PROFESSIONAL REFLECTION
Introduction –
The following study is the professional reflection of the proposal that was assigned to me as an important part of my course learning. Here every point and procedure which I have gone through while completing the proposal is being discussed in the detailed description.
This study includes the probable difficulties and challenges I encountered in finalizing each and every section of the whole paper, how the communication and interaction with my teachers and guides helped me get a better understanding of the proposal, what skills set is required to have the full grasp of the project for executing it in the best way and how it can be acquired, the lesson I learnt after the total completion of this study, my future strategies based on this and last but not the least, the professional development plan of this proposal.
Challenges Encountered in Each Section –
The given proposal is a part of my learning course and I had to face some challenges and difficulties in completing that as the subject matter and the topic was totally new to me. But those challenges and the efforts I put in to overcome them in order to excel in the project and to complete proficiently have helped me shape my career and my personal betterment.
Because of the fact that I was a novice in the given proposal, I needed to get a better hold of it and its characteristics to understand what it is actually about and what procedure I should follow for its completion. As I conducted research and studies for my understanding of this topic, I realised that the proposal and its various aspects will help my future career as I am getting enough exposure to a new subject and to learn new things which I was unaware of. That was my chief objective, to bring the best of the proposal to develop my own skills and potential for the betterment of my futuristic opportunities.
So firstly, I needed to know the aim and objectives of the proposal so that I would get to know the probable benefits of it which might help my career in future. I had to do some research by reading books and or collecting online data to know its scope and advantages. This way I gathered the motivation of conducting the whole project as I got to know how its utilisation will benefit me.
Secondly, I had to gather the necessary knowledge and information to analyse the proposal thoroughly. As I said, the topic was not something mainstream and I had to go through a few books and browse online to get hold of the essential data and prepare myself to embark on this assignment.
Thirdly, when I had to discover the ethical, social, political, professional and legal issues, I realised that the given project has several impacts on the mentioned domains and each one of those influences is equally significant. So researching those influences thoroughly on those issues and on my own future career became important and sturdy as matters of this kind have complex understanding and overview.
Interaction with Tutors, Peers and Supervisor –
Right after entering into this institution and starting my course, one thing I understand from the lectures and the discourse that the teachers and mentors provide is that they can be really helpful and obliging in guiding us. As I have already said, the proposal was new and not of very common knowledge. Along with self-discovered books, journals and websites, the verbal lectures and references of the tutors are very important.
They helped me in various ways, starting from providing me with the basic idea of the whole approach to how it would be beneficial for my professional life. I was provided with the knowledge of how to analyse and write the project in an academic format, what information I should put on and what I should avoid in order to conduct the project in an impressive and deliberate way.
Besides these, one-on-one meetings and study sessions as much as possible were immensely helpful in clearing out all my queries, confusions, feedbacks of my methods, the relevance of the given assignment in my career etc. This kind of meeting and personal interactions are very necessary for boosting up the productivity of the students, as I would recommend keeping in mind the extent to which I got the chance to utilise the benefits (Kostalova and Tetrevova, 2018).
Talking about my mentor or supervisor, he has guided me well throughout this project session, proving his temperament in the betterment of the students. Whenever I needed some clarification regarding a certain topic, he provided me with ample information, even references for my future help. He was never reluctant in giving his opinion and feedback about my progression and the methods I was following, also how I could improvise my strategy and format.
Regarding my peers and the group, to my opinion, it could perform better in conducting the research and the assignment. There was a lack of active interaction and the needed cohesive bonding which was required for carrying out a project in an efficient manner.
I think an initiative or encouragement from the academic staff is needed for the active participation of each and everyone in the group (Armenia et al., 2019). However, it was not a complete failure. We did share notes and information and it was helpful knowing a different perspective and point of view of the project.
Skill for a Successful Proposal
A certain set of skills is required for the formation of any proposal in a dignified manner (Petroutsatou, 2019). While working on this project, I had to exercise some of my specific expertise along with adopting new methods and techniques. For instance, analytical skill is needed at the beginning to get hold of the newly introduced topic.
For analysing, researching and determining the needed context and related areas which had to be focused on, I had to go through several journals, articles, books from all types of sources to reach a conclusion, as a single point of view is not totally reliable.
I had to work on my communication skill as well to interact with my peers, lecturers and supervisor. Communication is the key to the efficiency of this kind of academic proposal. Meetings, classes, discussions were thoroughly held for getting a clear conception of the whole project, as well as to guide us throughout the process.
Organizing skills like meeting the deadline, submitting the proposal within the given time period, order, respect and discipline are to be followed with efficacy (Nicholas and Steyn, 2017). Though lacking at times, I tried my best to organising and carrying out the project in the best possible way with keeping the criteria and guidelines always in mind. Each phase of this whole process needed a specific span of time and I was able to invest the necessary time and effort in accordance with the demand.
There is another skill that is compulsory for the execution of an academic proposal, that is, speed reading (Kayser et al., 2018). The more knowledge and information you can comprehend within a fixated time, the better understanding and handling of the project will be. As there was a mere scarcity of relevant material and data, I had to conduct heavy research within the given deadline with increased speed reading.
Lesson Learnt and Future Strategies –
Alongside conducting a proposal, there are a number of non-materialistic advantages that can be achieved and embraced. Learning relevant lessons and practices are one of them (Boyle, 2017). Firstly, it is the ability of critical evaluation. For researching, we have to come across various sources and materials with distinct points of view and individuality. But it’s not just re-writing the content or whatever is written there but having a critical approach to evaluate and select. The question of plagiarism comes here as students must write the paper based on his/her own research and theory being influenced by the sources.
Secondly, correct formatting and presentation are important as it varies in different fields. For an academic proposal, the whole process should be done with proper rules in the right format, with references to the authors as it is very important to pay respect and gratitude towards them, and also to avoid plagiarism. Meeting the respected timescales is also should be learnt and implied in the project (Aviles et al., 2017).
About the future strategies, active group communication has to be implemented. As this was lagging behind, we did not have enough exposure to each other’s perspectives and thus to come up with new ideas and propositions. Another future plan is to pledge for the extension of the allocated time for the submission of the proposal. As we were not provided with ample materials from the institution, we had to opt for time-consuming research. So increment of the allocated time would help in better and deeper understanding.
Above all, the desired result and feedback are of the most valued objectives which are to be achieved by a systematic order of learning, researching, evaluating the context and related sources as well as meeting the necessary timescales and deadlines.
Professional Development Plan –
- Improvement of my organizational skill needs to be achieved. To conduct the whole process of the given proposal in an orderly and methodical manner is one of my targeted development plans.
- The critical evaluation of the available resources and utilising it according to my own perspective and formulation are to be attained.
- The relevance of the study regarding the given proposal in my present and future career is to be analysed.
- To know more about this topic and to gather more information for my own personal benefit resulting in the enhancement of my career.
- Improving the design and methodical techniques to excel in the structural presentation of the proposal.
| Goals | How to achieve | Resources needed | Expected outcome | Timeline |
| Organizational skill | Minute investment of more time and efforts in the proposal | Guidance from the mentors and samples of other such projects | Betterly organized projects with the desired result | 6 months |
| Critical evaluation | Investing more time into research
|
Availability of materials and handouts- hard copy/soft copy | Better insight into existing information | 4 months |
| Future benefits | Consulting the seniors and supervisors and knowing about their experience | Meetings, discussions and interactions with the professional | Clear idea about the scope and advantages of the proposal | 6 months |
| Personal benefits | Gathering more information and feedbacks | Chances for communicating with the professionals to know about their expertise
|
A better understanding of my future career plan | 1 year |
| Presentation and technical skill | Inspecting more papers and articles | Availability of ample research papers | Improved performance in the upcoming proposals | 6 months |
Conclusion –
To conclude, I can say that to reflect on the role that was assigned to me, I have to undertake the given proposal and as the consequence, a lot of lessons, plans and strategies has been experienced, learnt and confronted. The necessary classes, discussions and lectures have a tremendous impact on the whole learning process and it has contributed to the team dynamic, peers group and to the relationship with the teachers, mentors and supervisor.
It can be said that a new set of beliefs, understanding and skills was created. Besides, becoming an active practitioner and student for efficiently conducting the whole process has been important and essential. This study reflects on the overall initiatives and efforts which were undertaken for completing the given proposal in a structured manner.
Reference List –
Kostalova, J. and Tetrevova, L., (2018). Proposal of Project Management Methods and Tools Oriented Maturity Model. Gestão e Projetos: GeP, 9(1), pp.1-23.
Armenia, S., Dangelico, R.M., Nonino, F. and Pompei, A., (2019). Sustainable project management: A conceptualization-oriented review and a framework proposal for future studies. Sustainability, 11(9), p.2664.
Petroutsatou, K., (2019). A proposal of project management practices in public institutions through a comparative analysis of critical path method and critical chain. International Journal of Construction Management, pp.1-10.
Nicholas, J.M. and Steyn, H., (2017). Project management for engineering, business and technology. Taylor & Francis.
Kayser, A.C., Schmidt, S. and Dal Ri, R.S., (2018). University-Industry Collaborative Projects: Analysis and Proposal of Management Practices. Revista de Gestão e Projetos-GeP, 9(1), pp.24-38.
Boyle, G., (2017). Design project management. Routledge.
Avilés, R.A., Cuenca, G.M., Serrano, S.C. and Simón, L.F.R., (2017). Teaching-learning process in” Project Management in documentation units”: a methodological proposal. Qualitative and Quantitative Methods in Libraries, 3(1), pp.309-320.
