SMART objectives

From going through all of the skills that we have been learning in the lessons I have come up with 5 SMART objectives these are… 

-To develop and improve my blogging skills by setting up my own blog and trying to learn as many features on Blogger as possible by March 2015 

-Improve my confidence in front of people by taking more of a forward approach in class and not being afraid to speak my answers and thoughts, I will complete this by the end of my first year

-To improve my CV to my best ability by working with the HE guidance team to improve the content and look of my CV, so I can get a good job by next year 

-To better my time-management skills by not leaving my assignments to the last few days, I would like to do this in my next assignment 

-To enhance my writing skills by writing a book or a short story by the end of my second year

Presentation skills

In this lesson, we learnt about the difference between verbal and non-verbal communication. Also, about different things that you should be aware of when in an interview or a presentation that you may do without realising. 
These are;

I learned a lot about this as I can use these in future interviews. I know that myself, I fiddle with my hair when I am nervous. This is something that I need to stop doing at interviews as it shows them that I am not a confident person and they may not hire me because of it. I need to show confident in all my verbal and non-verbal communications.



We also learned some techniques on how to make a presentation more interesting. For example;
-Use more pictures than words
-Do not read off the screen, make sure you elevate your words
-Use handouts as well as have the presentation on the screen

We also spoke about how NOT to do a presentation, we looked at a very good video and discussed it...

This was very interesting and gave me lots to think about, the next time I do a presentation.

CV's

My CV before the lesson:

In the lesson we had Sarah come in and explain to us what to put in our CV and what not to put in our CV. She also taught us what order to put our CV's in. Whilst taking notes in class I then updated my CV using all of the information that was given to me. 

My CV after the lesson: 

What I have changed from feedback;
- I have changed the layout of my CV, adding in a profile
- I have learned to take out some things in my starting information as it is not needed
- I have improved my responsibility paragraphs, to include full details of my skills
- I have tidied up my references so they are short and only have the essential information

Future career plan

My future career plan is to eventually become a social media marketing director of a big company to help promote a company who either sells fashion, food or promotes events. To do this, I will return to Leicester and finish do a top-up degree is social media marketing. From this I will hopefully be able to work my way up in a business to become the hard-working marketing director I want to be. My dream is to be in charge of a team of between 10-30 people. 

I have found an example of a job for me, for in the future. I searched on Indeed.com and found that Lindy Bop, a fifties inspired vintage fashion shop in London has advertised for a Digital Marketing & Social Media Manager. 

Their description of a perfect candidate is…”A natural leader with a calm and organised approach to your work you’ll be able to motivate and develop your team. Highly personable and engaging, you’ll build excellent relationships within your department and across the business. You’ll also positively encourage new ideas and welcome different ways of thinking and working.”

I think that in the future I could be the perfect candidate that they would like to employ. If I improve myself by using my smart objectives, I think that I could be who they're looking for. 

Problem solving

In this lesson we went through a lot of interview questions and answered them, then went through them together to see if we could improve them.

My two questions were: 

-Describe a setback in your life and say what you did to overcame it. What lesson did you learn from this? 

Failing my theory, I had to go over all my notes and re-do all my practice tests. This set me back as I wanted to take my practical test but I couldn't until I had passed my theory. I learned to be more prepared when going into a test not leave revising to last minute. 

-Describe a time when you provided a new or different solution to a problem:

When I was at work, my mum, who is my boss asked me to do something but I thought it would be better if the newest member of staff learnt how to do it. This was a different solution to what she wanted but she agreed and then although the newest member of staff didn't complete her previous task, she learned how to do the new task and could then do it in future shifts. 

We also learned about Puccio, Murdock and Mance's theory. This helped us understand how different problems need be solved and is an excellent skill to have as many employers ask for problem solving skills in their job descriptions. With this diagram, I can take this skill and apply it to my real-life. 

We also learned about Kepner & Tregoe's checklist of problem solving. This is;

-Define the problem

-Gather relevant information - Who, what, where, why, when

-Identify possible causes

-Identify possible solutions

-Test the possible causes

-Work out the solution

-Make the decision

-Monitor the results

I found this really interesting and can use this in my day-to-day life on important decisions, to make sure that I deal with the problems in the most effective way. For example, if my car breaks down, I can use this method to find the best way of dealing with it. 

Time management

Before my lesson with Esther, I had almost no time keeping skills. I would always leave my assignments to the last night and never be prepared for anything.
Esther showed us the Quadrant approach. This is an extremely helpful tool, which helps you to plan which tasks are more important and urgent.
Since learning about this approach, I have made my own paper version and stuck it up on my wall in my bedroom. Each day I look at my wall and see which tasks I need to do and move around the sticky notes. This helps me keep my time better as it means that I can use my time effectively and it reminds me to do all of my tasks.

Another theory that I use is the Pickle Jar Theory.

I liked this. I cannot really use it in my life, other than to make me think about what things are more important and what I need to put first in my life. I know that this is my family and close friends, they need to come first.




We also learned about the Pareto Principle, which is also known as the 80/20 rule. This was thought of in 1906 by Italian economist Valfredo Pareto. It is basically a mathematical formula for the balance  of the world's money. It can be interpreted into time-management though.

Management.about.com explains it as... 
"The 80/20 Rule means that in anything a few (20 percent) are vital and many(80 percent) are trivial. In Pareto's case it meant 20 percent of the people owned 80 percent of the wealth. In Juran's initial work he identified 20 percent of the defects causing 80 percent of the problems. Project Managers know that 20 percent of the work (the first 10 percent and the last 10 percent) consume 80 percent of your time and resources. You can apply the 80/20 Rule to almost anything, from the science of management to the physical world. You know 20 percent of your stock takes up 80 percent of your warehouse space and that 80 percent of your stock comes from 20 percent of your suppliers. Also 80 percent of your sales will come from 20 percent of your sales staff. 20 percent of your staff will cause 80 percent of your problems, but another 20 percent of your staff will provide 80 percent of your production. It works both ways." 
This makes me realise that you need to make sure that you put the 20 percent first as this is the most important in your life. 



Remember
If you always do what have always done, you will get what you have always got!! 

Teamwork

We learnt that a lot of job descriptions look for people with good team-working skills. For example, Netflix and Yahoo. 

Netflix has said they would like employees who can "Work effectively with cross-functional teams, such as marketing and product development, across multiple time zones." also, Yahoo said that their employees need "Drive design, planning and execution of programs within the Yahoo Studio team.  You’ll manage vendor requirements, scope requests with Yahoo teams, and interact with creative designers to manage deliverables. Your attention to detail and background managing integrated solutions will be essential to your success. You build cross-functional relationships at both junior and senior levels inside and outside the organisation to ensure project success.  You’ll buy the first round.  You are passionate about the internet and its communicational possibilities"



We learnt about "boundary spanning", which we will be expected to do in later life, it is working with other teams, even outside of business to improve the quality of work. Katzenbach and Smith's theory (1993) really stuck with me from this lesson as I didn't know the difference between a team and a group. According to Katzenbach and Smith's theory, a team is "A small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose, performance goals and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable". 
A group- -Strong clearly focused leader
We also learned about Belbin's Role Stregnths.


A team- 
-Shared leadership roles
-Individual and mutual accountability
-Team purpose delivered by team
-Collective work product
-Encourage open ended discussion/active problem solving
-Measure performance by collective product

-Purpose the same
-Individual jobs
-Measures effectiveness by influence on customers
-Discusses, decides and delegates

Talking within the group about why teamwork fails sometimes, was the thing that stuck out the most for me in the lesson, I realised that in some of the times when I was in a team, I was doing some of the things that make them fail. For example I had sometimes neglected to elect a team leader, in which sometimes it should have been me. 

According to Belbin, I am an implementer. I do not agree with this. Although, whilst doing a task in lesson where we had to create a new product, I was a little bit of a implementer. I was mostly a Plant though as I did come up with a lot of different ideas. This has made me think whether I am an implementer at all. 
After said task, Esther gave me some feedback. She said
- That we were all argumentative and liked conflict, but this was the best way for the team to get the best ideas in this situation
-That there was no time keeper in our group and it was what we really lacked as we did not keep to our time limit
-That I had up to date knowledge about digital products, which showed as it was easy for me to think new products
-That I created lots of debate so that the team decided on the best possible product

That has made me think that maybe next time I need to take a back seat more so that the others can take control and listen more before I criticise their ideas.