Through also important to reflect at different

Through this patch of work, I have learned that reflection is an essential component in any type oflearning (Boud, D., Keogh, R. &Walker, D. 1985). I can now see that to learn from my experiences, Imust be able to reflect upon them and the actions I have taken. This piece has enabledme to strengthen my knowledge of this module and identify areas in which I needto improve. In addition to this, I have learnt that reflection should not justbe carried out at the end of an experience but that it is also important toreflect at different points throughout (Boud, D.

, Keogh, R. & Walker, D. 1985)Conclusion On the day of the pitch, we were unable to get in contact with a member of our team. This lead tofurther worries that our pitch may not go as well as planned as we were amember down. During the pitch, we had toimprovise due to the team member who didn’t show up. If I had the opportunity todo the pitch over again, I would have ensured I rehearsed the missing teammembers part of the pitch as they were notpresent during the rehearsal. I believe I should have used my initiative tolearn their lines rather than presuming they would have shown up. Overall, the pitch did not go as well as we had planned.

Ourpitch was postponed due to bad weather which meant we had to wait a furtherthree weeks to do our pitch. This was advantageous to us as it gave us more timeto prepare and reflect on others feedback and act upon what they were told. Werehearsed over our speech for the pitch multiple times which enabled us toidentify any problems and rectify them beforehand. Our biggest problem at thepitch was ensuring everyone had been over all the work we had done so far forthis module and that everyone was able to answer any questions raised to us inthe question and answer segment of the pitch.

To prepare ourselves for this wecomposed a list of questions which were likely to come up and made sureeveryone was able to answer the questions correctly. The pitch   The trade fair ran relatively smooth as we were able tocomplete all the necessary preparation such as designing the poster andcreating the business cards in a timely manner. Everybody in the group wasallocated a task such as producing business cards or coming up with content forthe poster and brochure to help ensure everything was done within time. Beforethe trade fair, everyone was anxious and hadquite a negative attitude towards the fair as none of us have held a trade fairbefore. Patricia Cross’s (1981) chainof response model shows that there are a numberof barriers which can hinder your progress whilst learning, not being able tokeep a positive outlook can be seen as one of these barriers. For ourgroup to be able to learn something from our experience, we all had to have a positive attitude.

The trade fair was an insightfulexperience as it enabled us to be able to see who can perform well underpressure. If I had an opportunity to redothis patch of work I would have made sure everyone proof read one another’s workas there were various spelling mistakesin our pieces of work, including in ourlogo which made us look very unprofessional. The TradeFair  One of the first obstacles we faced as a group was comingtogether to decide on a strategic business objective and plan for our hotel. Inthe beginning, there was conflict as to which direction we should be taking ourhotel in but after thorough research of surrounding hotels, Birmingham tourismand conducting our own primary research we were able to conduct a business planwhich everyone agreed upon. Green and Williams1996) claimsthat situational analysis is made up offour segments including analysing your environment and focusing on who your likelycustomers are. Our research, both primaryand secondary, enabled us to identify where hotels in Birmingham were doing well or coming up short. It also enabled us to comeup with our own unique value proposition and our target audience of socialgrade B to C1 and ensuring we were able to justify this.

Makingdecisions  Despite feeling this way, tobegin with, the group performed wellalthough there were problems which arose along the way.  In my group, there was an unequal contribution of work as one member lacked interest andinvolvement. This, in turn, resulted inother members of our team having to complete pieces of work which was assignedto the other member to help the group complete tasks in a timely manner. Reflecting on the pre-selected grouping I believe it may have been the betteroption as sometimes working with friends does not always produce the best work. Whilst working with friends you can sometimes become distracted and lose focuson the task at hand. Although there was alot of miscommunication and timing issues in all, we were able to come together and produce quality work.

For this module, wewere given pre-selected groups. Working in a group can be beneficial as you areable to accomplish more than you could as an individual in a shorter space oftime. In a group, you can incorporate oneanother’s ideas which leads to much betterconclusions and results.

I would have personally liked to have been ableto decide who was in my group as I would have felt more comfortable workingwith people I had already formed a relationship with. Not being able to choosethe people I was working with constituted to fears of not performing well, building new relationships and finding out one another’s strengths andweaknesses. Peter Levin (2005, p. 7) States ‘ You don’t become a team until youhave developed methods of working together and relationships have formedbetween you’. Workingas a groupDuring this reflective piece, I am going to evaluate the keyevents which took place whilst preparing for and during each patch of this module. I will be using Kolb’s learning cycle throughout this piece to reflect on myexperiences and what I have learned becauseof this.

Introduction