Managing Innovation in Business FY027 Reflection Report

This report provides a detailed reflection on a student's performance in a course focused on self-development and responsibility, encompassing group work, leadership, and communication skills. The student analyzes their strengths, including presentation and research skills, while identifying areas for improvement, such as dealing with group dynamics and enhancing communication. An action plan is outlined, detailing steps to improve leadership, communication, and address challenges in group settings, including enrolling in training courses and utilizing assessment tools. The report emphasizes the importance of applying learned concepts in professional and real-life scenarios, aiming to develop skills applicable to future career roles. The student's reflection includes a self-assessment, identifying areas of weakness and outlining specific steps to improve professional and academic skills.

Name 1
Reflecting on performance
Student’s Name
University
Date
Course

Name 2
1. Reflection
The classwork entailed a range of study areas that were covered in class. The courses
were all connected to the main objective of the study which was preparing for successful self-
development and responsibility. This means that at the end of the course, I was supposed to have
developed the required capabilities and achieved the relevant objectives. The course entailed
group work activities that required students to work in groups through sharing the tasks to work
on the tasks and ensuring that we develop the required capabilities.
What I learned here was based on the work on how to succeed as a student. Here I
learned that success is not an individual component but rather a total of different factors that the
student has to focus on to become successful. In this case, I realized that motivation is the
biggest driver of success since there must be a motive that drives me towards achievement. Bao
& Nizam (2015, p. 30) suggest that motivation ensures people deliver the required output since
they operate in an environment that defines the objectives that they need to achieve. As a student,
I am motivated by achieving better grades which in turn determines my success. Despite that,
there are other factors for success like regular engagement, organization, adequate preparation,
self-belief, active participation and even having the require habits (Sibanda, Iwu, & Benedict
2015, p. 272). In this sense, it means that being successful is not all about working hard but
rather having a plan that defines the course of work the effort and even the habits that one
develops. All these factors work together to determine the overall outcome defined as a
successful student.
The new information that has been presented here is the role of research and presentation
skills in academic success. In the course of learning, students are supposed to carry out academic
research to understand the literature that exists on the topic. Since the process of learning entails

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dealing with new information, then it means that one has to adequately research and read a wide
range of texts to understand the literature that exists (Garrett, Antrop-Gonzalez, & Velez 2010, p.
109). When I started this module my research skills were limited since I did not know how to
search for information well. However, working with group members made it easy for me to learn
how to search for information on a particular topic. Alfares (2017, p. 250) suggests that students
learn new information more when working with their peers since the learning environment is
learner-centered. This boosted my research skills since we were working in a group and sharing
ways of searching for information. It is at this stage that I learned how to refine online searches
to narrow down to only relevant information. In addition to that, I learned about presentation
skills which are required at the group level. By sharing what I have gathered with my fellow
students, my presentations skills were improved including the ability to speak in public.
What was interesting for me is the level of cohesion in the team and how we were
synthesizing information together. Group work entailed putting our minds together to deal with
the task at hand. Successful teams are defined by the cohesiveness of their members in dealing
with the task. Here, the members work together as a team and as individuals. In the group,
scenario focused group discussions were used to work on the task by refining the different areas
required in the assignment. This means that the role of the group members is defined by the
nature of the relationship that they had with each other. Fapohunda (2013, p. 2) cohesion is about
the group working together towards a common goal which is reflected in the collective effort
between the different members in the group.
The new information learned in this module is important in my course of life as a student.
Learning is not all about the knowledge gathered in class but rather how the information
gathered here can be applied in real-life settings. The concepts and knowledge gathered here can

Name 4
be applicable in my future career roles since this knowledge is being gathered for professional
purposes. As an individual, I will transform this knowledge into my career to develop abilities
for succeeding here. In addition to that group work elements like communication, team cohesion
and presentation skills related to my ability to work in teams. In an organizational environment,
tasks are seen as job responsibilities for achieving organizational objectives. The knowledge and
skills gathered here will be transformed into career life by applying these skills and developing
the best outcome from my career.
What I did not fully understand is how to deal with the challenges of group work. Since
there are group dynamics that exist in the stages of group formation, I am concerned about how I
will be able to deal with these needs. For example, in an organizational setting, one can belong to
different work teams that require developing the best capabilities for overcoming the challenge
of the group dynamics. The knowledge developed in this module is supposed to be applied in
general life settings but I feel that I have difficulty managing the issues that arise from group
dynamics. The tasks we did and the topics that were used revolved around succeeding as a
student focusing on individual effort and not a group effort. Therefore, I am not sure how I will
deal with issues that arise in group activities.
2. Areas that need to be developed further
One important professional area that I need to work on is dealing with the challenges of
working with groups and teams. Group or team tasks exist in every level of life and require the
ability to have different skills that will enable one to survive in the team. This entails focusing on
developing team skills through learning different team-building skills for a successful team.
Pinto, Marques, & Abrams (2010, p. 112) states that group dynamics are defined by
environmental, personal and leadership factors that affect the ability of the members to

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cohesively work together. In this, I need to work on skills for dealing with group dynamics in a
way that allows realizing the effectiveness of the group. In most cases, groups offer different
challenges that define how the members relate with each other to achieve the benefits of working
together. This means that I have to work on developing abilities to deal with group dynamics in
different aspects that I will be dealing with.
Another skill that I have to work on is improving my communication skills, both
academically and professionally. Communication is an important skill that successful people
have. Nevrlova & Seitlova (2016, p. 320) suggest that this can be written, oral or verbal but is
defined by my ability to relay messages well. In a professional environment, good
communication skills account for production and operational efficiency since they allow
coordination of tasks between different team members in the organization (DeIuliis, 2016). By
developing this skill are, I will be improving the personal abilities that I can apply in both
academic and professional life. To succeed well, I have to work on my communication skills by
identifying the important areas that I have to address in my professional life. The skills
developed at this stage will further be used in professional and real-life situations to achieve the
intended outcomes.
Leadership is also an important skill area that I have to work within my capabilities.
Leadership is the art of achieving followership through motivating people. Good leaders have
several attributes and essential qualities that an individual possesses. These qualities are
applicable in different situations of life that the individual faces. Leadership theories have
focused more on transformational leadership and situational leadership as the best types of
leaders. Situational leadership styles are defined in terms of the task behavior and relationship
behavior that the leader provides (Ghazzawi, Shoughari, & Osta 2017, p. 105). This leadership

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style has been attributed to the leader using different approaches like telling, selling,
participating and delegating to achieve leadership. On the other hand, transformational
leadership entails the leader working with the team, identifying their needs, creating a vision and
putting measures in place to address any challenges that the group faces (Tyssen, Wald, &
Heidenreich 2014, p. 381). These two leadership offers the best approach for leading people
within the work environment. To improve my leadership skills, I have to address my weaknesses
in the different leadership areas and develop the best qualities required to develop these
leadership qualities.
3. Action plan
Summary of areas/aspects in which my existing strengths, skills, and qualities appear to be
Acceptable/satisfactory?
From my analysis and work with the group members, I have developed presentation skills
that are important in dealing with group issues. My abilities to present my thoughts and ideas to
the group have improved and I think these skills can further be applied in professional settings.
The second skill area that I believe is my strength is research skills which I developed
when working with the team. This skill entails the ability to search for information from different
sources and generate meanings from it. In this case, research skills are relevant in gathering
information for use in different situations.
Another skill that I believe is satisfactory is teamwork that entails working with other
people on different tasks. The skill of teamwork has been developed through the use of different
group aspects like focused group discussions that require working in an organized manner to
achieve the required needs.
Summary of what areas I need to work on, develop or improve

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Leadership: this area entails developing abilities to lead others and at the same time
achieve followership. This ability is important in group and team situations since it entails
organizing team members together to achieve the required needs. The focus here is to develop
the leadership qualities of communication, dealing with group challenges and leadership.
Communication: this is the ability to relate well with others and pass the intended
messages. To communicate well I have to develop the skill of listening, clarity and concision,
respect, feedback, asking questions, developing rapport. Each of these communication areas is
important in developing proper communication skills.
Dealing with group challenges: group dynamics exist in different situations and require
one to have the ability to identify them and easily respond to them. The nature of these dynamics
vary from group to group and require me to develop adequate skills to deal with the issues that
surround the relationships that I have in dealing with group situations.
Leadership: this skill entails the ability for one to achieve followership when dealing with
different people. The leadership areas that I need to work on include motivation, delegation,
creativity, commitment, integrity, decision making, accountability, and empathy.
My priorities: What I am going to do, when and how
Priority number one is to enroll in a training course on the three areas to develop the
required capabilities under each skill within one month.
Priority number two is to address the deficiencies that I have about the skills-based on
assessing my abilities through the use of different tools to identify further areas of improvement.
Priority three is to enroll in a life coaching program to improve the identified skill areas
after one month of attending a training course in the areas identified.
Criteria to assess acquisition or improvement of skill/s

Name 8
One criterion for assessment is taking leadership and communication skills
questionnaires. Several assessment tools exist for one to determine the leadership or
communication tools that they have. These include Mind Tools which is the best tool for
assessing both leadership and communication abilities.
Another criteria for assessment is through carrying out a SWOT analysis of my abilities
after the training and coaching session. SWOT analysis is used to identify the opportunities for
improvement and threats that I have to address. These identified areas form the action plan for
further improvement of my abilities.
Lastly, I will test the leadership and communication skills that I have developed in real-
life settings. For example, this can entail the use of a case study to determine how I will apply
my skills based on the abilities that I have.

Name 9
References
Alfares, N. (2017). Benefits and Difficulties of Learning in Group Work in EFL Classes in Saudi
Arabia. English Language Teaching, 10(7), 248-256.
Bao, C., & Nizam, I. (2015). The impact of motivation on employee performance in the
electronics industry in China . International Journal of Accounting & Business
Management , 3(2), 29-44.
DeIuliis, D. (2016). Workplace Communication. Communication Research Trends, 35(1).
Fapohunda, T. (2013). Towards Effective Team Building in the Workplace. nternational Journal
of Education and Research, 1(4), 1-12.
Garrett, T., Antrop-Gonzalez, R., & Velez, W. (2010). Examining the Success Factors of High-
Achieving Puerto Rican Male High-School Students. Roeper Review,, 32, 106–115.
Ghazzawi, K., Shoughari, R. E., & Osta, B. E. (2017). Situational Leadership and Its
Effectiveness in Rising Employee Productivity: A Study on North Lebanon Organization.
Human Resource Management Research, 7(3), 102-110.
Nevrlova, K., & Seitlova, K. (2016). THE EFFECTIVENESS OF TEAMWORK AND
COMMUNICATION WITHIN THE COMPAN. Knowledge for Market Use 2016: Our
Interconnected and Divided World, 10, pp. 319-323. Olomouc.
Pinto, I. R., Marques, J. M., & Abrams, D. (2010). Membership status and subjective group
dynamics: Who triggers the black sheep effect? Journal of Personality and Social
Psychology, 99(1), 107–119.
Sibanda, L., Iwu, C. G., & Benedict, O. H. (2015). Academic Success Factors: Implications for
Teaching, Learning and Academic Administration. International Journal of of Education
Science, 10(2), 269-279.
Tyssen, A. K., Wald, A., & Heidenreich, S. (2014). Leadership in the context of temporary
organizations: A study on the effects of transactional and transformational leadership on
followers' commitment in projects. Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies,
21(4), 376–393.