a team works together in an efficient manner
which enhances productivity and gives more well organized work. This however, promotes
better communication skills among the team members and help in cooperating well among
each other. When such activities are run in any organization for our development, we as
employees get motivation that the organization is so committed towards us. This further
enhances the trustworthy relationship of the employees with the colleagues (Burke 2017).
The important value it had on me is that I learnt finding suitable ways to attain a goal in spite
of the obstacles.
4. How might it help me in the future?
Team building activities however, have a positive impact for the long run for both the
employees as well as the organization. It has made me learn for my future development that
how I can work with including my helping colleagues to solve a task by working together
forming a team. It will further help me in interacting with those employees with whom I
interaction is not that much thus, enhancing my communication skills for the future benefits.
This however, helped me to raise my engagement in the workplace, which will help me in the
future to deliver quality works to the organization and uplift the competitive spirit in me.

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Topic 2- Cultural Awareness
1. What happened?
To enhance the cultural awareness a small activity, which I came across, was ‘The Story
of My Name. This activity is an interesting and novel way through which the people in an
ethnically diverse group can introduce themselves to one another. This is a 30-minute activity
is where encouraging a proper group activity where each employee will explain what their
name means and where does it come from. However, the more the ethnicity and cultural
diversity found in an organization the more successful this task would be. This activity helps
in developing the respect among the intercultural people, understanding the culture of others,
enhancing self-identity along with an open respect, and sharing (Baker 2012).
2. What did it mean to me?
I think at times activities that are encouraging the staff members in an organization to
display their cultural awareness are important which is done by interacting with their
colleagues. According to me, I think to have a culturally diverse workplace helps the
employees in various ways like when people are provided to work with different people from
other cultures who are bringing various skills and views it guide them to realize that everyone
is important for various reasons. It also increases the employee’s morale and promotes
positivity inside the working environment (Alvesson 2012). Another think I learnt that
cultural awareness can have a global impact as the organization that works with culturally
diverse employees can help enlarge their business in international markets.
3. What value is it to me?
The values that cultural awareness had on me is that having a culturally diverse outlook
will stimulate the creativity and drive upheavals. However, having the knowledge regarding

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the local markets can actually make the business more competitive and flourishing.
Respecting cultural diversity and its awareness will also help the organization to bring out the
best talents and I will get an opportunity to work with them as well. This will further help in
offering a wider and more flexible range of product or services by an organization (Okoro
2012). In a diverse team, I will also get to perform in a more productive way thus, gaining
more opportunities for my personal as well as career development.
4. How might it help me in the future?
In future, this awareness will help me in working with diverse employees in any
organization. I can also try my luck to work in any international countries. Thus, to be
culturally aware I need to observe different people from different culture now so that their
culture can have an influence on me, which will help me to understand and respect the
opposite cultures in future. It will further prepare me to become sensitive to cultural
differences in a much positive way thus, broadening my perspectives on cultural diversity.
Most importantly, cultural awareness can help me perform better and in a more productive
way because the ways of solving problems will be boosted by diversified workplace and their
working methods. Therefore, I will get more opportunities for developing my personal and
professional skills.

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References
Alvesson, M., 2012. Understanding organizational culture. Sage.
Baker, W., 2012. From cultural awareness to intercultural awareness: Culture in ELT. ELT
journal, 66(1), pp.62-70.
Burke, W.W., 2017. Organization change: Theory and practice. Sage Publications.
Miller, B.C., 2015. Quick team-building activities for busy managers: 50 exercises that get
results in just 15 minutes. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.
Okoro, E., 2012. Cross-cultural etiquette and communication in global business: Toward a
strategic framework for managing corporate expansion. International journal of business and
management, 7(16), p.130.
Woodcock, M., 2017. Team development manual. Routledge.