Professional Development Plan - Essay Example

? Professional Development Plan Inserts His/Her Inserts Grade Inserts (20, March, Professional Development Plan Developmental goals are important to set in life as they help people improve their personalities. One should always aim for improvement in areas of personality in which one is weak. Professional development plan will include three developmental goals based on results of three diagnostics. The first ‘learning need analysis’ which I used was Skills Self Assessment Audit. The assessment includes reading, writing, and oral communication, alongside with team work, problem solving, personal effectiveness, numeracy, and information technology. The section in which I scored the lowest marks was oral communication. The section in which I scored the highest was personal effectiveness. The second diagnostic which is used was ‘Rough & Ready Reckoner’. This diagnostic was particularly interesting as it measured preference for one’s learning style. The diagnostic concluded that I am an activist who wants public appreciation and who is always looking for new and fresh experiences. This particular diagnostic also revealed a number of shortcomings of my personality which were scarily accurate. It showed that I am a risk taker however, these risks are often unwarranted. Other weaknesses like impulsiveness and lack of concentration were revealed from the diagnostic. The third diagnostic that helped me understand my learning needs was VAK self assessment. The diagnostic concluded that I prefer an auditory learning style. According to the diagnostic, I am more inclined to learn from listening to other people and using my auditory senses. I prefer learning from concentrating on what is being said rather than other learning through physical experience and visual learning. In accordance with the diagnostic, the first goal I have set for myself is to improve my oral communication skills. I have always encountered problems in expressing my point of view, and therefore the first goal I have set is to work on my verbal communication skills. This goal is also in line with the information I received from diagnostic test. Effective communication will help increase my chances of getting desirable employment opportunities in future because it is the most basic skill all employers are looking for in prospective employees (Bridgstock, 2009). This is why setting the goal of improving oral communication is justified. The second development goal that I have set is to negotiate and persuade other group members in the team. The diagnostics told me that I am an activist that is looking for appreciation. This sometimes leads me to give in to the opinions of other people even when I do not wholly agree with them. This is something which, I believe, is hindering development and, therefore, I have decided to set this development goal to improve my team working and group working skills. The third development goat that I have set is to improve my research skills while completing my academic assignments and reports. This goal will help me improve my academic performance to a great degree, and is expected to lead me to long term academic success (Kramer, 2002). The diagnostic informed me that I have difficulty in concentrating on one thing. This is why I have set this particular academic development goal. Progress Review The use of the three diagnostic methods mentioned above helped me a lot in understanding my strengths and weakness both at personal and academic level. These diagnostic tests revealed important information for me that helped me develop my development goals. The tests revealed that I lack good oral communication skills, which is why I am not able to express myself. The reality was bitter however, it helped me identify areas of improvement. With regards to team working skills, I thought I always had an edge because I really like working in teams. Diagnostic methods helped me understand that I like appreciation of people and this was the reason why I was a successful team player. What I didn’t know was that I also was never able to speak or raise my disagreement in front of the team members. This was revealed by diagnostic tests. My impulsiveness and lack of concentration was something I was pretty much aware of. These weaknesses decrease my academic performance as I am never able to research a topic extensively because I got bored too quickly. All these identified weaknesses helped my draft my specific self, group working, and academic goals. The goal of improving my oral communication skill was established keeping in mind my future professional life. It will be very difficult for me to survive in the longer run in any workplace without speaking what I think about something. Oral communication is an important factor in the employability and employers are looking for people with good communication skills (Andrews & Higson, 2008). The relevance of persuading and negotiating is also significant in both academic and professional life. One cannot go by agreeing everything the group says and it sometimes becomes essential to assert a dissenting point of view. This is why the goal of improving persuading and negotiating skills was established in the personal development plan. The third goal of improving research skills is also relevant to my academic life as it is difficult to complete reports and assignments efficiently without conducting thorough research. Academic success and good research skills are closely related to each other (Quarton, 2003). This is the main reason why the goal of improving my research skills was established. I have succeeded, at least to a certain degree, in achieving these three development goals. This has been reflected in my academic and personal life. After setting specific goals, I became more aware of my problems and I started to work on my weaknesses. This work has paid off to some degree. My research skills have improved as I make a conscious effort of concentrating on a subject for a longer period of time. My team work goal of negotiating and persuading is however a work in progress. My attempt to improve my oral communication skills is also not fully achieved although I have made some progress in this regard. My research skills have improved as I have read a lot on how to research extensively using search engines in a short time. Through reading different articles I was able to find a variety of techniques that can help improve research skills. By following a range of techniques, I was able to complete the research for this assignment in a very short period of time. I was also facing some problems at my work regarding performance of a few employees. I researched as to what and how I should talk to them so that they don’t feel bad. The research I conducted helped me explain them about their performance. I am also now quick to open Google anytime I listen a term I do not understand. I have, unfortunately, not been able to improve significantly on my verbal communication skills. I have tried talk more in class but I just don’t feel confident enough. Many times I think I know the answers and I can contribute in the class but I am not able to do so and this has not changed. However, I have been successful in communicating my opinions and thoughts among friends and colleagues rather easily which was not the case previously. This is the only improvement I have witnessed in my verbal communication skills. I think more has to be done in this regard. Regarding my teamwork development goals, I now try deliberately to take a different point of view in the group. This has been a good experience as it feels nice to assert myself in a group. Disagreeing has not difficult as I had previously imagined and therefore I think my progress in the achievement of this goal is good. I have raised many questions and disagreed with my colleagues and manager regarding some workplace issues. I have not received any backlash which is a good sign. Overall, I have worked really hard in order to achieve the above mentioned three development goals. The progress has not been extremely good but it is also not very bad. I have made improvements in my research skills, which is going to help me in my academic life for a long period of time. I have also made myself more comfortable with reading on the internet. My verbal communication skills are still not improving at a desirable pace as I do not feel confident in voicing out my opinions in front of a public which is a weakness that will adversely affect my employability prospects. My team working goal of voicing my disagreement in a group has been partially achieved as I have now started to dissent from the popular opinion quite easily. This is a good start but I believe more has to be done in this regard. My verbal communication skills are still a problem and they should be improved in order to make me more desirable for employers. I have to come up with some new technique in order to improve my confidence. I feel afraid of speaking out in public which will make my employment prospects slim at best. This is an area where much improvement and hard work is required. Long Term Goals Self Importance Resources Time Frame/Evidence Successful in Job Build professional career Hard work and good skills 2018/good salary Improve my Oral Communication Skills Improve employability Establishing confidence 2014/feeling confident Cut down on Stress Stay happy Keeping a diary 2014/feeling healthy and happy Management of Time Meet deadlines Scheduling everything 2014/not missing deadlines Academic Score good in future courses Getting good jobs Reading books 2014/good grades Complete my Masters Degree Improving employability prospects Reading books 2016/degree Have a level 6 from finance Strong finance background will help me get a job Studying hard 2018/passing all exams Group Working Become HR Managers Good for career Books and degree 2022/HR Manager in a respectable firm Have my own Business Independence Hard work and experience 2030/owning a business All these goals are long term goals as they will take more than 1 year to achieve. It is important to set such goals in life in order to stay focused on the future. By making these goals I became aware of areas where I can improve. Also these goals will keep reminding me about them and will eventually motivate them. In this regard, setting long term goals was a very good experience as it made me look things in perspective. Bibliography Andrews, J. & Higson, H. 2008. Graduate Employability, ‘Soft Skills’ Versus ‘Hard’ Business Knowledge: A European Study. Higher Education in Europe, Vol. 33, No. 4, 411-422 Bridgstock, R. 2009. The graduate attributes we’ve overlooked: enhancing graduate employability through career management skills. Higher Education Research & Development, Vol. 28, No. 1, 31-44 Kramer, C. 2002. Success in On-Line Learning. London: Cengage Learning Quarton, B. 2003. Research skills and the new undergraduate. Journal of Instructional Psychology, Vol. 30, No. 2 Evidence Log (Appendix) Read More