Personal And Professional Development For Organizational Success

Task 1

This assignment focuses on highlighting the personal development skills that are necessary in an individual so as to lead towards the professional development. This assignment focusses on personal and professional skills which are considered for accounting for the organizational success. The paper will further evaluate the strategic skills that are required in meeting the requirements of the leaders and will concentrate on applying appropriate techniques helpful in identifying the learning styles. Finally, a personal development plan will be discussed for achieving the personal and work objectives of an individual.

Evaluation Method of Personal Skills

In order to attain professional success, the personal skills are highly criticaland can guide any individual towards the professional success. The progress of the individual and the overall organization can be defined by the personal skills. Therefore the personal skills are important in determining the role of the individual in the organizational success. Some skills are highly important in the personal development of the individual as it guides them through the individual.

The concept of personal development is continuous for the people who want to leads their organization towards development. In order to attain personal development, few skills have to be equipped. The most important skills for an individual to develop include the skills of communications, time management, interpersonal skills and problem solving. These skills are explained below:

1. Time Management:

One of the most critical personal skill required in an individual is the time management. This particular skills has the key for professional as well as personal success.Time management is considered to be highly important than money and it has been seen that the importance of time management has frequently been overlooked. However, with the ever increasing competition, the organizations must also focus on the art of time management as it creates brighter opportunities for the individuals. The art of time management along with knowledge and intelligence will be beneficial for the individuals. This particular skill must be practiced by those who want to attain high success in the professional front. Time management helps the individual to learn things quickly and in a more efficient manner. Time management allows the individuals to be prepared for urgent meetings, eliminate waste, monitor the progress of the project, reduce the excessive workload, ensure that the long-term projects should not be neglected, each week and day must be planned effectively with a sense of self-discipline. It has been seen that better time management provides a greater control towards maintaining the personal activities and the professional targets as well. Effective time management practices have made the work procedures to be easier making the life enjoyable for the individuals. Furthermore, when the individuals are able to manage their time properly, the completion increases in the organization with increased opportunities. Further the resources are utilized and maximized fully along with a personality development. The individuals experience satisfaction with their jobs and are seen to be handle the planning, directing, organizing, controlling, forecasting etc. at the organizational level. The skill of time management is seen to sharpen the techniques and abilities of doing things in a right manner.

1. Effective Communication

Task 2: Be able to conduct a skill audit to identify learning style

The communication skills help people to achieve their personal as well as professional target in the best way possible. The communication skills are seen to provide more chances towards fast learning. It is seen that effective communication is directly linked to confidence and self-esteem among the employees and individuals. When an individual is equipped with exceptional communication skills, he is more confident and presents himself in a better position.  

Good communication skills help oneself to make their voice heard and the art of questioning helps in attaining more knowledge regarding the various job tasks. Therefore, various goals and objectives can be achieved by the enhancing the communication skills. It can be considered as the easiest and more important asset to the personality which helps in attaining high confidence and achieving life objectives. With a clear communication channel among the organization, a sense of trust is built among the employees which helps in enhancing the interpersonal relationships in the organization.

1. Prioritizing work

One of the most critical personal skill that should be present in almost every employee includes prioritizing of their work. When an individual is able to prioritize their work, he becomes analytically aware. Due to living in a fast-paced world, individuals are asked to engage in multi-tasking. Therefore it is vital for the individuals to prioritize and to choose the work with the maximum value. This particular skill is able to help the individual to attain high wisdom and to work accordingly as per the importance and priority. Once the individual is able to prioritize among their work tasks, they are able to balance their professional and personal life and can easily achieve goals and targets.

Apply techniques to assess the professional skills to support the strategic direction of the organisation

The following present level of skills were assessed which a manager must possess in relation to achieving strategic goals: 

1. Coaching and development skills

One of the main qualities that should be present in any professional is coaching and development. In this fast-paced world, it is important for every professional to be highly competitive in nature and to learn various skills so as to develop professionally and sustain in this ever-competitive environment. Therefore coaching skills are considered to be highly important for any professional and the leaders of the organization must have leadership qualities to help them develop their teams. In order to have good coaching skills, the manager or the particular individual must have good communication skills. With good communication skills, the coach is able to provide a clear and transparent understanding whereas good speaking and listening power helps in providing a better opportunity to coach and develop the subordinates. Therefore, in order to attain overall professional development, good personal skills are highly beneficial.

1. Multi- Tasking Skills

Task 3

One of the major reality of the professional life is to complete various tasks in a limited slot of time. Therefore, the individuals must be equipped with multi-tasking. The quality of multi-tasking provides wisdom to the individual along with giving them a clear vision to complete the selected tasks in a limited slot of time with maximum efficiency. Therefore this skill adds to the personal skill thereby helping to attain almost all the objectives in the professional life. In order to be multi-tasking, the individual has to inculcate the skill of time-management. Therefore one can see that the personal skills are directly linked to the professional life.

1. Leadership skills

In order to achieve all the aims and objectives, the individual must have a set of leadership qualities. In order to progress in the professional front, the individuals must be equipped with leadership skills. The individual having strong leadership skills are equipped with a strong personality, confidence and charisma and provide a guarantee towards achieving success. However, the leaders must also have personal skills like time management and communication which help in enhancement of the leadership skills. Therefore, in order to attain professional skills, the individuals must also possess personal skills.

A skills audit

An individual can figure out regarding strengths and weakness through his personal assessment. This helps the individual to have a clear and transparent knowledge of his abilities and shortcoming. The individual can easily make out the qualities which he possesses in order to be a successful leader and how the individual has to perform better for inculcating the required qualities. A personal audit will be beneficial in order to meet the future requirements and to have an evaluation of the personality.

Rating of leadership and management Skills

I did a survey to analyse my skills were I have been rated good, average and poor for my set of skills, these are mentioned as given below:

Skills	Score
Communication	Good
Presentation	Good
Motivation	Good
Time Management	Good
Leadership	Good
Decision Making	Average
Self Confidence	Average
Delegating	Poor
Conflict Management	Poor
Analyzing	Good
Influencing	Good
Planning	Average
Prioritizing work	Good
Coaching	Good

1. Leadership Analyses:
2. I have the ability of influencing people using my knowledge and communication.
3. I can convince someone using my knowledge
4. I am a good listener and listen to other’s point of view and can easily convince them.
5. If anyone does not agree to make point, I use my knowledge to make him convince the same.
6. Presentation Analyses:

1. I always make sure that I am wearing proper dress while my presentations so as to keep up with a business-like-image.
2. I always smile and proper body language during my presentations.
3. I make sure that all the equipment that are to be used in the presentation are clean and undamaged.
4. I always try to make an outline of the whole presentation beforehand.
5. I always make use of various examples so as to make my point to be clear.
6. I never fail to make use of Audio-Visual Aids for making my presentation interesting.
7. I always try to work hard so as to improve myself and the areas of my weakness.
8. Personal Analyses

Strength:

After performing the self-audit I have realised that following skills are my strengths:

Time Management

Presentation Skills

Prioritizing Work

Communication Skills

Coaching Skills 

Communication and time management is seen to play an important role in order to achieve all the targets and objectives of the organization. I personally believe that the skill of time management has helped achieve various opportunities and complete my work with good efficiency and less pressure. The communication skills are important so as to make others realise and understand the issues being faced by the company and this can be a helpful tool while performing leadership based tasks. Further, the coaching skills and prioritizing skills help in making life easier and work with enhanced effectiveness.

Weakness:

After performing the self-audit I have realised that following skills are my weakness:

Decision Making

Self confidence

Delegating

Conflict Management

I lack the mentioned above skills and tend to rely too much on other people however I need to improve the following skills so as to lead effectively. Additionally, I need to work on my delegation skills as I lack the decision-making skills and conflict management which are considered to be vital in order to have leadership skills.

Opportunities:

I need to improve my skills continuously and to listen and observe to the fullest. I need to grow as a professional and learn the above mentioned skills in order to become an effective manager. I need to interact with my senior management to gain as much knowledge as possible.

Threats:

In order to become a successful professional, I need to be very attentive and learn the vital skills that I lack. Further I am not going to be over confident about all the abilities that I possess. I will have to work along the various complexities and should try to avoid issues with my colleagues and maintain healthy interpersonal relationship with everyone.

I have identified various styles that are suitable for me and can help me bringing better outcomes and reduce the errors that I perform occasionally as an individual and a professional.

Activist:

As I trust in learning with rigour, energy and excitement and I appreciate working and learning since I feel that if one wants to master in his or her field that individual ought to appreciate working. Having a flexible identity has helped me become more versatile to various circumstances.

The Reflector

As a part of my identity I like to observe and watch things and later dissect them before arriving at conclusion, I generally trust in settling on choice on present certainties and facts. Consequently I have recognized that this style suits best for me and provides me with more chance to get more data.

The Theorist

As it is in my propensity that I am more timely and dynamic thus through this style I can become more trained and disciplined and I can make my life more deliberate. I like to solve problems sensibly and with the help of my experience. This learning style makes me more reasonable and it provides me to have a better opportunity to learn.

The Pragmatist

I have discovered that pragmatist person learning style is best appropriate for me and it makes my way of adapting and learning more successful and effective. It is my habit to jump at the chance to put my thoughts and procedures into practice. I jump at the chance to straight forward and indicate and I like to learn through practical knowledge as opposed to books. 

Personal Development Plan

What I am trying to achieve?	What internal weakness is standing in the way?	What external threats are worrying me?	Who/Where can I go to for help?	How am I going to ask for help?- METHODS	How will I review progress?
Decision Making Skills	Lack of proper analytical skills	Competition	1) Project Manager 2) Senior Personnel	Arranging the discussion session with the other associates. Sending email request to the upper management	I can discuss and communicate with the other associates. Their suggestions can make differences in my decisions.
Delegation Skills	Lack of knowledge about the expertise of the associates. Improper work allocation	The complex business process Changing demands of the clients	Experienced Manager Experts’ advice can be taken into considerations Appointment with the business consultant would be much beneficial.	I can arrange the appointment as per their convenient time. A day in a week will be selected for the meeting.	I can discuss and communicate with the associate to know them better. I can get the idea about their expertise for allocating the right and relevant work accordingly.
Conflict Management	Self Confidence	It may affect the organisational reputation Low productivity	I can consult with the senior department to seek help I can even ask help from the experienced negotiator to solve the conflicts	I can arrange meeting with both of the parties during the conflicting scenario. I can arrange a meeting with the negotiator or the third party to resolve the issues by communicating properly.	I shall review the performance and internal scenario of the company to measure whether the conflict is resolved. The production report would be helpful in such cases.

Table 3.1: Personal Development Plan 1

(Source: Created by the Author)

Identification of the self-awareness is essential for developing the personal and professional skills. In order to achieve the objectives, it is necessary for me to observe the relevancy of this development plan. The establishment of the SMART objective would be relevant in such cases.

S= Specific: The objective is specific because it has the clear focus on the specific skills that are needed to be developed.

M= Measurable: It is measurable because the performance review would specify the measurement of the progress.

A= Achievable: It is achievable if I follow the plan systematically.

R= Realistic: It is realistic because these skills are essential for the managerial post in an organisation.

T= Time Bound: The personal skill development would take two months to be completed.

Skills	Present level	Need for development	Activities to develop skills	Resources to develop the skills
Decision Making Skills	Poor	Development needed	Develop language skills, take expert help, Prior planning for emergency, Bonding with team	Counselling sessions, Team outing, Team lunch, Emergency protocol
Delegation Skills	Poor	Development needed	Include instructions, establish priority system, Teach new skills, Utilise the team’s strength	Training sessions, games that identify the employee’s potential
Conflict Management	Average	Development needed	Active listening, Group collaboration activities, Emphasise on non-verbal communication	Training Scenarios, Simulations, Role plays, Team work, Debate Sessions

Table 3.1.1: Personal Development Plan 2

(Source: Created by the Author)

During this journey of developing personal and professional skills, I have observed the necessary skills that I would require to ensure progress in my career. After reviewing the internal audit skills, I have found out that I am quite efficient in managing the workforce by establishing the transparent communication. I have the greater control on my communication skills. In fact, I am capable of scheduling and managing time for each of the functionalities that are essential for the organisational progress. Every employee needs to prioritize their works by applying the systematic techniques. Similarly, the skills audit report informs that I have the good knowledge to prioritize my works and schedule them properly. However, apart from these strengths, I have observed the specific weaknesses as well. I face difficulties in utilizing the decision making skills, conflict management, and delegation management. The personal development plan is structured to make progress in these skills. Following the objectives for the skill development would be beneficial for my future career.

The following table shows the level of the new skills attained which would help me to achieve the strategic goals of my organization.

Skills	New Skill level	Outcomes of new skills acquired
Decision Making Skills	Improved ability to take decisions	Got internal appraisals, better team meeting outcomes, better products that are launched
Delegation Skills	Better able to delegate tasks to the subordinates	Team bonding increased, Interpersonal relations improvement
Conflict Management	Able to resolve interpersonal conflicts	Less conflicts in team, Amicable relationships, Rich organizational culture

 Table 3.2: Summary of learning log

(Source: Created by the Author)

During this skill development process, I have gained much remarkable experiences. The presentation of the experiences through Gibb’s Cycle would be understandable more specifically. The systematic evaluation of the process in Gibb’s Cycle helps in understanding the activities held during the skill development process.

In this self-assessment study, I have recognised that I have acquired some of the personal skills that are necessary to develop my professional competency level. However, I have found out that I lack the self-confidence level that prevents me from undertaking any fruitful decision. In fact, my capability level in managing the conflicts is not up to my expectations. The personal development plan is thus formulated to enhance these skills.

The lack of self confidence was quite depressing for me. In every aspect, I found difficulty in making any relevant decisions. It was quite depressing for me and I felt quite upset. I was worried about by career and continuously thinking of the relevant solution to develop these skills. Then I decided to undertake this plan to develop three major skills, such as decision making, conflict management and self-confidence. The developmental plan requires concentrating on these specific skills for the future prospects in my professional life.

For developing my decision making skill  I will try and discuss my opinions with other people  and access many books which will make me more active and help me to adjust in various situations. In order to enhance my decision making skill I will keep records of information in a diary and prepare presentations from those information (Kobayashi 2013).  In terms of increasing my knowledge and improving my communication skill as well as be more socialized I will take the initiative of attending as many as workshops and conferences as I can. I will always ask my colleagues and friends about their feedback on my presentation skill so that it helps me to improve more. If I am not able to communicate about my ideas and skills to the organization then I will lose the opportunity to put up myself in future. Conducting the survey among the co-workers would help me to identify the lack of skills that prevent me from building the effective self-confidence. Therefore, it was quite essential for me to collect the honest feedback from my co-workers to understand the necessary method that I should accept to enhance self-confidence.

Conclusion

The skill development process is quite essential to improve the professional life. Moreover, it helps in strengthening the skills for achieving the career goals. A well planned execution benefits the organization a lot and helps in achieving targets and goals. I will try to attend and have record of the customer survey, service report of the organization and data of the company’s performances. Planning is the skill which will help me in developing the strategies in order to accomplish goals.

The contingency plan mainly works as a kind of secondary plan which is implemented on failure of the primary or initial planning. Moreover, Planning is and will be an important pillar for the personality development. Maintaining formal and informal communication with my colleagues and clients is essential for me to develop my skills to promote the ethical organisation culture. If necessary, I even seek advices from my seniors and experts. This procedure is much helpful for me to understand what I lack in me. Accordingly, I can improve myself by reviewing the feedback received from others.

Conclusion

In this undertaking self-improvement plan is talked about and certain objectives are set which should have been accomplishing through self-improvement arrange. In this assignment a table for future advancement plan is made and in this table all the future targets and their significance is appeared. Individual abilities which should have been enhanced are distinguished and certain activities are set to be taken to accomplish this self-awareness arrange.

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