Professional Development Plan Analysis - Essay Example

? Professional Development Plan By of Institute Management Skills: Managing Conflict and Stress Situations around human environment usually bring in complications that call for one to be skilled so as to handle them. Take for instance in a working environment, colleagues may have home issues that are likely to impact on their output at work place. Given that such issues cannot be entirely separated from the work environment, it therefore calls for one to develop sound management skills (Abigail and Cahn, 2010, p. 57). It is through such management skills that will not only help in the current situation, but also in others to come. Taking managing conflict and stress as my goal, I have been able to master management skills that help me overcome several situations around my life. I am married and currently pregnant with my child. I am studying abroad and my husband is currently at my home country. I have had to deal with some situations of conflict management and stress. In order to deal with my situation, my goal is to come up with a way on how I can manage conflict and stress. As a student, I occasionally encounter conflict from home in the sense that I have to balance between family and studies. There are my studies that demand my time, and there is also my husband whom I have to give time. Conflict sometimes usually arise when my husband calls just when I am getting ready for a presentation or a continuous assessment test. The two are equally indispensable to me and I cannot afford to ignore one at the expense of the other. At the same time I have to maintain my pre-natal checks with my doctor at the clinic. For a while I was stressed when I could not find a solution. So what I did was to engage in critical thinking to analyse possible ways out. It was then that something clicked onto my mind. I resolved that rather than wait for my husband to call me, which he could do any time, I resolved I would call him whenever I was out jogging or in the clinic waiting to be attended to. These are activities that I do quite often so it guaranteed that I would be calling him that often. Besides, I also knew it would help us connect with our baby because I could inform him of our progress. This way, I was sure I would eliminate the apparent conflict and put to end things that stress me up. During my free time, I also resolved I would be reading some books that brighten my moods. Using that approach, I am certain that I will manage the issues that were previously a bother to me. Learning Skills: Improve My Presentation skills In order to improve my presentation skills, I will have to focus on my communication skills. It is through effective communication that I will be able to put across my ideas and impact on my audience as I planned (McKay et al., 2009, p. 39). To begin with, I will be keen to focus on the clarity of the message. Many ideas end up being misunderstood and consequently not eliciting the expected behaviour just because they did not come out as envisioned. As such, I will focus on clarity of voice, word choice and concise explanation in all my presentations. Besides, I will also improve my presentation skills through appropriate facial expression so that my audience is also kept active and interested in the presentation. It has been observed that appropriate facial expressions help to amplify the message being conveyed especially when a vital point has to be made (Steele, 2009, p. 214). In addition, I would also improve my presentation skills by accompanying my presentation with pictographs where applicable. For instance, where I need to emphasize on deviation from a previous market trend, I will use comparative graphs that indicate the old and the new trends. This way, my audience will be able to easily grasp my ideas and keep up with me. Besides, visuals also help other who may have missed the some bits of information orally. Something else that I will also do to improve my presentation skills is to practice my presentation before hand. Instead of waiting to come and present for the first time during the actual presentation, I will need to conduct a mock presentation. Conducting a mock presentation will help me identify and polish on sections of my presentation that are likely to be a challenge during the presentation (Nettle, 2009, p. 215). In the event that my presentation ends only after I have responded to questions from the audience, I will ask a friend who understands the discipline to ask me random questions after the mock presentation. To be safe, I will also have done a thorough background research on the matter so that when I am confronted with questions, I will be ready considerably. This way, I will be able to improve my presentation skills from oral delivery of the content to the last part which involves responding to emerging concerns and questions. Employability Skills: Team Work In order to improve my skills to be a formidable team player for the purposes of my future employment, I have to start engaging right away in activities that by default would require that we work as a team. The most immediate one is a group discussion. In my group discussions, I have to make sure that I train myself to always portray and practice on the right personality and leadership traits. In order to be an effective team player, I will endeavour to be an extrovert as much as I can. One has to appear approachable so that others may have faith in her/him. Working as a team tea requires that everyone should be encouraged to share his/her ideas freely. Moreover, I will also practice agreeableness without necessarily being a person swept by all opinion. I will need to understand that sometimes our views may be different but even then, there is one that overrides the rest. Agreeableness will thus enable others to have faith and trust in me as a team member. Most importantly, I will also improve my ability to work in a team for the sake of my future career through being conscientious and keeping personal emotions out of matters of the group. Doing so will enable me to develop the ability to act as a moderator in my future team when situation arise that requires trusted and speedy resolution. To nurture my skills to be a strong team player, I will also endeavour to be an open individual who listens to various sides of an argument and make an impartial decision through articulation of my opinion on the matter. It will also be vital for me during the group discussions to assess the contribution of my group members and encourage even those who are usually less vocal to present their contributions (Cherry and Connor, 2010, p. 114). Outside my study group, I can also improve on my team work by engaging others in organized social activities that will engage others as a group. For instance, I can organize an afternoon social session for an indoor game such as monopoly where all the players may need work closely with others in order to stay in the game. The choice of the game is particularly designed to encourage communications amongst team members. Through a mix of the above activities, I will improve on my ability to work as an effective team player. Ethics, Values, Beliefs and Professionalism My understanding of ethics, values, beliefs and professionalism is one that is anchored on the foundation of acceptable practices. In the business world, firms and business executives may be driven by the desire to maximize profits so that in the process, unfair practices may be adopted as means to the end. It is in that understanding that issues to do with ethics, values, beliefs and professionalism emerges. Ethics in business is concerned with how business firms should conduct themselves in line with the law so that in the process of pursuing higher profit margins, no one is exploited in any way whatsoever and the environment is also protected against harm. Business ethics, therefore, has everything to do with acceptable fair practices that a business organization has a responsibility to observe (DuPont, 2009, p. 51). Even so, a keen analysis reveals that it is a person in business that take various actions rather than the business. Because of this, there is professionalism which pertains to conducting one’s duty as expected of him/her by virtue of provisions of the law and qualifications for that particular job. For one to observe professionalism effective, the person has to recognize the values and beliefs behind the job. One may observe that the integrity of various positions is usually anchored on certain values and beliefs that the holder of the position is expected to uphold. As an individual specializing in business and aspiring to work in the head office of a bank, I have personal values that drive my ambition. For instance, honesty, dedication and courtesy are personal values that will be of immense benefit if I have to realize my dreams. In order to effectively manage to work at the head office of a bank, I need to be someone who can be relied upon (Crane and Matten, 2010, p. 83). It is my belief that reliability counts in as a string trait that should be considered for many positions. Besides, I also believe that in order to work at the head office of a bank, some of my personal values and strengths such as sensitivity and interpersonal skills will allow me do a fabulous job. This is because at the head office, I may be handling people who are also handling other people below them. Therefore, if I motivate someone through encouragement, the same may be reflected down to others below them. When something has done wrong and I find a way to help the concerned see their mistake rather than a high-handed approach, I will not only have solved the situation but also motivated someone to always try to deliver his/her best. As one may notice, the application of professionalism, ethics, values, and beliefs are quiet interconnected (Bobinski, 2009, p. 79). Bibliography Abigail, R.A and Cahn, D.D. ed., 2010.Managing Conflict Through Communication. London: Pearson. Bobinski, D., 2009. Creating Passion-Driven Teams: How to Stop Micromanaging and Motivate People to Top Performance. New Jersey: Career Pr Inc. Cherry, P., and Connor, P., 2010. Questions That Get Results: Innovative Ideas Managers Can Use to Improve Their Teams' Performance. John Willey: New Jersey. Crane, A., and Matten, D., 2010. Business Ethics: Managing Corporate Citizenship and Sustainability in the Age of Globalization. Oxford: Oxford University Press. DuPont, K., 2009. Business Etiquette & Professionalism: Conduct Yourself With Confidence. New Jersey: Axzo Press. Lencioni, P., 2005. Overcoming the Five Dysfunctions of a Team: A Field Guide for Leaders, Managers, and Facilitators. New York: Jossey-Bass. McKay et al., 2009. Messages: The Communication Skills Book. Oakland: New Harbinger Publications. Nettle, D., 2009. Personality: What Makes You the Way You Are. New York: Oxford University Press. Sibbet, D., 2011. Visual Teams: Graphic Tools for Commitment, Innovation, and High Performance. John Willey: New Jersey. Steele, W.R., 2009. Presentation Skills 201: How to Take it to the Next Level as a Confident, Engaging Presenter. Denver: Outskirts Press. Read More