Higher Education Skills for the Workplace: Project Pathway 1

This report discusses the author's role as a team leader in a higher education setting, focusing on the development and application of time management, delegation, and interpersonal communication skills. The report details strategies used to improve team performance, including effective delegation of tasks based on individual strengths, fostering open communication through meetings and online platforms, and promoting a positive and motivated team environment. The author emphasizes the importance of these skills in enhancing productivity, preventing missed deadlines, and building trust and loyalty among team members, ultimately contributing to the successful completion of the project and the professional development of the team.

Running head: CERTIFICATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SKILLS FOR THE
WORKPLACE
Certificate of Higher Education in Skills for the Workplace
Name of student
Name of University
Author note

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CERTIFICATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SKILLS FOR THE WORKPLACE
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Body.................................................................................................................................................3
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................7
References........................................................................................................................................9

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Introduction
I have been assigned as the leader of the group to ensure that the team members are
managed properly along with better flow and exchange of information and establish good
communication and coordination between the team members too. I have mainly focused on the
time management, interpersonal communication and networking skills to ensure that the team
functions properly and the desired positive outcomes are obtained with ease and effectiveness.
As a responsible leader, it is my duty and responsibility to ensure that the group members carry
out tasks properly and at the same time become cautious about the time allotted for the tasks. I to
make sure that the communication is established among the team members to discuss about the
tasks, goals and objectives that can be achieved properly within the assigned time have gained
the interpersonal skills (Goetsch and Davis 2014).
Body
It is my role to contribute largely to the group as well as interact with the group properly
and make them understand about their roles and responsibilities too. My leadership skills had
helped in guiding them in the right direction as well as made them understand the vision and
mission of the organization within which the project was being undertaken. It has not only
allowed for understanding the shared responsibilities all together, but had also facilitated the
discussion among the team members, furthermore overcome the various issues that might have
been faced while managing the project (Tran 2013). As a group leader, I made sure to make them
understand about the time management strategies so that the tasks could be completed within the
assigned time and greater productivity could be achieved as well. By managing all these kinds of
skills and knowledge properly, there was improvement in the professional reputation and image

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of the organization. This further made me as well as the team members feel less stressed,
furthermore increased the scopes and opportunities for professional development. Through the
guidance that I provided to them along with the relevant skills, they became skilled and
competent enough to achieve their career goals and prevented missing of deadlines. It could also
prevent the ineffective flow of work and at the same time overcome the poor quality of work
issues within quick time (Kyllonen 2013). I think that time management is not only essential
while working in a group but also for the betterment of the organization in terms of better
productivity, positive image and reputation too.
The stress level of the employees was reduced too and they became more positive
towards handling the tasks with much more commitment and dedication. Another most important
responsibility of mine was to manage delegation while working on own with an entire team
behind me. The delegation has been managed by me by matching the people and tasks properly
so that the tasks are allotted to the individuals who are capable of doing it. Proper delegation
should also include explaining the roles, responsibilities, goals and objectives that should be
achieved along with the development of a team charter where the purpose of the team and how it
could be worked on should be presented (De Rijdt et al. 2013). This has allowed my team or
group to get off to a flying start as well as favored the team by making it back on track in case of
any issues faced during the project undertaking.
This also improved my skills and allowed me to be in a position from where I could
assess the skills, knowledge and experiences of the team members and start matching them with
the respective tasks allotted to them. Delegation of tasks is important not only for assigning the
right task to the right employees but has also been beneficial for keeping the employees
motivated and encouraged to perform to their potential too. As I have been assigned the work of

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managing an entire team, so it was essential for me to manage the interpersonal skills too for
facilitating the communication process, which improved the abilities of the individuals to think,
listen, question as well as understand the body language properly (Ally and Prieto-Blázquez
2014). The skills and attributes of the interpersonal communication are important aspects that are
related to the emotional intelligence, which has helped me to manage my own behaviors and
attitudes of others too.
I focused on the interpersonal skills mainly to manage proper functioning of the team
members with consistent communication along with better flow and exchange of information.
This has allowed each and every employees to present their own views and opinions, which
furthermore improved the abilities of the individuals to work as an unit and move towards the
goals and objectives with much ease and efficiency. Due to the varied opinions and ideas
presented by the individuals working within the team, I was able to make decisions quite easily
for deriving the best possible outcomes in business. I also managed to keep the staffs motivated
and encouraged through flexible time and working schedule and even provided them
opportunities to present their views and opinions, furthermore ensure successful project
undertaking (Helyer and Lee 2014).
Through training that I arranged for the individuals, they were able to obtain the relevant
skills, knowledge and expertise regarding the way they communicate with each other within the
groups. By obtaining relevant interpersonal skills, they have become more competent and
progressed in their personal and professional lives as well (Kerzner and Kerzner 2017).
Interpersonal skills include varied range of skills that are mostly centered on the communication
such as listening, understanding and even asking questions to know about various things related
to the project. I have kept them motivated, encouraged by providing them with various benefits,

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and even allowed them to express their views and opinions, which are vital for moving forward
in all areas of life, both in terms of education and socially as well (Devlin 2013). This has spread
awareness among the team members about how to interact as well as provide practical advices
too.
The teamwork has been evolved by me by playing as a role model to the team not only
for enhancing the productivity but also to make them achieve the interpersonal skills that are
required to promote communication within the workplace. By promoting teamwork within the
business, I have managed to establish trust among the group members, which has benefited while
driving outcomes for the project as well as made the team members respect me and listen to me
for moving towards the goals and objectives (Hoidn and Kärkkäinen 2014). I made sure that any
kinds of conflicts or misunderstandings are prevented and encouraged my team members to
promote honesty, fairness and openness while working on the project.
By facilitating the interpersonal communication through the use of Skype to manage an
online meeting platform, everyone was allowed to share their views and opinions and even they
had never been assumed to possess the similar kind of information all throughout. As I was
skilled and knowledgeable about the information technology systems, it was easy for me to
overcome the technical issues so that the online meeting platforms were not hindered (Kalfa and
Taksa 2015). I even shared the work between myself and the group members properly so that
none of them feel pressurized. By making them participate in the training and developmental
sessions, they were able to maintain a welcoming and positive attitude, which helped them to
show respect to me and even admired my skills and knowledge. Through the training and
developmental programs, they learned to practice verbal communication, which made them
speak confidently as well as listen to each other carefully, rather than pointing put the mistakes

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CERTIFICATE OF HIGHER EDUCATION IN SKILLS FOR THE WORKPLACE
before coming to a proper conclusive evidence (Cheruvelil et al. 2014). I clearly stated the
purpose of the project undertaken to them and what goals and objectives they needed to achieve.
I encouraged them liberally and praised them for their actual hard work and performances, which
provided meaningful reinforcement for the coworkers and developed trust and loyalty among the
group members too (Mueller and Vogelsmeier 2013).
Meetings were arranged by me offline as well as through online meeting platforms for
promoting the productivity and enhance the level of trust and communication within the
workplace. The project could not be successful unless the group members discuss about the
various business aspects properly and the same happened for this project as well. My main
motive behind the arrangement of meetings was to facilitate the communication process, at the
same time, established good amount of trust, and facilitate the production level within the
workplace (Grissom, Loeb and Mitani 2015). The team meetings allowed every of the group
members to speak up and even get a chance to ask certain questions for keeping in sync.
Everyone was covered on the agenda and related to the project as well and the questions that
were needed to asked had been prepared prior to the meeting as well. This not only allowed me
to understand their needs effectively, but also helped me to delegate tasks accordingly (Rapp,
Bachrach and Rapp 2013).
Conclusion
In this report, I discussed about the various skills areas where my focus had been to
contribute to the group. I focused on the time management skills, delegation skills and
interpersonal communication skills to made sure that I manage proper interaction between the
team members and proper sharing of knowledge and information was possible. It not only

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improved the efficiency of undertaking the project, but also enhanced the productivity level of
the organization. I guided the team members properly and made them understood about the
importance of time, which if not maintained might have made them missed deadlines for the
tasks. I delegated the tasks according to the areas of strengths of the group members, which made
them accomplish their tasks quite easily. I facilitated promoting teamwork through proper
communication that was managed through meetings and online conferences where every team
members were allowed to share their individuals views and opinions.

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References
Ally, M. and Prieto-Blázquez, J., 2014. What is the future of mobile learning in
education?. International Journal of Educational Technology in Higher Education, 11(1),
pp.142-151.
Cheruvelil, K.S., Soranno, P.A., Weathers, K.C., Hanson, P.C., Goring, S.J., Filstrup, C.T. and
Read, E.K., 2014. Creating and maintaining high‐performing collaborative research teams: the
importance of diversity and interpersonal skills. Frontiers in Ecology and the
Environment, 12(1), pp.31-38.
De Rijdt, C., Stes, A., Van der Vleuten, C. and Dochy, F., 2013. Influencing variables and
moderators of transfer of learning to the workplace within the area of staff development in higher
education: research review. Educational Research Review, 8, pp.48-74.
Devlin, M., 2013. Bridging socio-cultural incongruity: Conceptualising the success of students
from low socio-economic status backgrounds in Australian higher education. Studies in Higher
Education, 38(6), pp.939-949.
Goetsch, D.L. and Davis, S.B., 2014. Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: pearson.
Grissom, J.A., Loeb, S. and Mitani, H., 2015. Principal time management skills: Explaining
patterns in principals’ time use, job stress, and perceived effectiveness. Journal of Educational
Administration, 53(6), pp.773-793.
Helyer, R. and Lee, D., 2014. The role of work experience in the future employability of higher
education graduates. Higher Education Quarterly, 68(3), pp.348-372.

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Hoidn, S. and Kärkkäinen, K., 2014. Promoting skills for innovation in higher education: A
literature review on the effectiveness of problem-based learning and of teaching
behaviours. OECD Education Working Papers, (100), p.0_1.
Kalfa, S. and Taksa, L., 2015. Cultural capital in business higher education: reconsidering the
graduate attributes movement and the focus on employability. Studies in Higher
Education, 40(4), pp.580-595.
Kerzner, H. and Kerzner, H.R., 2017. Project management: a systems approach to planning,
scheduling, and controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kyllonen, P.C., 2013. Soft skills for the workplace. Change: The Magazine of Higher
Learning, 45(6), pp.16-23.
Mueller, C. and Vogelsmeier, A., 2013. Effective delegation: Understanding responsibility,
authority, and accountability. Journal of Nursing Regulation, 4(3), pp.20-27.
Rapp, A.A., Bachrach, D.G. and Rapp, T.L., 2013. The influence of time management skill on
the curvilinear relationship between organizational citizenship behavior and task
performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 98(4), p.668.
Tran, T.T., 2013. Limitation on the development of skills in higher education in Vietnam. Higher
Education, 65(5), pp.631-644.

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