Reflective report :
The process leading to my choosing the placement I wanted to work on was very simple and easy.
I originally was very excited to work on the client brief for the organization Dancing Cubs Ltd- a mobile play hire company that specializes in bringing children’s soft play equipment to parties and events in London- based on the project description which calls for an increase in Dancing Cubs’s social media presence.
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My interest was mainly picked by the tasks and activities assigned to us which involve developing social media strategies and increasing the company’s social media presence and brand awareness.
Although I was very interested in the idea of working on improving a brand’s social media presence, it goes without saying that I was also extremely hesitant and nervous as I have never before managed social media platforms in a professional manner.
However, despite the nervousness I felt, I still wanted to use this opportunity to push myself out of my comfort zone and experience working with a partner towards a shared goal which consists principally in the increase of hire of the Christmas soft play from Dancing Cubs.
Considering that this was a new experience and my first time ever working on a project that requires a lot of time and resources, I knew that it would be very challenging. However, Kolb argues that « Knowledge is continuously derived from and tested out in the experiences of the learner »( Kolb, 2015, p:27). Kolb’s argument suggests that knowledge is not a fixed notion but a process in which experience intervenes. This reasoning is applicable to my case as I have delved into this project without the knowledge or skills that are required in order to achieve the outcomes expected of me. However, through the process of experience, I learned and developed different sets of skills and knowledge that helped me accomplish my objectives.
My first step in the process of learning, I started by conducting a preparatory assessment of the brand’s website and social media platforms with the main focus on Instagram. This helped me gain significant knowledge concerning the importance of social media in promoting and growing a brand’s presence. I gathered very substantial information that helped me understand better how social media platforms can be manipulated in a professional way through posts and captions to attract a significant amount of followers and to reach the kind of people needed in order to be successful and achieve my end goals.
« … the principle of continuity of experience means that every experience both takes up something from those which have gone before and modifies in some way the quality of those which come after… As an individual passes from one situation to another, his world, his environment, expanded or contracts. He does not find himself living in another world but in a different part or aspect of one and the same world. What he has learned in the way of knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situations which follow. The process goes on as long as life and learning continue. »( Dewey, 2015, p:27) Dewey makes a great point that suggests that the notion of continuity of experience means that the skills and knowledge acquired from one situation play an important role in the way the situations that follow are understood and dealt with. This means that knowledge is not a fixed notion but a continuous process in which learning is achieved through experience.
The main task we were assigned was building a social media campaign strategy solely aimed towards increasing Dancing Cubs’s social media presence in order to catch the interest of the targeted audience which consists largely of corporate hires, high-end hotels, and luxury event planning companies.
In order to achieve this outcome, I had to gain a better understanding of how social media content works, in the sense of finding out what kind of content Ruth and I had to create on Dancing Cubs’ social media in order to attract the attention of its targeted audience.
This experience has helped me grow and develop multiple skills of mine that I uncovered in the process of learning through experience.
One significant skill I discovered is my ability to adapt and be flexible. No matter the situation we were put in, I always knew how to distance myself from the situation to try and find new ways of handling the problem we were dealing with, while at the same time remaining composed even when pressured with issues such as shortage of time and resources.
« Each task we face requires a corresponding set of skills for effective performance. The effective matching of task demands and personal skills results in an adaptive competence » (Kolb, 2015, p:93) Kolb’s approach suggests that through each task a person is given, matching sets of skills are required in order for the person to give a good performance. The ability to adapt to any situation plays a major role in the process of learning.
Looking back, I realize that whenever we were faced with any challenges or dilemmas, I always maintained calm and was ready to make quick decisions in order to deal with unexpected situations. An example of that is the situation where we had already posted all the pictures that were available to us and had no more content to post, as we were supposed to be posting the pictures and videos that the other groups were working on. However, since those weren’t ready yet, I decided in agreement with Ruth that we would go out with our cameras and take other creative pictures related to soft play to post instead of just waiting around, which would have been a bad move as people would have quickly lost interest in Dancing cubs if we didn’t post anything for a long period of time.
Other skills I developed to achieve my objectives are technological skills, through learning how to use the camera in order to take appropriate pictures to create engaging and interesting content. Using editing tools to help make the content even more interesting was another useful skill that I gained along the way.
Furthermore, I worked on my writing skills by researching all the keywords and hashtags that are appropriate for Dancingcub's social media, and the most popular ones that are very important in marketing a brand, since they are the way online accounts are found. This strategy has proved very successful since it has contributed to the increase of followers and clicks to the brand’s social media which eventually leads to more website traffic meaning an increase in hires and inquiries.
However, one thing that I found myself struggling with throughout this whole learning experience is my time management skills, although I have tried my best to organize myself by setting goals, prioritizing, and pre-scheduling posts, time management still was a very challenging aspect of the project, as we sometimes couldn’t meet the deadlines and had to either postpone the posts or completely improvise and change the whole schedule. However, I found myself getting better with each post, and by the end of the project, I surprised myself by devoting more time each day to work on the posts even while I was back home in Morocco.
Although I think that the main reason why I found myself getting better at time management, is the steady motivation invoked in me by the constant improvements that I noticed which pushed me to always do better. I feel confident enough to say that this experience has really helped me get in touch with my sense of organization and leadership.
Throughout the whole process, there was a steady flow of communication between myself and Lopez as per her request, since we had to run most of the posts and captions we came up with and agreed on through her to get her approval. This task has helped me grow and develop my verbal and written communication skills and professional abilities through emails and meetings, where I had to convey and share my ideas in a very clear and concise manner.
I know that my ability to communicate and express my ideas and knowledge in a professional manner has grown considerably throughout this experience, although it is safe to say that there is always room for improvement and that is something I am always looking forward to achieving in any future activities.
Another interesting aspect of this experience was working with my classmate Ruth, which was also a new experience for me as I have never before worked with someone on a project of this importance. I was originally very nervous about working as a part of a team for various reasons, notably because I was afraid that our ideas and thoughts would clash and that it would slow us down or stop us from giving our best to attain the best results. However, I was surprised to find out throughout the weeks of our meeting to schedule posts and discuss our ideas together, that teamwork is very important as it pushed me to perform better than I would have if I were working individually. I found myself having to be more punctual and productive as I didn’t want to be the reason for us not doing good. Working with Ruth had been surprisingly easy and an overall positive experience for me, in the sense that it challenged me to consider other ideas and suggestions and also get feedback on my ideas before taking any final decisions. Teamwork has also helped me open myself more and work on my relational and communication skills.
Despite my initial intimidation and nervousness about taking on this project, I am truly happy that I chose to work on this specific client brief, as this experience has really helped me grow and enhance a lot of skills and abilities that will be extremely useful in any future practices I take part in.
We have received very positive feedback from our client Lopez who noted that Ruth and I have both done really well and that it shows that we have put really hard work and effort into this project. Lopez has also said that our efforts seem to have worked as there has been a considerable increase in inquiries and hires in December which was the ultimate goal we were trying to achieve.
In conclusion, working on this social media project had been a very good and positive experience that I very much enjoyed and am happy to have done. Personally, I think that the difficulties that we faced during the duration of this project have actually helped me gain a better understanding of how to overcome any future problems that may come my way. In addition to all the skills and knowledge that I acquired throughout this project such as the technological, communication, organizational, and time management skills, which I fully intend on using in future practices and projects. I am also very happy and satisfied with every post and caption we have posted and the results we have gotten, and very excited and proud of the feedback we have received from our client Lopez. Overall, this experience has been exceptionally positive and valuable.
Bibliography :
- Kolb, David A. (2015) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chapter 2. 'The process of experiential learning'. pp. 20-38.
- Kolb, David A. (2015) Experiential Learning: Experience as the Source of Learning and Development. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Chapter 4 'Individuality in Learning and the Concept of Learning Styles' pp. 76-95.
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