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INTRODUCTION
Business psychology is a study of investigating the behavior and perception of employees at a workplace in order to develop relevant strategies that can result in effective operations (Crone and Fuligni, 2019). The main aim of this report is to develop reflective journals from which the importance and improvement requirements of skills can be determined. In this report, three skills are selected to develop reflective journals, which are time management, teamwork, and public speaking. After developing these journals, a personal development plan is created in order to develop the skills using a SMART framework. This development plan will include a summary of the strengths and weaknesses identified in the journal.
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Introduction of psychological approaches
Psychological approaches are the perspectives having various assumptions about human behaviour. These approaches view every aspect of employees in a way that it can be used to identify their needs and perceptions so that suitable decisions can be made (Goer and Elliott, 2019). In a workplace, psychology is a study of mind which focuses on unconscious mental process of an individual rather than the conscious mind to integrate the knowledge and behaviour to get desired outcomes. Usually psychologists use techniques of interviews, experimentation, and observation to read the minds and perceptions of employees in a workplace.
Psychological approaches or perspectives to make suitable assumptions and predictions. There are mainly five psychological approaches which are used by contemporary organisations. These approaches are stated as follows, which can be used in a workplace to understand oneself and others:to
biological perspective or approach helps an individual to understand how nervous system, mental state and hormones of an individual impact their behaviour. Its approach assumes that human body is nothing else but a biological structure which reacts and acts as per the needs of physical body. An individual can get benefitted to analyse behaviour and perception of self and others by studying the drug history and genetic roots (Kang, Gray and Dovidio, 2015). Â
Behavioural Perspective is an approach which assumes that a human body reacts according to their external environment, which stimulates their behaviour and responses. This approach is most effective in the case of a workplace, as by this, reasons of adverse behaviour can be identified and then actions can be taken so that full productivity of employees can be enjoyed. This approach is highly used in a workplace, where a leader analyzes the external factors which are impacting performance of followers and then develops strategies by which their issues can be resolved so that their full potential can be gained.
Psychodynamic Perspective is an approach which assumes that every action of an individual is driven by a cause and that cause is required to be found. It is also assumed in this approach that a human is not aware about every action done by them and it is their unconscious mind which lets them behave certainly. By using this approach, an individual can ascertain why people behave in certain ways and then identify the cause behind their behaviour (Komives, 2016).
Cognitive Perspective or approach says that the behavior of an individual is determined by the expectations of that individual (Link et al., 2015). This approach is most suitable for understanding the behaviour of oneself. This approach involves the assumption that the situations that an individual perceives and remembers are the main causes of the reaction to the stimuli. By using this approach, an individual can not only understand the behaviour of others but also understand their own behaviour and then act responsively. Â Â Â Â
Humanistic Perspective is opposite of behaviour approach. In this approach, individual empowerment is focused on environmental environment. According to this approach, the behavior of an individual depends on the situation and whether or not they are feeling good by themselves.
Reflective journals
Time management
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What is the core skill to develop? Time management is a skill which ensures effective planning and dividing the time among all the activities which are required to be done (Lysaker, 2018). This core skill increases effectiveness, productivity and efficiency. |
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Why did I select this skill to reflect on? Why is this core skill important for your development (personal and professional)? The rationale behind selecting the time management skill is its benefits of efficiency and productivity. Being a first-year student, it is important for me to balance my life both professionally and personally so that all my activities can be completed in a desired time period. I considerably get less time to enjoy my personal life due to huge tasks of my education. With the help of this skill, I will learn how to divide my time into all the activities. There are various theories which I can select in order to ensure effective time management in my routine. But I think the theory of Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix is most appropriate. Using this theory, I can arrange all my activities in four quadrants according the priority of the activities. In this theory, a matrix is prepared which has four quadrants. The first quadrant represents urgent and important tasks, the second quadrant shows not urgent but important tasks; the third one includes urgent and not important tasks; and lastly, the fourth quadrant includes not urgent and not important tasks. Using this matrix, I will arrange all my activities and divide my time according to the quadrant’s priority. This skill is important for me, as by this I will be able to balance my personal and professional life. |
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Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your competence? My current competency regarding the skill of time management is crucially low and it really needs to be improved due to my current hectic schedule. I have assessed my competence regarding this skill from my Tutor’s feedback. My tutor experienced that I am unable to effectively achieve the tasks given to me and the reason behind this is lack of time.  Due to mismanagement of time and inability to perform important activities, this has resulted in low confidence in me. My behaviour has been changed and I tend to be in hurry always. All these aspects which I have noticed in me and my tutor’s feedback at top of that have evidently convinced me that I lack in managing my time.  |
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Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? My opinion does not contradict with my Tutor’s feedback at all, as according to me, I am in distressed need of improving my time management skills. I have identified various weaknesses due to my lack of time management skills. My behaviour towards my peers and other people has become annoyed. I am always in hurry and even after that, most of my important tasks are unattended.   |
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How might this skill help me in the future? In my second year and for the rest of my life, this will be the skill which will help me to grow myself not only professionally but personally as well. In future, I can learn various more skill just because of spare time, which I will gain due to time management skill. |
Team working
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What is the core skill to develop? Team work is the skill of combining all employees together in pursuit of the common goal (Ninomiya, 2018). This skill includes quality of managing all the employees and controlling the patience which leads to working with other people. |
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Why did I select this skill to reflect on? Why is this core skill important for your development (personal and professional)? I selected the skill of team work due to the importance of working in a team in an organization, which will ultimately improve my leadership skills. I am the kind of individual who believes in being a leader rather than a manager, so it is important for me to develop skills which enable me to work with a team. Benefits of this skill include the opportunity to be a successful leader in future. This skill is important for an individual to have, as it will help for a long time of professional development. There are various theories which can help in developing the skill of teamwork, but according to me, the Belbin Team Roles Theory is most appropriate (Travers, Morisano and Locke, 2015). Under this theory, it is assumed that there are total of nine roles which team members play in a team play. These roles include resource investigator, team worker, coordinator, specialist, etc. By using this theory, I can understand importance of each role and how a team can be managed.   |
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Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your competence? My current competence regarding this skill is moderate and I have assessed this competency by the opinion of my peers. In various group class activities, my team members felt that I am moderately able to work in a team. |
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Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? I have identified a contradiction from the analysis of my skill. I disagree with my team members and peer’s opinions of me being moderately able to work in a team. According to me, I am highly able to work in a team and I have all the skills which are required to become a leader. I think my peers and team members misread my skill of being able to work in a team is due to my overly enthusiastic behaviour of becoming a leader of a team rather than being only a team member. This area of my skill of focusing on becoming a leader rather than working as a team member is a weakness for me, as due to this I have to suffer in my future as no organisation will give me the opportunity to become a leader without having experience as a team member. |
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How might this skill help me in the future? Effective acquisition of this skill will help me to enhance my career opportunities. |
Public Speaking
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What is the core skill to develop? A public speaking skill is the ability to communicate and address an audience with complete clarity and confidence (Mischel, DeSmet, and Kross, 2014). |
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Why did I select this skill to reflect on? Why is this core skill important for your development (personal and professional)? The reason behind selecting this skill is to prepare for future. In the current dynamic corporate world, where presentation is the most important element, it is important for me to gain skills of public speaking. Personal development does not require high skills in public speaking, but professional development highly relies upon the ability to address an audience with full confidence. The skill of public speaking can even be more enhanced with the concept of Rhetorical devices (Cottrell, 2015). Using smiles, gestures, hand movement, metaphors, allusions, etc. are all techniques that can make a public speaking session even more enduring. By using this concept, I can be able to effectively address an audience. |
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Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your competence? My current competence in public speaking is high, and I have assessed this by gaining feedback from my tutor. During various classroom activities, my tutor has experienced great communication skills, against which they have given me the feedback of being a good communicator. |
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Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? In this case as well, I feel some contradictions. Despite gaining feedback about being a great communicator, I feel only having good communication skills cannot result in being a good public speaker as well. Â I have identified few weaknesses in the area of using Rhetorical devices. While addressing the audience, my communication area is effectively polished as I use proper language. But when it comes to the use of gestures, smiles, and other elements, I lose confidence, which results in an average speech. |
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How might this skill help me in the future? This skill will help me professionally in future. I can use this skill while facing an interview or group discussion. This skill will also allow me to address an audience in seminars and workshops. |
Summary Action Plan
From the above journals of skill development, there are various strengths and weaknesses which I have identified. It has been observed that I am a great communicator and I have effective communication skills. From the feedback of my peers and tutor, I have concluded that I am highly capable of effectively communicating. Besides this strength, I have various weaknesses as well. My skills as a team player and public speaker are my biggest weaknesses, which are followed by my inability to manage time.
My current level of competency in the above-mentioned three areas is low, which needs to be developed in order to ensure personal and professional development. To develop my skills in the above-mentioned three areas, it is necessary for me to prepare a development plan for this.
A SMART structured skill development plan is developed as follows:.
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Skill objective |
Specific |
Measurable |
Achievable |
Relevant |
Timely |
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Time management skill |
To gain the skill of time management to ensure balance between personal and professional life. |
This skill can be measured as achieved when I will have enough time to learn new skills. Â |
This skill can be achieved using AI time tables and Stephen Covey’s Time Management Matrix, from which I can designate each task as per their priority. |
This skill is relevant for my future personal and professional growth. |
6 months |
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Teamwork skills |
To gain the ability to work in a team and to become the boss of everyone. |
This skill will be considered as achieved when my team members and peers provide me with positive feedback. |
This skill can be achieved by properly understanding the roles in a team using theory of Belbin team role. |
This skill is relevant for my professional career. This skill will help me grab the opportunity of working in effective teams. |
4 months |
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Public speaking skills |
To gain the ability of communicating and addressing the audience. |
This skill of mine will be measured as achieved when I observe my audience take interest in my speech. |
This skill can be achieved by practice and using Rhetorical devices. |
This skill is relevant for my professional development, as by this I will be able to address audiences in workshops and seminars. |
11 months |
The above skill development plan has a structure framework about how I can work on my skills to turn my weaknesses into strengths. These skills are planned to be developed so that the needs of the second year can be fulfilled. The skills which are planned to be developed by me are the skills of areas in which I observed as my weaknesses in journal entries. Â Â
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been concluded that the study of business psychology is important for not only studying the behaviour of other people in a workplace but also understanding own behavior, which is impacted due to the external environment and internal expectations. A total of three journal entries are developed above, from which it has been observed that it is not important the individual perspective of having a skill is true. Apart from this, from the skill development plan that is developed in the SMART framework, it is observed that a total of 21 months will be required to gain all the planned skills.
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