Business Practice 2Module 4

Activities

Activity 1Make a list of different first impressions – good and bad

- you have had with the following people. Consider the people’s personal hygiene, grooming and dress in your response:

•  Your boyfriend or girlfriend

• New neighbours

• Your lecturers

• The receptionist at college

• Your campus head or supervisor at work.

Activity 2

• List three services you have used in the last two weeks. How did the personal hygiene, grooming and dress of the service provider affect your opinion of the service quality?

Activity 3• Investigate the requirements of the

Occupational Health and Safety Act as it applies to your place of work or college. What dress codes and personal hygiene procedures or standards does your business have? What does your college prescribe? Do people maintain their personal hygiene, dress and so on in accordance with the Act?

Activity 4

Assess how the people in your workplace or college maintain:

• Personal hygiene (Personal cleanliness, body odour, fresh breath)

• Grooming (well-manicured hands, trimmed moustache/beard, appropriate hairstyle and tasteful make-up)

• Dress code (immaculate uniform/dress), to project a professional image and enhance the company image.

 

Activity 5• Does your workplace or college indicate what

illnesses require you to stay away from work? If ‘yes’, list the illnesses.

Activity 6• What procedures must staff members at the

college follow to report ill and take sick leave?

Activity 7• List all the functions that you can identify in

your college

Activity 8

If you work (part-time or full-time) or ‘work’ in the college’s simulated office, answer the following questions:

• In which department are you working?

• What are the main functions of the department?

Activity 9• What are the qualities you feel are needed to be

successful in your current or future job? List the qualities above and then rank them in order of importance from 1 to 5, starting with 1 = most important and 5 = not so important.

Activity 10• The following tool is useful for self-assessing

your work performance (in a real job or in the simulated office).

• Use the table and write down each main task in your job, then self assess your performance

Objectives / results to achieve in my job

Task, knowledge and skills

Performance score

My development priority

Action needed

Activity 11Interview someone you know well who is employed by a

company. Ask the following questions to determine whether this company is a learning organisation.

• Are people encouraged to learn formally and informally?

• Does every employee understand the link between the jobs they are doing (or want to do) and the learning needed to do it?

• Do people take ownership for their learning at work?

• Do people understand what they have learned and why it is useful?

• Are people encouraged to experiment with what they have learned?

• Are the employees given an opportunity to learn together and share experiences?

• Are the employees encouraged to develop new ways of doing things to improve its performance?

• Does the organisation use its people’s capabilities to the full by giving them new job challenges where possible?

• Is informal learning encouraged? Are people encouraged to develop new work interests and expertise through involvement in projects?

• Are weekly or monthly planning meetings used as learning events for the department?

• Does the department use the current challenges and problems it faces as a focus for learning?

Activity 12• Do you know what type of career you want to

follow when you have completed your studies?

• Are you currently studying the right course to qualify yourself for that career?

• What educational qualification do you need to qualify for this career?

• What company would you like to work for?

• What department would you work in if you get a job in your career field?

Activity 13• What are the main priorities in your life at the

moment in terms of your studies and your personal life? List these priorities and then identify the daily and weekly activities that you need to plan to achieve the objectives relating to these priorities.

Activity 14• Review the plans that you have made after a

few months and evaluate whether you have achieved what you have planned. If not, review your objectives and set new plans to achieve these objectives