My work experience by Maya Beeson (Year 12 student)
I began work experience at Management Dynamics to develop my understanding of careers that a degree in Psychology could take me into. I also wanted to learn more about how psychology is used in coaching.
After observing workshops with a couple of MD clients, interviewing customer experience associates and consultants and talking to people with various different job roles within the company, I now have a greater understanding of coaching and leadership development. I have gained valuable advice on how to manage a team and insights from others about dealing with clients and the challenges that come along with working with people.
From my meeting with Claire, the Customer Experience Manager at Management Dynamics, I learnt that working with people is a challenge but an exciting one that she described as her favourite part of the job. She taught me that to have a successful team you should get to know them well to help you to understand how they take feedback best. She emphasised that building relationships with your team is important whilst also pushing and developing them.
Eve, the Customer Experience Consultant, also taught me about what skills are needed when working with clients such as having the right balance between sociability and directness. She also found that when working with people that often focus on the negatives and ignore positive aspects, she would start meetings by asking the clients to talk about a positive impact they have found from the programme so far.
Customer Experience Associates, Chali and Ellie, gave me a greater understanding of how psychology is applied in their roles. They use psychometric surveys to tailor the workshops and coaching to participants. I found it interesting that psychology is used not just in the actual workshops delivered to the clients but also behind the scenes when deciding how to tailor the coaching to individual groups. I had the privilege of observing an information session with a client about one of the psychometric assessments called ‘Hogan’. This gave me an in depth understanding of how the assessments work such as how it measures values, strengths and risks of the participants.
Speaking to one of the directors of Management Dynamics, Alison, I learnt about psychological techniques to help participants to think about the highlighted information without consciously realising it. For example, the use of the workbooks for the programmes at Management Dynamics also subconsciously forces clients to remember and think about the information in the slides as writing notes in the workbooks creates neural pathways in their brains.
Overall, my time at Management Dynamics was very insightful and interesting. I have learnt about how psychology facilitates coaching, communication and team dynamics. It broadened my outlook on how I may use a psychology degree in my career. It was a great experience and I am very grateful for the opportunity.
