Unit 13 Personal and Professional Development Assignment

Introduction

This Personal and Professional Development Assignment is related to the personal and professional development of an individual in an organisation. Different approaches to development and managing skills are considered and discussed in the assignment to bring out the understanding of self-managed learning and personal and professional development. There are also benefits to these approaches, which are explained in the assignment. In this assignment, the self-analysis of the skills and competencies is also understood, as well as how this can be achieved. Self SWOT analysis and the need to achieve the overall development of an individual are briefly described. A development plan, the feedback or the evaluation of the performance and the development of an individual are also covered in the assignment. This assignment also talks about the problems of the work and the interpersonal skills, and the skills which can be transferred, as well as the time management skills.

The aim or the purpose of the assignment is to develop the understanding of self-analysing the skills and the competencies in order to achieve the achievement in own goals and objectives effectively as well as efficiently. This assignment is designed to build an understanding of the different methods and the plans for learning and developing professional and personal skills.

Task 1

Report - Introduction

This report includes the different approaches and the methods to manage self learning and gain lifelong learning from these approaches. This report further discusses the different ways of improving the personal and professional lifelong learning of an individual. The report will explain the benefits of the self learning capability of an individual to an organisation and to the person.

Self-managed learning approaches: Self-managed learning, or self-directed learning, is the process of learning in which the person understands the skills of learning and identifies the different sources and the learning capabilities of the individual. In this, the person learns the development without the help of others and also provides the management of these skills in a manner to gain the maximum achievement in an organisation. This learning technique enables the individual to analyse their desires and the wants to achieve.

Approaches to self-managed learning are the ways or the efforts that can be put to achieve self-directed learning (Cunningham, 2010). These are mentioned below:

• • Research- An individual can obtain or achieve learning by researching different heads and attain the maximum knowledge on the same, for improving the knowledge and the understanding of that. The research is the method to understand the topic and gain knowledge on the same in deep.

• • Superiors or mentors- The learning can be achieved by experienced superiors the coaches, or mentors. The mentors and the coaches of the organisation provide the knowledge and improve the skills of the person in a manner to achieve the objectives of the organisation effectively. The learning can be developed through observing these people in the organisation.

• • Meetings and seminars- The meetings and seminars are also important in self learning management. The seminars, which are conducted by the organisation or the conferences where the discussion happens, can be beneficial to gain self learning for an individual. These improve the skills of communicating as well as provide encouragement and eliminate the fear of communicating in public.

• • Access to the internet- The Internet is the best medium to learn anything anytime without any long process. The learning becomes easy with technology. The internet can help an individual develop the skills and learn different skills and knowledge. The internet access is an easy way and an effective approach to gain self learning management.

• • Newspapers or information boards- The newspapers and the bulletin boards are other methods which can improve the learning of an individual and improve the knowledge and skills of the people of the organisation. The self learning can be developed through this method (Bunderson & Boumgarden,  2010).

• • S.M.A.R.T. goal setting- The S.M.A.R.T. refers to the Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound. These goals provide the basic features of the person which help in achieving success through work. These goals help to analyse the five such situations in a person and are able to identify the needs to improve among these features.

• • Personal vision and mission setting- The person can also improve self learning by setting the personal vision and the mission of the person as an individual and then analysing them and working on achieving them.

• • Theoretical model of self-learning management- In this model, four steps related to self learning are explained they are planning, monitoring, controlling, and evaluating.

 

Ways of encouraging lifelong learning in professional and personal contexts

Lifelong learning is the continuous learning of an individual which provides advanced and in-depth knowledge about different concepts. For lifelong learning, an individual should put in efforts and should analyse their performance and the development of the individual continuous and lifelong. The popular or the general way to achieve lifelong learning is the evaluation of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an individual. This technique is the SWOT analysis of the person. Another way to improve lifelong learning in both contexts is strong leadership skills, and also improved and better communication skills. Encouragement of lifelong learning can also be done by motivating and achieving the tasks and goals of the individual.

These ways and the methods of encouragement for whole-life learning are discussed and understood in detail below:

• • SWOT or self-evaluation- The self-evaluation or the SWOT analysis of an individual is a great approach or method to increase the encouragement to learn and gain knowledge, and improve skills in both the contexts of personal life as well as professional life.  In the self evaluation an individual get the chance to analyse or evaluate the strength that the person has, the weakness which becomes the challenge to achieve the tasks, the opportunities which occur and provide the chance to achieve something and the threat which generates the risk of decreasing the performance of the employee or the individual.

• • Strong leadership skills- To develop lifelong learning, the individual must consider the importance of strong and effective leadership skills within themselves. The strong leadership skills help the individual in leading and directing life correctly on the correct path. The clear understanding of goals and the clear performance analysis helps the individual in gaining lifelong learning and good skills to manage their personal as well as professional life.

• • Better communication skills- The Communication skills of the individual matter the most in a corporate world as well as in personal life. The better communication skill of the person encourages or improve the personal as well as the professional life of the person. Communication skills are needed in an organisation for each level. The organisation people have to deal with the clients and the customers regularly, and their personal life and social life are surrounded by or covered with communication with the people. Effective communication provides a lifelong advantage and the improvement in personality and the personal and professional context as well.

• • Achievement and motivation- The achievement in the life of an individual improves and encourages the life of the person as it has an impact on the person's identity as well as the personal and professional life of the individual. The achievement of the goals or the tasks can be completed if they are followed by the understood goals and objectives. This provides lifelong learning and efficiency among them. The motivation helps to satisfy the individual and provide lifelong learning. The motivation to work and the different motivational strategies of the people of the organisation encourage the individual to work more effectively and with efficiency to provide more productive results and the improved personal and professional life of an individual (Hoyle et.al, 2010).

 

Benefits of self-managed learning

The self managed or the self regulated learning is the effective way to analyse and evaluate own competencies and skills and improve and develop them to gain the achievement of effective results and the efficiency in the work. There are certain benefits to the individual as well as the organisation in achieving the self managed learning.

The benefits of self-managed learning to the individual are discussed below:

• • Continuous learning- The self-managed learning technique provides continuous learning to the individual and also improves the capacity for lifelong learning. Continuous learning provides constant development and enhances performance regularly.

• • Self-evaluation- By self learning management, the individual is enabled to achieve the self-evaluation task effectively and understand their own results, which helps to improve them accordingly. The self-evaluation provides the self-actualisation to an individual.

• • Enhances satisfaction level- The satisfaction level of the individual regarding job and different aspects of life increases with the self learning ability of an individual.

• • Attaining weakness and threats- The self learning capability of an individual provides the advantage of identifying the weaknesses and threats of the individual and provides the solution about how these weaknesses and threats can be coped with. The advantage of identifying the weaknesses and threats of an individual on time provides efficiency in the work of the person.

• • Build confidence- It builds up the confidence among the person as the analysed situation of the person brings him more confident about what could be achieved and what could not and how the negative aspects can be improved to provide the better results.

• • Effectiveness in work and improved efficiency- The effectiveness and efficiency run together, and the people of the organisation need to achieve these two in the achieved objectives or tasks. The self learning ability of an organisation provides effectiveness in the work, and efficiency is also improved.

 

The benefits of self-managed learning to the organisation are discussed below:

• • Improves learning skills of the employee- The learning skills of the employee, including the self learning ability, provide the learning methods and ways to the employee.

• • Improvements in environment- The environment of the organisation also improves because the people of the organisation work and communicate effectively and in a manner to improves the skills, which brings positive vibes to the organisation.

• • Increased profits- The profits of the company or the organisation also increase as the employees are clear about their goals and the objectives and perform better to achieve them as they know their weaknesses and strengths.

• • Enhanced performance of the organisation- The performance of the organisation also increases as employees put extra and effective efforts to complete the objectives of the organisation. The employees also work on their performance themselves, which helps to increase the overall performance of the organisation.

• • Focused employees- It also helps the employee to focus on the work and increases the concentration power of the employee as it provides the stability to the employee's mind and to understand the goals correctly (Bezzina, et.al, 2010).

 

Conclusion

The study of this report helps us to build a conclusion that there are various approaches to self learning management, which can improve the skills and competencies of the individual. Lifelong learning can improve the knowledge of the individual, and it provides the ability to learn throughout the whole life of an individual. It also brings us to the conclusion that there are various benefits to the organisation and the individual of self learning management.

 

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Task 2

2.1 CV

professional Skills	Current Level 5=strong  1 = weak	Best Current Example	Ways to Improve
Communication Skills	5	I have given presentation at the stage for certain events where my skills become the best source to interact with the people that ultimately affect my development.	There is a need for improvement in my way of carrying myself at this stage, as many times I become restless, so if I just concentrate on my work, then no problems will be left.
Listening Skills	4	I have good listening skills as I create a situation	I have to listen to the people who can be done by meditation.
Leadership Skills	5	In the events in the organisation, I have managed the whole event with effectiveness.	I need to be more patient in leadership, for which I have to do yoga daily.
Planning and Organising	5	The event was held at the organisation	I conducted the event, but I need to be more focused
Presentation Skills	3	I have given a presentation on stage	I have to take a session to avoid stage fright.
Problem Solving	3	I have solved problems for my colleagues at work.	I have to be more patient and focused, which can be done by analysing of situation.
Professional knowledge	4	I have given a presentation on the stage	I have to be more composed about gaining professional knowledge.
Self-Management	3	At the time of deadlines and work pressure	I have to manage my work with time timetable.
Team work	4	In the recent events, all work was conducted with teamwork	I have to be more patient for which means I have to start trusting people.
Technology Skills	3	My ability to work with computers is average	I have to take computer classes on computers
Time Management	3	In the completion of the assignments on time	I have to create a time table in which I mention all the working and try to follow it (Barnett, 2012).

 

 

2.2&2.3 SWOT analysis

About identifying and developing the needs, the best-suited way is the SWOT analysis, which would help in identifying the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that can affect the person. They are mentioned below-

Strengths	Weaknesses
My communication skills are effective, which helps me to communicate easily with my colleagues and officials. I am goal goal-oriented person and always try to achieve the targets that are set and never leave my work without its completion. I am a committed person who always tries to accomplish my task. I am also an optimistic person who always tries to avoid all the negative feelings in my life. My inspirations are the effective leaders in the organisation, and I always make my best efforts to achieve the targets. I am a good learner and can easily learn from the visual as well as auditory mediums (Gupta & Mishra, 2016).	I am a shy person and sometimes fail to express my views and opinions on certain matter that make me regret later. I am also having a phobia of the stage, and many times while expressing myself in the meeting or on the stage, I become restless and unable to put my best in it. Many times, I am not stable emotionally, and I am also not able to control that, which leads to many demerits in my performance. I also overanalyse and overthink certain matters, which creates problems in its implementation as well as creates problems in my work as a personality.
Opportunities	Threats
I can overcome my weaknesses in many effective and efficient ways, such as I am taking training to overcome my fear of the stage, so that I may be able to represent my opinion on certain matters without any fear. I am also trying to increase my learning skills by taken sessions of various learning attributes so that a wide range be created that would help me to make progress in my life. I am also a team oriented person so with my effective team in the working I may overcome my certain limitations as a good and effective team helps me to overcome my limitations and also suggest ways to overcome them. My optimism also increases the scope of my ability. I always welcome feedbacks from others so that my limitation may be improved and I can have a better personality. By regular meditation, I am trying to conquer my anger and other emotional stability in an effective manner (Ozdemir et.al, 2012).	There is the limited time for the development and removal of my weakness, so there is only limited time to accomplish the task. In the routine life there is no enormous time left for self-reflection as all the day goes in complying the regular demands. There is excess competition in the workplace that leads to the downfall of my morale. Many people try to sabotage my skills and leave me demotivated. Work pressure also damages my creativity and skills, effectively and efficiently.

 

2.4 Devise a personal and professional development plan based on the identified.

S.no.	LEARNING OBJECTIVE/GOAL	CURRENT PROFICIENCY	TARGET PROFICIENCY	DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES	CRITERIA FOR JUDGING SUCCESS	TIME SCALE	EVIDENCE
1.	Better communication on stage	Stage fright leads to poor communication on stage.	To overcome stage fright, this would enhance my communication skills.	By taking sessions as well as classes, to can overcome the fear.	It can be tested at the time of giving a presentation on the stage.	10 days	I have seen my colleagues with the same problem, and she has overcome it with this planning only.
2.	Emotional stability	Emotionally unstable, which leads to outrage and anger	Try to control my anger and outrage behaviour, which would help in my emotional stability.	By doing meditation at the yoga classes as it would help me to achieve my goals and it would also help me to control my anger.	It can be judged at the time of work pressure as well as while working in the organisation.	One to two months of daily yoga can help to resolve this problem.	My sister was suffering from the same problem, and she has done yoga daily, which helps her to control her emotions and make them stable.
3.	Increase creativity in my work.	Due to work pressure, I lack creativity in my work.	I will try to increase creativity in my work.	It can be done by making a proper timetable and following the same effectively and efficiently.	By my increasing creativity skills at work.	A week will be required for proper organising.	My colleagues have also increased their creativity through time management skills (McAdams et.al, 2012).

 

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Task 3

Report

Introduction

The organisation in today's competitive world needs people who can achieve the objectives and the goals of the organisation effectively and efficiently. To develop such skills in people, the development should be provided. The development plan is the process in which the overall development steps to achieve the skills and competencies of the employee are included.
 

Process and activities of the implementation of the development plan

The personal and professional development in the organisation and its employees is very important in this competitive and changing world. The organisation needs to improve the professional as well as the personal skills of the employees to gain the maximum benefit in achieving the goals of the organisation. To provide such development the organisation some organisations use a development plan which features some activities required:

• • Scope of professional or personal development plan- The plan aims to provide development in the areas in which the employees need to develop. The personal and professional development of an employee will be increased by the organisation.

• • Relationship between personal development plan and the interlinked factors- The development plan and the relationship between the links of the plan are understood under efforts in the context of this.

• • Implementation- The implementation of these plans is not easy as these plans need to achieve the efforts of the organisation in a manner to provide the proper communication and the training of the employees, and in self learning management, as some of the employees may not be able to understand self learning.

• • Influence- The impact of personal development is a positive one in which the employees are responsible for their development (Eckert & Clarkson, 2010).

 

Undertake and document development activities as planned

The professional and personal development plan includes the various activities which are to be performed. Some of the important points or the activities which are to be considered while preparing a document for the development plan are:

• • To develop the document.

• • To gather all the information and the requirements of the plan.

• • To bring out the meeting notes and the decisions of the meetings.

• • To record the decisions and the results of the meetings.

• • To review the document prepared.

• • To identify the errors.

• • Provide the presentation of the document.

 

Reflect critically on own learning against the original aims and objectives set in the development plan.

An individual needs to develop the skills and competencies for professional and personal development. The organisation provides the development plan to the people of the organisation to manage and develop the skills and abilities of the employees to achieve more. The employee using these plans should improve and develop the skills and the capabilities, and then be able to analyse the learning and the objectives of the development plan. The employees should be able to compare the objectives and the aims of the development plan and the achieved objectives by the individual (Shucksmith et.al, 2010).

The self learning and the objectives of the development plan should provide an understanding of what work has been done, what skills have been developed, what has been achieved, and what needs to be improved further. To achieve the desired goals, a proper analysis of the achieved work should be considered. The organisation should improve the ability of the employees to understand and compare the achieved results with the aims and the objectives of the development plan.

 

Update the development plan based on feedback and Evaluation

Updated development plan

S.no.	LEARNING OBJECTIVE/GOAL	CURRENT PROFICIENCY	TARGET PROFICIENCY	DEVELOPMENT OPPORTUNITIES	CRITERIA FOR JUDGING SUCCESS	TIME SCALE	EVIDENCE
1.	Better communication on stage	According to feedback and evaluation, the personal communication skills have improved, and the stage fright has been reduced.	Target has been completely achieved, and the development has taken place.	The opportunities in front of me were the classes and the sessions, which were properly attended.	The judgment was made based on performance on the stage and in public.	It took a total of 20 days to develop the communication skills.	It is recorded in the performance record.
2.	Emotional stability	Improved emotional stability and built peace.	The target of controlling the behaviour worked, and the emotional stability was achieved.	The opportunity emerged was the yoga classes which I participated and worked on the skills and achieved as well (Bryson, 2011).	The judgement was made at last month's work pressure and in the stressful environment where I calmly handled the situations.	It took 3 months in total to achieve emotional stability.	I felt the change, and some of my colleagues mentioned it (Korthals Altes, 2014).
3.	Increase creativity in my work.	Skills have improved, and a more creative person has emerged now.	The target to achieve creativity was achieved by involving innovative and new methods in to work.	The opportunity to increase creativity was achieved by preparing the schedule of work and lowering the pressure, and thinking creatively towards the work.	The judgement is done on the basis of incorporating the innovation and the new techniques to work which has provided interest in the work as well as the creativity to the work.	It took 2 weeks to provide a creative person to the organisation.	My work was appreciated, and the new innovative methods were used by my colleagues as they found them interesting.

 

 

Task 4

Report

Introduction

In this report the interpersonal skills and the transferrable skills are discussed. The problems which are related with the work and their solutions are defined in this report. The different styles of communication at the various levels are explained as well as the effective strategies of the time managing are provided in this assignment.

 

Solutions to work-based problems

In the workplace, the employees or employers face different types of problems which need to be solved according to the situations and the structures. The work-based problems are those that the people of the organisation face in their daily operations. To improve the efficiency of the organisation and to increase performance of the organisation, it is required to provide solutions to the problems of the work. Here is the solution to work-based problems-

• • Identification of problems- The identification of the issue or the problem is to be done. The identification of the problem refers to finding the issue or the problem which took place and why.

• • Understand the people's opinion- to understand the opinion of the people or the take on the problem of the people of the organisation, needs to be understood.

• • List the solutions- The solutions to the problems should be listed. The possible remedy to the issue that occurred should be written down.

• • Examine the solutions- The solutions listed should be properly examined and evaluated so as to find out the most effective and efficient solutions.

• • Select a solution- The solution which is most appropriate and effective must be selected.

• • Provide a solution- The solution must be provided to eliminate the problem (Escarrabill, et.al, 2015).

 

Communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner at various levels.

Communication in the organisation is very important as it provides easy and efficient working to the organisation. The communication in an organisation takes place in different forms, which provide different styles of communication at different levels of the organisation.

• • The higher authorities can be communicated to the board of directors in formal sessions or in meetings, which provides professionalism in an organisation and the discussion is done in an effective manner.

• • The middle-level employees or the managers can be communicated through the conferences or the seminars of the organisation. It provides the proper way of communication. The verbal or the written forms of communication can be used by these level managers. Through mail and notices, communication can be done.

• • The lower-level managers and the employees can be informed by the organisation in a manner notices of the big meetings and conferences. It is the correct way to communicate in an organisation at different levels.

The organisation should use the written form of communication at the different levels as it is the best method to disseminate the information to the various people and is the effective way of communicating in the organisation (Rocha, 2015).

 

Effective time management strategies

Time management is a crucial factor of the organisation which needs to be improved. Time management should be done to achieve the maximum results in an efficient time, and it does not create a hectic schedule for the organisation and people. Time management can be done to achieve the desired results on time and effectively and efficiently as well (Bach & Grant, 2015). There are some strategies to manage time effectively-

• • Maintaining a diary- To manage time, one should use the diary management strategy. According to this, to manage the time, the diary should be maintained, and the important tasks and the time allotted should be noted to complete those tasks accordingly.

• • Prioritising the work- Prioritising the task refers to the tasks should be provides the importance first which are to be done first. Giving priority to the task on the basis of importance helps to manage the time and complete the task effectively and efficiently.

• • Dividing the tasks- The tasks should be divided among the different people to achieve the task properly and efficiently. It will help to manage the time of the people and the maximum results will be produced (Robbins, et.al,  2011).

 

Conclusion

The report prepared brings us to the conclusion that self learning ability and lifelong learning help the organisation and the individual in gaining the benefits of effectiveness and efficiency in the performance of the organisation as a whole, as well as in developing the various skills and competencies in an individual. The personal and professional development of the individual is done by this. The report was able to communicate the self-evaluation techniques and the different methods, such as SWOT analysis, deeply. The personal and professional development and the development plan in an organisation and its uses are properly communicated in the report. The interpersonal skills and the transferable skills are also discussed. The report brings us to the conclusion that different strategies to manage time are also needed.

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References

• Bezzina, F.H. 2010, "Investigating gender differences in mathematics performance and in self-regulated learning: An empirical study from Malta", Equality, Diversity and Inclusion: An International Journal, vol. 29, no. 7, pp. 669-693.

• Bach, S. & Grant, A. 2015, Communication & interpersonal skills in nursing, 3rd edn, Learning Matters, an imprint of Sage Publications, Ltd, Thousand Oaks, California; London.

• Barnett, C. 2012, "Our friend electric: Indian company Tata is making moves in the UK with its Ace CV", Motor Transport, pp. S7.

• Bryson, D. 2011, "The Personal Development Planning Cycle", Journal of Visual Communication in Medicine, vol. 34, no. 4, pp. 177-182.

• Bunderson, J.S. & Boumgarden, P. 2010, "Structure and Learning in Self-Managed Teams: Why 'Bureaucratic' Teams Can Be Better Learners", Organisation Science, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 609-624.

• Cunningham, I. 2010, "Learning to lead - self-managed learning and how academics resist understanding the process", Development and Learning in Organisations: An International Journal, vol. 24, no. 2, pp. 4-6.

• Eckert, C.M. & Clarkson, P.J. 2010, "Planning development processes for complex products", Research in Engineering Design, vol. 21, no. 3, pp. 153-171.

• Escarrabill, J., Clèries, X. & Sarrado, J.J. 2015, "Transferable skills of healthcare professionals in providing homecare in chronically ill patients", Atencion primaria / Sociedad Española de Medicina de Familia y Comunitaria, vol. 47, no. 2, pp. 75.

• Gupta, G. & Mishra, R.P. 2016, "A SWOT analysis of reliability-centred maintenance framework", Journal of Quality in Maintenance Engineering, vol. 22, no. 2, pp. 130-145.

• Hoyle, R. 2010, "Winning the self-managed learning war", Training Journal, pp. 41.