BUS500: Leadership and Team Building - Activity 5 Reflection

This assignment is a reflective piece exploring the student's personal experiences and insights gained from team-building activities. The paper begins with an introduction to the theme of leadership and team dynamics, followed by a self-assessment of strengths and weaknesses in team building and leadership abilities. The student reflects on the impact of projects on their understanding of leadership, emphasizing the importance of employee motivation, transformational leadership, and participative decision-making. The assignment also identifies the critical requirements for an outstanding manager, including the need for quick decision-making, problem-solving skills, and the ability to balance hard and soft skills. The conclusion summarizes the student's learning journey and the significance of self-assessment in personal development, ultimately aiming to become a better manager.

ACTIVITY 5: REFLECTION

Table of Contents
Table of Contents.............................................................................................................................2
1.0 Introduction................................................................................................................................3
2.0 Self belonging............................................................................................................................3
3.0 Critical requirements to be an outstanding manager.................................................................4
4.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................5
References:......................................................................................................................................6
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1.0 Introduction
The assignment is a reflection that provides an insight into my personal experience in team
building activities. I have written the assignment on the basis of the takeaway I have garnered for
myself after discounting the relevant methods and approaches to retain and attract the
employee’s interests. In the very outset of the paper, I have provided a brief introduction to the
theme of the paper that revolves around my own experience in terms of team building and
leadership abilities. In the subsequent sections of the paper, I have attempted to express my
experience from two viewpoints. In the first scenario, I have presented self-belonging of what I
have achieved by undergoing a project which has changed my perception about group dynamics
and developed my thinking abilities. In addition, I have also aimed to lay down the critical
requirements for becoming a successful and efficient manager. Finally, the paper is being
wrapped up by way of a concluding note.
2.0 Self belonging
The current assignment has definitely provided me with a realistic vision of myself and helped to
identify my strengths and weaknesses in terms of team building and leading abilities. The project
has helped me to gain deeper insight regarding the concept of leadership and the factors that
enable a leader to maintain a positive work environment by retaining its employees’ motivation.
Considering the opinion of Glaister et al. (2018), I have understood that the efficiency and
application of smarter approaches are necessary within an organization that focuses on the
duration of working hours. I have gathered information from several authentic secondary sources
that highlight the fact that the continuity of similar work cycle and long working hours are the
primary reasons causing employee demotivation and monotony.
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It is the accountability of leaders to break a similar work cycle or boredom by implementing
different attention-grabbing methods on a regular basis to retain employees' interests (Collings et
al. 2018). Therefore, I believe that leaders in the recent time shall focus thoroughly on
transformational and participative leadership styles by involving team members to participate in
the decision making the process and conveying transparent information with them to avoid
conflicts and resistances. In this context, I would also like to state that the current assignment has
thoroughly assisted me to understand the actual concept of leadership and helped me to feel
confident in leading a team in the workplace. Initially, I used to believe that leadership shall
always hold a certain percentage of bureaucracy to maintain the disciplinary acts and code of
conducts in the working environment. However, the project has entirely changed my perception,
presently I am confident to stand by the managerial designation where subordinates would not be
directed or given orders to work on specific methods. Rather they would be encouraged to use
their creative insights within their tasks and propose me with innovative ideas that can improve
team productivity.
3.0 Critical requirements to be an outstanding manager
Sometimes, I lack in spontaneity in terms of making sound and timely decisions. According to
McCaffery (2018), it is significant for a leader to be in a position of making quick and impactful
decisions to avoid uncertain risks within the organization. Leaders are required to be proficient
with good problem solving skills, decision making and planning tools to enhance team
productivity and building team spirits (Bouwmans et al. 2017). However, this has been one of
my weaknesses, where sometimes I run short of ideas to differentiate or internal functional
method that can create a better impact on the market. However, my team handling abilities are
efficient, therefore, I attempt to recover by shortcomings by involving team members in the
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decision making process, where they come with several unique ideas and I get the option of
selecting the best out of lots. Moreover, I sometimes fail to take out free time for employee
training or employee engagement session from the daily busy schedules. Both sessions are
important to identify team issues and drawbacks. Thus, I planned to conduct alternate sessions on
a weekly basis to address the requirements. Comprising all these points discussed herein, it may
be stated that an effective manager needs a proper balance of both hard and soft skills in a group
scenario where the bunch of people should be motivated towards a common goal through the
manager’s behavioural charisma.
4.0 Conclusion
On the basis of the discussion performed herein, I may be able to conclude the paper with the
ending note that focuses on my journey and learning experience while undertaking several
challenges in the workplace scenario. I have been able to assess my strengths and weaknesses
and hence, it may be concluded that such group activities are required in order to asses own self.
Finally, it may be concluded that a well-designed and efficiently conceived personal
development plan will significantly help the managers to attain the self-realization level which
will further strengthen their personality and help them to become a better manager (Drucker,
2005).
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References:
Bouwmans, M., Runhaar, P., Wesselink, R., & Mulder, M. (2017). Fostering teachers' team
learning: An interplay between transformational leadership and participative decision-
making?. Teaching and Teacher Education, 65, 71-80.
Collings, D. G., Wood, G. T., & Szamosi, L. T. (2018). Human resource management: A critical
approach. In Human Resource Management (pp. 1-23). Routledge.
Drucker, P. F. (2005). Managing oneself. Harvard Business Review, 83(1), 100-109.
Glaister, A. J., Karacay, G., Demirbag, M., & Tatoglu, E. (2018). HRM and performance—The
role of talent management as a transmission mechanism in an emerging market
context. Human Resource Management Journal, 28(1), 148-166.
McCaffery, P. (2018). The higher education manager's handbook: effective leadership and
management in universities and colleges. Routledge.
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