MGT 203: PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Course description(1)
designed to introduce students to a range of business skills including interpersonal, oral and written communication, time management, problem solving using creativity and lateral thinking and information gathering. It provides an opportunity for them to practise these skills at an introductory level.

Lecture 1-2: Introduction

Course description(2)
Through the introduction to ideas on learning theory and the development of the Personal Portfolio students are encouraged to attempt to understand their own learning experience and are also introduced to the skills of analysis and self evaluation.

Course description(3)
The importance of developing skills as a preparation for business is emphasised and students are given advise on preparing for the job seeking process and career development.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES
The aims of this course are to enable student to: introduce students a range of personal and interpersonal skills provide opportunities for students to practice some of them inform students of the importance of these skills in a business context assist students in making considered option and career choices

LEARNING OUTCOMES
Successful students will be able to: retrieve, use, analyse and evaluate secondary data from the library and a range of other sources including from websites design a poster, 3D model or artifact to be displayed in the presentation analyse and evaluate their Personal Development Portfolio with the results of a range of Psychometric instruments on learning styles and strategies, personality and behaviour produce a personal SWOT/ SWAIN analysis and identify and evaluate possible personal learning strategies prepare and rehearse material for group presentation to be presented in front of the peers communicate effectively verbally by making an effective presentation to their peers

STUDENT EVALUATION

REFERENCES
Cameron, S. 2002. Business Students Handbook. 2nd ed., Prentice-Hall Other appropriate references and websites.

Students are required to include a bibliography for every assignment. 100% Coursework: 70% Individual Assignment and 30% Group Assignment (15% Research project report of 2,500 words with the appendices and references, 15% group presentation with visual aids for public exhibition).

Business skills
Interpersonal skills Communication skills Presentation skills Time management skills Research skills Information gathering skills Creativity skills Report and essay writing skills Problem solving skills

The individuals perceptual set

The world as we see it is not a good starting point for developing an understanding of the world we live in Each of us has a personal and unique version of what is out there and our own place in it. We each have our own perceptual world, which is an image, a map or a picture of our environment

What you can do

You have a wonderful opportunity to attain the skills and knowledge to further your life ambitions
Be proactive Be reactive Be professional
Remember you are training to be future business leaders

The individuals perceptual set

The world as we see it is not a good starting point for developing an understanding of the world we live in Each of us has a personal and unique version of what is out there and our own place in it. We each have our own perceptual world, which is an image, a map or a picture of our environment

Be responsible Be respectful Keep a balance between your studies and your leisure Join in Keep us informed
E.g. If you are ill or for any other reason that affects you personally or studies

So, Challenge
Whatever you hear Whatever you read Whatever I say
always
WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY

Research skills
Formulating a research topic How to go about the research Questionnaire design Basic data analysis How to present data

How to write
Management reports Essays Issues
Plagiarism Harvard referencing Proof reading Spell-checking

Written Reports
The three main purposes of report writing:
1 2 3

to describe to record to persuade

Clear Report Writing

Institute of Chemical Engineers Text Survey Result (of 1535 submissions) Version preferred: H Y R 46% 18% 16% F B T 9% 8% 3%

Clear Report Writing

Version H direct verbs; mainly active; - minimum of special language - sentences of varied length; mainly short, not complex; - 3 paragraphs.

Clear Report Writing

Version T verbs mainly passive; - roundabout and woolly; - excessive use of special words; - sentences long and involved; - 1 paragraph.

Clear Report Writing

It is conventional to make reports objective and avoid the use of the first person. However, this tends to lead to the continual use of the passive tense which is dull.

Clear Report Writing

Passive vs active verbs: It was observed by Brown and White (1988) that Brown and White (1988) observed that

Clear Report Writing

Passive v active verbs: The temperature is dependant on The temperature depends on...

Clear Report Writing

Some features normally found in a good report:
Good signposting by the use of headings and layout so the reader is not lost amongst the paragraphs, A concise summary so the reader can find out what the report is all about without having to read the main body, A style that communicates appropriately with the audience, A substantial information content to make reading worthwhile, Good diagrams that aid understanding and are attractive, Recommendations that are valid and without bias, References that enable readers to check do their own in-depth research.

Clear report writing

A comparison of writing styles used for technical reports:

Preferred texts have

Direct verbs, mainly active Sentences with varied length, but mainly short, Frequent paragraphs.

Difficult to read
Verbs mainly passive, Sentences long and involved, Excessive use of special vocabulary.

Checking the readability of written communications -1

Checking the readability of written communications - 2 Interpretation of Fog Score:

2-3 a reasonable average for business writing a rather heavy use of long words typical of much academic and technical writing

Gunnings Fog Index

1. 2. 3.

Count the number of words of 3+ syllables Count the number of sentences Divide the number of 3+ syllable words by the number of sentences

4-5 6+

Checking the readability of written communications - 3

One possible way of improving the letter:

Effective written communications

Convey the necessary message accurately, Project the image of the writer appropriate to the situation.
Three stages are involved in developing an effective written communication: 1. Preparing to write, 2. Writing, 3. Reviewing what has been written

Dear Sirs, I am sorry to say that we have lost the statement and summary enclosed with your cheque for 1000 sent on 26th July. Since we need these particulars for tax purposes, I should be grateful if you would send us a copy when making the next payment due on 30th November. Yours faithfully,

DRAFTING
(www.io.com/-hcexres/textbook/twroughs.html)

Personal/management development
FITness and the secret of the universe
Responsibility Ethics Balance Fearlessness Awareness

Learning styles
We all have different ways of learning Teachers have different ways of teaching How do we cope with the misfit between the two?

Leads to:
Greater efficiency Stress management strategies

Communication
Your ability to communicate in both a written and oral manner will to a large extent how successful you are:
At university At work and socially

Presentations
You will all be required to provide a presentation to the teaching team and your peers. Yes it might seem scary We will help you to de-scare it

Creativity and problem solving

The issues affecting groups and teams in the creative process How you can overcome the issues

Group processes
In organisations, people spend most of their time in groups Groups are the fundamental building blocks of organisations There are however issues which inhibit group productivity

What you should do!

Check the module ISAP sites often Attend lectures that you are assigned to

Coursework(1)
You MUST attend lectures/tutorials You will be put into groups
4 or 5 people in a group For the first of two assignments Assignment one
A RESEARCH PROJECT supported by, A GROUP PRESENTATION

Coursework(2)
Individual Assignment (70%)
Assignment 1: Study Plan (20%) Assignment 2: Career Plan (30%) Assignment 3: Mock Interview (20%) Refer to the individual uploaded assignment component.