BSc (HONS) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT [628345]

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UNIVERSITY OF CHICHESTER
LONDON SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT EDUCATION

PROGRAME TITLE: BSc (HONS) BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
MODULE TITLE: PERSONAL AND PROFES SIONAL SKILLS OF MANAGEMENT
STUDENT: [anonimizat]: IOANA BLANKA SELAGEA

 Identify a topic five weeks reflective log o n effective communication, work place
behavio r, negotiation and influence skills.

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CONTEN TS

Introduction …..…………………………….. ……………………………………… .. 3
Reflective Writing ………… ………………………………………………………… . 3
Week one … …………………………………………………………………………… . 3
Week two ……………………………………………………………………………… . 4
Week three …..…………………………………………… …………………………… 4
Week four .. …………………………………………………………………………….. 5
Conclusion ……..……………………………………………………………………… 6
Appendices …..………………… ………………………………………… …………… 6
Appendix 1 – Reflective writing. Gibbs Reflective Cycle ………………… 7
Appendix 2 – Class activity 09/10/2018 …………………………… .………… 7
Appendix 3 – Reflective log …………………………………………… .……… 8
Reference list ……………………………………………………………………… 10

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Introduction
Mizell (2010) has argued that professional development gives us the way to see
different types of educational and career experience and in the same context, in there
research (Cottrell, 2015 and Sangster, 2000) have argued that the main aim of
personal and professional development is to help us to manage our learning and
growth throughout our career.
My reflective account from this five weeks, between 18 September and 16 October,
provide evidenc e on communication skills at work, effective communication skills , and
behavio r at work, negotiation skills, improvements and steps that I could take to ensure
improve ment on what I learned. I share my r eflective accoun t in three essential steps
starting with the introduction, reflective writing in this step includi ng what happened in
every week , what I was thinking and feeling , example s of activities, what was good or
bad about the activity and ending whit conclusions. To understand what technique I
adopt ed for reflective writing, please see the appendix 1.
Reflective writing
Week one
The study room was full of stude nts, ready for a new beginning. I meet all my
colleagues and my t eacher who is a very understanding person, who wants to share
everything he knows w ith us and by his attitude he made me feel confident in myself
and know that all the people in the school are with us and devote their time to me and
my colleagues.
In the first activity , I had to examine space. To understand the meaning of s pace, I
had to work in a group and notice the most important 5 thin gs how people use space.
First, I realize that individuals experience is measure bye communication, expectations
and listening and I know now that to reach a conflict is inevitabl e in the work place .
Second, I did not feel good knowing there was tension between us because was no
communication and I explain that we are a team, we have to work together because
we have the same purpose and t ry to listen whit objectivity, without suggesting, not to
attack, to observe, not to evaluate. In my reflection, we didn’t have a great start but in
the end, we rich the purpose and find the key of the activity.

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Week two
In week 2, we work as a team to build a tower using MARSHMALLOWS
CHALLENGE . All of us had ideas how to build the tower but the best idea was from
one of my colleagues, who suggest us to make a strong base, in a shape of a triangle
to support the tower much better. This activity help s me to develop the team spirit and
I was fully involve d in this activity from the beginning to the end, I influence the team
with ideas how to put the marshmallows and spaghetti to supp ort the tower to don’t
fall. Even if we wor ked as a team, 2 team members hold the base of the tower, another
2 was putting the spaghetti in marshmallows, another 2 have tried to rolling the string
with cello tape and putting it on top of the tower , we didn’t win the game because we
didn’t communicate effectively and this has caused the
tower to fall. In reflection, I was agitated and disappointed
at the same time seei ng how our tower is falling and I was
scared that we wo uld not end in time, but we have
assembled al l our forces to make the most stable tower.
However, in my future activities and career , I will have a
more open mind , I will be more spontaneous and if I can
build and manage a successful team is a qualification for
many different types of job and you will need to show that
you have the team building skills necessary for the job.
In the picture above , you can see how our tower was after
the second attempt to make the big one .
Fig.1: Class activity 02/10/18
Marshmal low challenge
Week three
I see that week after week everything becomes more interesting and complex. In the
third week , the course made me think if critical thinking is essential in education and if
is, why? I think that is important because is cl ear, rational, free thinking and it means
asking questions and instead of accepting ‘at face value’ what you read or hear, critical
thinkers look for evidence and good reasons before believing something to be true
(Plymouth University, 2010 ).

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Johari Window model make s me realize that
are some effective communications skills that I
don’t have and following the discussion with
some of my group members I realiz e that I need
to improve on my listening and communication
skills. In my reflection, I can say that i n this
activity we didn’t have conflicts because even if
we worked in a group, we helped each other in
self – knowledge , was not the same activity as
the first ones , this act ivity was more about to tell
what you know about the others team members
of group and in this way, they certainly have
learned new things about themselves and the
same me, I learned new things about me, things
that I didn’t know.
Fig.3: Johari Window mode l
Week four
The activity from the fourth week , make me realize that my personal influence is the
most significant capability I possess to c reate a world of success in my class room, at
work and in my personal li fe. When I first saw the activity, it seemed to me to be an
easy and fast activity, but it was not really like that because I had carefully to choose
the word, to listen carefully everything that is said about me and how I can improve . I
chose the word “helpful”, when I saw the first time the word in the unknown section I
felt excited and happy at the same time because I wanted to find out more about why
people around me consider me helpful even after just 5 weeks of work ing together.
When I have the discussion whit my colleague about why he think s that I am helpful,
he told me that whenever somebody ask s me for something I am ready to help, when
my team don’t understand something I explain them, I am a good listener, I am a lovely
and smiley face person and in this way I share go odness, peace, joy, kindness and
things that I have to imp rove is learning how not to take things personally, because
when I take the things personally I create a story and judgment on the other person
that will prevent me to see the bigger picture and to ask me all the time “Who am I

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becoming?” and if what I am doing is not in alignment whit becoming a more helpful
person , do not do that. After this discussion I really “fell on my mind” and I start to cry
because I was excited to see how many good things know a person about me in such
a short time and I am sure that he influenced me in a good way and I will make the
best to be the same helpful person and even more than.
In my reflection , is about helped each other in self – knowledge , and influence that
person to improve himself and to work more in knowing himself.

CONCLUSION
This 5 weeks for me was productive weeks, and all the activities help me to perform
better at the work and to work in a right relationship with my colleagues . Once
appropriated all, can be a useful tool in making intelligent decisions about what I have
to believe and what I have done, I can defend myself from errors, delusions, illusions,
superstitions, for it forces me to seek knowledge and evidence that fit with re ality.

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APPENDIX 1 – Reflective write. Gibbs Reflective Cycle

Gibbs reflective cycle (1998) is based on basic
questions (Fig.3) and have been proposed to
facilitate reflection. Build from Kolb’s experiential
learning cycle, it proposes that theory and practi ce
enrich each other in a never –ending circle (Finlay ,
L. 2008)

Fig.3 : Gibbs reflective cycle

APPENDIX 2 – Class activity 09/10/2018. My Johari Window model with all
four regions

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Appendix 3 – Reflective log

WEEK EVENT KEY AREAS OF ASSESSMENT
COMMUNICATION PERSONAL
INFLUENCE HANDLING
INTERPERSONAL
CONFLICT IDENTIFIABLE BARRIERS TO
LEARNING REFLECTIVE
EVIDENCE
Week 1
25/09/18 HOW PEOPLE
USE SPACE? -First, we decide to go to
another school to see the
differences
between schools of different
profiles but we didn’t have
access;
-Second, we choose a
supermarket because there
were only restaurants and
supermarkets around us and
I think they have developed a
beautiful and organized
business.
-My influence was in
the moment when I
take attitude and I
give all team
members ta sk to
complete the activity – To reach a conflict is
inevitable, regardless of
the relationship. Whether
in work, ten se situations
will always arise;
– I try to explain to them
that we are a team, we
have to work together
because we have the
same purpose. – The barriers in communication
are the duration of the meeting,
negative involvement, fear, lack
of interest, l ack of knowledge,
differences in perception,
hurried conclusions;
-Second, I did not feel good
knowing there was tension
between us because was no
communication ;
-Everybody is in his way and is
hard to communicate w ith a
person who has a different
education than yours, but not
impossible and if we know that
we have the same purpose we
can overcome all the barriers .
-I realize that
individuals ex perience
is measure bye
communication,
expectations and
listening ;
-In my reflection, we
didn’t have a great
start but in the end , we
rich the purpose and
find the key of the
activity.

Week 2
02/10/18 TEAM BUILDING,
MARSHMALLOWS
CHALLENGE -All of us had ideas about
how to build the tower, but
the best idea was from one
of my colleagues, who
suggest us to make a strong
base, to support the tower
much better. – I was fully involve d
in this activity from
the beginning to the
end, I influence the
team with id eas how
to put the
marshmallows and
spaghetti to support
the tower to don’t fall . – We didn’t win the game
because we didn’t
communicate effectively
and this has caused the
tower to fall . -I was agitated and disappointed
at the same time seeing how our
tower is falling and I was scared
that we would not end in time -In reflection, I will be
more spontaneous and
I will have a more
open mind.

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Week 3
09/10/18 JOHARI
WINDOW (to
know you much
better) – Johari Window model
make s me realize that are
some effective
communications skills that I
don’t have . -I was present,
working in a group
and helping in self –
knowledge. -In this activity , we didn't
have a conflict because
even if we worked in the
group, we helped each
other in self -knowledge . – I can say that the barriers in
the ac tivity from today was the
time because I know my
colleagues from 4 weeks , but
even if the time w as short, I
started to meet my colleagues,
especially colleagues from my
team . – I realiz e that I need
to improve on my
listening a nd
communication skills ;
I learned new things
about me, things that I
didn’t know and my
colleagues learned
new things about
themselves that they
didn’t know.
Week 4
16/10/18 PERSONAL
INFLUENCE -The right conversati ons are
taking place when ensuring
progress and if include
positive body language,
listening, eye contact. – My influence in this
activity was that I
also had to express
my opinion about a
person and to help
him to know himself
better and to improve
what he did not know
about him. – In this activity , we didn't
have conflict and I can
write almost the same
things like for Johari
Window because have a
close connection between
them, is about helped
each ot her in self –
knowledge and , influence
that person to improve
himself and to work more
in knowing himself. -In this activity , I didn't have
barriers because I know that I
helped a person to learn
something that he didn't know
about him and how to improve
something he didn't know about
him and I think I had a good
influence on that person. -This activity mad e me
realize that my
personal influence is
the most significant
capability I possess .
Week 5
06/11/18

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Reference list

1. Mizell, H. (2010) Why Professional Development Matters, [Online] Available
from: http://learningforward.org [Accessed 03 November 2018].
2. Cottrell, S. (2015) Skills for Success Personal Development and
Employability, 3rd ed. London: Palgrave Macmillian.
3. Cottrell, S. (2008) The Study Skills Handbook, 3rd ed. Basingstoke: Palgrave
Macmillian.
4. Sangster, C. (2000) Planning and Organizing Personal and Professional
Development, 1st ed. Hampshire: Gower Publishing Limited.
5. Critical Thinking, Learning Development, Plymouth Universit y (2010) , [Online]
Available from :
https://www. plymouth .ac.uk/uploads/production/document/path/1/1710/Critical
_Thinking.pdf [Accessed 02 November 2018]
6. Finlay, L. (2008) Reflecting on ‘Reflective practice ’, [Online] Available from:
https://www.open.ac.uk/opencetl/sites/www.open.ac.uk.opencetl/files/files/ec
ms/web -content/Finlay -(2008) -Reflecting -on-reflective -practice -PBPL -paper –
52.pdf [Accessed 03 November 2018]