Professional Practice Assignment: HND in Computing (ESOFT Metro Campus)
Professional Practice Assignment: HND in Computing (ESOFT Metro Campus)
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION..........................................................................................................................................1
4.2 GOAL:...........................................................................................................................................................22
4.2.1 SMART MODEL.....................................................................................................................................23
4.3 IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK....................................................................................................................23
TEAMWORK RELIEVES STRESS.............................................................................................................................24
TEAMWORK PROVIDES GREAT LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES...............................................................................24
TEAMWORK ENCOURAGES TO TAKE RISKS.........................................................................................................24
WORKING IN TEAMS BOOSTS MEMBER’S MORALE AND MOTIVATION.............................................................24
TEAMWORK IMPROVES PRODUCTIVITY AND BRINGS BETTER RESULTS (EASILY ACHIEVE GOALS AND
OBJECTIVES)........................................................................................................................................................24
4.4 ANALYZING TEAM DYNAMICS.................................................................................................................24
4.4.1 WHAT IS THE MEANING OF TEAM DYNAMICS?......................................................................................24
4.4.2 STRATEGIES FOR BOOSTING TEAM DYNAMICS......................................................................................25
4.5 BELBIN’S TEAM ROLES MODEL..............................................................................................................27
4.6 ISSUES FACED WHEN BUILDING THE TEAM..............................................................................................28
4.6.1 TEAM BUILDING......................................................................................................................................28
4.7 ISSUES FACED WHEN BUILDING THE AUTHOR’S TEAM...........................................................................28
4.8 EVALUATING OWN ROLE IN THE TEAM....................................................................................................29
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BIBLIOGRAPHY............................................................................................................................................44
6 ANNEXURES...............................................................................................................................................46
Tables
Figures
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1 Introduction
Being a professional doesn't just involve being competent and skillful, it also means being
ethical. In this report,the author and his team will develop a strategy and plan for their future
employment.They also start connecting with potential employers, improve their ability to
apply for employment, and plan a course of action that ensures they complete their HND as '
work ready ' people.
They also learn important professional skills in communication and working as part of a
team. To have that experience the author and his team had to conduct a training event
successfully so that they can have a good idea in teamwork and interpersonal skill
management. As the training event the author’s team has done a “Communication in
Technology” based training program for HND junior batch.(Due to this pandemic situation
author’s team has to done it via teams as an virtual meeting)In this report, the author has
mentioned all the activities the team has done and difficulties the team came across when
completing this training program.
The author has clarly mentioned his own role in the team and the roles of his team members
and and their importance. This report will direct the reader to the various professional and
interpersonal skills that are needed in thesedays. It will also help them develop their own
personal skills and attitudes.
This report will introduce the reader to the various requirements for becoming a professional.
It will also provide an overview of the various types of training that are required for
becoming a professional.
2 Demonstrate a range of interpersonal and
transferable communication skills
Communication in technology is an important topic for everyone. The author and his team
wanted to teach their target audience to communicate much effectively in a work
environment. It includes a number of topics which are related to different sectors, the ways
communication and technology involve in each sector.
I. Introduction II.
History of media
III. Future of media
IV. Networking
V. Communication
VI. Software
VII. Online education
VIII. Cyber media + social media
IX. Financial technology
X. E-sport
XI. Global marketing + e-
commerce XII. E government
XIII. GIS (Geographical information system)
XIV. Pandemic + how IT effects on health
care XV. Conclusion and summary
All the above-mentioned topics are main topics, under those there were sub topics, the author
was the first presenter and he has to explain the main 3 topics; Introduction, History of media,
Future of media. Moreover, he explained below mentioned sub topics clearly, and gave a
little work (by using morse code system) for the audience to make sure whether they have
understood or not, and to check the author’s presentation skills.
a. What is communication
b. Communication Process
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Author’s group selected the basics of Communication in technology as the event to conduct and
they chose above mention topics to conduct. All the group members agreed with the idea about
conducting the event on Communication in technology, since it has a direct relationship with
professional practice unit. It was fair to say that the group did an amazing job on the training
event. However, in the beginning there were too many topics and opinions, team has decided to
proceed with Communication in technology based on the Mrs.Eranga’s advice.
The group leader got the details of audience from the program coordinator edit the event
proposal appropriately and came to a position where both the parties get the benefits equally
and did the negotiation very fairly and very well. The audience was junior HND batch and
there were lot of members in the audience. As mentioned earlier this training event was a
great platform for the audience to get to know about the state of the art applications, effective
manners to communicate in a work environment.
The author’s group consisted by 17 members in all and each member had a specific task to
complete beforehand the training event. It is worth to mention the names of the people who
were in the group.
Ashen, Aisha, Rodrick, Sohail, Shameena, Nethsarani, Hussain, Ayoob, Indura, Thimira,
Chamidu, Milan, Sarujan, Sachitna, Latheefa, Mirasha and the author himself (Lenin Perera).
Shameena was the group leader and main five presenters were Lenin Perera (Author), Sohail,
Ashen, Aisha, Rodrick respectively. All the team members did the task and finish it off in the
given time (Team has to Use several time management techniques that they were learnt in
Professional practice unit 03 to overcome difficulties).
At the training event, presenters had to switch on their cameras while they are presenting.
Audience has been invited to ask question in the chat box. Therefore, other group members
had to answer the audience question.
All the evidences of conducting the training event is in the Annexures under “Training
Event”.
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At the glance Time management is a not a difficult concept until you took it to practice (that
is very difficult to do in practice). However, it is very beneficial to have in your life. The
author had many time management skills and through this event, he gained some more
aspects of time management qualities. From this training program, the author realized that, it
requires the investment of a little time upfront to priorities and organize yourself and to get
excellent outcome.
However, once done, you will find that with minor tweaks, your day, and indeed your week
and month, fall into place in an orderly fashion, with time for everything you need to do
(Time management Skills, 2021).
Below attached time allocation graphs help the reader understand the team's time
management skills and overall performance
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Part (I)
The above table (Gantt chat) is the professional schedule of the author’s team. The team has
experienced a variety of challenges, which are detailed in the above calendar, beginning with
the initial meeting where duties were given to each team member individually. On the first
day of the meeting, the author was only a team member.
The leader and group members addressed the significance of choosing an appropriate topic
for the training event on the second meeting day. At the conclusion of the group discussion,
all members decided on a single theme for the training event.
Before assigning roles to team members, the leader sought to learn about each one's innate
talents. As a result, each team member was required to give a presentation in front of others
(team members and stakeholders) to demonstrate their communication skills. The author's
team consisted of 17 people, each with their own specialist knowledge that came in comfy
throughout the training session. Although, the leader Shammena identified Lenin (Author),
Sohail, Ashen, Rodrick, and Aisha as good presenters and assigned them to prepare their
presentations according to their preferences, as well as assigning a backup partner for each
main presenter to receive assistance with gathering relevant information, designing, and
double-checking the work.
Other duties were allocated to the remaining members by the leader. The first meeting was
conducted in teams and lasted about an hour, during which time we discussed a lot of work
that has to be done. Due to a lack of time, the team had to form a Whatsapp group in order to
interact often and share materials.
When a group is working toward the same goals and objectives, issues are certain to arise.
The group had to discuss problems connected to members' involvement, collaboration, and
obligations towards the training event during the third group meeting. Author and leader had
personal contact and had to explain their value and importance to the team.
If, for whatever reason, plan A fails. When creating a contingency plan, Active Group
members gave their best when making a contingency plan. The main contingency plan was to
involve inactive members in the work because the training event was a huge task and
delivering the training event without everyone's dedication is impossible. The team had to use
plan B when continuing the procedures because the group members did not respond, so the
team had to use the contingency plan.
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The contingency plan was created by the group members with the help of the group leader.
First, there were just a few active members, including the author, who were fully aware of the
time time limits and work lord. The group's goal was to provide a successful tanning event
within given time frame by engaging all group members.
When it comes to getting the task done on time, the team leader (who is a girl and always
tries to get things done before the deadline; this is good because there is less pressure when it
comes to the deadline) and author should be credited for their excellent time management
skills with the other members of the group. To get the job done, the author pushed the other
team members to their limitations.
The team leader had been instructed to hand over the attendance of the team members as per
the contingency plan. Then the inactive ones concurred to collaborate, and there were
numerous obstacles while planning a training event, which the leader resolved with her
communication abilities.
All the Screenshots of meeting and WhatsApp chats having with the stakeholders will be
attached in the annexures under “The Professional Schedule”.
Part (II)
The team did not want to make any physical arrangements or set a budget because the group
gathered remotely and the training event was performed through "teams" virtual platform.
That is to say, while conducting events via virtual platform is relatively simple, there are
some challenges, such as poor connection issues, power outages, severe weather conditions
(Thunder, Lightning), difficulty explaining concepts, and arranging a convenient time for all
members for group briefing.
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i. Email to Mrs.Eranga
Mrs. Eranga received presentation slides through email from the main
presenters (Lenin (Author), Ashen, Aisha, Rodrick, and Sohail).
Mrs. Eranaga was the Professional Practice Lecturer, and she had a
thorough knowledge of the subject. She was also very kind to the
author, giving him feedback on his work and advising him to make
some appropriate changes to the content.
Another huge aspect of planning the training event was communication. The leader of
the author’s group was a good listener. So that the communication was very effective
and the leader always clarified the doubts, which were in the team environment
(wikiHow, n.d).
To ensure successful communication, the team developed their own Communication Plan,
which proved to be a major asset when dealing with stakeholders because the team members
knew what they were dealing with.
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It’s not enough to just have a plan. It is critical to seek to understand what your stakeholders’
desire both spoken and unspoken. The expectations must be carefully managed from
beginning to end. Every team and project vary in its rate of change, so picking the most
advantageous communication channel, frequency and making sure it’s effective is a point
which the author gained from this event (workfront.com, 2018).
Communication is a constant, error on the side of over communicating as there are always
people that didn’t hear, understand or make connection when they heard it the first time.
Communication
Objective of Communication Medium FrequencyAudience
Type
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Because the author's communication skills played a key role in that moment, and his
negotiation skills with stakeholders were undoubtedly good, the author had to begin the
training event by welcoming the audience and quickly summarizing the event.
At the end of the day, it was a 'WIN-WIN' scenario for both sides (Team able to cover all the
things as planed). This was largely due to the author's well-mannered communication abilities
and the assistance of the team members.
The evidences of meeting with the stakeholders and communicating effectively will be in the
annexures under “The Professional Schedule”.
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Interpersonal Skills are fundamental parts of our everyday lives. Interpersonal skills are the
skills used by a person to interact with others properly. Interpersonal skills include everything
from communication and listening skills to attitude and deportment. Good interpersonal skills
are a prerequisite for many positions in an organization.
In this section, the author has mainly given his attention to the communication and listening
aspect in interpersonal skills (WikiJob, 2021).
The author was an excellent listener, but a slightly impatient, as well as open-minded and
quick to point out flaws. It appears to be disrespectful, but he wants to do things correctly.
Some people admire his behavior since he is concerned about time waste and work quality,
and he will occasionally speak on behalf of others, he always take correct side.
That characteristic allows him to communicate effectively with others. As an example, the
author was able to handle the audience very well using his communication abilities, as he
demonstrated at the kick off meeting. When communicating with stakeholders, the author
always used the following abilities.
Eye contact: is a crucial component of good communication. When discussing, the author
was always able to maintain eye contact with the stakeholders.
Tone of voice: is yet another component of effective communication that the author has
utilized. A pleasant tone conveys useful information to the listener. When the author
communicated with both the lecturer and coordinators, he adopted a professional tone to
convey the point.
Pleasant talk: By Using appropriate words author always tries to attract audience toward him,
then it helps to explain the point without a huge effort.
Hand gestures and postures: Author use simple language style and hand movements to
describe a complex thing in a simple manner.
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Time management was not the author’s strongest ability. He was little bit weak in that aspect.
Even though he communicated well when it comes to punctuality, he was little off.
The ideal example of this scenario is when he took a long time to accomplish some duties
that were assigned to him. This could be because he normally does things by putting up
maximum effort in order to produce excellent results, and he also has a tendency to overthink
even minor issues. One of the reasons he fails at time management is because of this.
The author is a constant learner. Through different studies, he will turn this weakness into
one of his strength in the future.
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The above figure will demonstrate inter personal skills of the author, which he pursues in his
social life. The reader will get an idea about the skills, which he / she should have when
proceed along, in his career.
The author has inserted a small SWOT analysis about his interpersonal skills. There were
weaknesses of the author just as his strength. Therefore, this SWOT analysis will clarify
those qualities respectively.
STRENGTHS
OPPERTUNITIES
The author has a good memory which may help The author lack commercial experience which may
him when achieving higher in exams when make him less employable, however he picks up
information needs to be remembered. new skills and knowledge quickly. Being a sociable person
may help when carrying
out group work and making friends.
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Overall, interpersonal skills have played a huge role when carrying out the training event.
Even though the author did not know that he was using interpersonal skills, he has done a
great job however. In this section, the author has vividly shown the skills which he has and
which he has to improve in the coming years.
There are evidences of the author communicating with the stakeholder effectively in
annexures under “Interpersonal Skills”.
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To solve a problem, you must find out what caused it. This requires you to gather and
evaluate data, isolate possible contributing circumstances, and pinpoint what needs to be
addressed for a resolution.[ CITATION The21 \l 1033 ]
Data gathering
Data analysis
Fact-finding
Historical analysis
2. Generate Interventions
Once you’ve determined the cause, brainstorm possible solutions. Sometimes this involves
teamwork since two (or more) minds are often better than one. A single strategy is rarely the
obvious route to solving a complex problem; devising a set of alternatives helps you cover
your bases and reduces your risk of exposure should the first strategy you implement fail.
[ CITATION The21 \l 1033 ]
3. Evaluate Solutions
Depending on the nature of the problem and your chain of command, evaluating best
solutions may be performed by assigned teams, team leads, or forwarded to corporate
decision-makers. Whoever makes the decision must evaluate potential costs, required
resources, and possible barriers to successful solution implementation. [ CITATION The21 \l
1033 ]
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Analysis
Discussion
Corroboration
Teamwork
Test development
Mediation
Prioritizing
4. Implement a Plan
Once a course of action has been decided, it must be implemented along with benchmarks
that can quickly and accurately determine whether it’s working. Plan implementation also
involves letting personnel know about changes in standard operating procedures.
[ CITATION The21 \l 1033 ]
Project management
Project implementation
Collaboration
Time management
Benchmark development
Once a solution is implemented, the best problem-solvers have systems in place to evaluate if
and how quickly it's working. This way, they know as soon as possible whether the issue has
been resolved or whether they’ll have to change their response to the problem mid-stream.
[ CITATION The21 \l
Communication
Data analysis
Surveys
Customer feedback
Follow-through
Troubleshooting
Following are the major problems that the author’s team had to come across;
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4. Because of the outbreak, the team had to conduct entire training events and
conference sessions via virtual platforms, which meant they had to deal with a lot of
power outages and network disruptions. As a result, the author's team had to
reschedule several meetings. It has a direct impact on them, and they have had to
make changes to their schedule by arranging additional meetings.
5. A lack of real-world work experience can be a problem at an event. (Team members
had a lot of presentation and communication abilities, but no one was confident
enough to run a training event.) However, the author is also fresh to organizing an
event, but he has a strong desire to conquer challenges, so he challenged himself and
took responsibility for the event.)
6. For all of the team members, stage fright was a huge difficulty (Author's team had
multiple rehearsals, there were many faults and stress in the beginning, but by
practicing presenters were able to deliver the training successful event).
3.2 Brainstorming
Brainstorming combines a relaxed, informal approach to problem solving with lateral
thinking. It encourages people to come up with thoughts and ideas that can, at first, seem a bit
crazy. Some of these ideas can be crafted into original, creative solutions to a problem, while
others can spark even more ideas. This helps to get people unstuck by "jolting" them out of
their normal ways of thinking.
It can also help you get buy-in from team members for the solution chosen – after all, they're
likely to be more committed to an approach if they were involved in developing it. What's
more, because brainstorming is fun, it helps team members bond, as they solve problems in a
positive, rewarding environment.
There are two types of brainstorming, you often get the best results by combining individual
and group brainstorming, and by managing the process according to the "rules" below. By
doing this, you can get people to focus on the issue without interruption, you maximize the
number of ideas that you can generate, and you get that great feeling of team bonding that
comes with a well-run brainstorming session!
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The Stepladder
Technique Brainwriting
Online Brainstorming (also known as Brain-netting)
Crawford's Slip Writing Approach Reverse Brainstorming
Round-Robin Brainstorming
Rolestorming
Step 5: – Taking Action
The leader chose several topics from those ideas and got feedback
for those topics from other members.
Finally all the members agreed on a single topic and proceeded with
it.
After all the procedures members made arguments for and against
the topic.
The aforementioned brainstorming took conducted in order for the group to choose a
meaningful topic for the training event. The first six steps were the most deeply ingrained of
all the others. It demonstrates how to divide the problem into various elements and solve
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them quickly. The group participated in a variety of brainstorming sessions, one of which
being the above chat.
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Drill Down is a simple technique for breaking complex problems down into progressively
smaller parts. To use the technique, start by writing the problem down on the left – hand side
of large sheet of paper. Next, write down the points that make up the next level of detail on
the problem a little to the right of this. These may be factors contributing to the problem,
information relating to it, or question raised by it. This process of breaking the problem down
into its components part is called ‘Drill Down’ [ CITATION fre212 \l 1033 ]
How to conduct a
training event
Design the
Assign roles to team Selecting topic and Confidence to
contents according
members gathering info perform well ?
to the audience
Problem-solving skills are necessary in all areas of life, and team problem solving activities
can be a great way to get members prepped and ready to solve real problems in real life
scenarios. Whether in school, work or in their social relationships, the ability to critically
analyze a problem, map out all its elements and then prepare a workable solution is one of the
most valuable skills one can acquire in life [ CITATION fre212 \l 1033 ]
The 5 Whys Problem Solving technique is a simple process to follow to solve any problem by
repeatedly asking the question “Why” (five times is a good rule of thumb), to peel away the
layers of symptoms that can lead to the root cause of a problem. This strategy relates to the
principle of systematic problem solving.[ CITATION Oak21 \l 1033 ]
“The basis of Toyota’s scientific approach is to ask why five times whenever we find a
problem … By repeating why five times, the nature of the problem as well as its
solution becomes clear.“ Taiichi Ohno
To resolve internal issues, the author's team had to apply five whys
Readers would be able to see how the author and his team used the tool;
1. Why were you unable join the meeting and group activities?
Because I unable to complete the task that you gave to me.
2. Why didn’t you complete the task?
My laptop doesn’t work properly
3. Why did the equipment fail?
Because the circuit board burned out.
4. Why did the circuit board burn out?
Because it overheated.
5. Why did it overheat?
it’s my fault, I didn’t replace a cooling fan and I played a high-
performance game on machine and I didn’t pay attention to work on the task.
The author has mentioned the above three methods which his team used when solving a
problem while delivering the training program.
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The reader might be confused by Critical Path Analysis (The author has used the short form
CPA from now on words for ease if the narration), what is CPA? Let the author restate it in a
way that is easier to understand.
The critical path is simply all the tasks that determine the end date in a project schedule. In
this context, it is referred as professional schedule. If one of those tasks is late by one day,
then the project end date will be extended by one day. Oftentimes, there will be tasks that are
not on the critical path; this is due to the slack in the project schedule. If the reader refers to
the current schedule, you can examine the chart and quickly identify the tasks that have some
float compared to the tasks that have no slack (Critical Thinking and Problem Solving, 2018).
Slack: Slack is the amount of time a task can be delayed without affecting the start date of a
subsequent task. The critical path methodology is simply a technique to identify all the tasks
that will directly affect the project end date.
There are couple of steps to proceed to design a critical path. The author has mentioned all
the steps which his team when creating a critical path.
Identify the relationships between steps, and document the dependencies between
them.
Determine the latest allowable start and end time or date when each step can occur
without delaying the next step and, subsequently, the whole value stream or work
plan.
Calculate a float value for each task. Critical tasks usually have zero float. Non-
critical tasks will have a numeric value associated with them, representing slack time.
Calculate the float for each step by subtracting the Early Start time or date from the
Late Start time or date and assign a float value to each task and sub-task.
Using the information collected above, identify the critical and non-critical tasks
and sub-tasks by determining the duration of the value stream or work plan.
Chart/document the critical path. Refer the below figure to get an idea about the
functions of CPA;
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3.5.3 Pros and Cons of Critical Path Analyzing
Advantages
Helps reduce the risk and costs of complex projects. Encourages careful assessment of the
requirements of each activity in a project.
Disadvantages
Reliability of CPA largely based on accurate estimates and assumptions made. CPA does not
guarantee the success of a project that still needs to be managed properly.
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4.1.1 Teamwork
Teamwork is the collaborative effort of a group to achieve a common goal or to complete
a task in the most effective and efficient way.[1][2] This concept is seen within the greater
framework of a team, which is a group of interdependent individuals who work together
towards a common goal.[ CITATION Wik211 \l 1033 ]
T – Together
E – Everyone
A – Accomplishes
M – More
W – With
O – Organization
R – Responsibility
K – Knowledge
These elements are the ingredients that can either make or break a team – if they are not
balanced effectively.
4.2 Goal:
The author's group had a defined aim in the provided context, which was to " Successfully
deliver the training event on time by meeting all the requirements of the client while utilizing the
given resources", and all of the group members worked together to achieve it. When marching
towards the team objective, many individuals knew exactly what they were doing.
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The tone is set by a shared and meaningful goal. Teamwork necessitates the setting
of specific performance goals.
Along with the main aim, the author's team had various objectives. They used the SMART
goal system to define goals and objectives, which allows the winning mentality to work for
the success and pushes the team to reach targets quickly.
S – Specific: Is the goal explained with enough detail that it can be well understood
by those involved in its completion and by any stakeholders?
M – Measurable: How will those involved in completing the goal know it has been
accomplished and how will stakeholders determine its success?
R – Relevant: Does the goal align with, support, or advance the organization's
vision, mission, values, principles, and strategies?
T – Time bound: Does the goal have a target date for completion?
Teamwork. “When we bring them to the table and share them for a common purpose, it can
give companies a real competitive advantage.”
Teamwork is essential to a company’s success, says Murphy. OK, but what’s in it for you?
Plenty. Scads of recent studies show that team members benefit just as much as the
corporations they work for. Last year, the journal American Psychologist released “The
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packed with evidence that working in a team can make you smarter, more creative, and more
Why is team work important? Points below will endeavor the idea.
As a result, the author's team achieved their goal and learned numerous skills through
working together, and the author discovered that taking on a task as a team reduces
individual responsibility, which reduces stress. It's also the most productive and professional
technique to complete tasks as a group because various diverse skills work with each other to
achieve a shared objective.
A team can be defined as two or more people working together to interdependently to meet a
specific goal or purpose. Outside of this, a team can be for the long term or come together
for a few hours. Group dynamics can be understood as how team member’s distinct roles and
behaviours impact other group members and the group as a whole. Team dynamics are
therefore the unconscious, psychological factors that influence the direction of a team’s
behaviour and performance.[ CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
A team with positive group dynamics tend to have team members who trust each other. They
can work towards collective decisions and they are held accountable for outcomes. A team
with good group dynamics may be constructive and productive, and it may demonstrate
mutual understanding and self-corrective behaviour. On the other hand, poor group
dynamics can be disruptive for successful decision making and work outcomes.
Group dynamics matter because they impact things like creativity, productivity and
effectiveness. Since group work is integral to organisations, for business leaders, addressing
group dynamics can lead to better work outcomes, customer satisfaction and an improved
bottom line. [ CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
Conduct a diagnosis of what is going wrong in your team by doing a team health check.
Observe your team at work and conduct individual interviews in a private, safe and
confidential space. Talk to other relevant people, such as customers and line managers, to
find out as much as you can about your team’s problems.
As you do, stay aware of the common causes behind poor group dynamics.
● Weak leadership – Weak leadership, where the team lacks a strong leader, can pave the
way for a dominant team member to take over, resulting in a lack of direction and conflict.
● Free riding – Some team members taking it easy at the expense of other colleagues can
lead to poor group dynamics and outcomes.
● Evaluation apprehension – Team members may hold back their opinions and ideas
as result of feeling they are being judged harshly by other team members.
Other potential causes of poor group dynamics include poor communication and a lack of
focus. Take time to observe, talk to team members and figure out what is happening
amongst the team. [ CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
If you see a team member engaging in unhelpful behaviour, work to address it quickly.
Speak to the team member directly and invite him or her to reflect on the behaviour and how
it can be changed to support the team’s goals. Conflicts can happen from time to time – even
in the healthiest of teams – so encourage open discussion of the conflict and help guide team
members to a resolution, allowing your team to return to a state of positive group dynamics. [
CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
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Teams and individual team members need a strong focus to thrive. If you create a team
charter and offer clearly defined roles, you could motivate team members to address their
responsibilities and work together more effectively. A clear charter also helps you set
clear behavioural and outcomes expectations. It gives you standards by which you can
hold underperforming team members to account. [ CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
5. Build communication
Give your team tools to drive open communication and encourage team members to
communicate clearly to each other. Keep team members updated about project changes and
news, and they will feel included and alerted to what is going on. Make sure both opinionated
and quieter team members feel their voices are heard. [ CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
As part of the organisation’s leadership, you should always be paying attention to your team
and know what is going on. Look out for unacceptable behaviours such as bullying,
groupthink and freeriding so you are ready to address them right away. Reinforce positive
behaviours like successful collaboration, sharing of ideas, trust and respect.
Excellent group dynamics can facilitate employee productivity and satisfaction while
allowing your teams to reach their set targets on time. However, teams with excellent
dynamics still require ongoing observation, correction and guidance, so be prepared to
continue providing your team with the leadership and training they need to thrive.
[ CITATION Dea21 \l 1033 ]
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4.5 Belbin’s Team Roles Model
When identifying the team roles there was another model where the team
members can fit in. Belbin identified this model as this model has name after
him as Belbin’s Team Roles Model. In this model, Belbin identified nine team
roles and categorized those roles into three groups.
Resource Aiyob Uses their inquisitive nature to find ideas to bring back
investigator to the team
Plant Lenin Tends to be highly creative and good at solving
(Author) problems in unconventional ways.
Monitor- Shamina Provides a logical eye, making impartial judgments
evaluator (Leader) where required and weighs up the team's options in a
Aisha dispassionate way.
Specialist Ashen Brings in-depth knowledge of a key area to the team
The author assigns the above tasks to the group members after determining their own talents
and commitments to the training session. When it came to carrying on the training exercise,
these roles were extremely effective.
What is a team?
It is a gathering with a typical goal, whose individuals are clear about progressing in the
direction of one reason. It is a gathering whose individuals are associated. While different
gatherings may perceive the qualities of every part, team individuals depend on the
qualities of every part to achieve the target [ CITATION tea21 \l 1033 ]
When building the author’s team, they also faced some different issues. As the author has
shown above his team also came across some issues when building the team. Mainly the
communication barrier was there when communicating with the team members, because the
leader did not speak Sinhala fluently and there was a mix of Tamil, Sinhala, and English.
The majority of team members can communicate in English, but when it comes to complex
parts, some members are unable to comprehend. Additionally, the team has not met
physically, so everything had to be conducted virtually. It was a new experience for all
members, and it was extremely difficult to assign roles without first getting to know them. It
was also difficult to communicate and convey a message to the team members, as there was
a communication barrier.
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The author (Lenin Perera) was an important member of the group. He was in charge of
running the training event and presenting the first three topics, as well as creating the
presentation slides and naming himself as a "Plant." Because the author was one of the team's
pillars, the leader put a lot of faith in him.
The author is always willing to help others, and many members of his team have personally
approached him for assistance.
Although the author was a valued member of the team, he still had areas in which he needed
to develop and work that he could have done better.
He could have done a lot better when it came to that element. He may have collaborated on
the curriculum with other members.
When it came to assigning responsibilities and picking major presenters based on team
members' abilities, the author received all of the votes. A total of 16 votes were cast.
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Change is constant, and in the ever-changing world we live in, it becomes almost imperative
to keep progressing in our professional endeavours. The best option to keep up with this is to
use continuing professional development (CPD) programmes to stay ahead of the curve.
Continuous learning results in superior growth, so if you want to achieve greater success
in your professional career, CPD is the way forward.[ CITATION Meh \l 1033 ]
It is taught by people who have the necessary expertise, experience and skills.
In addition, professionals have to set their short-term and long-term objectives while
implementing a structured learning plan. They may also be required to record what they
are learning and the progress they make in order to keep track of the skills and knowledge
they obtain. CPD training helps professionals to: [ CITATION Meh \l 1033 ]
Stay up to date with the latest trends and learn new skills;
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Formal CPD: This type of CPD involves active and structured learning that is usually
done outside the organisation for which you work. Formal CPD usually consists of
more than one professional, however in some cases it could just involve a single
professional. Some activities in this form of structured learning include:
o Lectures.
“Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think” –
Albert Einstein.
In order to improve their skills and knowledge while working, professionals usually opt for
continuous professional development programmes. This is because at this level, they have
already earned academic qualifications and are now working in the industry of their choice.
CDP helps business professionals learn in a structured and practical format that boosts their
overall skills and knowledge. It also helps them ascertain the knowledge and skills they
need to obtain within a short time period, so the improvement can be recognisable.
[ CITATION Meh \l 1033 ]
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Relevant practical qualifications that will impress current and prospective employers.
[ CITATION Meh \l 1033 ]
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Enhances the reputation of the company among prospective employees and clients;
Allows the company to keep up with the latest trends and changes in the industry.
A company can only bring in these benefits if it supports the professional development of its
employees. [ CITATION Meh \l 1033 ]
The term motivation is gotten from the Latin word ‘movere’, signifying "to move."
Motivation can be comprehensively characterized as the powers following up on or inside a
person that reason the excitement, heading, and steadiness of objective coordinated,
intentional exertion. Motivation theory is along these lines concerned about the procedures
that clarify why and how human conduct is enacted.[ CITATION Ref21 \l 1033 ]
The wide rubric of motivation and motivation theory is a standout amongst the most much of
the time contemplated and expounded on subjects in the authoritative sciences and is viewed
as a standout amongst the most essential territories of concentrate in the field of hierarchical
conduct. Regardless of the extent of the exertion that has been given to the investigation of
motivation, there is no single theory of motivation that is all around acknowledged.
[ CITATION Ref21 \l 1033 ]
The absence of a bound together theory of motivation reflects both the multifaceted nature of
the development and the assorted foundations and points of the individuals who think about
it. To depict these essential focuses, it is lighting up to consider the advancement of
1. Content Theories.
2. Process Theories.
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Theories of motivation that look at the content of what it is that motivates us. The most
common examples of content theories are Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG
model, Herzberg’s two-factor model, and McClelland’s need for achievement, affiliation,
and power.[ CITATION Oxf21 \l 1033 ]
Physiological requirements, security needs, belongingness needs, esteem needs, and self-
actualization needs are all part of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which proposes
that individual needs are arranged in a hierarchy. Physiological demands are the most basic
need for food, water, and other life necessities. Safety in one's physical environment,
stability, and the absence of mental suffering are all security demands.
Alderfer’s ERG theory of motivation builds on Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs and states that
humans have three core types of need: Existence, Relatedness and Growth. These needs
may be of different levels of priority for different individuals, and their relative importance
for an individual may vary over time.[ CITATION Wor21 \l 1033 ]
McClelland's Human Motivation Theory states that every person has one of three main
driving motivators: the needs for achievement, affiliation, or power. These motivators are
not inherent; we develop them through our culture and life experiences. Achievers like to
solve problems and achieve goals.[ CITATION Min211 \l 1033 ]
Motivation-hygiene theory suggests that job satisfaction and job dissatisfaction are produced
by different work factors. The goal of this concept is to describe practical applications of the
theory and equip managers with the knowledge on how to use its elements to improve
employee motivation and engagement.[ CITATION KBm21 \l 1033 ]
Process theories of motivation try to explain why behaviors are initiated. These theories focus
on the mechanism by which we choose a target, and the effort that we exert to “hit” the
target. There are four major process theories:
[ CITATION Org21 \l 1033 ]
(4) expectancy.
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The expectancy theory was proposed by Victor Vroom of Yale School of Management in
1964. Vroom stresses and focuses on outcomes, and not on needs unlike Maslow and
Herzberg. The theory states that the intensity of a tendency to perform in a particular
manner is dependent on the intensity of an expectation that the performance will be
followed by a definite outcome and on the appeal of the outcome to the individual.
[ CITATION MSG21 \l 1033 ]
The expectancy theory seems to be idealistic because quite a few individuals perceive
high degree correlation between performance and rewards.
The application of this theory is limited as reward is not directly correlated with
performance in many organizations. It is related to other parameters also such as
position, effort, responsibility, education, etc. [ CITATION MSG21 \l 1033 ]
In the equity theory of motivation, employee’s motivation depends on their perception of how
fair is the compensation and treatment for their work input. Equity Theory states that the
employees perceive what they get from a job situation (outcomes) about what they put into it(
inputs) and then compare their inputs- outcomes ratio with the inputs- outcomes ratios of
others.[ CITATION Ied21 \l 1033 ]
In 1960’s, Edwin Locke put forward the Goal-setting theory of motivation. This theory
states that goal setting is essentially linked to task performance. It states that specific and
challenging goals along with appropriate feedback contribute to higher and better task
performance.
In simple words, goals indicate and give direction to an employee about what needs to be
done and how much efforts are required to be put in.[ CITATION MSG211 \l 1033 ]
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The willingness to work towards attainment of goal is main source of job motivation.
Clear, particular and difficult goals are greater motivating factors than easy, general
and vague goals.
Specific and clear goals lead to greater output and better performance. Unambiguous,
measurable and clear goals accompanied by a deadline for completion avoids
misunderstanding.
Goals should be realistic and challenging. This gives an individual a feeling of
pride and triumph when he attains them, and sets him up for attainment of next
goal. The more challenging the goal, the greater is the reward generally and the
more is the passion for achieving it.
Better and appropriate feedback of results directs the employee behaviour and
contributes to higher performance than absence of feedback. Feedback is a means of
gaining reputation, making clarifications and regulating goal difficulties. It helps
employees to work with more involvement and leads to greater job satisfaction.
Employees’ participation in goal is not always desirable.
Participation of setting goal, however, makes goal more acceptable and leads to
more involvement. [ CITATION MSG211 \l 1033 ]
Goal setting theory is a technique used to raise incentives for employees to complete
work quickly and effectively.
Goal setting leads to better performance by increasing motivation and efforts, but also
through increasing and improving the feedback quality. [ CITATION MSG211 \l 1033
]
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At times, the organizational goals are in conflict with the managerial goals. Goal
conflict has a detrimental effect on the performance if it motivates incompatible
action drift.
Very difficult and complex goals stimulate riskier behaviour.
If the employee lacks skills and competencies to perform actions essential for goal,
then the goal-setting can fail and lead to undermining of performance.
There is no evidence to prove that goal-setting improves job satisfaction.
[ CITATION MSG211 \l 1033 ]
Reinforcement theory of motivation was proposed by BF Skinner and his associates. It states
that individual’s behaviour is a function of its consequences. It is based on “law of effect”,
i.e, individual’s behaviour with positive consequences tends to be repeated, but individual’s
behaviour with negative consequences tends not to be repeated.[ CITATION MSG212 \l
1033 ]
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These theories search for the factors inner human beings that motive, preserve or prevent
conduct. Their predominant focus are the desires that inspire humans. Even as the theories
given by means of them have proved beneficial at knowledge motivation, they are still to be
completely tested thru studies.[ CITATION Ref211 \l 1033 ]
Nonetheless, these theories have giant fee in research associated with motivation. The
content material theories especially imply that individuals are specific and might have
particular resources of motivation.
It would be beneficial for managers to apprehend the assets of motivation for each individual
employee. The basis of the content material theories is that absence of motivating factors
creates tension that can trigger a bad behavioral performance [ CITATION Ref211 \l 1033 ]
When people don't get what they believe they desire, these theories suggest that they
try to satisfy their wants.
• Specific needs can lead to the preferred behavior. Those requirements should
be identified.
• Rewarding people can help them meet their needs. Identifying these desires will
aid in the creation of an effect through the motivational applications that managers
develop.
• People's desires can continue to change as a result of their education and other
influences. It's critical to design motivational programs that cater to conversion
desires.
The process theories then again investigate how conduct is caused, supported or ceased by
the motivational elements. There are four transcendent process theories that incorporate
support, hope, equity and objective setting [ CITATION Ref211 \l 1033 ]
The process theories primarily infer that individual decisions depend on inclinations,
remunerate factors and feeling of achievement. In this manner, the chiefs ought to
comprehend the process of motivation. Crafted by Skinner are referred to regularly
regarding the fortification theory. The fundamental suspicion basic Skinner's work is that it
is the outcomes (alluded to as operant; that is the reason the term operant molding) that
influence conduct. The hope demonstrates centers around the probability of the event of the
result [ CITATION Ref211 \l 1033 ]
Nonetheless, in the event of the equity theory the fundamental basic supposition is that
representatives contrast their endeavors and compensates and other individuals working
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Lenin Perera Professional Practices Assignment - 1
under same conditions. Another vital process theory is the objective setting theory that was
created by J Stacey Adams, a therapist for General Electric [ CITATION Ref211 \l 1033 ]
As a result, there are a few things that may be deduced from process theories:
• Goals are vital for directing behavior, and equity should be taken into account while
developing motivational strategies.
While inquiring hasn't been able to confirm these theories completely, still, they have given us
a structure to comprehend motivation and its applications in different settings. The significance
of motivation has developed in the 21st century as associations are centered on expanding
profitability and inferring upper hand through HR [ CITATION Ref211 \l 1033 ]
In such manner, the process and substance theories can give a supportive system to start
a discourse and outline important projects.
5.8.3 How will this content help the author in the future?
In the future, the author intends to start an IT firm (software). For this HND, he wants to
pursue a specialization in software engineering and then finish his top-up degree in a foreign
nation while working for an IT company to gain experience. He has contributed a wide range
of abilities throughout the Professional Practice unit, where he was exposed to a wide range
of information and was able to broaden his understanding of the subject. These approaches
and knowledge, on the other hand, would be beneficial to the author as he begins his new
profession in the IT area.
The author will be able to manage his employees more effectively since he will
understand what wants, factors, and goals will motivate them.
Listen for employees who are struggling so that the author can motivate them. These changes
will increase the firm's productivity and profitability.
The fundamental goal of a skills audit is to determine what skills and information an
individual requires, as well as what skills and knowledge they presently possess.
The author has completed his skill evaluation. That audit is based on his and his team's
participation in a training event. The reader will gain a clear understanding of skill audits and
how to apply them in their work environment and career path by examining that audit.
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Lenin Perera Professional Practices Assignment - 1
Score Scale:
comes to
arguments.
From the preceding table, the author has provided a clear picture of his talent audit, and all of
the skill points are based on his assumptions. In real-world settings, these skill points and
levels may differ.
The author's future role, as well as how he would grade his skills right now and what he can
improve before participating with the market place, are all listed in the skill audit table below.
Skills How the skill / quality might enable Area for development? me to perform the role?
YES/NO-WHY?
At various points in your life, you may be presented with opportunities for personal
development: perhaps the chance to work with someone particularly inspiring, or to do
something new and unexpected.
But it is also true to say that you make your own luck.
In other words, you have to know what you need to improve to achieve a particular ambition,
and then work on it. But if you do so, you will improve. And only by doing so will you have a
chance of achieving that ambition.
On the other hand, if you really don’t know what you need to improve, you can’t work on it.
And if you don’t plan ahead to develop the skills that you need for your chosen course in life,
you will not be able to achieve all that you want.
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Lenin Perera Professional Practices Assignment - 1
The reason for planning your personal development is therefore very simple: only you know
what you want to achieve, and the key to achieving it is in your hands via the actions you
take. Planning what you need to do to achieve your goals is a vital step in the process.
Many people may first come across personal development plans as part of a course of
study, or at work. But planning what you need to do to improve or change yourself is not
just important in formal situations. It can also help in your personal life too.
There may well be times in your life when you don’t feel the need for a personal
development plan. You might, for example, finish a course of study, or reach a point in your
personal life where you consciously decide that for the moment, you don’t want to do
anything deliberate by way of personal development.
In the nature of things, you will of course continue to learn from everything that happens to
you, every day. This is why it is called ‘lifelong learning’. But you may choose not to
document it, or to work towards any particular goals, and that’s fine.
But remember that when you do want to improve particular skills, planning will help you to
achieve your goals.
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Lenin Perera Professional Practices Assignment - 1
Name Status
Target :-
BEng. Software Engineer
Skill Audit
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Lenin Perera Professional Practices Assignment - 1
Literacy B A A A
C B B A
Making Decisions.
C B A A
Planning &
Organization.
Self-learning skills D C B A
Table 4 - CDP
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Lenin Perera Professional Practices Assignment - 1
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6 Annexures
This communication was crucial in our training session because all of the participants
were informed about meetings, schedules, and other details. We also used this site to
share data, information that was acquired personally, and presentations. Discussions
was about the skills of the author, when he submitted his powerpoint slides group
members were commenting on his work.
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