MG408: The Graduate Challenge - Skills Development Report

This report presents a student's reflection on the Graduate Challenge, a module designed to develop essential skills for success. The report analyzes the student's performance in various challenges, including communication, teamwork, time management, and business skills. It explores the challenges faced, such as the Apprentice, Presentation, T-shirt, and Hotel challenges, and evaluates the student's strengths and weaknesses in each area. The report highlights the importance of communication, both written and oral, and its impact on professional interactions. It discusses the significance of teamwork, time management, and business skills in achieving desired outcomes. Furthermore, the report includes a detailed action plan with SMART objectives to address areas needing improvement, specifically focusing on enhancing time management and teamwork skills. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of continuous self-assessment and skill development for professional success. This report is a valuable resource for students seeking to understand the Graduate Challenge and improve their own skills.

The Graduate Challenge
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Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
Communication skills..................................................................................................................3
Team work..................................................................................................................................5
Time management.......................................................................................................................5
Business skills.............................................................................................................................6
Action Plan..................................................................................................................................7
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................8
REFERENCES ...............................................................................................................................9
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INTRODUCTION
There are various challenges which take place in the day to day activities of students and
they have to find the effective solutions to the problems or issues (Clokie and Fourie, 2016). A
student is in the learning phase of life where they are acquiring knowledge about various aspects
and facts with the motive to become successful in near future. The main focus is to main the
balance between the professional and personal life. This report is based on development of
various skills and abilities which help in dealing with different situations.
MAIN BODY
Communication skills
Illustration 1: Basic components of communication.
2020
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Communication skills play important role where with the effective exchange of
information one able to understand the viewpoint of others. It is define as the process in which
exchange of information take place among individuals and groups. It is a two way process which
take place between sender and receiver and communication is successfully completed when the
feedback is provided by the receiver (Desai, Berger and Higgs, 2016). Communication include
various aspects such as written, oral, symbolic and pictorial and one should be able to function
effectively in all the phases. The communication skills play important role in the life of people as
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in this digital business environment one would be able to accomplish their goals and objectives
with effective communication where they are able to understand others and at the same time
other also able to understand your point. Here are some communication skills which provide help
in overcoming given challenges:
 Apprentice Challenge- This challenge take place in the organisation mostly in the front
line management section where main motive of the management is to identify those
employees who are innovative and creative in nature. This will help the organisation in
identifying the set of employees which are skilled and capable to provide effective results
to the company (Jackling and Natoli, 2015). It also help in increasing the productivity
level and help in maximising the profits margin. Communication skills play important
role as it helps in establishing strong relation between management and employees so that
they can interact effectively and take correct decisions in the business. Moreover the
management and the employees will come to know the pros and cons of each other which
is the sole issue faced in the apprentice challenge.
 Presentation Challenge- In the current business environment the presentation play
significant role in business world as it helps in better understanding of the topic or
concept. This is most convenient method which help the management of the company to
put their ideas and opinions in front of stakeholders and other members of organisation.
In the presentation process the most important factor is the effective communication as
with the help of proper communication one would be able to make others understand
their viewpoints (Matlay and et.al., 2015).
 T-shirt Challenge- This is an activity in which a T-shirt is designed and the marketing of
t-shirt need to be done effectively. The most challenging situation is to sell the t-shirt by
convincing other people. For this one should be able to communicate effective with the
other people.
 Hotel Challenge- In carrying operations of business in effective manner the management
need to established effective communication with its employees. Moreover there are
many activities which need to be perform in coordination so with the help of effective
communication the work is completed on time. With the help of effective communication
skills the employees would be able to interact properly with the customers and able to get
feedback from them.
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Team work
In an business organisation it is important for its success that employees work in
coordination with each other and able to work in team. The work done in team provide is
effective and meets the expectation of company. For better results the main focus of the business
organisation is to form friendly relation with the employees in order to make them comfortable
in the business environment. Here are aspect and the impact of my team work skills on the given
challenges:
 Apprentice challenge- I am habitual of working in my own ways where I don't like others
interference. In the process of doing work in team I am not able to carry my work
effectively. The reason behind this is that I don't take interest in the group discussions
and do not provide any suggestions. Hence team work skills are acting as my weakness
and I need to improve them for better results (Pinto and Ramalheira, 2017).
 Presentation challenge- In the current scenario it has been analysed that some work
performed in group or team provide effective results. While working in team on the
particular project I come to known that I need to improve my team work skills as I am not
able to participate effectively in the group discussion.
 T-shirt challenge- In the designing and development of the t-shirt the effective results are
obtain when activities are performed in team. I have find that I would be able to
communicate with the team members effectively and would able to pointy my viewpoint
on the discussion taking place.
 Hotel Challenge- In context of hotel there are many activities which take place and many
activates are performed according to the instructions of the top managements. Quick
results need to be acquired so task are performed in team. I am not able to perform
properly in team as I am not able to put my views on the work which is been performed.
Therefore I need to focus on improving my team work skills so that I would able to work
in co-ordination with other people in near future (Ritchie, 2016).
Time management
The most important personality trait of a person is time management. To become successful one
should focus on their time management skills, professionalism and commitment towards the
organization. In times of long working hours and deadlines, time management skills adds an
effective add-on benefit to the individual for completion of their task in desired time period. An
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effective time management skill also helps in maintaining goodwill in the organization. An
efficient time management skill will help in sharing important information and converting it into
valuable data on or before time.
 Apprentice challenge: To understand all the the necessary information and practices,
attending all the training sessions on time is very necessary. For learning all the important
fundamentals, development of time management skills is efficient to complete the
assigned work on time. Due to lack in time management skills, I find it hard to attend
every session on time. This ultimately results in avoiding apprentice challenge.
 Presentation challenge: A very famous fact quoted that, a information is useful only on
time when it is required (Seifert and Feliks, 2019). After the span of time, the information
is considered as non-valuable. According to the above information, presentation is
method of delivering information to other stakeholders on time, otherwise the
information will not be valuable.
 T-shirt challenge: It is a technique to market ideas and opinions in the targeted market. A
successful market plan can be achieved by identifying needs and demands of the
customers. Hence to understand the targeted market, it is necessary to acknowledge the
needs and demands of the economy on time (Suleman, 2018).
 Hotel Challenge- I need to focus on improving my time management skills as in
performing the activities or task I am not able to complete it on time. Due to deal in
actions the guest need to wait which lead to bad impression and effect the brand image of
the company.
Business skills
These are basically the soft skills which are important in carry the business operations in
the effective manner. With the effective skills one would be able to understand the needs and
desires of customers and able to work accordingly. Moreover business organisation would able
to improve its performance and able to enhance its productivity. Hence these qualities will help
the individuals in carrying the activities, roles and responsibilities in the effective manner.
 Business skills in LSST presentation- Business skills are quite important as it help in
carrying any project in most effective manner by building effective strategies. All skills
and business acumen that my performance will be evaluated in the learning phase that in
LSST presentation.
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 Business skills in Tesco presentation- While presenting the idea in the team or
introducing new product to the customers, the effective presentation skills helps in
providing proper information to the people. Whereas my presentation skills will help my
in making others understand the activities performed in Tesco and their way of doing
business operations and also I would be able to highlight their purpose and its action plan.
 T-shirt challenge- The business would be able to meet its desire results when they are
able to understand the needs and desires of customers. By analysing the trends one would
be able to build effective marketing plan (Wilkins, Bernstein and Bekki, 2015). In order
to develop this understanding one need to enhance their analytical skills which is the
major part of business skill. One need to learn business tactics in order to understand the
customers in better way.
 Hotel Challenge- With the use of effective business skills I would be able to handle the
various situations effectively. I would be able to understand the needs of customers and
provide them solutions according to the issues or difficulties face by them.
Action Plan
Action plan are basically developed with the motive to regulate the future course of
action with the motive to accomplish desire results. The present action plan has been formulated
on the bases of the self evaluation and the things which need to be improved. After evaluating it
has been identified that I need to work on my few skills so that I don not face any difficult in
near future due to lack of skills. I need to improve and enhance my time management skills and
team working skills. For these skills, action plan is outlined as below-
 Specific: I need to focus on specific objective so that I can take proper measures to
accomplish it.
 Measurable: The goal or objective set must be measured in qualitative terms so that after
the completion of task the obtained result can be quantified.
 Achievable:The objective which need to be accomplished must be realistic in nature.
Basically it should be attainable in the specific time duration.
 Time bound: The objective which need to be accomplished must have set time duration
so that it ca be achieved effectively and efficiently.
SMART objective
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In the process of self evaluation, I have find out the areas where I need to work and to
improve them, following is my objectives:
 In order to improve my professional skills for betterment in future, I need to improve my
management skills in the time duration of 3 months. Hence I would be able to participate
in the group discussion and also able to give my opinion on the topic. The main goal is to
improve my skills by more than 25%.
 Furthermore I want to improve and enhance my time management skills in the time
duration of 4 months so that I would be able to complete my work on time and this will
help in providing effective results.
CONCLUSION
From the above report it has been concluded that in order to become successful in
professional life one need to focus on its skills and abilities. By identifying the areas where one
need to improve it help in achieving future results. With effective skills and abilities one would
be able to achieve its goals and objectives in effective manner. Analysis of skill is required for
student, learner or professional in order to manage their working activities in appropriate
manner. The analysis of above determines different skills and required needs for its improvement
for the self-development. This analysis could be based on arising challenges that may create
hurdles in learning and development. Individual must focus on developing their skills and
abilities so that they would be able to complete their future projects in the most effective and
efficient manner.
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REFERENCES
Books & Journals
Clokie, T.L. and Fourie, E., 2016. Graduate employability and communication competence: Are
undergraduates taught relevant skills?. Business and Professional Communication
Quarterly. 79(4). pp.442-463.
Desai, M.S., Berger, B.D. and Higgs, R., 2016. Critical thinking skills for business school
graduates as demanded by employers: a strategic perspective and
recommendations. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal. 20(1). pp.10-31.
Jackling, B. and Natoli, R., 2015. Employability skills of international accounting
graduates. Education+ Training.
Matlay, H. and et.al., 2015. Estimating the effect of entrepreneur education on graduates’
intention to be entrepreneurs. Education+ Training.
Pinto, L.H. and Ramalheira, D.C., 2017. Perceived employability of business graduates: The
effect of academic performance and extracurricular activities. Journal of Vocational
Behavior. 99. pp.165-178.
Ritchie, S.M., 2016. Self-assessment of video-recorded presentations: Does it improve
skills?. Active Learning in Higher Education. 17(3). pp.207-221.
Seifert, T. and Feliks, O., 2019. Online self-assessment and peer-assessment as a tool to enhance
student-teachers’ assessment skills. Assessment & Evaluation in Higher
Education. 44(2). pp.169-185.
Suleman, F., 2018. The employability skills of higher education graduates: insights into
conceptual frameworks and methodological options. Higher Education. 76(2). pp.263-
278.
Wilkins, K.G., Bernstein, B.L. and Bekki, J.M., 2015. Measuring communication skills: The
STEM interpersonal communication skills assessment battery. Journal of Engineering
Education. 104(4). pp.433-453.
Online
Basic components of communication. 2020. [Online]. Available through:<
http://katekei.com/basic-components-of-communication
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