Assignment Sample On BSS074-6 Personal Professional Development Assignment Sample

TOPIC : PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN AND REFLECTIVE NARRATIVE

Introduction

In this competitive scenario around us, it becomes essential to chalk out various ways to improve one’s skills and capacities. This requires a self-analysis through the reflective study of oneself and using tools like that of the Personal Development Plan. Certain skills are highly required to survive in today’s scenario. So the development of these skills through self-analysis tends to take one a step ahead. There are numerous opportunities around which need to be grasped at the very first instant through self-knowledge.

Professional skills

My analysis of my organizational and social context has made me identify certain skills that I think that I need to develop. The skill that I think that I need to give the topmost priority is communication skill. As per the opinion of Murillo-Llorente et al. (2021), professional Skills are required in today’s world to survive in the market. This skill is required for everyone to survive in an organizational scenario. My communication skills have never been below the average mark. But currently, I think that there is a need from my perspective to brush up on this skill a little more. This I think can be done by engaging myself more in such kinds of work that require proper briefing for my colleagues and other associates.

Time Management skill is something that develops gradually over time. Thus I think that the more time passes, the better I am going to be in this skill by meeting various project deadlines. According to the opinion of Huda and The (2018), collaboration is an extremely important feature for the proper career growth of an individual. This skill can be easily developed by engaging more in certain projects that require more teamwork. I think that doing more various group projects works has helped me to ameliorate this skill of mine for the better. Leadership skills take the most time to develop but I think that with proper self-analysis and learning from my seniors I will improve my leadership skill. Thus constant learning on the go will help me reach greater heights in the future.

Personal Development Plan for Professional Development

There are various tools to aid one in this format prior among which is Personal Development Plan. I have made a personal development upon self-analysis of my various professional skills. There are certain skills like Communication, collaboration, time management, and leadership skills that I have used in my Personal Development Plan. According to the opinion of Challinor et al. (2017), self-knowledge is the best way to handle one’s career goals properly. A communication plan is something in which I tend to focus my capabilities to have proper career growth. I wish to engage myself more in providing valuable initial briefings to my colleagues regarding various job roles. Besides, I also wish to make a proper feedback analysis of various reports in my organization to understand various communication channels. I wish to develop my time management skills by breaking up a big project into subsidiary components. I wish to set short-term goals for myself to develop my time management capability.

Key Skills for Personal Development

Figure 1: Key Skills for Personal Development

(Source: Self Created)

My Collaborative Skill can be developed more through engaging myself more in team-based project work. This creates a situation of gradually learning various ways to develop better team working capacities. According to the opinion of van Rensburg and Goede (2018), leadership skills can be developed mainly through the gradual experience of various components of different job roles. This is something that I intend to develop mainly through observing my seniors. I also intend to develop with help from my bosses as well. Thus I hope that by a gradual development of these skills I will be able to go upward in my career path. [Referred to appendix 1]

Development of digital professional brand

Working in various organizational set-ups tends to provide one with various kinds of skills that are required to survive in the professional market. Proper development of skills is essential in today’s world scenario to keep a hold on the professional market. I have already developed some of my major skills like communication and collaboration to some extent. But I think that I lag a little in the skill areas of leadership and collaboration. I thus think that by entering into my own digital branding I can develop these skills of mine. This is going to happen in this organization because they do mainly project-based jobs. There is thus a requirement of meeting various project objectives with sharp deadlines. This thus assures constant collaboration through effective communication to meet the task objectives on time. As per the opinion of Mironko (2019), besides ethics in these kinds of organizations tend to develop to a huge extent as there is a proper congruence of time as well as discipline to finish tasks. I have chosen this particular digital brand for career development. These kinds of organizations tend to provide one with various areas of experience that fill the gap in the context of one’s experience if any. I thus hope to work in various kinds of organizations with different structures to gradually develop my own experience. Thus I hope in this way I can take my skills to the greatest height that is possible from my perspective.

Conclusion

Analysis of oneself through understanding certain key skills provides a great impetus to one’s career. In this reflective narrative, I have tried to focus on those key skills that I think are specifically important for my career. Certain key skills of communication, collaboration, time management, leadership, and ethics have been selected by me to understand certain key areas where I need to focus upon. I have tried to form a very to-the-point analysis of this through the formation of a Personal Development Plan. I have also tried to formulate an understanding of those areas that can act as my learning centers for my career development. Thus I think that it is going to help me a lot to meet my objectives. I can thus conclude by saying that a proper understanding of various key skills tends to provide a huge edge for one’s development.

References

Challinor, J., Marín, V.I. and Tur, G., 2017. The development of the reflective practitioner through digital storytelling. International Journal of Technology Enhanced Learning, 9(2-3), pp.186-203. Available at: https://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJTEL.2017.084498

Fergusson, L., van der Laan, L. and Baker, S., 2019. Reflective practice and work-based research: a description of micro-and macro-reflective cycles. Reflective Practice, 20(2), pp.289-303. Available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/14623943.2019.1591945

Huda, M. and Teh, K.S.M., 2018. Empowering professional and ethical competence on reflective teaching practice in digital era. In Mentorship Strategies in Teacher Education (pp. 136-152). IGI Global. Available at: https://www.igi-global.com/chapter/empowering-professional-and-ethical-competence-on-reflective-teaching-practice-in-digital-era/204157

Kheng, Y.K., 2017. The inculcation of critical reflection through reflective learning log: an action research in entrepreneurship module. International Education Studies, 10(12), pp.153-165. Available at: https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1164213

Longmore, A.L., Grant, G. and Golnaraghi, G., 2018. Closing the 21st-century knowledge gap: Reconceptualizing teaching and learning to transform business education. Journal of Transformative Education, 16(3), pp.197-219. . Available at: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1541344617738514

Mironko, A., 2019. On-site Applied Learning with the Use of Mixed Methods as a Reflective Learning Model in International Business. In The Palgrave Handbook of Learning and Teaching International Business and Management (pp. 401-419). Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. Available at: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-030-20415-0_19

Murillo-Llorente, M.T., Navarro-Martínez, O., Valle, V.I.D. and Pérez-Bermejo, M., 2021. Using the Reflective Journal to Improve Practical Skills Integrating Affective and Self-Critical Aspects in Impoverished International Environments. A Pilot Test. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 18(16), p.8876. Available at: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/16/8876

van Rensburg, J.T.J. and Goede, R., 2018, June. A reflective practice approach for supporting IT skills required by industry through project-based learning. In Annual Conference of the Southern African Computer Lecturers’ Association (pp. 253-266). Springer, Cham. Available at: https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-030-05813-5_17.pdf

Appendices

Appendix 1: Personal development plan

Objectives	Methods of Achieving these Objectives	Timeline	Expected Outcomes
Communication Skills	I think that this can be improved by creating more discussions between various stakeholder groups. Practicing proper briefing of various job roles in day-to-day projects can help me to increase my communication skills.	1 month	Communication Skills lead to a better understanding of work in an organization. The development of this skill can help me to ensure a smooth flow of work.
Time Management Skills	I can increase this skill by creating more divisions of a particular task and understanding the probable time span for those. This division of a broad work structure tends to make a tough job easier in terms of understanding various short-term goals as well.	2 months	The presence of this skill tends to create a positive image for a particular person or organization. Improvement of this ability will help me to confidently handle various projects.
Collaborative Skills	In my opinion, this can be improved by engaging oneself in more of various group-based projects. Working more in group-based projects can make me more experienced regarding various ways to collaborate with other people.	5 months	Collaborative Skills tend to generate a better understanding among employees. The development of this skill will help me to easily grow in any organization.
Leadership Skills	This skill is essential for taking an organization to the desired level. I can develop this skill by participating more in roles where there is a requirement to take some key decisions.	6 months	This is going to ensure my timely completion of work as well as career growth.
Ethics	Ethics develops only by properly following one’s responsibilities for one’s organization.	3 months	I can develop this skill by aligning with organizational norms that are created in day-to-day setup.