Module Review

Interpersonal skills are essential not only in business but also outside of business. We use it to communicate with one another, to understand and listen to each other and also to solve problems and to made decisions.

Whilst completing this module I believe that I have developed my listening skills. When I was at school, I found it hard to learn things first time round and struggled in exams. I have developed my listening skills throughout this module to help me listen and understand what is happening around me.

By developing my listening and understanding skills during this module, I have been able to improve the quality of my work in both this module, and other modules within my University Course.


Challenging Blog

The blog that i found most challenging to complete was the Leadership blog. This blog consisted of a lot of research into the topic. As I work for the Co-operative, my immediate response to this blog was to do it based on the Co-operative, but I found it hard to complete the whole blog about the Co-operative because I work in a small Co-operative convenience store which means that the information I have about leaders in the Co-operative was limited.

I also found it difficult to complete the blog because the research I had done was not thorough enough and I misunderstood the information that I had researched. This meant that I had to go back and change the blog to make it correct.


Possible Changes to the Module

If I was the module leader, I would keep most aspects of this module the same as I believe it has led to a thorough understanding of the module.

I believe that a blog is an excellent way to asses students knowledge as it isn't in a stressful environment like an exam hall and students aren't under lots of pressure. This means they have time to research the topic and increase their knowledge about the module.

One thing I would change is the amount of activities completed during the lectures. I believe that people can learn better if they are taught visually as well as being taught in a normal lecture. If more physical activities were used within the lectures then I think it would give a better understanding of the topic; increasing the students knowledge.

Performance Management

Managing the performance of your staff is essential to make sure they are working efficiently and effectively. By effectively managing the performance of your staff you are ensuring that they are working to the best of their abilities; saving both time and money.

At the Co-operative we have regular meetings with our managers to discuss performance. These meetings are often one to one with the manager which allows two way communication between the members of staff and the manager. The meetings cover a few different topics to make sure everything is running efficiently.

The manager can asses each member of staffs performance individually to ensure that staff members are happy and are working to the best of their ability. They then use the meetings to give feedback to each member of staff. The manager can then have a discussion with each member of staff about their performance; allowing any issues to arise.

The manager can then set new targets and goals for each member of staff to make sure they're working to the best of their ability; increasing performance. These targets can be set individually so it relates directly to the member of staff.

My meeting with the manager allowed me to discuss my performance and allowed him to set me new goals or targets. As this was a one to one meeting, my manager could set goals and targets that were individual to me and not to the whole staffing team. This meant that I could work towards my own goals and increase my performance.

These meetings are effective at managing the performance of staff because they can deal with any issues staff might have that prevents them from working to the best of their ability. They can also encourage members of staff to work harder and achieve goals that are individual to them along with goals for the whole staffing team. The meetings also take place several times a year which makes them more effective because it gives both the manager and staff up to date information and new goals to work towards; increasing motivation and performance.


Mentor

To be an effective mentor I think that interpersonal skills are definitely required. Without interpersonal skills the mentor would find it very hard to communicate and interact effectively with their mentee. Having good interpersonal skills as a mentor would allow them to listen to their mentee and understand and offer ideas to how to solve any problems their mentee may have. Without interpersonal skills, the mentor would find it hard to communicate effectively with their mentee and would be useless at offering ideas and advice.

Also, to be an effective mentor, some experience is required. Without experience, the mentor would have to base all their decisions and advise on the information the mentee has given them. This means that if the mentor has interpreted the information incorrectly, they might give their mentee incorrect advice or information. With experience, the mentor can use what they have learnt over the years to help their mentee; making their judgements and advice a lot more useful.

I believe that an effective mentor doesn't need experience in the specific area that the mentee is working towards because skills learnt on the job can be transferred and used from lots of different areas. This means that although experience is required to be an effective mentor, the experience can be from a different area to the mentee as they can still give advise and guide their mentee. (Simpson, 2012)


My Mentor

When setting up my first business idea in 2009, I was helping out at a local youth club. The youth leader at the time was Ben Dale. He sat down with me and we discussed different aspects of the business which I could improve on such as running different events for different age groups and the financial side of the business. Ben Dale had been running events for youths of all different age groups so he had lots of experience in this area. This meant he could give me effective advice and guide me through setting up some events. We would then meet up periodically to discuss how the business was running and discussed how it could be improved.

Having Ben as a mentor helped me a lot because he had experience in the area of business I was trying to set up. He gave me advice and helped me to set up my business. He thought of different aspects of the business which I had previously over looked and gave a second opinion.

Ben has had a positive impact on my life because he has taught me some valuable skills in setting up a business. His skills and knowledge helped me set up my own business and has taught me lessons for the future.


Conclusion

In conclusion, I believe that the Co-operative, although they set up frequent meetings with the manager to assess performance, they do not do enough in the way of rewarding the staff for their hard work and keeping up their performance.

Mentors are a great way to increase your own knowledge and skills. They help you and give you advice about subjects you may know little about. But, for a mentor be effective, both the mentee and mentor must have good interpersonal skills. Without them mentors would not be able to communicate effectively. This means that advise and guidance they give may be ineffective.


References

Simpson, M. (2012) Performance Management. Bucks New University.

Perception and Communication

Initial Perception

The first perception someone has of someone else, otherwise known as their initial perception, is based on someones assumptions about the other person. These assumptions can be based on any aspect of the other person and are often incorrect. This leads to someones initial perception being incorrect. The aspects someone chooses to judge upon vary with the situation their in. For example, if someone walked into an office environment and saw someone standing by the coffee machine in jeans and a hoodie, their initial perception may be that they don't work hard. This may be proven incorrect as they interact with each other further.

When I first started to work at the Co-operative, I had to go and complete a training day up in Oxford. At this training day was one of my colleagues who was starting in the same branch as me. When I first saw him he was sitting at a table wearing a hoody and jeans. He wasn't smiling or talking and he looked bored.

My initial perception of him was that he was dull, boring to work with and my initial perception of him told me that he wouldn't do much work. What led me to this initial perception was that he was sitting at a table with no expressions on his face. The environment also had an impact on my initial impressions of him because it was a training day, which are known for not being the most exciting places to be.

The first time I worked with him after the training day, I realised immediately that my initial perception was incorrect. He was lively, talkative and he worked hard. The initial perception I got of him was completely wrong.

Next time, before making an initial perception of someone, I will take into account the environment. If my initial perception was made in a boring or stressful environment, then it may affect the initial perception I have on someone. By taking the environment into account, I will be able to avoid making incorrect perceptions of people in the future.

Improving Communication within the University
Article: http://www.peoplemanagement.co.uk/pm/articles/2010/07/how-to-improve-staff-communication.htm

After reading an article on how to improve staff communication, I have devised 3 different ways in which the University can improve communication with its students. Communication is key in any organisation. Without it, the organisation would find it difficult to operate effectively; this includes the University and its students.

The first recommendation that the article makes is to have a shared purpose. It goes on to explain that creating a shared purpose and giving people something to work towards helps set up communication within the organisation. As both the students and staff at the University already have a common goal and shared purpose then this can be used to start communication at the University.

Idea 1:
One way in which the University could improve its communication with the students is to start up a blog which can be subject specific. This blog could be used for students to ask questions to tutors publicly; allowing anyone to answer and allowing anyone with the same question to find the answer easily.

According to point 4 in the article, more and more organisations are using different media to communicate between one another. Blogging allows the staff to give out information to all the pupils within a course; allowing the students to subscribe. If the students have any questions they would be able to post directly on the blog; allowing other students with the same questions to get an answer without having to re-ask the question. This would increase communication between students and lecturers about their topics. (Clake, 2010)

These blogs would also aid communication between students. The ability to communicate with other students would benefit students and allow them to find out answers to their questions immediately without having to go directly to the lecturer.

Idea 2:
Another way of increasing communication between the University and its students would be through text alerts. These text alerts would allow the University to send messages about events within the University, inform them of term dates, and allow feedback to be sent back to the University via text message.

Point 3 in the article states that there are three main drivers to make members of an organisation engage; the opportunity to feed your views upwards, feeling well informed about what is happening in the organisation, and believing your manager is commited to the organisation. All 3 of these points can be achieved through texting. (Clake, 2010)

Allowing feedback to be sent via text to people higher up in the university would aid communication between the University and its students because it allows the students to give their feedback in a way in which suits them; texting. Also, through texting, lecturers and other people within the University can keep the students well informed about any events that may be happening.

Using texting to communicate with the students of the University broadens the University's communication methods and allows it communicate more with its students.


Idea 3:
The third way of increasing communication between the University and students is via face-to-face meeting groups which students can address any issues they have with the University, or offer their input and give ideas as to how the University can improve the service it provides.

The article talks about the need to get your leaders involved with the communication process. By having frequent meetings with the leaders of the University such as lecturers and other key members of staff, it allows the leaders of the University to have direct communication with the students; allowing them to give their feedback about the University. (Clake, 2010)

Point 5 in the article also explains that employees value face-to-face communication very highly. In this case, the students at the University are the 'employees' of the organisation. This means that by having face-to-face meeting groups, students will be able to easily communicate with staff that are higher up the organisation to get their views heard.
 (Clake, 2010)

All 3 of these ideas will help to increase the amount of communication the University has with its students; and through several different media. This will help inform the students and also let them give their input into how the University is run in the future.

Bibliography

Clake, R. (2010) How to Improve Staff Communication. 15th July.