PD Plans and PD Portfolio - Assignment Example

PD Plans and PD Portfolio 1. Introduction The concept of Professional Development is the latest addition to the field of professions and career progression (Price and Maier, 2007). The students who are acquiring education these days are encouraged to undertake the activities during their education period to acquire the knowledge and skills that will help them to make a prospering career in the future (Bailey, 2006). In order to equip themselves with the latest knowledge and skills, it has become mandatory for the undergraduates to design and implement their Personal Development Plan (PDP) (Brenan and Shah, 2003). PDP will help the graduates to keep a focused approach towards the attainment of their target career objectives (Barnett, 2007). 2. Reflection on the nature of Professionalism required for my Chosen Career Since I am keen to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills to make a prospering career in the field of marketing, I will make my PDP keeping in mind the skills required to achieve my target. 2.1. My future career in marketing field: The marketing field is best suitable for those people who have the ability to handle the challenges with patience and can handle multiple tasks at once (Eller College, 2010). The most important skill requirement in the field of marketing is to work under stressful situations and there is no limit on the number of working hours. The marketing field has grown drastically and is presenting lots of career opportunities for the graduates as there are numerous options to select. The best job options in the field of marketing are advertising, product development, brand and product management, global portfolio management, business to business marketing, international marketing, retail management, project planning, new product planning, marketing research, Sales and sales force management and marketing management science and systems analysis (All Business Schools, 2009 and Eller College, 2010). However, after reviewing all the options that are available in the field of marketing, I have decided to pursue my career as the head of brand and product management department and I want to render my services in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods Industry. My aim is to work in any of the well-reputed Multinational Corporations and for that I will definitely incorporate all the necessary skills and knowledge achievements in my PDP. I have decided about the objectives that I want to achieve through my PDP so that I can enter the professional world equipped with all the mandatory skills to make a prospering career in my selected profession. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the demand of marketing professionals will continue to increase at an accelerating rate. Therefore, the field of marketing will be more competitive in near future and in order to get qualified for the best positions in the well-reputed organizations, the graduates will have to make sure that they have competitive edge over their competitors. Hence, the graduates will have to prepare themselves for their career well in advance by developing their PDP during their academic years so that they can give a tough competition to other graduates (Moon, 2004). When I was considering the options for my career, I never gave a thought of making my career in the marketing field. Initially, I wanted to enter the field of Arts as I love to do a lot of creative works and it helps me to do something innovative on my own. However, when I gathered detailed information about various career fields, I decided to gather more details about the career options in the field of marketing. When I reviewed the article of Eller College (2010), I found out about the immense opportunities that it has for the fresh graduates. After gathering the sufficient information about the marketing field, I decided to do my self-analysis so that I could make a wise decision about my career. The most important skills required for the professionals in the marketing fields are communication skills and leadership skills. Since I love to do a lot of creative work and interact with people, I decided that I will learn all the other required competencies and skills during my education period. During my course of study, we have been asked to develop PDPs for our professional development and it has definitely helped me in overcoming my weaknesses and develops all the vital skills and competencies required in this field. 2.2. Skills, knowledge and competencies required for marketing professionals: According to Eller College (2010), the marketing field has become very competitive in the near future and the graduates will have to do a lot of efforts to achieve their desired positions. In order to have a competitive edge, the graduates should start gathering information about the skills that they will need to make a prospering career in the competitive marketing field. The foremost thing that will be needed to get qualified for the marketing job is the educational fulfillment i.e. four-year’s degree from a well-reputed and popular business school. The majors that should be studied during the four-year bachelor’s program are communications, advertising, marketing, public relations and international marketing (All Business Schools, 2010). The communication skills are the vital requirement for the professionals who want to enter the marketing field as they will have to work well along with the team so that the marketing plans are properly developed and implemented. The marketing department people do not work in isolation so they will have to effectively communicate with other departments’ employees as well. In order to make a dynamic career, the graduates must try to get internships in the organizations so that they can develop a good foundation for their work experience (Moon, 2009). Since I have opted to make my career as a marketing manager in brand and product development, so I have gathered sufficient information about the knowledge, skills and competencies required for the professionals at this designation. It is clearly stated in Eller College (2010) careers in marketing report that the professional for this position will need to understand the whole process of managing the product or service. Since I am aiming to enter FMCG industry, I will have to deal with all aspects of my product which will include planning, developing and directing the consumer marketing efforts of the product. As a marketing manager of the product development, I will have to be proficient in managing the time constraints, communicate with my team members effectively and able to present the ideas to top management clearly and concisely. Hence, the three skills that I will need to work on are communication skills, time management skills and presentation skills. Before I developed the PDP for my professional development, I have analyzed myself from every angle and I have found that I lack these skills and my PDP will revolve around these skills. The tool that I used to identify my weaknesses is concept mapping tool. Jankowska (2010) in the study conducted on understanding the development of PDP with the help of concept mapping concluded that students’ personal development is largely dependent on their efforts. The practical usage of Concept mapping will support the students in developing effective PDPs for their professional development. The tool allows the students and other users to do their self-assessment and identify their areas of weaknesses. Once the weaknesses are highlighted, the weaknesses can be overcome by designing and implementing effective PDP. The research paper by Jankowska (2010) showed that the students who followed this approach were successful in achieving their set targets. 2. 3. Evaluation of my Learning and Skills Development throughout this PD Module: 3.1 What I have learned as a result of putting my PD Plans into action: 3.1.1 Developing my Communication Skills: The communication skills are the vital skill requirements in the marketing field as the marketing managers have to communicate with everyone from team members to the top management. Since my origin is Arabic and Norwegian, I have a lot of problem when communicating with people. Although I am very social and like to interact with people but since my communication power is not so strong, I get a bit hesitant when talking to people. Therefore, the most important skill that I need to develop via my PDP was communication skills. I have worked within the module of Consultancy Project; the team consisted of 6 students and me. The rest of the team members were from other countries and they were all British nationals. We had problems in understanding each other languages. I had problems in speaking clearly and audibly with my team. This was one of the major communication barriers that I possessed. This drawback was overcome by practicing reading aloud sessions on a daily mode in front of the mirror. This helped me to view how my speaking skills could be improved. Besides the concept mapping tool identified by Jankowska (2010), I learnt the communication skills by self-learning, self-awareness, attending numerous workshops and conferences and doing reflective exercises. I also attended numerous training sessions with my colleagues so that we could learn effective group discussion techniques simultaneously. During my whole PDP activity, I realized that the marketing managers need to develop effective communication skills for team work. Since the marketing projects are not done on standalone basis and every member of the team has to work with consensus so that the product that is developed is launched effectively. Therefore, it is important that the team members are aware of the group norms and try to follow the set guidelines. During my course projects, I tried to apply the skills that we were taught and I found them to be most useful for my professional development. Since many organizations also conduct group discussion test to judge the prospective employees, it is important that the job applicants are aware of the points that need to be taken care of so that the rules are properly followed. During my learning process, I learnt that while the group discussion is going on it is better to listen to other people, never dominate others, carefully evaluate other people’s opinions, make valuable contributions in the discussions and most importantly make sure that the discussion remains on track. As a marketing manager, it is important to encourage the team members to participate, show them appreciation for their ideas and let them do some work on their own. Therefore, the marketing manager needs to learn the art of taking the team on the same track and making sure that everyone is in the same loop. I found my PDP to be most effective as now I am able to talk with confidence and clearly communicate ideas with my group members. Therefore, it is vital for everyone to take initiatives on their own as well so that the required skills for professional world can be developed and I believe that I am almost prepared to enter the practical field of marketing. 3.1.2 Developing my Time Management Skills: The most common problem that I used to face before applying the PDP plan was that I was unable to manage my time. While designing and implementing PDP to develop my time management skills, I learnt that the best way is to set the priorities of the task that which one is more important; what are the deadline of the relevant tasks; which tasks can be done with utmost ease; which tasks will require more time and lastly make a realistic timetable so that the tasks are achieved within the set time period. During each of my tasks, I used to review that how successful was I in achieving my objectives. One of the things that I learnt during the whole activity to learn effective time management skills was that I learnt how to decide about the time required for each particular activity. The most common mistake that the students do is that they underestimate the time. Initially, I did the same mistake but then I made some changes in my PDP and then I was successful in managing my time perfectly. The concept mapping tool of Jankowska (2010) was the most helpful tool during the whole activity. In order to manage my time effectively, I broke down my assignments into smaller tasks so that I was able to complete my whole task within my deadline. However, in order to develop more effective time management skills, I attended numerous workshops and training programs. The most effective tools for developing my good time management skills were conferences and training programs that I attended. The best source of guidance for the development of my time management skills were the activities developed by Cameron (2010). Therefore, with the help of my self-awareness and reflective action strategies, I was able to quickly master my time management skills. However, I also had to handle the obstacles that I encountered during my PDP implementation such as diverting to work on something that was of less importance or was not urgent, spend time on something more interesting and taking the project too lightly. Hence, with the passage of time, determination and focussed approach, I have developed my time management skills so that all of my projects are completed on time. The time management strategies identified by Gallagher (2010) were the most effective ones and I have managed to successfully implement them in my studies schedule. I developed my PDP plan keeping these points under consideration i.e. clear description of the objectives, making an action list and major target for each day, achieve the target, setting time constraints for each activity and attempting to get things right in the first place. Therefore, time management skills require lots of planning and implementation strategy. 3.1.3 Developing my Presentation Skills: The presentation skills are inevitable part of every marketing manager’s job. Since I don’t have excellent presentation skills, I included it in my PDP. In order to make sure that I learn appropriate presentation skills, I seeked help from my colleagues and teachers to give me feedback about my weaknesses and the areas that need improvement. I took active participation in the volunteering presentations during my course work so that I learnt the skills and overcome the fear of giving presentations. During one of the courses in university, I had to give a presentation on managing in a mixed economy (MME). This was presentation I have worked on with three other students. The tutor of this module stated that at times he couldn't understand me well. I then focused on my presentation skills in great depth. I worked upon making good power point presentation slides and also worked upon presenting well. When to move, the gestures to be used, how audible I should be, the easy way of explaining things and all other types of such presentation skills were learnt gradually so that I could be audible and understandable to the audience. By observing the presentation of good speakers, I learnt that giving good presentations is an art and if a lot of practice is done, then the skills get embedded in the personality. The most important things for giving good presentation are its preparation and keeping oneself calm. The best way to learn the presentation skills is to rehearse it numerous times in front of the mirror or someone so that you can know your mistakes. I mastered my presentation skills by first designing the format of my presentation, and then I rehearsed several times so that I spoke clearly and completed my presentation within time allowed and made sure that there was only relevant information on my presentation visual. Hence, after every presentation, I reviewed my mistakes by taking feedback from my friends and then overcoming them in my next presentation. Hence, by following my PDP, I was able to develop my good presentation skills and now I believe that I can even give corporate presentations with utmost ease. 3.2 Impact of my PD efforts on my performance in CP and elsewhere: The Professional Development efforts have definitely paid off as now I can effectively manage all my tasks and projects. Since I am able to meet all the deadlines of my projects and get along with my team members with utmost ease, I am doing more efforts to strengthen the skills that I have learnt during my whole PDP activity. Since the world of marketing keeps on changing, I have learnt that I need to remain alert all the time about the activities happening in the field of marketing so that I learn the new skills instantly and I am prepared as well to enter the practical world. 4. Conclusion The PDP module developed with the help of my teacher and important information taken from research papers especially of Gallagher (2010) and Jankowska (2010) have definitely helped me in acquiring the skills and competencies that are important to make a prospering career in the field of marketing. I have been a part of numerous workshops, training programs and conferences to learn the skills and knowledge required for the marketing managers’ position. Although I also incorporated by self-assessment and reflective actions in my PDP but without adequate guidance from the resources that I have used in developing the effective plan I would not have been able to improve my skills. My future plan consists of constantly being part of the continuous learning process and work towards polishing all the marketing skills. We are residing in a competitive era, and everything is changing at a constant pace. All professionals need to be highly competent and hence they need to be in a process of learning new skills and polishing old ones constantly. After working upon improving my communication and presentation skills, I would opt for higher designations in the field of marketing. I aim towards taking up challenging positions in marketing. Marketing requires one to be social and have the ability to convince people. My aim towards professional career is targeted towards marketing and hence I need to develop on all the skills that I am weak. After completing all the activities, I believe that I have developed good communication skills, can manage my time properly and can deliver good presentations as well. It is recommended that one should be open to any sort of criticism and should be determined to improve the skills for professional world. The PDP module is the most effective tool for preparing me to face the challenges that will be encountered in the real world. I can have a positive and successful career if I work upon the personal development plan constantly and work towards improvising my skills on a constant note. I have made a plan that is discussed in Appendix 1 about how I plan to work upon the skills, the resources I would use, the time I have set for developing each skill. I have started working on each skill and gradually with the help of the resources that I am using. I can see improvement in my skills. This is a positive sign because the improvement in such skills will allow me to become a successful marketing professional in future. REFERENCES All Business Schools, 2010. Marketing Career. [online] Available at: http://www.allbusinessschools.com/business-careers/marketing/marketing-career [Accessed 25 April 2012]. Atlay, M. T., 2007. Embedding PDP practice in the Curriculum. Centre for Recording Achievement: Personal Development Planning and Employability. York: Higher Education Academy. Atlay, M.T., Petrova, P. and Ujma, D., 2009. To embed or not to embed? The embedding of PDP in the curriculum. [Online] Available at: http://www.heacademy.ac.uk/assets/hlst/documents/case_studies/ujma.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2012]. Bailey, S., 2006. Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students. 2nd ed. Oxon: Routledge. Bailey, S., 2011. Academic Writing: A Handbook for International Students of Business. Oxon: Routledge. Barnett, R., 2007. A Will To Learn: Being a Student in an Age of Uncertainty. Berkshire: Open University Press. Brennan, J. and Shah, T., 2003. Report on the implementation of Progress Files. [online] Available at: http://oro.open.ac.uk/324/1/ProgressFiles.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2012]. Buckley, C., 2007. Walking the PDP line: negotiating connections and boundaries in Higher Education. On Reflection, 14, pp. 4-6. Cameron, S., 2010. The Business Student’s Handbook. [e-book] Available through: Pearson Education http://wps.pearsoned.co.uk/ema_uk_he_cameron_bustuhndbk_4/75/19427/4973362.cw/index.html [Accessed 25 April 2012] Clegg, S. and Bradley, S., 2006. The implementation of progress files in higher education: reflection as national policy. Higher Education, 51, pp. 465-486. Eller College, 2010. Careers in Marketing. [e-book] Available at: http://marketing.eller.arizona.edu/docs/Careersinmarketing.pdf [Accessed 25 April 2012] Gallagher, K., 2010. Skills Development for Business and Management Students. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Jankowska, M., 2010. Taking Concept Mapping (CM) forward with socially mediated structured approaches. Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. University of Bedfordshire Moon, J., 2004. Learning and Employability: Reflection and Employability. York: Learning and Teaching Support Network. Moon, J., 2009. Making groups work: improving group work through the principles of academic assertiveness in Higher Education Academy:1 Subject. London: The higher education and professional development. Price, G. & Maier, P., 2007. Effective Study Skills: Unlock your potential. Essex: Pearson Education Ltd APPENDIX-I PDP PLAN FOR ALL THREE SKILLS Objectives Resources and Actions Date of achieving the objectives Outcomes Communication Skills 1. To develop positive attitude with my team workers Attend workshops and seminars June 2012 I will have cordial relations with the team members 2. To develop the habit of listening to what others have to say More group discussions for healthy relations July 2012 We will be able to do effective decision making and there will be less conflict 3. To boost my confidence level by overcoming my speaking fear and develop strong interpersonal skills. Language courses and reading more books and journals August 2012 I will develop good presentation and interactive skills for good communication. Time Management Skills 1. To make a list of my tasks. Notebook will be maintained so that everything is organized June 2012 I will have an idea about the priority of every project. 2. To prioritize and complete important tasks first. Attend time management seminars and conferences July 2012 I will be able to meet the deadlines of my project. 3. To make sure that the obstacles that affect my studies are taken care of. Spend more time on important tasks and don’t get deviated to less important tasks August 2012 I will be able to complete all my tasks on time and improve my time management skills Presentation Skills 1. To do preparation before presentation. Make a timetable for presentation practice July 2012 I will be able to develop confidence for giving presentation. 2. To review myself before the final day. Self-assessment practice and presentation courses July 2012 I will be able to compare myself before and after my presentation and make improvements in my presentation skills 3. To improve my communication power by dedicating more time for presentation. Giving voluntary presentations in the class and taking extra classes for improving the presentation skills August 2012 I will be able to master the art of effective presentation and it will boost my confidence. APPENDIX-2 SELF-ASSESSMENT OF SKILLS Assessing Communication Skills ON a scale of 1-6, give a rating to each statement; 1=Mostly, 2=Frequently, 3=Occassionally, 4=Sometimes, 5=Rarely and 6=Never Score I don’t listen to people attentively. I don’t hesitate to tell negative aspects about someone upfront. My interaction with people is very limited. In a group, I don’t feel that my contributions have much impact. I tend to argue with people if they don’t see my point of view. I may sound defensive if people give me negative feedback although it may be because they haven’t understood my reasons. I find it difficult to focus on nonverbal communication when people are speaking. I find other people boring. People seem not to hear what I am saying. I feel comfortable in social or group work situations. It is difficult for me to give good impression in first meeting. I am very straightforward and give reply instantly before listening to them. Total: File for future reference Date completed: Assessing time management skills: Make an assessment sheet of your last week and review how you managed your time for various activities. Repeat the self-assessment twice to review the progress. How clear was I about my approved objectives? How successful was I in achieving my objectives? How many hours did I work every day? How many of these hours were spent directly on the tasks aimed at achieving my objectives? What were the obstacles that affected my time management skills? How many works did I work effectively? Why was I ineffective during my designated time? What was the reason for not completing the task on time? What should be done to improve time management skills? Date of this assessment: Assessing Presentation Skills: Before giving the presentation, I will assess myself on these attributes and will ask others to give me feedback at the end of the presentation as well. On a scale of 1-4, I will do my assessment. 1=Excellent, 2=Good, 3=Need Improvement, 4=Poor Aspect Rating Comment 1 Introduction 2 Sticking to the topic 3 Range of information covered 4 Usefulness of visual aids 4 Number of visual aids 6 Speaking style 7 Overall pace 8 Dealing with questions 9 Encouraging audience involvement 10 Summary and conclusion Strengths Areas that need some work APPENDIX-3 LEARNING LOG AND ACTION PLAN FORMAT Learning log Name………………… Period……………… Date Learning ‘event’ Learning points and notes for future action Event and date Reason for doing What have I learned from this? What am I going to do as a result and when? Action Plan Name:………………………….. Overall Goal: Target date: Sub goals: Target dates: Actions: Target date: Completed: Comments: Further Action Needed: Read More