The strategy of teamwork

The strategy of teamwork INTRODUCTION For many years now, the strategy of teamwork has been widely used in many organizations. One of its motives is to translate organizational values into specific rules of conduct created by team members, thereby, allowing the creation of self-managed identification with organizational goals (Webb, 2006). Many contemporary theorists believe that working in teams tends to solve most if not all challenges faced by organizations. It tends to end the bureaucratic form of control, improving efficiency and productivity while providing employees an avenue for socialization, self-actualization and participative management (Johnson and Johnson 1987). It is important to organize work around teams in some cases. For instance, in other to ensure the successful outcome of the National Health Service (NHS) project in the UK, general practitioners, IT experts, project managers and other professionals would need to collaborate and work together. However, behind this seemly pleasant style of work lie certain undesirable traits and characteristics. The essay begins by presenting popular understanding of teams and some positive ideologies that support the use of teamwork. It then goes further by critically analyzing these ideologies and identifying some unproductive characteristics exhibited by teams. The premise of this essay is not trying to be cynical about the benefits that teamwork offers but rather expose some traits which reveals that it does not ‘always benefit organizations, and particularly, its members. This would profit us by having a broader understanding about its strengths, shortcomings and implication about its use. WHAT ARE TEAMS? Teamwork as an approach to how work is organized is not new but rather historic; probably older than the phenomenon ‘formal organization (Benders and Van Hootegem, 1999). Management literature began sensing its benefits in the 1920s (Wilson, 2004). Studies reveal many companies using teamwork as a way of organizing work (Cully et al. 1998; Cohen et al., 1996). Today, ‘team player skills usually needs to shown be potential employers to stand a chance of employment. A team is a small number of people with complementary skills, committed to a common purpose, having set of performance goals, and approach for which they hold themselves mutually accountable (Katzenbach and Smith, 1993, p113). Teams are thought to be ‘special form of groups because members have a more shared focus in all regards as opposed to seeking individual goals. Teams develop direction, commitment, and momentum by working to shape a meaningful purpose (Wilson, 2004, p206). There are some teams regarded as self-managing teams because they have more authority to self-regulate throughout the task (Cohen et al., 1996). Teamwork has been popularized to be a remedy for solving inflexible structures to work and alleged inefficient bureaucratic control, and enhancing employee higher-order ‘growth and ‘relatedness needs by job enrichment and empowerment (Bratton el at., 2007, p313). Socialtechnical theorists claim that teamwork improves employee discretion, thereby leading to commitment, motivation and satisfaction (Wilson, 2004). Teams enhance organizational dimensions by providing flexibility, motivation and learning (Knights and Willmott, 2007). Effective teams has also been framed as always task-oriented with confluence, having participative and shared form of leadership and tending to overcome the subversive forces of power, conflict and emotion (Sinclair, 1992). CRITICAL ANALYSIS ABOUT TEAMWORK In reality, teams are not always composed of the clearly perfect picture that ideologists and management gurus claim it to be. Team members are still humans and could exhibit their sense of individuality and purpose, which at certain times could be conflicting. Some views about teamwork are unitary (Burrell and Morgan, 1979; Storey, 1995) which only assumes cohesion not conflicts between members thereby writing off teams that actually exhibits tension and strife as not ‘real teams. In addition, the focus is centrally on achieving greater productivity with little emphasis to feelings, personal reflections or experience of team members (Metcalf and Linstead, 2003; Wilsons, 2004). To claim that teamwork is always beneficiary to the organization and its members, certain measures are required to ascertain its effectiveness. Does teamwork always produce remarkable results? Are team members always satisfied with the environment set for them to operate in and create themselves? Are they always willing to continue contributing? Do organizations always have control in channeling team outcomes? It appears that from the enjoyable and seemly pleasant surface of teamwork lie a murky side. Rhetoric of exploitation by working harder Teamwork is a sleeker form of oppressing labour to suck out optimal performance. It allows employees work ‘harder and smarter (Parker and Slaughter, 1988), intensifying labour from workers (Knights and Willmott, 2007; Wilson, 2004). Teamworks goal is to cultivate organizational values into members by making them more participative and giving them a bit of autonomy, thereby instilling in them passion to thrive and work further even outside their contracted job schedule without being paid. Moreover, team members in addition to their tasks have to supervise other colleagues ensuring they do their work. Teams have huge responsibility in ensuring delivery of tasks despite varying situations such as absenteeism, slackness or even change of members. These places profound burden on the rest of the team (not the organization) as additional efforts is required to nullify them as seen in the NUMMI case (Parker and Slaughter, 1988; Knights and Willmott 2007). Team members embrace self-dign ity by striving harder to ensure the teams success work not minding additional labour. While this benefits organizations who are obviously looking for maximum labour at minimum cost, it does not for team members because stress levels, tension and pressure are heightened as work is intensified and could lead to negative effects on employees well-being (Wilson, 2004). Concertive control and surveillance The strategy of teamwork is an effort to improve the traditional bureaucratic control. However, a tighter form of control, ‘concertive control tends to exists within team-based work (Barker, 1993). Similar ethnographic study by Kunda (1992) showed similar control used to gain unstinting commitment from employees. Traditionally, management was responsible for setting rules and regulations for employees. With teamwork, members set their own rules possibly forming stricter punishment for defaulters (as seen in Barkers case at ISE). Team members monitor actions ensuring total conformity with norms, meting out punishment to defaulters (Sewell, 1998). Employees feel additional pressure knowing that they are under surveillance from other team members, which may pose unhygienic to working environments. It appears that the freedom that teamwork promises seems contradictory to its reality. As Barker (1993, p435) rightfully argues that powerful combination of peer pressure and rational rules forms tighter form of cages as opposed to contemporary claims. It is worthy to note that teams are not truly effective if they get the job done but self-destructs or burns everyone out (Roberts and Corbett, 2009, p150). Conflicts of power and leadership traits Many contemporary theorists believe that groups that do not have conflicts over power or authority and have good interpersonal relations pass as real or working teams. However, studies show that groups do experience various forms power (French and Raven, 1959) which is not equally distributed (Fiorelli, 1988). The most influential or powerful individuals could maneuver the team efforts to possibly suit their own interests rather than the teams. Janis (1985) notes that political factors due to autocratic leaders cause high decision-making errors. Less powerful members have no choice but to concede to the opinions of these elite members despite the fact of their convictions about its failure. Decisions readily accepted unanimously without contests, weakens the efficiency of teams (Sinclair, 1992). ‘Groupthink (Janis, 1972) existence is likely in teams that try to reduce conflicts by cohesiveness and consensus without critical analysis and evaluation. The output of work in this case is not thorough and lacks excellence since further evaluation and alternatives may not be considered. An illustration is the famous NASA Shuttle Challenger case in 1986 where the engineers had to concede to launch the shuttle despite their concerns about its safety resulting into tragedy. It is difficult to eradicate the concept of leadership in teams, as they are important to their efficiency (Sinclair, 1992; Roberts and Corbett, 2009). Wilson (2004) argues that there difficulties in recruiting team leaders because the perception about their qualities varies. Bad leaders not being able to steer the team in its right course often lead to counterproductive results. Emotional conflicts and Resistance Teams are prone in displaying certain emotions during tasks that deters its efficiency (Ashkanasy el at., 2000). In the findings by Alan (2005), emotions are positive at the start of the project but tend to be negative as the project grows affecting the overall team process. McKinlay and Taylor (1996), Ezzamel and Wilmott (1998) shows emotional conflicts arise from unfairness and inequalities of peer evaluation system such as attaching benefits to individuals and variations in pay. Others causes include the need for belonging or frustrations having to conform, ‘social loafing or too much dominance by some members. All these negative emotions can produce actions that restrain team members towards putting in their best thereby impeding teamwork results. In the pyramid case, the system of peer review was a disciplinary mechanism by management to encourage individual performance and prevent free riding in the team but employees opinion that all team members should get equal benefits since the overall output was a team effort disrupted managements strategy. Contrary to ‘hegemony theory that management always exercises dominant influence over teams, it does not always appear so. In some teamwork cases, elements of conflicts and contention causes member to demand more control over their work process than what is available to them leading to renegotiation of managerial authority boundaries (Vallas, 2003). His study shows evidences of organizational tensions, contradictions and solidarity among workers restricted managements hegemonic control over their culture. This might frustrate managements strategy of imbibing their agenda into teams. Present managers might also frustrate organizations plight for teams because it might render them no longer necessary. Teamwork draws employees to micro-management of tasks (Milkman, 1998) and Peters (1987, p296) argues that because teams become self-managing, they tend to eliminate first-line supervisory jobs. This means that their services might become redundant or hinder their chances of promotion as seen in the traditional era of management (Sims, 1995). Time efficiency issues Meetings are places where teams spend lot of work time discussing issues and arriving at decisions (Briggs, 1997). In a research conducted by Olson and Olson (1999) on educators in the U.S., team members indicated weaknesses in effectiveness of meetings and timelines. From experience, being in team meetings could take a huge amount of time giving little time for the actual task. Covey et al. (1994) highlights the importance for strategies to help groups maximize time indicating the possibility of getting too engrossed in fruitless meetings. CONCLUSION There are some instances whereby individual performance is preferred to teamwork. Teamwork at times lead to frustration and ultimate failure when there are senses of hidden agendas, lack of understanding, poor leadership, wrong mix of team members and unhealthy team environment such as stress and unrealistic expectations (Yeung and Bailey, 1999). There is no single experience of teamwork as Knights and McCabe (2000) finding shows three classes of peoples experience as bewildered, bothered or bewitched. It is therefore inappropriate to claim teamwork is always beneficial to its members. In addition, team systems may open up possibilities beyond those which management intends (Derber and Schwartz, 1983). It is clear as some research suggests (e.g. Wall et al., 1986) that teamwork increases productivity. However, we need to understand when the concept of teamwork holds true. By just applying the framework of teams without properly exploiting those grey areas, it might tend to hamper rather than nourish organizational performance as some cases also show that ‘teamwork do not necessarily lead to organizational performance (Bratton, 2007). As Katzenbach and Smith (1993), rightly points that it is important for organizations, in other to make better decisions, know when teams can be encouraged and used. To add further, they must also be aware of those negative traits found in teamwork so as not feel disappointed in unanticipated outcomes. REFERENCES Ashkanasy, N. M., HÃÆ' ¤rtel, C.E. J. and Zerbe, W. J. (2000). Emotions in the workplace: research, theory, and practice. Westport: Greenwood Publishing group, Inc. Alan, P.R. (2005). Emotions and team projects and processes. Team Performance Management, 11(7-8), pp. 251-262. Barker, J. (1993). Tightening the iron cage: Concertive control in self managing teams. Administrative Science Quarterly, 38(3): 408-437. Belbin, R.M. (2000). Beyond the Team. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann. Benders, J., and Van Hootegem, G. (1999). Teams and the Context: Moving the Team Discussion beyond Existing Dichotomies. Journal of Management Studies, 36(5), pp. 609-628. Bratton, J., Callinan, M., Forshaw, C., Sawchuk, P. (2007). Work and Organizationl Behaviour: Understand the Workplace. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Briggs, M.H. (1997). Building early intervention teams: Working together for children and families. Gaithersburg, MD: Aspen. Burrell, G., and G. Morgan (1979). Sociological paradigms and organisational analysis. London: Heinemann. Cohen, S., Ledford, G., and Spreitzer, G. (1996). A Predictive Model of Self-Managing Work Team Effectiveness. Human Relations, 49(5), pp. 643-676. Covey, S. R., Merrill, A. R. and Merrill, R.R. (1994). First things first. New York: Simon and Schuster. Cully, M., Woodland, S., OReilly, A., Dix, G., Millward, N., Bryson, A., Forth, J. (1998). The 1998 Workplace Employee Relations Survey: First Findings, London: DTI. Derber, C. and Schwartz, W. (1983). Toward a Theory of Worker Participation. Sociological Inquiry 53, pp. 61-78. Ezzamel, M. and Wilmott, H. (1998). Accounting for teamwork: A critical study of group based system of organizational control. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43(2), pp. 358-396. Fiorelli, J. (1988). Power in work groups: team members perspectives. Human Relations, 41(1), pp. 1-12. French, J.R.P., Raven, B. (1959). The bases of social power, in D. Cartwright (ed.) Studies in Social Power. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Sam* French and Raven (1958) Janis, I. (1972). Victims of groupthink. Boston: Houghton-Mifflin. Janis, I. (1985). Sources of error in strategic decision-making in Organizational strategy and change. J. M. Pennings, ed., pp. 157-197. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Johnson, D.W., and Johnson F.P. (1987). Joining together: group theory and group skills. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall. Katzenbach, J.R., and Smith, D.K. (1993). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High Performance Organization. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Knights, D. and McCabe, D. (2000). Bewitched, bothered and bewildered: The meaning and experience of teamworking for employees in an automobile company. Human Relations 53(11), pp. 1481-1517. Knights D. and Willmott H. (2007). Introducing organizational behaviour and management. London: Thomson Learning. Kunda, G. (1992). Engineering Culture: Control and Commitment in a High-Tech Corporation. Philadelphia: Temple University Press. McKinlay, A. and Taylor, P. (1996). Power, surveillance and resistance: Inside the â€Å"Factory of the Future†, in Ackers, P., Smith, C., and Smith P, eds. The New Workplace and Trade Unionism. London: Routledge, pp. 279-300. Metcalf, B., and Linstead, A. (2003). Gendering Teamwork: Rewriting the Feminine. Gender, Work and Employment, 10(1), pp. 94-119. Milkman, R. (1998). ‘The new American workplace: high road or low road?, in P. Thompson and C.Warhurst, eds. Workplaces of the Future. Basingstoke: Macmillian- now Palgrave Macmillan. Olson, J. and Olson, P.D. (1999). Teamwork strengths and weaknesses: Perceptions of practicing educators. Academy of Educational Leadership Journal, 3(1), pp. 9-15. Parker, M. and Slaughter, J. (1998). Choosing Sides: Unions and the Team Concept. Boston: South End Press. Peters, T. (1987). Thriving on Chaos. New York: Alfred A. Knopf. Inc. Peters, T. (1998). Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution. London: Pan Books. Pfeffer, J. (1998). The human equation: Building profits by putting people first. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press. Roberts, A. and Corbett M. (2009). Understanding Organisational Behaviour. New York: McGraw-Hill Custom Publishing. Sewell, G. (1998). The Discipline of Teams: The Control of Team-Based Industrial Work through Electronic and Peer Surveillance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 43, pp. 397-428. Sims, H. P. (1995). Challenged to implementing self-managing teams. The Journal for Quality and Participation, 18(2), pp. 24-31. Sinclair, A. (1992). The tyranny of team ideology. Organization Studies, 13(4), pp. 611-625. Storey, J., ed. (1995). Human Resource Management: A Critical Text. London: Routledge. Vallas, S.P. (2003). The Adventures of Managerial Hegemony: Teamwork, Ideology, and Worker Resistance. Social Problems 50(2): 204-225. Wall, T.D., Kemp, N.J., Jackson, P.R. and Clegg, C.W. (1986). Outcomes of autonomous workgroups: A long term field experiment. Academy of Management Journal 29, pp. 280-304. Webb J. (2006). Organisations, identities and the self. New York: Palgrave macmillan. Wilson F.M (2004). Organizational Behaviour and Work: A critical introduction. 2nd ed. New York: Oxford University Press Inc. Yeung, R. and Bailey, S. (1999). Get It Together. Accountancy, June 1999.

Aristotle’s Theory of Virtue and Happiness Essay

Aristotle was one of the most respected philosophers of all time. He wrote on many subjects covering a wide range of topics; politics, psychology, metaphysics, logic and ethics. In the article â€Å"Nature of Virtue† written by Aristotle, his theory of a persons happiness and good morals is explained. I agree that a human’s goal in life is to be happy, and to live a good life but happiness and good do not come hand in hand. In this paper, I disagree with Aristotle’s proper function argument. The word happiness is a much broader term to Aristotle than what we think of. (Johnston, Para. F) By happiness he means successful, living a good life and physical well being. A fully happy life would include success for themselves, their family and descendants. The idea of good and happiness according to Aristotle is based around the proper function argument. The proper function argument is basically that every man is brought to this earth to have a function. Happiness is the main goal in someone’s life, and this comes with a function. â€Å"For all things that have a function or activity, the good and â€Å"well is thought to reside in the function. † We are not on this earth to merely live, but to do our best to live well. (Cahn 113) Something is good if it performs its proper function for example, a good movie. If you watch a movie and you think its good, than it has performed its proper function. The purpose of broccoli is to feed and give people nutrition, the purpose of a truck is to transport objects, and the purpose of one human may to be a plumber. Fixing sinks and toilets is this human’s function, and if done successfully, happiness will be achieved. â€Å"The function of humans is an activity of the soul and must act in accordance with virtue, or goodness. † A person can only be happy when they are fulfilling their function. (Cahn 114). When a person is fulfilling their function, they are eudaimon. Eudaimonia is the Greek term for happiness and living well. When someone takes part in Eudaimonia, they are taking part in â€Å"the activity of the soul in accordance with excellence, virtue or what is good for† (â€Å"The Human good and Function Argument†) In Aristotle’s view, human beings are the only species that have the potential to live a better life. He believes living well creates happiness, the final goal for human beings. Reaching a goal drives every behavior, and the goal of humans is to attain goodness and excellence. He also states that every man should pursue happiness and happiness is attainable by all people. (â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic†. ) I disagree with these statements; being happy, and being evil can happen at the same time. For example, the Romans lived very happily even though their actions were evil. The Roman’s believed they were the most superior and advanced society yet they found pleasure and happiness in torturing and killing Christians for sport. The Roman’s lived in a world of evil, and they were undoubtedly happy. Aristotle’s objection to my example of the Romans would be that the Roman’s took their pleasure to the extreme with their lavish lifestyles, which lead to their downfall and demise. Aristotle would use his theory of the â€Å"Golden mean† to object to the Roman’s happiness. For Aristotle living life well involves â€Å"using the virtues we were intended to use, including chiefly reason, but also courage, honesty, and moderation in pursuing pleasure. † (Stevenson 67). Every good thing exists between two bad things. So anything is achievable as long as it is not taken to excess. Aristotle’s example for this is that if 10 pounds is too much for someone too eat, and 2 pounds is too little, than 6 pounds being the mean, would not be the exact amount that person should eat to be satisfied, but is something to aim towards. (Cahn 117). Aristotle’s â€Å"golden mean† says that you should not do anything to the excess, or you will only hurt yourself. â€Å"If you overindulge in physical pleasures, your health will deteriorate. † (Stevenson 67. ) In other words, the Roman’s overindulged in their pleasure, which lead to their own pain and suffering in the end. If it is true that you cannot experience goodness unless you are happy, and you cannot be happy if you take action into extremes, than it must be true that the people in poverty cannot be good. Every society has had its rise and fall in power, so does that mean that people that live on the under side of the extreme, or in Aristotle’s example, to only eat two pounds of food, can never achieve goodness because they are not happy? For example there is a poor child in Africa who is living in severe conditions, with no food, and not enough water. He is doing everything he can in pursuit of happiness. He goes to church, he helps his parents out with the family, and he is doing his best in school. However, he is hungry and living in unhappiness because of his terrible situation. Because this boy is not happy, does this mean he is not a good person? Happiness is attainable to all people, but how is happiness attainable by this boy? Living to the extreme may cause unhappiness in some situations, but it is quite often that living in moderation can lead to unhappiness as well. Moderate behavior will not always bring happiness. For example, someone who is very passionate and romantic may find that moderate behavior does not suit his or her needs. â€Å"One can not be happy if forced to control oneself in all situations of life. † (Popkin 10) A human wants to live life the way they desire, and to seize from acting how you feel does not lead to happiness. Aristotle’s theory is based around the fact that good morals come from habit. You must be taught to be good in order to be good. According to Aristotle, your characteristics come from your actions; in other words, you â€Å"become good by doing good† (Cahn 113). Under Aristotle’s theory, to be a good person, you must have been taught to be good at a young age to acquire good morals. â€Å"In order to profit from the sort of study he is undertaking, one must already have been brought up in good habits†(â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic†. ) This means the group of people with potential to have virtue and happiness is limited. It is limited to the people who come from a family with good ethics. The only people who are going to become good, are the people who are already well on their way to be good because their family is training them to be this way. But what about the people who come from bad families? Or what about the people who were raised by ethically good families? For example, a child who was brought up by parents who had no ethics or good morals at all. The mother was a drug addict, and the father ran away while the child was at an early age. The child wasn’t taught anything about morals, and did not have a proper upbringing what so ever. Everything the child knew was learnt on his own, and he decided who he wanted to be an acted in relation to this. This child ends up being a good person, has a good job, and lives in happiness. When Aristotle makes the point that you must have had exercise in virtues, he does not have any proof that this is always true. â€Å"What Aristotle owes us, then, is an account of these traditional qualities that explains why they must play a central role in any well-lived life. † (â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic†.), Aristotle must explain to us why being trained by a guardian is required in order to end up living a complete life. In conclusion, Aristotle’s theories are applicable in some situations, but should not be applied in all situations. You can be happy and evil at the same time; you do not have to be good in order to be happy. Aristotle objects by saying you cannot be happy and live to extremes, however you can also be happy and over indulge at the same time. It is also possible for someone to live well, have virtue and happiness even when they had not been brought up this way. They can learn on their own, characteristics can be defined by who you want to be. Aristotle says that happiness is attainable by all, but if you follow the Aristotle’s theory, you will find that happiness is limited to a certain group. Works Cited Johnston, Ian. † Lecture on Aristotle’s Nicomachaean Ethics. † Records. November 18th, 1997. http://records. viu. ca/~johnstoi/introser/aristot. htm. April 15th, 2010. Cahn Steven. â€Å"Exploring Ethics. † Aristotle: The Nature of Virtue. Ed. Steven M. Cahn. New York: Oxford University Press. 2009. Pg 113-117. â€Å"The Human Good and Function Argument. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, 2001. May 1st, 2001. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/#HumGooFunArg. April 15th, 2010. â€Å"Traditional Virtues and The Skeptic. † Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. N. P. May 1st, 2001. http://plato. stanford. edu/entries/aristotle-ethics/#HumGooFunArg. April 15th, 2010. Stevenson, Jay. â€Å"The Complete Idiots Guide to Philosophy. † The Golden Mean. Ed. Drew Patty. 2nd Edition. 2002. Pg 67. Popkin, Richard. â€Å"Philosophy Made Simple. † Criticism of Aristotle. Richard Popkin and A. Stroll. New York, 1993. Pg 10-11.

Want to Know More About College Application Essay Samples Georgetown?

Want to Know More About College Application Essay Samples Georgetown? The Do's and Don'ts of College Application Essay Samples Georgetown A strong essay will reveal something for which you own a passion, and it'll demonstrate that you're hungry to find out more. When you follow your intended language from the beginning, you will produce the essay more consistent to the conventions of that language. So you don't actually wish to come across a topic! When you own a topic, it's best to make an outline of ideas. If you're applying for college and has to develop a college application essay, then it's better to start your essay writing practice the soonest possible moment. Apart from having an exceptional SAT score, you would have to think of the very best college essay. Writing a college admission essay can be quite tough. Writing the college application essay can be among the most daunting components of applying to college. Essays are an essential component in the college application procedure. Colleges can tell whenever your essay is merely a form essay. When you start to compose your college application essay, think about all the things which make you the person which you are. You should demonstrate the admission committee what makes you stick out from the other applicants. An admissions officer is quite a bit more likely to keep in mind an applicant who has quite a specific essay written in a distinctive and quirky way. Or you are able to view 18 essays all on a single page. The essay is just one of the key approaches you may distinguish yourself. The personal essay follows exactly the same format as is needed for the AMCAS application. For many applicants it is the most difficult part of the application. A crucial quality for virtually any engineer is the capacity to communicate with fellow engineers. It's very valuable to take writing apart so as to see just the way that it accomplishes its objectives. Nonetheless, you should follow the exact guidelines. More than anything, you don't need to set your application in jeopardy. College Application Essay Samples Georgetown at a Glance Telling Harvard why you wish to attend Columbia is a fast approach to wind up in the no pile. On the flip side, Georgetown is also providing you the opportunity to speak about camp, so should you have amazing camp stories that show your character and personality, definitely write about doing it! At precisely the same time, you are going to impress the college admissions folks greatly if you are able to present your capacity to learn from your failures and mistakes. On the other, it's a manner of life. Describe some tasks you've accomplished over the last two years that don't have any connection to academic studies. You're attempting to show colleges your very best self, therefore it might appear counterintuitive to willingly acknowledge a time you struggled. The essay for Florida state university isn't required, but it's highly suggested. Applying to college isn't the simplest task on earth, to say the least. Professor Mitchell obtained a grant to have a category of students to Belgium to be able to study the EU. Enhancing your writing skills is among the most essential things you can do in order to prepare for college applications. Personal Achievements Colleges want students who have achieved in some region of their lives.

Evaluate the Assessments You Have Carried Out, Stating...

TAQA Assignment T4 Evaluate the assessments you have carried out, stating whether you believe they were fair, valid and reliable. During the Skype assessments I carried out on 2 learners, who are studying the nvq level 2 in customer services. My job was to observe the 2 learners and assess their ability, and then match against the criteria set for the units which I was observing them for. For both of my learners there are a number of assessment methods I have tried, in order to understand their learning ability. From doing these assessments I have understood where my weaknesses, strengths are, along with the learners. Personal Statement I started off by asking them to write in their own words, how do you maintain a positive and†¦show more content†¦I think that next time I plan for these methods of assessments, I should create a good series of questions, which could give me a better understanding of the learner’s knowledge. As for the written question and the case study, although I believe they are strong methods of assessment, as they allow the assessor to evaluate the learner’s knowledge. I also think that sometimes learners may take advantage of being distant and cheat. I believe that these methods of assessments should be carried out whilst the assessor is watching via Skype. Identify any learning points for your own development From the feedback received from my tutor, I believe there are two main points which need to be developed before the next assessment, as they relate directly to assessments. The first learning and development point that I need to work towards is the grammar and spelling of my work. I need to make sure that all my work is proof read before sending of for marking. Although this has been my weakness, and I have been advised to always keep this in mind. I believe that this happens due to me rushing through everything. So I believe that if take everything one step at a time, it could reduce the grammatical errors. I could also reduce this by always proofreading work, which would highlight the errors. On a development note which has come to me newly, is the selection of words. 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