Nature of Professionalism - Essay Example

Professional Development Portfolio Student’s Name Institution Affiliation Introduction Section1- Reflection on the Nature of Professionalism Required For My Chosen Career 1.1 My Desired Future Career Direction After successfully completing my PD plan, I was satisfied because the planning process made me a better person. During the 12 month period I dedicated to PD planning, I was able to improve on self-awareness and confidence within the working environment by learning how to follow my instincts and learning from my mistakes. I no longer shy away from positive criticism but rather use the opportunity to learn and advance my career. In the future, I envision myself as the leader of the project consultancy firm where I was on placement. I do not plan to switch from one employment to another in the future to achieve consistent results in my profession. People who stay in regular employment tend to do best in their careers. Career Direction On February of this year, I was determined to know what career path was suitable for me because I wanted to have a sense of direction that would enable me identify my unique abilities, strengths and weaknesses. Therefore, I took a test on the website of Career Direction Inc where they were able to match my skills with the appropriate job (Appendix 2). However, I feel that I lacked sufficient skills to enable me advance my career. In this regard, I plan to enrolling for a degree in project management after I clear my studies so as to be in a better position to compete with other people. 1.2 Transferable Skills Required It is necessary for employees to acquire transferable skills (Gallagher, 2013). These skills are transferable in the sense that an employee can apply them from one job to another. The period I was under placement is arguably one of my most cherished moments since it was a great learning experience. First, I was able to discover that I had good leadership skills. At times, I was left to take charge of some responsibilities with the group of interns whom I was a member and the results were remarkable. My PD plan report indicated that I was a good team leader with the ability of handling bigger responsibilities (Appendix 2). During the same period, I improved on my IT skills and learned how to operate office equipment effectively. I was privileged to be in a firm that was quick to embrace technology. This made it easy for me to sharpen my IT skills with ease. However, I learned that I needed to improve my skills on flexibility. During the placement period, I found it hard to switch from one activity to another or even to multitask. I plan to liaise with my lectures to assess if they can assist in personal improvement. 1.3 Technical Knowledge and Competencies Required When I was preparing my PD plan, I learned that for a person to be competent, he or she ought to have technical knowledge on the entire scope of management. Technical skills are developed through experience and practice. Since I am still in school, it is impossible to develop any technical skills since I lack sufficient knowledge or a place where I can put my current abilities in practice. 1.4 Relevant Ethical Frameworks/ Values At the time I was preparing and executing my PD plan, I became aware that field and practice of management are guided by a set of principles and rules. The rules are tailored at ensuring that members of an organization are treated fairly and equally. As an intern at the consulting firm, I was expected to exercise due care by avoiding acts of negligence that would be detrimental to the clients of the firm or my fellow employees. To achieve this, I acquitted myself with the code of conduct of the organization and followed their regulations to the latter. 1.5 Important Attitudes and Motivations My main source of motivation for the past one year has been my desire to achieve leadership and managerial skills. I achieved this by putting into practice what I learned in class with real life situations. Through patience and persistence, I was able to achieve my set goals, and this motivated me to achieve more in the future. This is the reason I want to enroll for a degree course in management to further my career into greater heights. Section 2- Reasons for Skill Choice 2.1 Leadership Skills According to Robbins (2008), different people can acquire leadership skills in spite of their biological traits. I confirmed this as true during the period I was on placement at Ooredoo. During the 12-month period on internship, various duties were delegated to me, and among them were to be in charge of fellow interns during certain hours and days. I learned that for a leader to have effective followers, he or she has to find appropriate methods of motivating them to achieve the best out of them. First, I arranged for employees off days during the course of the working days. Secondly, I proposed that two annual parties were to be held for employees and interns to have fun and an opportunity to socialize. My motivation proposals were hard to implement since they required approximately 1850 pounds. Since I was the one in charge, it was my responsibility to convince the Chief Operations officer to invest the amount into my proposal. This was my greatest challenge, but the confidence I had acquired during the few months I was around enable me to convince him easily. Within a few months after my proposal was implemented, it was evident that most employees and interns were happy with the new culture and were motivated to work harder. Hard work automatically leads to increased productivity hence leading to increase in revenues and profitability. 2.2 Communication Skills (talking and listening skills) During my period at the placement in Ooredoo, I became aware that being a leader was not just a mere responsibility, but a duty. The duty required proficiency in other skills. One of them was communication skills. In spite of the fact that I am an authoritarian, I leant that some situations required me to listen more effectively to the opinions of other members of the organization before making major decisions. I did this so that all members would own up to the outcomes of certain decisions made jointly. As a leader, I ensured that I communicated effectively with other, members, and interns at Ooredoo. I achieved this by passing information on time and making clarifications on issues that required more attention. I learned that it was easy to lead people through open and frequent communication. I also became aware that it not all information about the organization has to be passed to employees. If confidential information is revealed to the public, it can damage the corporate image of a firm. 2.3 IT and Office Equipment Operations Skills During my previous semesters in school, I utilized the school’s computer lab to improve my computer and IT skills. My efforts together with the assistance of my lectures paid off. Within a short time, I was able to learn how to make computer programs on my own and operate office equipment with ease. I used my acquired abilities during my placement period to develop a program that rated the performance of employees. This program was found to be useful by the management since it was easy for them to appraise employees hence determine who were competent than others. During that time at Ooredoo, I worked under the senior IT technician who aided in upgrading the debt collection for returned cheques. It was a good learning experience since I was exposed to more ideas other than those acquired in class. The two developments led to increased efficiency since they increased the employee’s performance. Moreover, the organization was able to incorporate appropriate technology that enabled them plan for meetings and follow up different strategies put in place. Section 3 - Evaluation of my Learning and Skills Development throughout this PD Module 3.1 What I have learned because of putting my PD Plans into Action 3.1.1 Developing my Leadership Skills The task of putting my PD plan into action was challenging because I did not have prior knowledge or experience to assist me. Working in a new environment with fellow team members, some who were older than I, made me adopt a democratic form of leadership. The first approach was that of proposing my ideas to team members for all deliberations. We debated on the issues, added more related ideas, and arrived at conclusions jointly. This approach involved various team members in decision making since they would strive to ensure that the issues arrived at were effectively implemented. I learned that being a leader does not mean that one has to know everything or be able to solve all problems alone. In this regard, I decided to use the brainstorming model of decision making to assist me in solving certain organizational dilemmas. I learned that the approach was quite effective since a section of selected team members would be able to come up with many ideas within a short time. The ideas would represent different views from depending on differences in levels of experience. I used the opportunity to view the organizational problems on a broader view thereby, coming up with the appropriate solutions to address the problem appropriately. Being a leader of my team members exposed people from all lifestyles. Through my interactions with different teammates, I adopted some of their attributes that I considered would be useful to me in my capacity as a team leader. For instance, I became more assertive and developed a positive attitude that enable me approach any issues that came on my way without fear. I also understood the importance of cooperation and working together as a team in achieving organizational goals. 3.1.2 Developing my Communications Skills Communication skills are easy to develop, yet lead to important benefits (Rees & Porter, 2001). Communication is central to any organization since through it, other operations function and operate properly. During the previous semesters at school, I was taught communication skills required to be effective in communication. Good communication skills entail listening before speaking, speaking concisely with clarity, and use of simple and understandable language among many other skills. A person especially team leaders should exhibit many of such skills in their day-to-day communication. However, learning in class was in theory form, and its application was limited since there were limited forums where one would put the skills into practice. I used my position as a team leader at Ooredoo to improve my communication skills since at times; I was the representative of the team of interns. At the beginning, it was hard for me since I had never held a leadership position hence I had difficulties addressing other people. However, the presence of my teammates who were age mates made it easy for me to adapt easily to the situation. It was easy for me to pass information from the management of supervisors to them since there were no formalities involved between them and me. I could clarify issues that the management gave priority since their content was critical. During the period, I was able to distinguish different contexts that required me to apply different forms of communication. For instance, the way I communicated with my supervisor and other senior employees were different with that with my teammates. I was more formal with my seniors and the information I communicated was in the form of feedback. When addressing my teammates, I was casual but still authoritarian since the most information I was in the form of orders. By the end of my placement at Ooredoo, I was a good public speaker due to the confidence I had developed. 3.1.3 Developing my IT and Equipment Operation Skills I learned many things in this area within the short period that I was in placement and during the implementation of my PD plan. The availability of the state of the art office equipment both at school and at Ooredoo made me transform from a mere armature to an IT guru at the end of one year. However, the combination of passion and hard work enabled me gain more IT skills. A majority of my teammates in the same department quit in the initial stages of the placement period due to the complexity of duties. The presence of qualified IT technicians who were willing to share their knowledge with me motivated me to want to become just like them. At the beginning, I was only able to watch what my senior were doing and learn. Later on, I was able to air my views for instance, the idea of coming up with an employee’s appraisal program was my idea. Through the help of the senior IT technician, I was able to see my ideas transform into reality. Although I did not learn everything related to IT and Office equipment operations, I learned a lot that I previously did not know. The knowledge I acquired will assist me in my academics and future profession. 3.2 Impact of my PD efforts on my performance in CP and Elsewhere The impacts of my Professional development (PD) efforts are overwhelming since they have not only enabled me to complete my placement successfully at Ooredoo but will also assist in my consultancy project. I intend to use the same amount of efforts when doing the consultancy project since I am now confident and familiar with the working environment. Moreover, the consultancy project is closely linked with the PP plan hence I will be able to apply similar knowledge and efforts in various areas. I am deeply convinced that my PD efforts have changed the way I do things and interact with people. I have become more organized in my work since at the placement, I learned how to arrange my affairs and present final findings to my supervisor. My leadership efforts that I exercised at the same place have enabled me interact with people from diverse backgrounds. Moreover, I have learned how to advance my opinions and convince other people into supporting my views and ideas. My efforts have also enabled me to acquire more skills free of charge. The skills will go a long way in assisting me accomplish greater things in the future. I believe that if I continue applying the same efforts in my class work and future endeavors, and then am assured of a brighter future. Even if I will not make it to the university or any institution of higher learning, I believe that, my acquired skills and efforts will help achieve any goals that I set. All these efforts have transformed and assisted me in becoming a better person than I was a year before. 3.3 Methods that have been Effective in Developing My Skills The skills acquired over the past 12 months have been beneficial to my class work and in the development of my career. The first method I used to develop the strategy was by increasing my concentration in class and participating in assigned tasks. Participation was the best and easiest way of learning new skills since I was in a position to seek clarifications from lectures. I was able to develop good communication skills that I have continued to use up to date. The skills have enabled me to become fluent, confident and have a good command of different languages. The second method was through constant practice of previously learned skills and those acquired out of the experience. Experience is important in the development of work and study skills (Lee-Davies, 2006). I discovered that through repeated practice of a skill, it became easy to apply it as compared to practicing it occasionally. During my free time, I improved my IT skills through constant practice on what I was taught or learned on my own. Each time I tried, I became better since I leant from my mistakes and improved on them. After a long period of practice, I accomplished assigned tasks faster and with ease. I also used the method of observation. I became aware that not everything is taught in class since knowledge is diverse and can be acquired through many ways. For instance, I acquired my leadership skills through observing what my seniors and those in a higher authority were doing. By learning how they handled situations and responded to various problems that confronted them, I was able to adopt certain traits from them. Through numerous interactions with the people in authority, I was able to manifest their way of doing things whenever I was left to take charge over my teammates. In that way, developed my leadership skills by simply observing how other people were behaving. Section 4 – Conclusion 4.1 My professionalism at the end of the PD Module After successful completion of the PD module, I am in a better position to say that my degree of professionalism is beyond the average. Working with experienced professionals has exposed me to the working environment and has taught me the appropriate behavior at the work place. I believe that if I am employed soon, it will take me a short period to develop to a qualified professional. The PD module has enabled me to gain relevant experience and knowledge that professionals apply in their daily activities hence if I practice more it; I will become one of them. 4.2 My future CPD - Continuing Professional Development According to Megginson and Whitaker (2003), people should engage in Continuing Professional Developmentat any time, whether one is under pressure or not. Professional development especially in the management profession is essential since it contributes to the development of confidence and acquisition of new skills. I plan to enroll in the University for a Degree in management since I believe it will play a role in developing my profession. I believe the degree course will provide sufficient information and empower me more. Moreover, I will be in a better position to compete with other people with the same qualifications. Apart from acquiring managerial skills, I plan to acquire other professional skills related to management like accounting, finance or marketing. The second way I intend to use to develop my profession is by setting both short term and long-term goals. The setting of goals will assist in tracking my progress after a given period. I believe that setting goals will make me more focused and determined since I will avoid failures at the initial stages of my career. I also plan to seek employment a competitive firm where I will have the opportunity to learn from experts. In that process, I will have a higher chance to develop my career. I believe that I will use the opportunity to strive and become as good as there rest. References Gallagher, K. (2013). Skills Development for Business and Management Students: Study and Employability. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lee-Davies, L. (2006). Developing Work and Study Skills. Connecticut: Cengage Learning EMEA. Megginson, D., & Whitaker, V. (2003). Continuing Professional Development, 2nd edition. Wimbledon: CIPD Publishing. Rees, W D & Porter, C . (2001). Skills of Management. Connecticut: Cengage Learning Robbins, S. (2008). Self-assessment Library 3.4: Insights Into Your Skills, Interests and Abilities. Student Success Supplements Series. Cape Town: Pearson South Africa. Appendix Appendix 1- My PD plan Appendix 2- My test at Career direction Inc http://www.career-direction.com/ Read More