The Big Agency

In week four of the big agency, we received feedback on our presentations from the previous week. From the feedback we began to understand what we had done well; working well together, clear slides, good Q&A etc. and what we needed to improve on such as presentation skills, less text on screen and being more concise with our ideas. Our positive feedback meant that we were the team chosen to represent Reason Digital. We then arranged a meeting with Reason Digital at their office in Northern Quarter on Monday the 24 th in order to get a greater understanding of what the company wants from us.

In week three of The Big Agency, my team performed our group presentation on “TechForGood” despite it being a last-minute job! As a group, our initial idea was to take on the Manchester City project as we are all football lovers and are familiar with the business; however, after getting halfway through the practice pitch we realised there was little room for improvement since Manchester City already successfully utilises its social media platforms and has a large international fan base. As a result, we collectively decided to change our project last minute to the “TechforGood” campaign that we felt held more scope for innovation. We emailed Mark and Bex to let them know of our change and prepared the speech the night before. Surprisingly, our pitch was a success and Mark credited us on how well put-together it was considering the circumstances. Upon reflection, I believe I need to improve my public speaking and confidence. Next week we will be given feedback from our presentations.

Following last week’s seminar, I took the Belbin test and got the results; Explorer, Innovator and Chairman. This an accurate representation of me as I believe I am an effective communicator, extremely creative, open-minded and naturally take a strong coordinating role within group work. From this information, I grouped myself with Yousef, Alicia and Carmen as their Belbin roles (Completer and Researcher) complimented mine meaning that we should theoretically work better together. From this seminar, I have also learnt “Role Theory” that explains individuals are expected to adhere to culturally defined norms and standards of behaviour associated with their given social position. Understanding how stereotypes and cultural expectations have developed over time is something I am extremely interested and thus I found this theory extremely engaging. Furthermore, I have learnt that it is important to understand that every individual has different roles and behaviours that I need to take into

I am naturally not a very motivated student however, when I play football, I find myself extremely motivated and driven. It is the fast-paced nature of the game and the stakes of losing that make me so motivated on the pitch. To me, there is no better feeling than playing to the best of my ability, hearing encouragement from supporters on the side-line and feeling part of a team are my key facilitators to motivation as they satisfy my social needs and boost self-esteem. I believe it is important for me to be extremely motivated when I am playing football, as I am part of a team I consider it my obligation to play to the best of my ability to avoid letting down my team-members. Albeit, it is harder for me to find motivation off-pitch. Often with my work I find I let myself down through poor time keeping and reluctance to start work earlier due to a lack in motivation, as a result my assignments are often rushed and not to the best of my ability. This academic year I have a greater desi

I was not able to attend both week one and two of The Big Agency as I was at the hospital due to breaking my wrist, albeit I went through the seminar slides on Moodle to catch up. The seminar sides discussed the importance of employee motivation and that it is the driving force behind achieving business goals. Similarly, I discovered that factors such as salary, working conditions and job security do not provide worker satisfaction but merely prevent dissatisfaction. I have also learnt that a business manager’s outlook influences the way they motivate employees. Through implementing McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y I understand that Theory X managers believe their employees are lazy and need to be controlled, whereas Theory Y managers trust employees are responsible and reliable. Finally, I have learned that every worker has psychological, security, social and self-actualisation needs that need to be met by their employer in order for them to be motivated and satisfied. I will follow