Executive Summary
I have my personal goals short term , medium term and long term and also I have my professional goals also divided into three as Short term , Medium Term and long term. I have to plan for the future and do many things in order to achieve my personal and professional goal. One of the most important factor to achieve my goals is to improve my communications skills, verbal and written. I have made plans to overcome those obstacles in my Personal development Plan. There will be some other factors and areas where I have to make steady progress. I have to manage my time properly, I have to use stress management techniques which is associated with hard and dedicated work. Learning effectively, reading and writing, conversation with others, gain experience are necessary factors to achieve my goals. Everyone needs returns for investment. In the same manner I also want to get desired results.
Introduction
Personal Development Plan is a way helps us identify our skills and improvement areas and gaps to be bridged in order to achieve my personal and professional goals. In this regard one time Prime Minister of united Kingdom Winston Churchill very correctly stated “ He who fails to plan is planning to fail”
Competitive Business Environment
We are living in a Competitive business world. How we react to the influence of the hyper competitive business environment is the key to success. We have to monitor the changes in the environment and plan accordingly or we just react to the changes in the environment and hope to survive. Successful companies are foresee the changes and trends in the environment and plan in advance for the progress and as individuals we also have to imitate this and plan in advance to achieve our own goals and aspirations.
Changes
At present we are living in a chaotic transition period in global competition rapid changes are occurring extremely faster flowing of information increasing competition in business. The pace of change has become so rapid and this new environment is also characterized by more fast developing technological advances In order to adapt to these rapid changes, we need the knowledge or intellectual capital as a strategic factors and a set of understanding to make decisions or take actions that is vital in changes occurring continuously rapidly and in complex manner generate uncertainty and reduce predictability.
Globalization
Today in particular how we respond to globalization is a defining issue. The logic of globalization has been shaped by terms and concepts of the market. When we hear the term globalization we immediately think of integrated financial systems, tariffs and rules and regulations for using and transnational economic networks. Actually all these are important. In the other hand globalization has provided for surprising growth opportunities and also it has been accused of increasing inequalities among nations and individuals.
Learning with responsibility
In order to meet the challenges above mentioned, I have to dedicate myself to learn with responsibility. Responsibility can be a tough word to define, as it encompasses other skills and abilities. It includes accountability, conscientiousness, good decision-making, and good judgment. It means seeing something that needs to be done and taking care of it, helping others when they need it, knowing how to solve problems. Sensible behavior requires a combination of maturity, awareness, effort, and kindness, all skills that an individual are working on developing. I have to keep in mind that developing responsible behavior does not happen overnight and it is a continuous learning process.
MY Personal skills Audit
Success will depend in large measures on how self-disciplined I am and how well I can achieve objectives that I have set for yourself. I like working independently and I am good at meeting deadlines. On the other hand, I depend on other people like a my supervisory officer or any other person to tell me what to do and when to do it, I will have problems in achieving my targets. I will have to determine the steps needed to achieve an objective by successfully organizing my time to complete those steps necessary , and follow through by managing my efforts independently, then only I can reach my objectives. I must also be comfortable asking for clarification if I do not understand something.
a. I like working on my own.
b. I take responsibility for my own learning.
c. I am regarded by my family and friends as a self-starter.
d. I feel I have good organization skills.
e. I can stay on the task at hand without someone constantly reminding me.
f. I am curious about many things.
g. I can set objectives and achieve them independently.
h. I have my own views, but I am open to the views of other people
i. I like taking and facing challenges.
Leaning skills
In addition to technical skills, effective learning depend heavily on reading and writing proficiency. While many classes use audio and video to deliver course materials, still most communication from instructor and among classmates, will be in writing. Furthermore, when I do not understand something, I must not hesitate to ask my instructor for clarification. In the event I am in the dark, it is easy to fall behind in my work.
- I like reading.
- I can read a text book, a magazine article, or a product manual and usually understand it without having to ask for help from others.
- I feel comfortable in a learning environment where most of the directions I receive are in writing.
- I know how to prepare for a essay on my own.
- I know how to make a bibliography.
- I am always asking questions if I do not understand something.
- I do not mind asking more than once if I am unable to get a clear explanation the first time.
Professional Skills
The skills that need to succeed in professional practice are professional skills. These range from highly specific ones to more general ones. Professional skills develop over time and are continuously improved through working in the field. That is, there is growth from the commencement of work in a professional field as a novice with quality beginning professional skills, to become an expert. The range of professional skills within and across professions is considerable. When applying for jobs, most employers want to know what professional skills we have already, and how willing we are to learn industry and specific skills. Employers normally want not just a list of skills but for we have to identify our key professional skills and the evidence we have for them by citing examples of how we have used them already in relevant contexts. Some of the Professional skills I have to improve are as follows.
· Communication
· Problem solving
· Critical thinking
· Information literacy
· Team work
· Information technology
· Cross cultural competence
· Ethical practice
My Personal Goals – Short Term
ü Getting married in 2014
ü Complete a MBA in general management & also in internet marketing by 2013
My Personal Goals – Medium Term
ü Buying a Car 2016
My Personal Goals – Long Term
ü Building a House 2020
My Professional Goals – Short Term
Ø Becoming to the next level of corporate hierarchy by 2014
My Professional Goals – Medium Term
Ø Gear up the personal business to the next level by 2016
My Professional Goals – Long Term
Ø Own a business & lead it to make the business or Brand name in the island by 2020
My Current Roles and Responsibilities
As senior executive for Credit operation, I am intricate in monitoring Etisalat post-paid users, while helping company to achieve annual budget as well department KPI by increasing revenue while maintaining current month collection in a high value with reduced bad debts.
Skills required
Assertiveness skills – I need to improve on my Assertiveness Skills which provides practical guidance to develop my assertiveness skills for a range of workplace situations and confidence building. I will have to gain the tools and techniques to boost my confidence and build my self-esteem.
Time Management skills – I need to improve my time Management to learn techniques for mastering time. The learning to be included presentations and discussion to introduce the concepts of time mastery and practical exercises and syndicate work to develop my personal time management skills.
Facilitation skills – I need to improve on my Facilitation and it is fast becoming a key skill for anyone who is in a team, leading a project team, heading up a working group or managing a department. Facilitation is the skill, and art of guiding others to solve their own problems and attain their objectives without simply giving advice or offering solutions. A facilitator provides the structure and process enabling groups to function effectively and make exact decisions.
Presentations skills – I need to improve on my Presentation Skills to give myself confidence when delivering presentations. I have learn how to overcome, and use problems to my advantage in order to give maximum impact with my presentation.
Communications techniques – I need to improve on my communication techniques which are vital for anyone who needs to influence other people to achieve results. I need to learn to enhance my natural communication skills and improve my ability to convince and motivate others.
Telephone skills – I need to improve on telephone skills. Most poor technique is not through indifference, rather a failure to see things from the customer’s point of view. As such it is relatively easy to bring about substantial improvements by application of the techniques on telephone skills.
Listening skills – To listen, really listen is a difficult thing to do. Frequently, we hear what someone is saying without giving it our full attention and without fully understanding what has been said. I need to improve on Listening Skills which will give me a range of techniques to improve my ability to listen.
Motivate skills – Without change and growth businesses come under ever increasing threats from competition that gets ever smarter. The problem is how do I motivate the key players in my organization to be more innovative, to find new ways of doing business, to find better ways of solving problems, and to stop problems before they even occur. I need to improve on this area.
Consulting skills – I need to improve on Consulting Skills is to develop the consulting skills of professional staff to promote and improve a client centered approach. I need to improve on this skill to build an effective working relationship with clients, carry out an initial diagnosis of client needs, contract with clients to provide a framework within which they will work, provide feedback to a client, review and evaluate solutions implemented. I have to learn to develop ongoing relationships with their clients.
Effective ways to learn in future
I have to figure out which learning styles work best for me. The basics are learning by seeing, doing, and hearing. Once you know how I learned something earlier it can be done better now. There are also tests available on the internet to determine our learning style. Benefit by doing hands-on activities are great, as they stick in our memory and help us. The more open my mind is, the faster information will stick. Alternatively, instead of taking notes, record the lecture on a mini-recorder and devote my attention to listening, use the recording to create notes afterwards. This extra step takes time, but makes use of what psychologists call the dual-coding hypothesis, where I will be likely to learn something if I experience it in two different ways I have to rid myself of distractions while learning. Cell phones, music, distract me from my instructor. I have to sit in a suitable place for concentrating, not talking to my friends. I have to Keep valuables in a bag, or far away enough for them not to attract my attention. I have to establish good relationships with my lecturer. If I hate my teachers, then I will have a lot of trouble learning. I have to be polite and show respect, and put in some effort, and my teachers will hold a liking for me so that will make classes more pleasant.
Action Plan to Bridge the gap
When thinking out of my goals I can think of my situation in terms of a SWOT analysis, i.e.
Strengths – what am I good at? In what areas do I make most contribution? What comments and feedback have I received that gives me an indication of how others see my strengths.
Weaknesses – what areas do I feel need to develop? Have I received any feedback or comments that may suggest that there are development needs in some areas? What aspects of my work do I find relatively easy to undertake and what areas are more difficult to complete? Think out what are the areas I should develop and consider how I can reduce or manage them so that they don’t hinder my ability to achieve my goals.
Opportunities – what are my potentials? Are their opportunities that may arise that I could apply for if I had more skills and knowledge in my area?
Threats – Is there a great deal of change happening in my area of work that may lead to a change in my role and do I feel I need to develop my skills to ensue that I am able to continue to undertake my role effectively ?When I have thought out my goals clearly I then need to develop an action plan to help to achieve those goals.
In this my personal Development Plan I have included areas where I have to improve myself and my identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of my short , medium, long term personal and professional goals. The concept is not limited to self help but includes formal and informal activities for developing others, in roles such as guide, counselor, manager, coach, or mentor. Finally, as personal development takes place it refers to the methods, tools, techniques, and assessment systems that support human development at the individual level. At the level of the individual, personal development includes the following activities’
a) Improving self-knowledge
b) Building or renewing identity
c) Developing strengths or talents
d) Identifying or improving potential
e) Building employability
f) Enhancing quality of life
g) Improving health
h) Developing discipline, commitment and focus
i) Improving social abilities
The concept covers a wider range than development of myself but personal development also includes developing other people around me. This may take place through roles such as those of a mentor, either through a personal competency. In addition to improving myself and developing others, personal development is a field of continuous practice and research. As a field of practice it includes personal development methods, learning programs, assessment systems, tools and techniques. As a field of research, personal development topics increasingly appear in scientific journals, higher education reviews, management journals and business magazines. Any sort of development whether economic, political, biological, organizational or personal requires a framework in order to know if one wishes to know whether change has actually occurred. In the case of personal development, an individual often functions as the primary judge of improvement, but validation of objective improvement requires assessment using standard criteria. Personal development framework may include goals that define the strategies or plans for reaching goals, measurement and assessment of progress, levels or stages that define milestones along development path, and a feedback.
Stress Management
This Stress Managementis for anyone encountering pressure in the working environment and who would like to feel better equipped to handle it. I need to stand up to stress and how to see it as an opportunity for personal growth and development and not a threat. People can learn to manage stress and lead happier, healthier lives in the event acquainted with some tips to help to keep stress at away.
a) Always keeping a positive attitude.
b) Accept that there are events that I cannot and beyond my control.
c) Be assertive instead of aggressive., stating my feelings, opinions, or beliefs instead of becoming angry, defensive, or passive.
d) My body can fight stress better when it is strong and fit and I have to do regular exercise.
e) Eating healthy, well-balanced meals will control stress to a certain extent.
f) Learning to manage my time more effectively will reduce stress.
g) Set limits appropriately and say no to requests that would create excessive stress in my life.
h) I have to make time for hobbies and interests.
i) I have to get adequate rest and sleep. My needs time to recover from stressful events.
j) I have to keep away from or not rely on alcohol, drugs, or food to reduce stress to ease up.
k) I have to seek out social support and spend enough time with those loved one in my life.
l) In the event it is necessary I have to seek treatment with a psychologist or other mental health professional trained in stress management or biofeedback techniques to learn more healthy ways of dealing with the stress in my life.
m)Learn and practice relaxation techniques such as meditation or yoga.
Key miles Stones and Target Period
I have created the following table in order to keep my personal and Professional Short term, Medium Term and Long Terms goals and to have success criteria and action I am taking and the target period and to record on my action and further actions required to reach my destination.
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OBJECTIVES TO BE ACHIEVED |
SUCCESS CRITERIA |
ACTION |
WHO |
BY WHEN |
IMPACT & FURTHER ACTON |
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Personal Goal Short Term |
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Personal Goal Medium Term |
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Personal Goal Long Term |
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Professional Goal Short Term |
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Professional Goal Medium Term |
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Professional Goal Long Term |
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Conclusion
The Personal Development Plan is an operational document. It provides a apparent framework that allows people to identify in terms of personal development where they have come from, how they are getting on in their job at present, where they would like to be in the future and how they propose to get there. The answers to these important personal development questions will help me and others to put an agreed plan in place relating to development objectives that need to be achieved. Same as investing money in profitable venture, personal development Plan has the goal of increasing human capital or improving productivity, innovation or quality of the self. Preparing a Personal Development Plan will not cost but actually see such planning as an investment give returns to the organization the individual is working and also to the person to achieve expected goals. Employees gain access to these investment-oriented plan by selecting according to the value and future potential of the employee, usually defined in a talent management architecture including populations such as new hires, perceived high-potential employees, perceived key employees, sales staff, research staff and perceived future leaders. Organizations may also offer other non-investment-oriented plans to many or even all employees. Typical plans focus on career-development, personal effectiveness, teamwork, and competency-development. Personal development also forms an element in management tools such as personal development planning, assessing one’s level of ability using a competency network, or getting feedback at different levels in the organization.
Bibliography
1. Bob Aubrey, Managing Your Aspirations: Developing Personal Enterprise in the Global Workplace McGraw-Hill 2010 ISBN 978-0-07-131178-6, page 9
2. Firms such as PDI, DDI, Metizo, and FranklinCovey exemplify international personal-development firms working with companies for consulting, assessment and training.
3. Nichomachean Ethics, translated by W.D.Ross, Basic Works of Aristotle, section 1142. Online in “The Internet Classics Archive of MIT”: http://classics.mit.edu//Aristotle/nicomachaen.html
4. Martha Nussbaum, The Fragility of Goodness, Cambridge University Press, discusses why the English word happiness does not describe Aristotle’s concept of eudaimonia, pages 1-6
5. Confucius, Great Learning, translated by James Legge. Provided online in The Internet Classics Archive of MIT.
6. Heinz Ansbacher and Rowena R Ansbacher (1964) Individual Psychology of Alfred Adler, Basic Books 1956. See especially chapter 3 on Finalism and Fiction and chapter 7 on the Style of Life.
7. Jung saw individuation as a process of psychological differentiation, having for its goal the development of the individual personality. C.G. Jung. Psychological Types. Collected Works, Vol.6., par. 757)
8. Daniel Levinson, Seasons of a Man’s Life, Ballantine Press, 1978, page 91-92
9. Gail Sheehy, New Passages, Random House 1995. Sheehy had written an earlier best-selling book, Passages popularizing Levinson’s stages; her second book demonstrated how far society and life stages had changed.
10.Albert Bandura (1997). Self-efficacy: The exercise of control. New York: Freeman
11.Albert Bandura, Self-Efficacy: The Exercise of Control, W.H. Freeman and Company, New York, 1998, page 184.
12.Martin Seligman, “Building Human Strength: Psychology’s Forgotten Mission” VOLUME 29, NUMBER 1 – January 1998
13.Ghoshal, Sumantra; Bartlett Christopher A. (1997) The Individualized Corporation: A Fundamentally New Approach to Management, HarperCollins, page 286