Careful, precise and comprehensive planning is the key to success. Having known the importance of planning, I carefully planned my undertaking with a measure by measure attack.
The first measure at this phase was the analysis of my strengths and failings in order to make up one’s mind the subject of my research undertaking. I have ever been interested in stock markets and concern analysis of companies. This involvement helped me larn more about concern and fiscal analysis of companies and the different ways by which their fiscal public presentation and place can be analysed.
The following of import measure was the preparation of a scheme as to how I would transport out the undertaking in manus i.e. How to carry on the research? When to get down? And most significantly whom should I take as a wise man?
In respects to the choice of a suited wise man the article titled “ Making the most of your Mentor ” by Pippa Riley ( 11th August, 2005 ) published on ACCA web site proved to be a life rescuer. I gave it a deep idea and after carefully sing all my options I chose my wise man to be my coach Mr Muhammad Yasser Naqvi Syed, who is a Member of ACCA. A individual who has helped me a great trade since the twenty-four hours I joined ACCA and has been a function theoretical account for me over the old ages.
After reasoning my determination I approached my wise man and I was highly delighted when he accepted to be my wise man and steer me through the undertaking.
2. Meetings with Mentor
The function of Project Mentor is of great significance in the success of a research undertaking.
I had my first meeting with my chosen wise man on 5th January 2010, merely after December 2009 ACCA scrutinies. In that meeting I introduced my wise man to the subject I had chosen and the ground behind my choice. I told him about my scheme and the agencies and methods I intended to utilize. I was confident that I had decently communicated the grounds and aims of the subject I chose and my wise man seemed to be satisfied with my pick and scheme. Furthermore, I sought his advice on the affairs such as research methods and we had a fruitful treatment.
All in all, the first meeting was extremely successful and cemented my thoughts demoing me a clear way to my aim. After my first meeting I was much more confident as I had a clear way towards fixing the undertaking.
Our 2nd meeting was scheduled for 12th March 2009. Before the meeting I reviewed my undertaking at every phase and tried to do certain that there are no spellings or grammatical errors and after that I sent the completed portion to my wise man for reexamining the advancement. I besides noted all the provender back from my wise man and tried to better the quality of my work. In the meeting I demonstrated all the information I had gathered from different beginnings and asked my wise man ‘s advice on some unsolved issues.
Before the 3rd meeting I sent a bill of exchange transcript of the undertaking to my wise man and noted his provender back and so I prepared slides in Microsoft PowerPoint along with excess slides demoing charts and portion monetary values.
We held our 3rd and concluding meeting on 14th April 2009. I was really confident of the work I had done and prepared for the presentation beforehand. I had a clear set of head of what I had done and how I wanted to show that work in the presentation. My wise man was satisfied and every bit amazed at my attempt and congratulated me on my work.
As stated in the guidelines, I had 15 proceedingss for the presentation ; hence I planned for my presentation good in progress and made sure that I included all the relevant information.
Before I started my presentation, I handed out printed transcripts of my presentation to my wise man and my co-workers. I started my presentation by presenting J Sainsbury and giving a brief history of the company. After that I explained the assorted analyses and comparings I had performed in order to analyse the fiscal place of J Sainsbury and to make at a decision. I besides explained the possible chances and the menaces faced by the company. I used Microsoft Power Point to convey my message more expeditiously and used graphical analysis to assist my cause.
My presentation was so a success and I felt all my difficult work and dedication paid away. My wise man was cheerily surprised and gave me a rap on my dorsum. My strengths included a thorough apprehension of the subject, elaborate research work and good presentation accomplishments while my failings included taking a few more proceedingss outside my allowed quota.
This experience was a monolithic assurance supporter for me and it proved to me that I am really good capable of presenting top category professional presentations.
3. Self Assessment / Critical Evaluation
As portion of the accomplishments and larning statement, I would now seek to critically measure my public presentation and the accomplishments I learned during the readying of my undertaking.
One of the ways of measuring the success of a undertaking is to analyze whether it has answered all the relevant research inquiries satisfactorily or non.
In explicating the scheme of my research undertaking, I identified a few research inquiries which were critical to the overall success of my undertaking. I focused my energies to happening the replies of these inquiries.
Although I think I managed to reply most of the research inquiries in a satisfactory mode, there were a few countries where I could hold done more research and allocated more clip and resources.
The feedback I got back from my wise man suggested that I have been able to accomplish the aims of my research undertaking successfully.
This being the first extended research undertaking carried out by me made the undertaking a small spot dashing in the beginning and made me a small discerning about my abilities of transporting out the undertaking with flawlessness. But as the undertaking progressed, things started going clearer and my assurance degrees were boosted.
I chose to measure the concern and fiscal public presentation of J Sainsbury plc over the last three old ages. J Sainsbury ‘s plc is a United Kingdom-based company chiefly engaged in food market and related retailing, and fiscal services.
Fiscal ratios were used to asses the fiscal public presentation of the company over a three twelvemonth period and so I tried to explicate the grounds for fluctuations in the ratios.
I kept directing my bill of exchange incomplete undertaking to my wise man and requested him to measure my public presentation under the guidelines of Oxford Brookes University so I could judge the quality of my work done so far. For this intent I sent several electronic mails to my wise man and made notes of every provender back.
I carefully assessed the external place by looking at the macro environment by utilizing Porter ‘s Five Forces Model. I tried to make good on this analysis by giving a elaborate overview and seek to look at the broad side of the image.
I highlighted critical strengths and failings and the resulting chances and menaces faced by the company by utilizing a technique called SWOT analysis. This exercising was really good to acquire a thorough apprehension of the company and besides helped me to come up with some recommendations to capitalize on the strengths of the company and extinguish or neutralize its failings.
4. Interpersonal and Communication Skills
The term interpersonal accomplishment is really frequently used to mensurate the personal ability to run within the concern organisation through societal communicating and interaction. And the Communication accomplishments are the accomplishments which enable people to pass on efficaciously with each other. It besides includes the ability to talk in public, meetings, presentations and composing letters. In my RAP it relates to the communicating accomplishments which I demonstrated during the meetings with my wise man and clients.
The meetings with my wise man helped me to measure my interpersonal and communicating accomplishments and place the countries which needed betterment.
Questioning is one of the most of import utensil in communicating in order to deduce replies and achieve verification. Since it is a cardinal tool in seeking information it is was imperative to acquire direct replies during the initial phases of the undertaking as I required way from my wise man. However I realised that acquiring direct information was non easy as the response is straight dependent on the manner of inquiry.
During the undertaking I used both closed inquiries where I needed a verification of what I knew and unfastened inquiries where the purpose was to acquire every bit much information as possible. Towards the terminal of the undertaking, when I had passed the informations assemblage phase I was seeking specific replies, this besides entailed inquiring examining inquiries in order to clear up many countries. Repeating information in a signifier of a inquiry enabled me to understand hard factors.
Effective communicating besides entails speech production and hearing. I used both gestures and a assortment of verbal and non verbal means for case, nodding my caput, doing notes of of import points, and basic words of verification to show a signifier of recognition seen as a confirmation or feedback that is identified as active or brooding hearing, as I would continuously be seeking to understand what my wise man was saying. This was reinforced with the usage of oculus contact to demo that I understood and was interested in what was being communicated to me by my wise man.
Prior to meetings I would do certain that my nomadic phone was switched away, to cut down perturbation that was in my control.
These activities helped me to better my interpersonal and communicating accomplishments and besides made me more confident in my attack.
5. How RAP Helped In Studies / Employment
The readying of RAP has helped me to derive certain priceless and cherished accomplishments which have helped me both in my surveies and my on the job life.
I learned a batch of new accomplishments and techniques which has given me an border over my rivals in the occupation market.
The readying of RAP helped me vastly in better apprehension of professional topics of ACCA such as P3 ( Business Analysis ) and P2 ( Corporate Reporting ) . As a portion of my RAP I used different fiscal and non fiscal techniques described in these topics to asses the concern and fiscal public presentation of JS Sainsbury.
It was a great exercising for me and gave me a opportunity to use all my cognition gained from ACCA making in to a practical company scenario.
RAP besides improved my accomplishments in Microsoft Office. I learned a batch of new characteristics of MS Word, MS Excel and MS Power Point. These accomplishments are still assisting me in my current occupation and have increased my work efficiency. I have besides had a wage rise from my employer since fixing my RAP, underscoring the betterment I have made.
RAP has besides helped me smoothing my synergistic accomplishments as I improved this accomplishment by roll uping fiscal and non fiscal information about the company from different beginnings. These synergistic accomplishments have helped me a batch in my current occupation and as a consequence I am much more confident while interacting with clients during audits and client visits.
The undertaking helped me develop my IT skills. I added non merely to my accounting cognition, but besides learned different facets of planning, organizing, clip direction, authorship, and public speech production. These accomplishments will be of usage to me in all facets of my life.