Advanced Professional Development is used for developing personal and professional skills of the person. It has lot of stages and analysis for developing the skills. These stages are like improving personal and professional skills, continuous professional development, personal skill audit and professional skill audit, personal development plan. In this assignment I am going to discuss about these topics.
TASK 1 METHODS TO IMPROVE PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
Four professional skills for achieving personal or organizational objectives:
Counseling
Coaching and mentoring
Multitasking
Leadership skills
Counseling skills:
This is the one method for improving organizational objectives in the organization. Counseling is known as to counsel the employee in the organization. The manager counsels the employees in the organization. The process of counseling the employees demands careful use of manager's communication skills.
Managers help to the employee for improving their skills. In this case the individual and organization both can get the benefits. Counseling is the communication tools between the employees and managers.
Counseling skills has two types of counseling approaches these are,
Directive counseling
Indirect counseling
Directive counseling:
It involves the initiative and actual suggestions for the solutions. The consequent of various courses of actions are outlined and the ranges of actions are considered.
Indirect counseling:
In this approach the counselee is capable of defining accurately her or his problems. It presupposes that solutions to problems will not be implemented unless counselees wholeheartedly accept their implications.
Coaching and Mentoring skills:
A coach is someone trained and devoted to guiding others into increased competence, commitment and confidence. Mentoring enables an individual to follow in the path of an older or wiser colleague who can pass on knowledge and experience and otherwise out of reach opportunities.
It has five areas of coaching and mentoring these is,
Business coaching and mentoring
Executive coaching and mentoring
Performance coaching and mentoring
Skills coaching and mentoring
Personal coaching and mentoring
Business coaching and mentoring:
It is used to improve the organizational development. It helps to achieve organizational goals.
Executive coaching and mentoring:
Work with potential captains of the industry and high profile business leaders.
Performance coaching and mentoring:
Performance coaching derives its theoretical underpinning and models from business and sports psychology as well as general management principles.
Skills coaching and mentoring:
Skills' coaching is to improve the personal development. Skill coacher are highly experienced and competent the skills they teach.
Personal coaching and mentoring:
These coaches and mentor separate operate in highly supportive roles to those who wish to make some form of significant change happen within their lives.
Multitasking:
Multitasking means, "Switching back and forth between activities of varying complexity within the workplace and household". Multitasking is method of skill to improve the personal skills in the lives. It is used for better management time.
Leadership skills:
The leadership skills also improve the personal skills of the person. Leadership involves the whole range of skills, attitudes and behaviors. Leadership is the key quality that manager needs to develop.
Benefits of Time management for personal development skill:
Any person who can organize the time effectively will be able to cope better with difficult decisions, react more favorably to the problems and be better prepared for the future.
Most successful leaders are very good at time management. They have earned their success by working out how to get the maximum amount of work done in the most efficient way.
How to use time effectively:
If we want to know whether we are using our time effectively, we must look at the different ways that time is used during a period such as a week.
We have to break the time down into smaller units, and then we can establish if we are working to the capacity or simply wasting a large amount of it.
It has different steps like analyzing time spent, goal settings, SMART, planning, activity.
Analyzing time spent:
The amount of working time that you have available to you each week
The number and type of job related activities that you need to undertake each week
The amount of time that you spend on each activity
Goal setting:
Part of any planning process, either for the organization or the individuals, is setting goals and targets.
Goals setting for my personal life:
Buy a car in this year
Complete my PGDMS course within the next 3 months
Save £100 money for each month.
Goals setting for my professional life:
Get a good job in IT in a good company within this year
Improve my technical skill sets according to IT jobs
SMART:
S - Simple
M - Measurable
A - Achievable
R - Realistic
T - Time related
My personal goal settings are one and two are measurable and achievable. Third goal is simple, measurable, achievable, and realistic and time related.
My professional goal settings are measurable, achievable, and realistic and time related.
Planning:
Goals can be achieved by breaking them down into a series of smaller steps which are each realistic and manageable.
Techniques for improved planning:
Personal Goal: - Buy a car in this year
QUESTION
ACTION
What do I want to achieve?
Buy a car
Why does it need to be done?
It for luxuries and convenient
When does it need to be done?
Within this year
How can it be done?
Saving of money
Where will it be done?
In my family
Who will take part?
My self
Benefits of time management for my personal and professional goals:
It is giving better prepared future for me in my life.
It is giving good leadership skills and successful life
Evaluation of continuous professional development program:
Continuing professional development (CPD) is becoming increasingly recognized by professional institutions as essential for ensuring their members remain up to date and maintain their professional competence.
There has been an increasing recognition of the contribution which the effective management of human resources can make to the competitive advantage of organizations.
Within this context the contribution of training and development in general, and the professional development of managers in particular, have secured recognition.
There has been a consistent growth in both managerial and professional employment since the 1960s and this trend is expected to continue.
Increasing staff's knowledge, skills, and awareness of wider developments within their profession by CPD, is said to have many positive results.
Briefly, these include:
improved staff performance
provision of a better quality service to users increased job satisfaction
higher self esteem
Task 2 PERSONAL SKILLS AUDIT
Skill audit:
Skill audit is a review of your existing skills against the skills you need both now and in the future. It can help you to identify your existing skills, identify what skills you may need to carry out your existing voluntary work and role more effectively and to plan, develop and improve the skills and knowledge needed for your future.
Carrying out a skill audit is a five stage process.
Stage 1: Existing skills and knowledge identification
This stage is used to identify the existing personal skills and knowledge of the person.
My existing skills and knowledge:
Communication skills
Problem solving
Mathematical skill
Communicating clearly and effectively
Visualizing thinking
Using listening skills
Creative writing
Taking the initiatives
Paying attention to final detail
Keeping the big picture in view
Leading a team
Using IT packages
Being creative
Organizing others
Making formal presentation
Self management and development
Understanding scientific concepts
Stage 2: Future skills and Knowledge identification
This second stage is used to identify the future skills which are required for future career development.
My future skills and knowledge:
Communicating verbally
Managing time
Interpreting diagram
Thinking theoretically
Applying theory
ITC skills
Managing tasks
Writing with and relating to others
Planning events
Research information
Selling an idea, concept or product
Interpreting financial information
Software knowledge
Programming skills
Stage 3: Rating your ability
In this stage used for rating the abilities. It has five point scale such as,
1 = No current knowledge or skill (not competent)
2 = Some awareness but not sufficient competent to use it (not sufficient competent)
3 = Familiar with and able to use the knowledge or skill (some competency)
4 = Proficient in the knowledge or skill and able to show others how to use it (high level of competency)
5 = Expert with a high degree of skill and/or comprehensive knowledge (fully competent)
Stage 4: Review ability rating
This stage used for review of skills. According to this review I need to develop my skills in the future.
Skills: Ratings
Communication skills 4
Problem solving 3
Mathematical skill 5
Communicating clearly and effectively 4
Visualizing thinking 2
Using listening skills 4
Creative writing 3
Taking the initiatives 4
Paying attention to final detail 5
Keeping the big picture in view 3
Leading a team 3
Using IT packages 5
Being creative 4
Organizing others 3
Making formal presentation 4
Communicating verbally 3
Managing time 3
Interpreting diagram 3
Thinking theoretically 2
Applying theory 3
ITC skills 3
Managing tasks 3
Writing with and relating to others 3
Planning events 4
Research information 3
Selling an idea, concept or product 3
Interpreting financial information 3
Software knowledge 5
Programming skills 4
Self management and development 4
Understanding scientific concepts 4
Stage 5: Future development
The final stage is simply that of using the information to concentrate on developing the skills and knowledge areas where you have a low score or have identified that you are not fully competent.
Interpreting diagram and visualizing thinking skills are having low competency. So I should improve these two skills for my future development.
Problem solving, Research information, Selling an idea, concept or product, interpreting financial information, Applying theory, ITC skills, Managing tasks,
Writing with and relating to others these skills are having not sufficient competency. So I need to improve these skills for my future skill and career development.
Management and Leadership development:
This personal skill audit is used for improving the skills and knowledge. According to this skill audit I will improve my skills this should help to improve my knowledge to a manager or leadership level.
Communication skill, problem solving, communicating clearly and effectively, organizing others, leading a team, taking initiatives, planning events, managing tasks, self management and self development these skills will be used for further management and leadership development.
Importance of identifying learning styles:
Learning and development:
Any work related activity contains the potential for learning. This could be new learning or confirmation of previous learning. There are number of ways in which you can learn at work, which we can collectively call learning experiences.
Learning cycle:
In this first step learning experience it may be comes from new or previous activities. Second we need to review our learning experience. Third learning lessons from the experience. Finally plan how about your development.
Learning style:
It has four types. These are Activist, Reflector, Theorist, Pragmatists. Each learning styles are having separate skills. According to this learning style skills and learning style audit score we can identify our learning style and we can improve our learning style for future development.
Learning style audit:
It will give the score for each learning style skills. For score calculation we need to use a scale from 0 to 10; 0 being nothing like you and 10 being completely like you. At the end of each section will give the total score. This will give the indication of your preferred learning style.
The higher score indicates your preferred learning style, although it should be noted that, it is possible to have high score in more than one category.
The principles of progress through the learning process are to be maintained, the importance of finding out about you preferred learning style or combination of learning styles is that it will give you a greater understanding about how you would approach a new learning opportunity and how may be able to adapt to situation which do not necessarily suit your preferred style.
Definitions
Descriptions
Scores
Pragmatist:
You are a practical person
You like to solve problem
You enjoy experimenting to improve techniques
You frequently come up with the answer to a problem
Your only interest in theories is to see if they work in practice
You dislike situations where there is no clear, practical outcome
You work well to deadline
You are expected to make practical decisions
Using simulations and case study
Learning from proven good practice, using the examples and the expertise of others.
7
8
8
8
5
8
8
7
6
8
Pragmatist total =
73
Theorist
You seek a logical explanation for everything
You like to think through all the possible implications
You are only comfortable once you can account for what is happening
Some might regard you as a little detached
You prefer not to deal with very emotional situations
You prefer structured situations
Your prefer dealing with facts rather than feeling
You have to analyze the activity
Carrying out a lengthy and detailed task which requires much thought
Discussing the views and experience of others
4
5
7
5
3
5
4
6
5
7
Theorist total =
51
Definitions
Descriptions
Score
Activist
You are an enthusiast who will try anything
You enjoy a challenge
You enjoy working with others
You prefer to be center of attention
Long term implementation is a weakness
You are easily bored
You don't always put in enough thought before starting
You thrive on responsibility
Thrown in at the deep end (i.e. under pressure)
Faced with role plays and outward bound activities
5
7
7
6
7
5
4
4
3
5
Activist total =
53
Reflector
Listening to others
Attention is not focused on them
Undertaking repetitive tasks with time for reflection
Following the lead of others
Carrying out a lengthy and detailed task which requires much thought
Presented with challenging activities
Working with others
Given responsibility
When they are center of attention
Thrown in at the deep end (i.e. under pressure)
7
7
7
8
5
7
7
7
6
3
Reflector total =
64
According to this learning style audit my learning style is pragmatist.
Usefulness of learning styles audit:
This is used to identify our learning styles. It explores our personal skills to outside. Learning style helps to improve our skills for future plan and goal developments.
Task 3 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Personal development planning (PDP) enables individuals to take charge of their own learning. Learning becomes a proactive as well as a reactive process, designed and prioritised to support immediate development needs as well as longer-term ambitions, and encourages people to enlist the support of colleagues and managers in achieving goals
Plan for goals:
Goal
How
Success criteria
By when
Develop clear career goals
Talking with friends who does this well.
Career plan
Within next month
Register with agencies and job portal
Through internet and phone
Getting interview calls from the company
Next 3 months
Got job in good MNC
Prepare for interview
Studying job related materials
Follow good guides
Clear the interview
Next 4 months
Get performance appraisal
Improve performance
Job involvement
Get reward from manager
Next 10 months
Become a senior level in the organization
Improve job satisfaction
Improve skills
Planned work
Get work experience from the job which I am doing in the organization
Within 2 years
Become a manager of the organization
Improve management skills
Improve communication skills
Improve interaction with the senior managers
Increment in job position consequently.
Getting work rewards from the organization
Within 5 years
Plan is not just a statement of intention. It is a plan, incorporating the where, when, how and why of your personal development. It will contain specific goals and milestones so that you can measure your progress as you go along.
Development:
This is about you recognising the need to improve in particular areas of your personal and professional life.
Development is a relative term:
it may be about developing existing skills, or acquiring new ones;
about gaining specialist knowledge in an area, or a broad knowledge of another area;
About finding space to develop your career, and space within your career to develop yourself.
Development records of my goals:
Action against plan
What did I learn
How I used this learning
Further goals
Talked with friends
Made full plan
I got useful information from them
Developed my career path efficiently
Build confidence
Registered with job portals
Faced bad and good consultancy and companies
Used getting better job
Get help from others
Got job
I got confidence
Further career development
Maintain this job as much as good
Got performance appraisal
Technical skills and job nature
Improve my job performance
Satisfaction
Got senior position
Learnt about my organization
Improve my job levels
Get good place in organisation
Became a manger
I learnt about managerial skills and management
Used for my manager job
Improve organisation management level
Task 4 PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PORTFOLIO
Learning log :
Goals
Skills development has been attempted
Resources used
outcomes
Develop clear career goals
Taking the initiatives, communication skills, planning events
Friends, news papers, magazines and internet
Developed effective career plan
Registered with job portals
Research information
Internet and consultancy
Got interview calls for job
Get good job in good MNC
Software knowledge, communicating clearly and effectively, mathematical skill
Learning materials
Good salaried MNC job
Get performance appraisal
Being creative, managing time, programming skills
Existing learning experience and knowledge
Got performance rewards
Get senior position
Self management and self development
Existing learning experience and knowledge
Got senior position
Become manager
Organizing others, leading a team, problem solving
Work experience in the organization
Got manager position
