Learning for Business Success - Assignment Example

A Personal Development Plan (PDP) Introduction Personal Development Plan (PDP) is a very important tool for my professional career. It will help me think about my own learning, performance and achievements and to plan for my career, educational and personal development. It will enable me be aware of how I am progressing and help me identify areas of concerns to my tutors as well as demonstrate to prospective employers that I have acquired ways that make me focused, well motivate and desirable. My Personal Development Plan is explained in details and is relevant to my first year study at the university. It shows my strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, key areas that need development, objectives to be achieved and an action plan (Rees & Porter 2008). SWOT Analysis One of my strengths is having excellent cognitive skills. I can be able to integrate new information as I am taught and this creates successful learning. I have the ability to think critically, analyse and synthesise information and I can identify assumptions and evaluate statements. Cognitive abilities are important in enabling goal-oriented behavior like planning and executive a goal (Cottrell 2010). The second strength is great presentation skills which are portrayed in the way I show and explain the content of a subject to an audience in an excellent way. I can use visual aid like PowerPoint, charts, and hand-outs in a presentation very comfortably. Anyone who is looking forward to working as a professional needs to possess presentation skills, as he will be required to come up with a presentation during a meeting. A good presentation defines an individual’s character as a professional and boosts a person’s level of confidence (Cameron 2009). The third strength is good communication skills; I can use written and oral to communicate ideas across, express myself and to connect with other people. Good communication is important in building an effective and cohesive team. It is also essential in managing team members’ performance and the industrial problem risks developing in the workplace can be minimized. Good communication is also needed in building and maintaining effective relationships with clients and suppliers, handling customer complaints effective and getting rid of negative word-of-mouth about the organization. The assessment of effective marketing campaigns can be drawn on communication skills (Lee-Davies (2007). The fourth strength is excellent IT skills shown in my ability to type very well, use application software without a problem, conduct research in the internet and download programs. IT skills are an important and valuable asset needed in the business world. For someone to achieve maximum output from the resources available, knowing how to manage money, employees and operating tools, basic computing skills is very essential. Many common goals that businesses strive to achieve cannot be achieved in the time needed without technologies. Having these skills will enable one to be competitive in the job market (Cameron 2009). Team-working skills is the fifth strength, portrayed in my ability to listen to other people’s ideas, interact, discuss and pose questions to others, respect and help others, share ideas and findings, and participate in a group project. Teamwork is important for the success of any team or organization. According to Engleberg & Wynn (2003), people who share a common vision, goals and interact verbally and physically at an interdependence level create a productive team. A task in hand becomes successful when everyone involved combine their efforts. Teamwork being a high priority in any setting should be given attention constantly. The last strength is a personal management skill which shows that I have the ability to have control over my motivation, behavior and attitude. I have self-discipline, good time management, and analytical mind, intelligent and motivated. I also have several weaknesses. The first one is problem-solving and decision making. Sometimes I cannot be able to identify, formulate and solve problems, generate and evaluate options. The second weakness is lack of sound networking skills shown in my inability to actively seek, identify and create contacts effectively with other people and maintain them for mutual benefit. The last weakness is numeracy and quantitative skills. I have problems with data analysis and interpretation, use of business problems and phenomena models. There are however opportunities that I can explore in the market place. First, there are suitable job vacancies come up every year, and I am confident that I will be employed immediately after college. Second, companies are re-organizing due to changes in the market place and buying doing so, new openings are created that I can explore. Third, there are gaps and niches that need to be filled and reached. Gaps can be seen in article and research writing that I can exploit and provide solutions. Fourth, there are sponsorship programmes for MBA for students attaining a first class in their college. This is motivating me to work hard in the university so that I can get a scholarship for my post-graduate degree. Fifth, many companies are employing interns in order to help them improve their work skills and build work-experience. Last, young people are being favored in employment today. Companies need young, active and fresh talent from the university to work them and make the company grow. Despite the opportunities, there are also threats that exist. First there may be obsolescence of my skills and knowledge in case the job industry needs other new skills. I may therefore be forced to go back to college and learn the new skills which may waste time and money. Second, there may be unfavorable changes in the local and national economic conditions. Due to inflation organizations may focus on cost cutting, by retrenching people, recruiting a few people or not recruiting at all, or pay new employees low salaries. Areas that need development I have areas that need development. The first is problem solving and decision making skills. I need to be able to know tools and techniques that can help me make impossible decisions and solve problems despite their complexity; brainstorming, SWOT Analysis, mind mapping and preparing plans and instructions for decision making and solving problems. I would also like to learn other techniques like risk assessments, system diagrams, flow charts, decision trees, concept diagrams and decision matrices in solving complex problems. I would like to have the ability to solve problems and decisions with confidence. I also would like to understand how a mixture of skills: clarity of judgment, option identifications, effective implementation, creative development and firmness of decision are related to good decision-making. The second area of development is networking. I understand the importance of networking to me-for mutual benefit. However, I have a problem of identifying contacts from other people and maintaining them. I therefore would like to learn how to create contacts effectively and use them for the purpose it intends. I need to improve on background skills required like expanding networks, effective communication, maintaining, building and self-confidence. Networking is important as well as maintaining a strong circle of contacts in our current economic state The final area of development is numeracy and quantitative skills. This is very important as every professional or student need to have the capability of doing data analysis, data interpretation and data extrapolation. I have a clue of what is needed but I need more knowledge of data analysis, interpretation and extrapolation. Thesis or dissertation writing is a compulsory document that students in many universities need to present before graduating. Therefore, without numeracy and quantitative skills it would be impossible to present a good thesis or dissertation (Baruch 2004). Personal Development Objectives The first objective is to improve on problem solving and decision making by the end of my first year, through learning and exercising techniques such as brainstorming, SWOT analysis and mind mapping. The second objective is to network through creating and maintaining contacts with others by the third month. The final objective is to improve my numeracy and quantitative skills in six months time. Action Plan To improve problem solving and decision making, I will read more in the module taught by my tutor. I will also find more information in the library and read case studied on the internet and how they were solved by the end of this semester. By the end of this semester, I will have studied techniques and tools for problem solving and decision making in the library and online study materials. On improving my networking skills, I will consider building a strong network both internally and externally. I will volunteer for at least two school projects and make myself available by the end of next semester. By the end of this semester, I would like to expand my lunch partners by at least three per week. I will meet and talk with new students and continue our communication on a regular basis. I will ensure that I exchange contacts with those I meet and follow them up to discuss, meet or share other information. I plan also to join at least one student forum by the end of this semester both online and offline, attend regularly, meet new people and benefit from any knowledge provided through speakers and seminars. I have an account on Twitter, MySpace and Facebook but I am not active. I therefore plan to log into those social sites at least once a day, open an account with other online professional network like LinkedIn in two weeks time, invite my contacts to join and go on to expand my network with updated information. To ease my anxiety I will try arriving early in class or a forum when fewer people are available or invite a friend to attend with me. I can then take my membership step by step to a higher level, which will open new and great doors for me. To manage my network, I will start a database of contacts in my network by the end of the week and ensure that I maintain it weekly. The database will include the name of the person, phone numbers, and email address together with how often we need to meet or communicate. To improve numeracy and quantitative skills I will search for books on numeracy and quantitative, data analysis and interpretation in the library by the end of the semester. In the next semester, I will try practicing by solving numerical problems, analyzing and interpreting data both individually and in a group. I will also identify a tutor by the end of this semester to help me tackle difficulty problems and advise me on how to go about it. Conclusion Personal Development Plan has proved to be an essential tool to both students and professionals. My Personal Development Plan is detailed with my SWOT Analysis, areas that need development, objectives and how to execute them. This will enable me plan my career, monitor my performance and achievement. Reference List Baruch, Y (2004) Managing careers: Theory and Practice. Harlow: Pearson Education. Cameron, S. (2009) The business student's handbook: skills for study and employment. 5th ed., Harlow. Financial Times Prentice Hall. Cottrell, S. (2010) Skills for success: the personal development planning handbook. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Engleberg, I. N & Wynn, D. R (2003) Working in groups. 3rd ed., New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Lee-Davies, L. (2007) Developing work and study skills. London: Thomson. Rees, D.W & Porter, C (2008). The Skills of Management. 6th ed., London: Cengage Learning EMEA Read More