Reflective Report: Analysis of Graduate Challenges and Skills

This report provides a reflective analysis of skills acquired during various graduate challenges, including presentations and a T-shirt business simulation. It delves into the development of communication skills using the communication model and explores business skills and competencies gained through challenges like LSST and TESCO presentations, and the T-shirt project. The report further examines teamwork dynamics, incorporating emotional intelligence and Tuckman's theory. It offers a business-oriented analysis of each challenge, focusing on branding, finance, and operations. An action plan is developed to improve skills in teamwork, time management, business skills, and communication, setting specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound objectives. The report concludes with a list of references and appendices including presentation slides and cost analysis.

Module: The Graduate Challenge
Title:
Reflective report
Date Due:

Introduction
The report includes the various challenges that have been completed and their relative
development benefits. A discussion has been made on the communication model in detail and
communication skills that were a pre requisite for the challenges. The comparative
consumption and diversification of communication in LSST challenge is presented and its
effects in the overall business skill development of an individual. Further, the report opens
the situation of the skill development and communication flexibility through TESCO and T-
shirt challenge. An action plan has been presented after the successful and comparative
analysis of the concepts and challenges as per the individual needs.
1. What are you going to do in this report?
This report will revolve around the reflective learning and skills that were acquired during the
course of these challenges. During the course of these challenges, I gathered information on
the various skills that each of these challenges offers. I took challenges including presentation
challenge, presentation challenge and t-shirt challenge. The skills acquired during the course
of these challenges are emotional intelligence, communication skills, teamwork, time
management and meeting skills and business skills along with various competencies
developed such as use of excel presentation management, etc. this reflection will also focus
on an action plan developed in order to set SMART objectives and courses of action to
achieve them.
2. Reflective writing in each of the challenges including skills gained such as;
Communication Skills for all three tasks:
 Communication Model:
Every being on the planet produces some noises, even the non-living beings have a
tendency of producing noises. The noises differ based on the wavelength and frequency
they are emitted in. Human beings have the potential to decode these noises into effective
communication with the help of an effective communication model involving the sender,
who encodes the message which is then transmitted and then decoded by the receiver.
The whole process maintains the sovereignty and privacy of the message between the
sender and the receiver. The sender being the base of the information can encode it with

help of various techniques including the use of computers which is the most in trend tool
as decoding computer language is not possible for many humans until specialist.
Sender: Sender is the creator of the encoded message that is sent through transmission. The
information is sent to be received via various platforms to the recipient.
Method: Transmission is the enrolment and personalized decoding of the encoded data that
is sent by the to the recipient.
Receiver: Receiver is the recipient of the data and also its decoder, it may use various
techniques or tools for the process of decoding.
Feedback: The information that is sent from the sender, received by the recipient and
transmitted with decoding is the feedback. It is a more formal and non-verbal way of sending
the relevant appraisal or complaint than the shouting or verbal.
How has communication taken place in each task? Please write 3 paragraphs
Communication skills in LSST Presentation – In LSST presentation, the message
and values associated with the project were conveyed in a different manner and therefore
visual communication skills were developed.
Communication Skills in TESCO Presentation – The TESCO presentation was a
comparatively bigger presentation and required, active communication with the audience and
therefore improving communication skills.
Communication Skills in T-Shirt Challenge – In t-shirt challenge the goal was to
produce or acquire and sell t-shirts with the help of team and earn profit. Therefore, working
in the team and selling those t-shirts resulted in enhancement of the skills.
Business skills and competencies developed:

What business skills and competencies in LSST Presentation - The presentation on
LSST focuses on the history of the organization along with its SWOT analysis. The PPT also
gives recommendations to the organization with the marketing plan to develop it. These all
accumulates together and develops strong business skills.
What business skills and competencies in TESCO Presentation - TESCO
presentation had analysis of many dynamic factor which accumulated together in order to
enhance the overall business knowledge.
What business skills and competencies in T-Shirt Challenge - This was a team
challenge, and there were actual costs associated with it, in this challenge exchange of
product with money took place and therefore practical knowledge regarding the business
were enhanced.
Teamwork:
Discussion of the following themes in relation to Teamwork
Emotional Intelligence (Goleman’s Theory)
Emotional intelligence is a crucial part of the development and success of a team as it
stimulates the potential bonding through understanding. It also brings creativity and new
ideas in the team because of the communication comfortability that is felt by all the members.
These can be considered as the building brick for a comparative and commendable team.
Tuckman Theory
The theory presents the overall growth and upside movement of people in a team
through the processes of forming, storming, norming, adjourning and performing. This theory
explains the use of these aspects for the success and understanding between the team.

Forming: This stage discusses the potentiality of people of a team in terms of their relative
experience, skills, goals for life and organization. This part also explains the company`s
prospects and expectations towards the newly recruited employees.
Storming: Being in team can be often frustrating, everyone in a team comes from a different
background and have an entirely different way to perceive things and therefore it can result in
conflicts.
Norming: This stage is based on establishment of rules, regulations and protocols in the
confidence of which the team needs to operates. There should always be some prohibitions
and a pre-decided course of action in order to establish disciplinary practices within
workforce.
Performing: This is the stage that lies right before success, in this stage the team is already
well aware of the code of conduct and they are compatible with working with other team
members, they are well aware about the overall goals of the team and they work efficiently in
order to achieve them.
Adjourning: This stage is the mourning stage for the team. It is the phase right before the
completion of the project and after this the team goes their own ways. If this stage is executed
properly the team will hold more compatibility and will be more efficient when united in
future.
3. Analysis of Each Challenge from a business angle and knowledge gained from about
how businesses actually work. (T-Shirt Challenge)
Branding: The branding methodologies revolve around support of LGBTQ community. The
rainbow is the symbol of that particular community’s empowerment and that is used in the t-
shirt to raise awareness about how important the presence of that particular community is for
the society.
Finance: As per instructions given by brand, they are able to earn the profit of 32 euros in 6
t-shirts. The organization faces the fixed cost of 7 and variable cost differs with different t-
shirts. The brand faces a cost of around 30 euros on marketing.
Operations Department: The operations team in t-shirt challenge was responsible for
making sure that all the activities related to production of these t-shirts are done efficiently
and in accordance to the mixed measurable timeline.

4. Action Plan
Skills Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time bound
Communication
Skills/ Emotional
Intelligence
In order to
enhance
communication
skills specific
emotional
intelligence
objectives should
be set.
The specific
objectives set in
order to enhance
emotional
intelligence
should be
measurable at
any point of time.
These objectives
should be
achievable in
within fixed
time-frames.
These goals
should be
realistic, for
example one
cannot set
objective to
enhance these
skills in a week.
The challenges
and courses
undertaken to
improve
communication
skills should be
set within
maximum time
frames.
Teamwork In order to
enhance
Teamwork skills
specific
objectives should
be set.
The specific
objectives set in
order to enhance
Teamwork
should be
measurable at
any point of time.
These objectives
should be
achievable in
within fixed
time-frames.
These goals
should be
realistic, for
example one
cannot set
objective to
enhance these
skills in a week.
The challenges
and courses
undertaken to
improve
Teamwork skills
should be set
within maximum
time frames.
Time
Management and
meeting skills
In order to
enhance Time
Management and
meeting skills
specific
objectives should
be set.
The specific
objectives set in
order to enhance
Time
Management and
meeting skills
should be
measurable at
any point of time.
These objectives
should be
achievable in
within fixed
time-frames.
These goals
should be
realistic, for
example one
cannot set
objective to
enhance these
skills in a week.
The challenges
and courses
undertaken to
improve Time
Management and
meeting skills
should be set
within maximum
time frames.
Business skills
and competencies
developed
In order to
enhance Business
skills specific
objectives should
be set.
The specific
objectives set in
order to enhance
Business skills
should be
measurable at
any point of time.
These objectives
should be
achievable in
within fixed
time-frames.
These goals
should be
realistic, for
example one
cannot set
objective to
enhance these
skills in a week.
The challenges
and courses
undertaken to
improve Business
skills should be
set within
maximum time
frames.
5. List of References
Ha, J.Y. and Jeon, S.Y., 2016. The effects of humanistic knowledge and emotional
intelligence on communication skills of nurses. The Journal of Korean academic society of
nursing education. 22(3). pp.264-273.
Norman, D., 2017. Design, Business Models, and Human-Technology Teamwork: As
automation and artificial intelligence technologies develop, we need to think less about
human-machine interfaces and more about human-machine teamwork. Research-Technology
Management. 60(1). pp.26-30.
Çalışkan, A. and Özdemir, A., 2018. Meeting Management Skills of District Directors of
National Education According to Perceptions of School Managers. Journal of Education and
Training Studies. 6(11). pp.113-127.

Gerstein, M. and Friedman, H.H., 2016. Rethinking higher education: Focusing on skills and
competencies. Gerstein, Miriam and Hershey H. Friedman (2016),“Rethinking Higher
Education: Focusing on Skills and Competencies,” Psychosociological Issues in Human
Resource Management, 4(2), pp.104-121.
6. Appendice1.
LSST Presentation Slides

7. Appendices 2.
Tesco Presentation Slides