University Action Plan: Teamwork and Personal Development Report

This report presents a reflective analysis of teamwork and personal development, focusing on a student's experience within a team project. The report includes a detailed action plan designed to address personal weaknesses and enhance professional skills, particularly in project management and leadership. The student reflects on their role within the team, highlighting strengths and weaknesses, and discusses the dynamics of teamwork, including communication and conflict resolution. The action plan outlines specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives, such as further training, gaining practical experience, and improving assertiveness. The report concludes with an overall assessment of the project and the effectiveness of the action plan, providing insights into the student's growth and development throughout the assignment. References and a gap analysis are included to support the analysis.

Running head: ACTION PLAN
ACTION PLAN
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author note

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Executive Summary
The main objective of the report was to provide a reflective analysis on teamwork and personal
development. I attempted to provide in the report, a concrete action plan that were achievable
and specific. I further mentioned in the report, the dynamics of teamwork while working with a
team on the project. As a team, I was very efficient in handling and managing all the works and
the team members. I have mentioned my strengths and weaknesses as an individual and as a
team player in the report as well. I concluded the report with an overall analysis of the
assignment and reflected upon the action plan and the teamwork project.

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Table of Contents
1. Introduction..................................................................................................................................3
2. Action Plan..................................................................................................................................3
Table 1: Personal Action Plan.....................................................................................................3
3. Teamwork....................................................................................................................................5
4. Conclusion...................................................................................................................................7
5. References:..................................................................................................................................8
6. Appendix:....................................................................................................................................9
Appendix 1: GAP Analysis.........................................................................................................9

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1. Introduction
In the report, I plan to reflect upon the team project that was given to us during the
course. The report also reflects upon the action plan that I have prepared in order to overcome
my weaknesses. During the first assessment, I realized that I had certain limitations that I need to
overcome by engaging in numerous activities. In this report, I will incorporate all the activities
and actions that I plan to undertake to reduce enhance my skills set further, I will include the
tasks that my team had performed and in addition, what my role was within the team.
2. Action Plan
Table 1: Personal Action Plan
Goal: Completion date:
To achieve success in the field of project management
and to be able to lead a team
Target Milestones By date By whom Evidence that
milestone is
completed
Done
1/5/2019

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Develop a strong
skilled portfolio
1. Engage in
further learning
and training to
expand my skill
set
2. Develop
sound skills in
technology and
know the ways
to apply it
August 2018 Self
I would be able
to include my
technological
skills in the
portfolio thus
making it a good
one
Increase
experience
1. Engage in
various
voluntary roles
in organizations
as a means to
familiarize with
work settings
and how project
managers
operate
2. Apply for
part-time jobs in
project-
management in
order to gain
more experience
in professional
field
October 2018 or
April 2019
Self
The job would
allow me to
meet new people
and understand
the workplace
environment
Reduce
assertiveness
1. Engage in
activities that
involve listening
to others like in
seminars
2. Attend
seminars where
interactive
sessions are held
with experts of
the field
May 2018 Self
It would allow
me to
understand the
importance of
listening and
respecting
others’ views
√
It is easy for people to guess from the Action Plan that I am trying to enhance my
personal and professional skills by reducing the negatives and developing the positives. As

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evident from my weaknesses or limitations, I need to enhance my ability to improve with the
changing demands in the field of technology. Further, with the changing scenario of the global
markets, I need to understand and adjust with it.
In order to develop a strong portfolio with required skills, the action I plan to implement
is to take up further training and learning in project management and leadership to enhance my
set of skills. I decided to choose this as an action plan because I am aware of the growing
competition within my field and thus I need to prepare for it. One of my limitations is that I do
not possess enough experience in the professional arena. The only experiences I have are
confined within the academic sphere. Engaging in different voluntary roles in organizations
would help me understand how project managers work.
The one weakness that could hamper me the most is my over assertiveness. At times, I
tend to overlook other’s view and opinions and impose my rules due to this assertiveness. This
has led me to make poor decisions and negotiate badly as my ideas were clouded by this
weakness. I have decided to engage in activities like attending seminars where experts give
lecture on project management and the skills of a leader. This would help me understand the
need to listen to others and respect their views.
3. Teamwork
In order to accomplish any target however difficult it is, great teamwork is extremely
crucial. I was given the task to prepare a one-minute video on the things needed to make a good
job profile. I was paired up with a team of three other cloud students. The team of four had two
male and two female students. Initially, the members had trouble getting along with each other
but gradually things started to ease up. The other members were quite talented and skilled in

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things like video editing, strategizing and planning. The first few days as team did not go as
smoothly as we all had thought and some clash of egos occurred between me and another girl in
the team. I am a frank and extrovert personality and I prefer speaking up and not hide my
feelings or thoughts. The attitude of mine led to some clashes of words because the girl was also
adept in her own field.
It is important, as Kuster et al. (2015) suggest, working together as a team because it
enhances the effectiveness of any task triple fold compared to working alone. The authors state
that each member within the team has equal value and equally important role to play. In the
words of Valentine, Nembhard and Edmondson (2015), teamwork is an important factor within
the professional sector that ensures high-quality care or service. In our team, each member had a
specific role to play. One member was good at making online portfolios while the other member
was skilled at editing videos. I was very good at preparing creative portfolios. Further, I
possessed great communication skills because of which I was able to bring the team together
leaving aside all the egos (Carter et al. 2016). My role in the team was to manage everything and
see that each task has been completed within time and with perfection. I generally performed the
role of a team leader. The team dynamics within the team was very good as each member slowly
but gradually learned to respect the views of other members (Chen, Chang and Chang 2017).
Working with the team, I realized that many things are there that I would like to change
in the future when I have the opportunity. I led the team and it was my responsibility to ensure
that we achieve our target and present a well-planned and prepared assignment. The video
making part went really well as every member was ready with the video presentation properly
edited and captioned. In the online portfolio submission part however, the team had some
shortcomings. Two of the members failed to submit their online profile properly and missed

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many important aspects. Few things that did not go in favor of our team but I was overall
satisfied with the team performance.
4. Conclusion
In the process of completing the project, I found that I had much potential that I did not
discover earlier of being a good leader. Further, I also found out that my abilities were somewhat
clouded by my limitations. I was skilled in communicating fluently with people. With the help of
my communication skills, I managed to control the team of which I was made the leader. The
project also helped me to develop my skills on making creative videos and display my creativity.
In the report I also provided an action plan that I would follow in order to reduce my weaknesses
and enhance my strengths. The actions mentioned in the action plan are based on the SMART
objectives that are these actions are specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound.

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5. References:
Carter, D.F., Ro, H.K., Alcott, B. and Lattuca, L.R., 2016. Co-curricular connections: The role of
undergraduate research experiences in promoting engineering students’ communication,
teamwork, and leadership skills. Research in Higher Education, 57(3), pp.363-393.
Chen, M.H., Chang, Y.Y. and Chang, Y.C., 2017. The trinity of entrepreneurial team dynamics:
cognition, conflicts and cohesion. International Journal of Entrepreneurial Behavior &
Research, 23(6), pp.934-951.
Kuster, J., Huber, E., Lippmann, R., Schmid, A., Schneider, E., Witschi, U. and Wüst, R., 2015.
Leadership and Teamwork. In Project Management Handbook (pp. 213-239). Springer, Berlin,
Heidelberg.
Valentine, M.A., Nembhard, I.M. and Edmondson, A.C., 2015. Measuring teamwork in health
care settings: a review of survey instruments. Medical care, 53(4), pp.e16-e30.

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6. Appendix:
Appendix 1: GAP Analysis
Current State
Very skillful and knowledgeable but not to the level I
want to be given that work requirements have changed.
I aim to improve my talent and skill portfolio and also
enhance my adaptability skills which are currently weak.
In the dynamic world, flexibility of mindset is integral to
achieving better results.
Future state
I hope to be a graduate with all round skills in planning,
management, technical issues and financial matters
I hope to be an influential source of organizational
change to drive competitiveness
Gap
Strong skill portfolio
Low experience
Too much assertiveness
Actions to close gap
Engage in further learning and training to expand my
skill set
Engage in various voluntary roles in organizations as a
means to familiarize with work settings and how project
managers operate