Group Consulting Project for Student Experience

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The diversity of our team
Group discussions
Communication skills
Time management
Conclusion
References

Introduction

In my opinion, participation in a group consulting project is a very important experience for every business student. I have recently had a chance to take part in one of such projects that included people with different professional and cultural backgrounds. I think that this assignment will help me become a better business administrator who can interact with other professionals. Our group was composed of six people; three of them were international students while three were local residents. Despite these cultural differences, we could successfully work with one another. The team included Student J, Student T, Student N, Student P, Student A, and me. The teacher specifically asked us to work as a team, because such cooperation could be useful to us. This assignment has increased my awareness of the complexities of group work. Despite the fact that we faced many challenges while working on the project, I can say that this experience was of great use to each team member.

The diversity of our team

Overall, I can first tell that group projects require coordination of peoples efforts because very often they have to do very difficult tasks. More importantly, they have to find ways of reconciling their interests. In some cases, team members may not join the project at the same time. For instance, I missed the first week of the class since I was overseas. It should be noted that team members had different skills. For instance, Student P and Student N major in accounting while Student T studies marketing. Overall, we had to coordinate our efforts and make sure that our skills were used effectively. In contrast, Student A and I major in HR management. So, we had to determine how our skills could be best used. For this assignment, we had to write a report for the client from Inclusion Melbourne. Our task was to develop strategies for their business ventures. In particular, we needed to speak about their business plan, the external environment of their firm, marketing strategies, risk management, and so forth. My task was to discuss the external environment or those factors that could affect the business of our client.

Group discussions

There are several peculiarities of this project that attracted my attention. First of all, I would like to speak about communication. Scholars emphasize the idea that group projects can be successful provided that team members can openly express their views, make recommendations, and critique the ideas of others. Without it, the work of participants may not be fruitful (McEvoy 1988, p. 144). This is why we organized meetings in order to discuss our strategies and the points that should be included in our report and presentation. Such discussions were of great use to us because we learned about the difficulties group members face.

Additionally, many authors note that group work should strongly rely on mutual readiness to help (Greif, & Ephross 2010, p.385). Members of the team should be willing to assist others and mere self-interest is not sufficient for successful performance (Greif, & Ephross 2010, p.385). Without such help, every project is less likely to succeed. Overall, this assignment has emphasized the importance of this argument because some members of our team failed to do the tasks assigned to them. This is why Student T and I helped Student A who could not cope with the parts of the report that they were responsible for.

Communication skills

Furthermore, researches speak about the dangers of groupthink in teams. This term describes a situation in group members are unwilling or afraid to express criticism or make their recommendations (Hardcastle 2011, p. 256). In fact, groupthink is the reason why many teams cannot achieve their goals (Hardcastle 2011, p. 256). Student T, who was the leader of our team, ensured that each of us could openly discuss this project and take part in the decision-making. Overall, his leadership skills really helped us. At this point, I can tell that a person should always develop his/her leadership skills, for instance, the ability to coordinate the work of other people and inspire them.

There is another lesson that I learned from this assignment. In particular, people, who participate in group consulting projects, should have well-developed communication skills (Gupta 2008; Barker 2010, p. 115). These people should be able to speak in front of an audience. We had to make a presentation for the teacher. It was done by Student T, Student J, and Student P who were good public speakers. They greatly contributed to the success of the presentation. Overall, this project has demonstrated to me that I should work on my public speaking skills, and hopefully, I will be able to acquire and develop them. I think that this ability will be important for my professional and personal growth.

Time management

It has to be admitted that we did not receive the highest mark for this assignment. At first, we received C for our report, and each member of the team was disappointed. However, later we managed to improve our results during the presentation. Moreover, we found it difficult to meet the deadlines that our professor set. Thus, I learned that time-management skills were important for every business student. Researchers believe people should be able to view even the most complicated assignment as a set of simpler tasks (Halan 2005, p. 35). In this way, it was much easier for me to meet even the most stringent deadlines. More importantly, this project has taught me that a person should take responsibility for ones performance because it can greatly affect the work of other people.

Apart from that, a person, who takes part in group consulting projects, should be able to maintain ones confidence and self-control. This ability is particularly important in those cases when a group cannot attain its goals. At first, we were very disappointed; especially our report did not meet the teachers expectations. Nevertheless, we did not come into direct conflict. This unanimity was of crucial importance to us.

Conclusion

On the whole, this experience has been of great value to me. In the future, I may take part in similar projects that may include professionals with diverse skills and cultural backgrounds. Group assignments will make me more confident in my professional skills and knowledge. Moreover, I will be more willing to participate in the decision-making process. This is one of the main lessons that I learned. Moreover, this project highlighted to me the role of leadership and communication skills that are indispensable for every business administrator. The difficulties that we encountered could be avoided provided our efforts were better coordinated. To a great extent, this group project helped me to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practice. Hopefully, I will have a chance to work on such assignments during my college studies.

References

Barker, A 2010, Improve Your Communication Skills, Kogan Page Publishers, New York.

Greif, G. & Ephross, P 2010, Group Work With Populations at Risk, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Gupta, S 2008, Communication Skills and Functional Grammar, Firewall Media, London.

Hardcastle, D 2011, Community Practice: Theories and Skills for Social Workers, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Halan, Y 2005, Managing Time, Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd, New York.

McEvoy, P 1998, Educating the Future GP: The Course Organizers Handbook, Radcliffe Publishing, New York.

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