Individual Report: Reflection on Skills Development in MBA Program

This individual report provides a reflective analysis of skills development during an MBA program at a UK Business School. The report utilizes Gibbs' reflective cycle to examine personal experiences, feelings, evaluations, and analysis related to skill enhancement. It also explores Belbin's team roles, identifying how different roles contribute to team dynamics and project success. The report further applies Tuckman's theory to analyze team development stages. The student identifies specific skills like communication, numeracy, and ICT that were developed through teamwork and formulates a SMART action plan to enhance skills further, focusing on training, measurable KPIs, achievable goals, and a time-bound approach to skill development within the MBA program. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of reflection in identifying shortcomings and adopting effective strategies for future growth and achievement of goals.

Individual Report

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................5
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Reflection refers to the providing of own viewpoints about a specific topic. It is used by
the individuals when they are required to provide their specific views on a topic and ensure that
they are able to identify the activities in which they had taken part (Atadjanov and Lee, 2016). In
this assignment, there will be specific focus on reflecting on key skills development while
studying a particular course in a university. This will be helpful in finding out certain
shortcomings which one has and ensuring that the right methods are adopted to facilitate the
desired level of improvement in the future.
MAIN BODY
Scenario- I am studying MBA in a Business School in U.K. It was my dream to get
admission in a top college so that I can study MBA. Thus studying in a Business School has
allowed me to develop my skills and abilities in the right manner and therefore I am able to make
a better focus and concentration on them to achieve my specific goals and objectives in the
future.
Gibbs' reflective cycle-
This cycle is used in order to provide a reflection on a particular experience which a
person has had (Dai and et.al., 2018). This is thus useful in order to ensure that the experience
can be shared in the correct manner. The stages in this cycle are as follows-
Description- As I am studying in a Business School for the MBA course I have had a
very good experience in the first year of my studies. I got a chance to learn a lot during my first
year as I focused particularly on the skill development in the right manner. I took part in various
activities during the first year such as Debates, Seminars, Conferences and other events. Also I
was given specific assignments and projects to work upon which led towards the enhancement of
my level of knowledge by enhancing it.
Feelings- In certain situations in the first year, I felt that certain topics which were being
taught in my course were quite hard. As I was a new student I was quite natural for me to feel
that they were hard. However in various other situations, I felt quite confident as I grew in my
role as a student by learning new skills and abilities.
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Evaluation- During the course, there were situations under which I was able to
contribute my best to the project. However there were also certain circumstances when my level
of efficiency and effectiveness was affected.
Analysis- During the first year, there were certain projects in which I gave my best and
thus I was able to complete them according to my skills and abilities. However there were also
certain assignments in which I was not able to contribute to the best of my skills and abilities.
Thus there was a great learning experience for me in the university.
Conclusions- Thus, in Conclusion I can say that during the first year I was initially quite
nervous about the way I will use my skills in the right manner. However, with the passing of
time I grew confident and thus now I will be able to achieve my personal goals and objectives
which I am setting in the future with the use of proper methods and techniques.
Action plan- I can say that when I face different types of situations and circumstances in
the future then I will be able to ensure that I am able to deal in a much better way with them
skilfully by making the correct use of my skills and abilities. Also, I will ensure that I grow
myself by enhancing my confidence level to facilitate the achievement of goals and objectives.
Belbin's team roles-
This theory is useful in order to identify the various types of roles which are present
within a team (Forster and et.al., 2019). During my first year in the Business School, I was
required to make sure that I worked in different teams for my various assignments and projects.
Thus the team roles according to this theory are as follows-
Action-oriented roles-
 Shaper- Shaper is the person who provides different challenges for the team so that it is
able to improve. In the first year, I Identified the importance which these people have in
the teams to make them dynamic in nature.
 Implementer- Implementers are the people who can get the things done (Haczeyni and
et.al., 2018). In the first year, I identified the importance which these people have so that
the team is able to function in a proper manner.
 Completer-Finisher- They are the people who ensure that a project is completed
successfully. In the first year, I identified the importance of such people so that the
relevant projects are completed in a highly effective manner by the team.
People-oriented roles-
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 Coordinator- They are the people who play the role of a Team Leader and ensure that
they team is able to coordinate in a proper to move on towards the achievement of goals
and objectives.
 Team Worker- These people provide the desired support to the other people in the team
and ensure that the team works in a proper manner. In the first year, I identified the role
which these people are required to play to ensure the proper working of the various types
of teams in an effective manner.
 Resource Investigator- They are the people who are required to identify the various
types of resources which are available. In the first year, I identified these people in the
teams and according to me they are crucial for a team to move in the right way towards
the goals and objectives.
Thought-oriented roles-
 Plant- These people are creative innovators who come up with new ideas (Hargreaves,
2016). In the first year, I identified the role which these people have to play in the teams
because a team needs innovative ideas to work on.
 Monitor-Evaluator- These people are needed so that an analysis of the ideas which
other people give can be made (Hong and et.al., 2019). In the first year, there is a
particular role which they play in the teams.
 Specialist- These people have the specialized knowledge which is desired so that the job
can be done effectively. In the first year, I identified these people in the teams and
concluded that they are required for the teams to achieve goals and objectives.
Thus, In the first year by working in the teams I was able to identify these roles in the
teams. By working in the teams I learnt a lot. I was able to develop communication skills as I
was required to communicate with different members. I developed Numeracy skills to work upon
my data and statistics skills. Also, I developed ICT skills by making use of the Microsoft Office
Programs to perform my tasks in the team.
Tuckman's theory-
This model looks at the various stages which are included in the team development
(Wistisen and et.al., 2016). These stages are as follows-
Forming- This is the assembling stage of the team. Here a team is formed and the tasks
are allocated to its different members.
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Storming- This is the stage where the team starts to perform the tasks which have been
allocated to it.
Norming- In this stage, trust is created among the team members and they start to work
in an appropriate manner towards the achievement of tasks.
Performing- Here, the team starts performing well and moves towards the achievement
of the particular tasks which have been allocated to it. This ensures that the teams are able to
achieve the goals and objectives.
Adjourning & Transforming- The team is dissolved in this stage because it has realised
the goals and objectives which were set for it.
Thus, I realized that by working in the teams I was able to work upon specific skills like
Problem Solving because in the teams there are different problems which are faced. Also I
developed the skill of Working with Others as in a team there is a requirement to ensure proper
cooperation and coordination.
Action plan- Thus after the completion of my first year in the Business School I have
decided that I will frame an action plan so that I can move on towards the enhancement of
various types of skills. The action plan will focus on the achievement of SMART goals which
are listed as follows-
Specific- For the development of my skills and abilities I will focus on attending more
training sessions in the college so that I can learn new methods and techniques to improve them.
Measurable- I will focus on improving my skills and abilities and will use KPIs and
Benchmarking techniques to measure my day-to-day performance in the right manner.
Achievable- I will use methods and techniques which I can use within my scope for the
development of my various types of skills.
Relevant- Skill development is relevant to me because I will require making the use of
these skills in my MBA course in the university.
Time-bound- I will ensure that I am able to enhance my skills within a time-frame of 1
year.
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CONCLUSION
From the above report, it can be concluded that reflection is very crucial to provide own
viewpoints on a particular topic and for reflecting on a particular experience. By making its use,
a person is able to share experience with others which can be quite useful for them. Also it is
important so that individual shortcomings are identified and a right approach is adopted to rectify
them quickly. This will help a lot in the achievement of the desired goals and objectives in the
future.
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REFERENCES
Books and Journals:
Atadjanov, I. R. and Lee, S., 2016, October. Reflection symmetry detection via appearance of
structure descriptor. In European Conference on Computer Vision (pp. 3-18). Springer,
Cham.
Dai, S. and et.al., 2018. From topologically protected coherent perfect reflection to bound states
in the continuum. Physical Review B. 98(8). p.081405.
Forster, Y. and et.al., 2019. On the expressive power of user-defined effects: effect handlers,
monadic reflection, delimited control. Journal of Functional Programming. 29.
Haczeyni, F. and et.al., 2018. Mouse models of non‐alcoholic steatohepatitis: A reflection on
recent literature. Journal of gastroenterology and hepatology. 33(7). pp.1312-1320.
Hargreaves, K., 2016. Reflection in medical education. Journal of University Teaching and
Learning Practice. 13(2). p.6.
Hong, H. Y. and et.al., 2019. Fostering design-oriented collective reflection among preservice
teachers through principle-based knowledge building activities. Computers &
Education. 130. pp.105-120.
Wistisen, T. N. and et.al., 2016. Channeling, volume reflection, and volume capture study of
electrons in a bent silicon crystal. Physical Review Accelerators and Beams. 19(7).
p.071001.
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