MG408 The Graduate Challenge: Reflective Report on Challenges Faced

This report provides a reflective analysis of the Graduate Challenge, focusing on the skills gained through various activities such as the Apprentice Challenge, Presentation Challenge, T-Shirt Challenge, and Hotel Challenge. It discusses the development of communication, teamwork, time management, and business skills. Furthermore, the report analyzes each challenge from a business perspective, highlighting branding, finance, and operations. Tuckman’s Theory on Teamwork is explored in relation to the challenges, and an action plan for continuous skill improvement is presented. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of skill development and continuous learning for personal and professional growth. Desklib offers a platform where students can access past papers and solved assignments to aid in their academic journey.

MG408 The Graduate
Challenge

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
Reflective writing in each of the challenges including skills gained...............................................1
Apprentice Challenge.............................................................................................................1
Presentation Challenge...........................................................................................................2
T-Shirt Challenge...................................................................................................................2
Hotel Challenge......................................................................................................................3
Analysis of Each Challenge from a business angle and knowledge gained from about how
businesses actually work..................................................................................................................4
Branding.................................................................................................................................4
Finance...................................................................................................................................4
Operations...............................................................................................................................4
Discussion of the following themes in relation to Teamwork.........................................................4
Tuckman’s Theory on Teamwork..........................................................................................4
Action Plan.......................................................................................................................................5
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
References........................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Individuals are important to develop themselves in regards with the development of
various skills which relates to the personal and professional growth. Therefore, it is essential to
face some of the challenges in order to acquire the skills which are necessary for an individual.
The following discussion is based on the four challenges such as apprentice challenge,
presentation challenge, T-Shirt challenge and hotel challenge. Branding finance and promotion is
also discussed in context of the business working along with the theory on teamwork and action
plan.
Reflective writing in each of the challenges including skills gained
Apprentice Challenge
This is the challenge which relates with the participation in internships and different job
profiles. It was becoming difficult for me to manage the time in internships and other personal
activities. But it has let me to gain some skills which are discussed below:
 I have gained the communication skills while interacting with many people at my
workplace. Organization was having the good communication flow within the premises.
This way it has helped me gaining the emotional intelligence as well (Guraya and Chen,
2019).
 I have acquired the skills of team work at my workplace. Organization use to conduct the
various management activities in order to develop the team building skills. Hence, I have
acquired team management skills.
 I have attained the time management skills. Organization provides different projects to
complete within the specified deadline which has helped in attaining the skills of time
management along with the meeting skills as well.
 I have learnt the business skills. Organization was having the different departments to
function which performs several activities. This way I have learnt the skills of business
and also developed the competencies as well.
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 I got the knowledge about giving the presentation in front of several people. Organization
use to organize the presentation with customers with the use of excel also (Meissner and
Shmatko, 2019).
Presentation Challenge
This is the challenge which relates to provide the presentation on supermarket sector that
is on the Tesco. I have faced challenge in managing the team because this was a group
presentation. Some of the skills I have acquired are:
 I have gained the communication skills by interacting the people regarding managing the
entire presentation. Emotional intelligence with the team members has helped in
successful completion of the presentation activity.
 I have acquired the team work skills by facing and managing the challenges regarding the
formulation of the team. Managing the conflicts has helped in accomplishing the
presentation (Novak, Kyrylenko, Gurina and Grugorak, 2020).
 I have attained the skills of time management by presenting my part of presentation in a
timely manner. Group meeting skills has developed the brainstorming activity as well.
 I have learnt the skills of business by researching about the topic of Tesco and its
business operations. Moreover, performing of the competitor analysis are also learnt by
me.
 I have got the knowledge about the ways and practices that how the presentation must be
delivered in terms of voice and body gestures.
T-Shirt Challenge
This is the challenge which relates to the designing of the logo on the T shirt of the
Romanian currency. It was the group activity. I faced problem in communication with team
members. But there are skills which I have attained are as follows:
 I have gained the skills of communication by interacting with the group regarding
collaborating the activities in order to accomplish this challenge.
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 I have attained the team work skills by coordinating the several activities and tasks with
each and every member in the team. Diversity management is performed with the people
who are assorted cultures.
 I have acquired the time management skills by performing each and every task in a
timely manner so that deadline could not be crossed. This also helped in meeting skills as
well (McGill, Heikkila and Lazarowicz, 2020).
 I have learnt the skills of business and competencies by researching about the Romania
and its organizations in order to develop the logo on the T shirt.
 I have got the knowledge about the presentation skills and excel skills while presenting
the T shirt with logo in front of the audience with good gesture and etiquettes.
Hotel Challenge
This is the challenge which relates to the job I have done in the hospitality industry. I
have various challenges and one of the major one was the presentation in front of the clients. But
I have also learnt many skills such as:
 I have the gained the communication skills interacting with the other staff regarding the
management of the departments. Communication with the customer has improved my
convincing and influencing skills as well.
 I have attained the team work skills by coordinating the activities and cooperating with
the other staff in order to satisfy the customer in a maximum manner.
 I have acquired the time management skills while working in the hotel because delivering
the services to the customers on time is the very big task and that is why routine
management is acquired by me.
 I have learnt about the skills of business management which includes the customer
servicing, operations management, human resource management, finance management
and technical management (Balistreri, Albertine and Bearer, 2021).
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 I have got the knowledge about the presentation skills while presenting the product and
services to the customer in order to attract them towards offers and discounts offered by
the hotel.
Analysis of Each Challenge from a business angle and knowledge gained from
about how businesses actually work
Branding
Skills attained by me can help in the branding function of the business. T shirt challenge
has a great role in attaining the branding function within organization. Business perform the
branding function by making the attractive logo and presenting it in an innovative manner
(Shtaltovna, 2021).
Finance
Skills acquired by me can help in the finance function of the firm. Apprentice challenge
has a great role in acquiring the financial function within company. Business perform the
financial function by managing the budgets and cash flows in an effective manner (Alajmi,
2019).
Operations
Skills gained by me can help in the operations functions of the enterprise. Hotel challenge
has a great role in gaining the operations function within administration. Business perform the
operations functions by managing the production and customer servicing in an efficient manner.
(Smith, Wageman, Anderson and Nyachwaya, 2019).
Discussion of the following themes in relation to Teamwork
Tuckman’s Theory on Teamwork
It is the theory which contains five stages. Such as forming, storming, Norming,
performing and adjourning. Forming is the stage where team is established with rules and
the members are treated as strangers. Storming is the stage where members starts
communicating and resist to be interactive with the new people. Norming is the where
members starts understanding each other’s point of view and supports each other.
Performing is the stage where team actually executes their tasks while coordinating with
each other. Adjourning is the stage where evaluation of the team work is done in order to
measure the performance and contribution by each team member.
(Cooksey and McDonald, 2019).
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Action Plan
Goals Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Time
duration
Improving
Research skills
Research is the
investigation on
some topic
which is
relevant to gain
the knowledge
and can helps in
the career
development.
It can be
measured by
representing
the
knowledge in
front of the
others with
actual facts
and figures.
It is the skill
which can be
attained by
routine picking up
the topic in the
area of interest
and researching
about it for better
understanding of
the research
practices.
It is relevant
to gain the
research skill
because it
helps in
improving
the
communicati
on skills also
that is the
reading,
concentrating
, written,
verbal and
many more.
Six
Months
Enhancing
Technical
skills
Technical skills
includes the
gaining of
knowledge
about the
information and
communication
technology such
as MS Office
and other
software which
It can be
measured by
giving the
online exams
of technical;
skills on the
particular
subject area.
It will provide
the score and
improvements
It can be attained
by attending the
online classes or
crash course so
that basic as well
as the in depth
practical
knowledge can be
attained.
It is relevant
to achieve
this skill
because now
a days every
function is
carried out
through
technology
and learning
such skill
Twelve
Months
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are highly used
in the
professional
career.
as well. helps in
Woking in an
accurate
manner.
CONCLUSION
It is concluded that skill development while facing the challenges is an important concept
which must be perform by every individual in order to grow and develop personally and
professionally as well. This is because it not only supports in academic perspective but also
improves the standard of living as well. Therefore, it is important to evaluate the several
challenges and reflect upon it so that skills enhancement can be done by preparing the action
plan and to further study about the teamwork and working of the business. Hence, this report
covers all such areas in order to better understand the conception of facing various challenges
and developing skills out of it.
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References
Books and Journals
Alajmi, M.M., 2019. The impact of e-portfolio use on the development of professional standards
and life skills of students: a case study. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 6(4),
p.1714.
Balistreri, W.F., Albertine, K.H. and Bearer, C.F., 2021. Academic Skills: Publications. Pediatric
Research, pp.1-8.
Cohn, J., 2021. Building Online Toolkits to Support the Development of Academic Skills and
Digital Literacies.
Cooksey, R. and McDonald, G., 2019. What Skills Do I Need?. In Surviving and Thriving in
Postgraduate Research (pp. 27-53). Springer, Singapore.
Guraya, S.Y. and Chen, S., 2019. The impact and effectiveness of faculty development program
in fostering the faculty’s knowledge, skills, and professional competence: a systematic
review and meta-analysis. Saudi journal of biological sciences, 26(4), pp.688-697.
McGill, C.M., Heikkila, M. and Lazarowicz, T., 2020. Professional development, performance
expectations and academic advisors’ perceptions of relational skills: a sequential
explanatory mixed methods study. New Horizons in Adult Education and Human Resource
Development, 32(4), pp.50-69.
Meissner, D. and Shmatko, N., 2019. Integrating professional and academic knowledge: the link
between researchers skills and innovation culture. The Journal of Technology
Transfer, 44(4), pp.1273-1289.
Novak, V., Kyrylenko, O., Gurina, G. and Grugorak, M., 2020. Educational and methodical
complex on the subject" Academic skills of professional training".
Shtaltovna, Y., 2021. Can a skill be measured or assessed? 6-level skills development approach
to skill assessment. GiLE Journal of Skills Development, 1(1), pp.12-24.
Smith, K., Wageman, J.J., Anderson, S.K. and Nyachwaya, J., 2019. The relationship of
academic indicators and professional disposition to teaching skills: A secondary data
analysis. Administrative Issues Journal: Connecting Education, Practice, and
Research, 8(2), pp.106-118.
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