SECTION ONE: Reflection on Project Experience
My group met the objectives well, following the structured phase approach. We familiarised ourselves with LSA during the kick-off phase before identifying some competitors to focus our research on: we wanted to document competitors (and LSA) comprehensively so that we could easily compare the documents and see what LSA is missing from the market standard, as well as how to stand out. After identifying these competitors and writing these documents, we analysed common themes and conducted a detailed competitor analysis report.
Personally, I chaired meetings, prepared agendas, and facilitated many group discussions to progress our goals. I also planned all of our documents, outlining everything so that each member could contribute with minimum initial effort (since everything was already clear and instructed). I also planned timelines and organised the structure of the report, as well as editing the final report to be coherent/comprehensive. After the report, I designed the slideshow and roughly planned each slide so that the group could get some momentum to finish off with.
I developed my existing project management and team co-ordination skills, practising my communication/collaboration abilities during our meetings and shared document work. I also enhanced my analytical thinking somewhat when completing the competitor analyses and engaging in direct discussion with LSA. Beyond all of this, though, I think the most important thing I learned was how to interact with professionals across fields and smaller skills related to this.
I learned that I thrive in organisational and leadership roles, gaining confidence in managing complex tasks and motivating team members. However, in the future I’d focus more on offloading some management aspects and experiment with a less leading role - in the group I was within though, I strongly felt that some leadership/management was missing and the group wouldn’t make much cohesive progress, so I took the role despite this.
SECTION TWO: Application of Project and Life Skills
I applied the presentation skills from the workshop(s) to effectively communicate findings to LSA throughout the project, as well as the final presentation. Moreover, I used insights from the personalities workshop to understand team dynamics further so I could motivate and influence members of the group with more ease. In the future, I can leverage these persuasive communication skills in similar ways along basically any career path, adapting my communication style to suit diverse team members for better collaboration. I’ll continue developing my project management skills for leading and executing projects, too.
Overall, the workshops provided a toolkit of skills for my personal and professional growth which definitely prepared me to tackle future challenges with confidence and competence.