Responsibility for own personal and professional development
| Subject: | 🧓🏼 Personal Experience |
| Type: | Exploratory Essay |
| Pages: | 4 |
| Word count: | 1187 |
| Topics: | 💪 Personal Strengths, Personal Challenges, 🎯 Personal Goals, 🌱 Personal Growth |
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Table of Contents
Introduction
Personal development is fostering of one’s personal skills and their potential be successful in both their personal lives and in their respective workplaces. This development can be achieved through various ways of learning. In contrast, professional development is developing or the process of fostering ones necessary skills to enable them perform particular roles efficiently in their works. Effective professional development entails knowledge and understanding the details of their expertise in a field by an individual.
This assignment illustrates how learners can harness their abilities and also practice the means to boost their performance as self-teaching learners. Towards the justification of this statement, the assignment analysis various concepts act as illustrative elements.
In the assignment I have regarded myself as an employee in a mobile phone operator where I strive to show the real scenario in the company.
Evaluate own current skills and competencies against professional standards and organizational objectives
Every organization strives to have their objectives and goals met and as a result need to have their objectives to be SMART (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound). For this reason the organizations have to measure each employees qualities e.g. leadership skills, their time management, writing and their communication skills that would help them achieve certain objectives/ or goals (Boyes, 2004).
On my personal best qualities I would speak of qualities such as good writing skills, listening, friendly behavior and good researching skills. The table below represents an audit of my skills
| Sl. | I’m capable of … | Score | Score from others | Difference |
| 1 | Starting a conversation with a stranger | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| 2 | Being a patient listener even with a slow speaker | 5 | 8 | 3 |
| 3 | Making and maintain eye contact | 5 | 3 | -2 |
| 4 | Respecting diverse values of others other than mine | 7 | 8 | 1 |
| 5 | Easily adapting to values and needs of others | 6 | 7 | -1 |
| 6 | Leading rather than directing | 4 | 7 | 3 |
| 7 | Being friendly and showing warmth to others | 6 | 7 | 1 |
| 8 | Remain patient under stress | 6 | 8 | 2 |
| 9 | Accepting that I’m wrong | 7 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Inspiring confidence and trust | 5 | 6 | -1 |
From the evaluation above, I can derive that I am capable of:
- Respecting values of others other than mine
- Showing warmth and being friendly
- Admitting when imp wrong
- Initiating a conversation with stranger
Accounting for these differences in negative values, I can say that:
- There are times when I may not inspire confidence and trust
- Sometimes I may fail to maintain eye contact
- I may fail in adapting to changing needs and other options of others.
Identify own development needs and the activities required to meet them
The organization requires that the employees have good time management skills, leadership skills and IT skills among others. I personally have a deficiency in leadership and IT skills. To mitigate for my weaknesses in the identified areas I have embarked in various development training forums.
Personal activities and/ strategies:
To improve on my skills I have taken into various approaches such as reading more newspapers e.g. Guardian, The Financial Times, the Telegraph among others aimed at expanding my knowledge in these areas thus improving my communication skills vital for the organization. Personal development can also be measured by analyzing external factors such as political, economic factors, social and technological factor (PEST) (Mumford, 2011).
Identify development opportunities to meet current and future defined needs
- Current Needs: at my current stage, I am at liberty to choose what I want to do in fostering opportunities that would enable me meet my current and future goals. I have identified other areas that I need to develop skills such as strategic planning, how to lead others, personal development and skills in participative management. The fact that I am a fast thinker I can easily gain knowledge relating to these subjects.
- Future Needs: opportunities are the vacancies of one to develop and promote ones levels of understanding. All skills gained in life have a cumulative effect in ones success in life. I just need to refresh my current skills and knowledge and improve my levels of thinking relating to personal and professional life.
Devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs
For one to be successful in both professional and personal life, one needs to have a proper planning in relation to their identified goals or needs. Regarding future development, one must establish an effective planning and place it in the right place. It is the expectations that every person shall expand their knowledge and abilities in all spheres of life with the changing times (Powers, 2015). These stages are analyzed below
- SWOT analysis this is tool for self-monitoring which identifies ones strengths, weaknesses opportunities and threats in relation to professional development. This offers me an opportunity to do self-learning process thus giving me a chance to work on my weaknesses helping me avoid threats.
- Time Frame analysis: this is vital from the start of my professional career. In conjunction with self- learning, I need to effectively learn from various seminars and other programs that will aid me in developing my personality and attain professional efficiency.
Implementing the development plan
Personal and professional development is dynamic thus for organizations to realize and execute such personal and professional developments they are seeking new and changeable schemes. The process and activities involved in implementing the development plan are discussed herein:
- Scope and content of personal/ professional development plans: this is a plan for the evaluation of the staff whereby most organizations have initiated and developed their own set of guidelines for fostering the development of personal and professional skills. It is such guidelines that aid a person based on their developmental needs.
- Implementation and support: there are two main problems associated with implementation and support. Firstly, the communication needed when a plan needs to be executed is usually extensive. Secondly, in instances of self –managed learning, usually the employees need support in initiating their own judgments. In both cases, there is need to maintain interest and inspire development planning (Ferguson, 2007).
- Impact: culture is the determining factor in the impact of professional/ personal development which is dependent on every employee.
Conclusion
For one to be successful in personal and work life they need to develop their personal and professional skills. There are various methods of self-managed learning that helps an individual attain an improved personality and have improved understanding that help them adjust to workplace easily. In addition, assessing one’s personal skills via SWOT can help identity the areas of weakness enabling one to work towards their improvement achievable through a development plan.
Setting a development plan entails devising the scope and content of personal/ professional development plan, implementing and supporting the plan. This is followed by monitoring and evaluating with the dynamics of time such that any inconsistencies are remedied at earlier stage. Therefore it is crucial that one adopts a flexible development plan. Finally, managing time is crucial as it is the premises upon which an effective plan can be devised. Overall, success on improving ones performance is defendant on individual’s self-motivation and preparedness to work and the devised career development.
Personal Development Plan
| What do I want/need to learn? (specific and realistic) | Where was this need identified ? | What will I do to achieve this? (achievable) | What resources or support will I need? (awareness of limitations and opportunities) | What will my success criteria be? (measurable) | Target dates for review and completion (time constrained) |
|
Skills in supporting ideas from groups for effective team work |
In the team work |
Researching on team management |
Understanding the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness and display assertiveness appropriately |
The cohesiveness of the teams |
3 months |
Initial Self-Appraisal
| Skill Area | Description of Specific Skill | A lot of the time | Some of the time | Never | Further action required |
| Self-Awareness | I understand different personality types and use that awareness effectively when I interact with others | ✔ | Reading, speaking and researching on various subjects | ||
| I seek feedback from others on my strengths and limitations and modify my behaviour accordingly |
✔ |
Learning processes of self management. | |||
| Communication | I effectively convey information verbally and in writing to a variety of audiences (peers, authority figures, groups, individuals) | ✔ | Encouraging people to speak, participate and perform | ||
| I listen effectively and can identify key issues that require addressing | ✔ | Addressing every issue that come on my way professionally | |||
| I demonstrate respect for other’s opinions | ✔ | Encouraging others to bring up more ideas | |||
| I effectively handle conflict | ✔ | Handing problems and getting more effective ways to solve them | |||
| I can effectively negotiate and persuade | ✔ | Coming up with convincing ideas | |||
| I can use email, word, excel to communicate effectively | ✔ | Learning more computer skills | |||
| Self-Management | I plan my workload effectively (set objectives, prioritise, use time effectively, meet commitments, demonstrate self-discipline) | ✔ | Managing my work against the limited time | ||
| I make and keep appointments (reliability) | ✔ | Having good time management | |||
| Team Working | I understand team-working theory and use that understanding to be a more effective team member (social skills/adaptability) | ✔ | By working more in groups | ||
| I understand the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness and display assertiveness appropriately | ✔ | Supporting ideas from groups | |||
| Leadership | I understand what it takes to become an effective leader and display leadership traits to motivate others | ✔ | Encouraging and motivating people |
Self-Audit. Areas for Development
| Skill Area | Description of Specific Skill | What I need to do to develop in this area for the future (and why !) |
| Self-Awareness | I understand different personality types and use that awareness effectively when I interact with others | Reading, speaking and researching on various subjects |
| I seek feedback from others on my strengths and limitations and modify my behaviour accordingly | Learning processes of self management. | |
| Communication | I effectively convey information verbally and in writing to a variety of audiences (peers, authority figures, groups, individuals) | Encouraging people to speak, participate and perform |
| I listen effectively and can identify key issues that require addressing | Addressing every issue that come on my way professionally | |
| I demonstrate respect for other’s opinions | Encouraging others to bring up more ideas | |
| I effectively handle conflict | Handing problems and getting more effective ways to solve them | |
| I can effectively negotiate and persuade | Coming up with convincing ideas | |
| I can use email, word, excel to communicate effectively | Learning more computer skills | |
| Self-Management | I plan my workload effectively (set objectives, prioritise, use time effectively, meet commitments, demonstrate self-discipline) | Managing my work against the limited time |
| I make and keep appointments (reliability) | Having good time management | |
| Team Working | I understand team-working theory and use that understanding to be a more effective team member (social skills/adaptability) | By working more in groups |
| I understand the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness and display assertiveness appropriately | Supporting ideas from groups | |
| Leadership | I understand what it takes to become an effective leader and display leadership traits to motivate others | Encouraging and motivating people |
Self-Audit. My Strengths
| Skill Area | Description of Specific Skill | Evidence (why is this a current strength ?) |
| Self-Awareness | I understand different personality types and use that awareness effectively when I interact with others | I’m able to admit I’m wrong.
|
| I seek feedback from others on my strengths and limitations and modify my behaviour accordingly | Listen patiently to another, even if they are slow | |
| Communication | I effectively convey information verbally and in writing to a variety of audiences (peers, authority figures, groups, individuals) | I’m able to show warmth and friendline |
| I listen effectively and can identify key issues that require addressing | I’m able to start a conversation easily with stranger.
|
|
| I demonstrate respect for other’s opinions | I lead rather than direct | |
| I effectively handle conflict | I am able to handle conflicts in workplace | |
| I can effectively negotiate and persuade | I inspire confidence and trust | |
| I can use email, word, excel to communicate effectively | I have good computer skills | |
| Self-Management | I plan my workload effectively (set objectives, prioritise, use time effectively, meet commitments, demonstrate self-discipline) | I am able to adapt to changing needs and ideas of others.
|
| I make and keep appointments (reliability) | I keep time on appointments and meetings | |
| Team Working | I understand team-working theory and use that understanding to be a more effective team member (social skills/adaptability) | I’m able to respect other values than my own.
|
| I understand the difference between assertiveness and aggressiveness and display assertiveness appropriately | I am able to motivate others in the team | |
| Leadership | I understand what it takes to become an effective leader and display leadership traits to motivate others | I am able to manage different teams |
- Boyes, C. (2004). Discourse analysis and personal/professional development. Radiography, 10(2), 109-117.
- Ferguson, K. (2007). Personal and Professional Development (PPD) Facilitators’ Guide. Mededportal Publications
- Mumford, A. (2011). Planning and Organizing Personal and Professional Development20012Chris Sangster. Planning and Organizing Personal and Professional Development. Aldershot: Gower 2000. £42.50. Industrial And Commercial Training, 33(7), 270-273.
- Powers, K. (2015). Making professional development personal. Teachers And Curriculum, 15(1).
Offered for reference purposes only.