1. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Professional and Personal Skills

2. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Professional and Personal Skills 1) Brainstorming 2) Weighted Matrices 3) Swot Analysis

3. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Brainstorming This technique was developed by Osborn in 1953 It uses creative thinking to generate a large number of ideas in a short space of time WITHOUT evaluating them

4. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Brainstorming….. 2 Is used to:- –gather information relating to a problem –generate ideas which can be modified and refined –evaluate and select an idea for further development –identify possible data requirements

5. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Brainstorming…. 3 Should only be used when:- –the problem is fairly simple –when participants are familiar with it –when it is open ended Twenty to thirty minutes is advised as the upper limit for brainstorming one particular subject

6. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Brainstorming …. 4 Why use it? helps to get thinking out of a rut by hearing novel concepts and ideas can trigger people to think in a new way allows individuals to contribute and to benefit from the ideas of others creates a good environment which will enhance teamwork

7. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 STRUCTURED  Every person in the group must give an idea as their turn passes in rotation. Forces shy people to participate.  Can create pressure to contribute UNSTRUCTURED  Group members simply give ideas as they come to mind. Creates a more relaxed atmosphere.  Vocal members can dominate. Brainstorming …. 4

8. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Brainstorming…. Rules RULES –Do not judge ideas –Encourage wild thinking –Quantity not quality –Every person, every idea is equal –Build on ideas Activity One

9. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices A problem –‘I need to make a decision based on a number of options that all have good and bad points’

10. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices A solution –Use a Weighted matrix

11. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices PURPOSE to provide a way of comparing a range of options in order to choose between them It helps to makes choices objective - but by using subjective judgement!

12. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices It is a simple two dimensional table - or spreadsheet type of layout in that it uses rows and columns

13. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices for choosing student accommodation

14. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices The ‘WEIGHTING’ column gives the key to weighted matrices

15. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices Enter against each factor a significance weighting. This is subjective. The scale does not matter - just the weightings relative to each other. Any factors given the same weighting are considered to be of equal importance

16. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices The final stage is to enter the alternatives, and to ‘score’ them. Each alternative is given a rating out of the maximum significance weighting. Activity 2

17. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weighted Matrices ARE THEY USEFUL? Used in Information Systems Group Project to judge students! Used by companies when comparing invitations to tender Used to select products, e.g. which database is best for our purpose?

18. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 SWOT Analysis An effective method of identifying:- –Strengths –Weaknesses –Opportunities –Threats

19. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 SWOT Analysis STRENGTHS –What are your advantages? –What do you do well? –Consider this from your own point of view and from the point of view of the people you deal with.

20. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Example: A start-up small web design/customised graphics company might carry out the following SWOT analysis:

21. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Strengths: We are able to give really good customer care, as the current small amount of work means we have plenty of time to devote to customers Our lead designer has a solid reputation within the market We can change direction quickly if we find that our marketing is not working We have little in the way of overheads, so can offer good value to customers We are able to respond very quickly as we have no red tape, no need for higher management approval, etc.

22. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 SWOT Analysis WEAKNESSES –What could be improved? –What is done badly? –What should be avoided? Consider these from an internal and external viewpoint - do other people see weaknesses that you don’t? Do your competitors do better? Face unpleasant truths!

23. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Weaknesses: Our company has no market presence or reputation We have a small staff with a shallow skills base in many areas We are vulnerable to vital staff being sick, leaving, etc. Our cash flow will be unreliable in the early stages

24. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 SWOT Analysis OPPORTUNITIES What are the interesting trends? Where are the good opportunities facing you? Useful opportunities could come from technology, from changes in market, from governmental policy, from changes in social patterns etc

25. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Opportunities: Our target sector is expanding, with many future opportunities for success Our local council wants to encourage local businesses with work where possible Our competitors may be slow to adopt new technologies

26. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 SWOT Analysis THREATS What obstacles do you face? What is the competition doing? Are specifications for your job, product etc changing? Is technology threatening you position? Do you have bad debt or cash flow problems?

27. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 Threats: Will developments in technology change this market beyond our ability to adapt? A small change in focus of a large competitor might wipe out any market position we achieve

28. University of Sunderland Professionalism and Personal Skills Unit 1 SWOT Analysis