SWOT Analysis and Personal Development Plan - Coursework Example

Personal Reflections and Learning Name: Lecturer: Course: Date: Personal Reflections and Learning Introduction Based entirely on personal perspective, this semester has provided me with one of the most significant opportunities to reflect on my key personal skills and to subsequently reconsider changing my self-identity and purposes. Accordingly, I have been able to reconfigure my self-identity and traits in light of the parameters within which I could interact freely and grow intellectually in my new environment. In this respect, the first year at the university has provided a platform for progress in my academic work as well as sharpening of my social skills in an environment where I had to adapt to unfamiliar people and new ways of doing things. From the outset, I was rather apprehensive. After several weeks, I built new relationships and familiarised myself with my new environment allowing me to drive out anxiety and apprehension. I have been able to discover many things concerning my learning styles, attitudes and personality. This has been through the use of tools such as QAA Core Skills questionnaire that indicated my qualities, traits, capabilities and weaknesses. There are therefore a range of areas concerning my personal, career and learning development that need to be improved. Despite having made milestones in social and educational activities, it is clear that my time management skills need to be improved if I have to realize my core objectives. Poor time management skills have been a major hindrance. For instance, I have found it difficult to prioritise between engaging in social activities and educational activities. This has affected my grades. Indeed, such information presented me with data that I used to develop my SWOT analysis and Personal Development Plan (PDP) to explore my strong and weak spots and to improve where necessary (Bolton 2005). I identified three weaknesses in my traits. These include lack of self-confidence, poor decision-making skills and poor time management skills. Through the use of the PDP, I expect to improve on these weak areas with the view of transforming into a self-confident decision-maker and time manager, as these are important attributes that would help in my career growth in the future. Through subsequent review of the SWOT analysis, it was clear to me that one of my key strengths lay in my communication skills. These were indeed evident in the way I adapted to my new environment, made friends within a short period of time and participated in group works. Indeed, on applying McCrae’s Big Five Locator, it came to my knowledge that I had a high agreeableness. Indeed, this was reflected in several traits such as being an active team player, trusting, altruistic and humble. It was also clear that I’m somewhere between being an extrovert and ambivert. This was reflected in the manner in which I’m sociable and assertive. Indeed, my communication skills are demonstrated in the way I interact with people. I have been able to be understood clearly with my friends, I have been able to make many friends and I have also been perceived as a highly straightforward person whose intentions cannot be misunderstood. My strong interpersonal skills have also been rated at 2 on a scale of 1 to 5 in the Higher Education QAA Core Skills. For instance, I’m able to talk and interact freely as well as listen and negotiate with ease. Having strong communication skills has been demonstrated in the way I present my reports and participate proactively in group discussion in addition to working interactively with team mates (University of Waterloo 2013). Through the use of SWOT analysis, I learnt that my other key strength is personal distinctiveness. Indeed, this has been reflected in a range of ways at the university. For instance, I have strong work ethic and have often been eager to exert moral standards in my undertakings. I’m also highly self-disciplined as reflected in the manner in which I carry myself around. I also have the ability to work under pressure. This is indeed evident in the manner in which I have been able to do my assignments under tight deadlines. I also tend to exhibit high enthusiasms and energy levels, making me to be generally perceived to have strong personal warmth. Another key strength showed in my SWOT analysis is high technological skills, as I’m highly technological savvy and always willing to explore new technology to solve problems. Indeed, this is evident from the QAA Core Skills that rated my cognitive skills at 2 on a scale of 1 to 5. I’m therefore a critical analyst and can perceive assumptions as well as use technology to assess data and come up with evidence. This trait can further be highlighted by my research and investigative skills using QAA Core Skills, which informs that I can identify relevant information sources as well as apply range of methodologies to come up with solutions. The SWOT analysis also informed me of the key threats I face in realising my personal development, career and learning objectives. The threats include specific knowledge on advanced education required to pursue careers, the competitive job market due to influx of university graduates and inability to find specific jobs of interest. These key threats however relate to my personal management skills as reflected by QAA Core Skills, showing that I need to have effective time planning abilities, to be highly motivated and to be able to take initiatives. On the other hand, they are reflected in my key weaknesses that include lack of self-confidence, poor decision-making skills and poor time management skills. My weak points constitute major challenges that currently affected by academic performance, and which may have long-term effects in my career life. For instance, due to low self-confidence, I have not been able to become an organizational leader or a coordinator. Further, I lack the confidence to communicate interactively with my tutors. Clearly, this has the potential to affect my education and career life. Hence, this is a critical area that needs to be addressed. This is indeed reflected in the QAA Core Skills results, where my team-working skills are ranked low, as I have poor leadership team-building. Time management is also a critical area that I need to improve on. Poor time management skills have been a major hindrance. For instance, I have found it difficult to prioritise between engaging in social activities and educational activities. This has affected my grades. In any case, despite aiming to achieve high grades, I still need to attain other goals to fully realise my objectives. I find it difficult to weigh between my academic work and going out to socialise with my friends. Additionally, I realize that I never have enough time to reflect on my life or to do something for myself. This is indeed reflected in the QAA Core Skills results, where my personal management skills are ranked low, essentially since I have poor time planning skills. Concerning decision-making as a weakness, I believe it is one of the dominant areas affecting my other personality traits. Aside from affecting my willingness to manage time or prioritise on important issues, it has made me to be a very agreeable person as reflected in the results of McCrae’s Big Five Locator. Results of the QAA Core Skills indicate that I’m a poor decision-maker and problem-solver. In which case, I believe that I still need to have the ability to identify and foresee problems as well generate options. Based on the results of the SWOT analysis, more specifically the weaknesses, I created PDP. It is in my view that by using the SMART targets, I will be able to improve on these skills. To improve my time management skills, I seek to develop a time schedule and stick to the schedules. In the schedule, I will give priority to academic work as well as other important things. Those that are irrelevant shall not be included in the time schedule. I will therefore give priority. To improve on my decision-making skills, I intend to be more analytical. This would be ensured by making a list of advantages and disadvantages for any problem and select the options with the least disadvantages as well as stick to the option (Milkman, Chugh & Bazerman 2008). To improve my self-confidence, I will need to identify my insecurities and negative experiences, talk about the insecurities with my peers, avoid the negative thoughts, monitor my successes and accomplishments, do a lot of physical exercise to dismiss the fears and accept criticisms and compliments gracefully.  Conclusion To conclude, this semester has provided an opportunity to reflect on my personal, academic and career developments and to seek a pathway towards improving the weak areas and to fortify my strengths. The SWOT analysis also helped me to realise opportunities I should pursue to realise my personal development and learning objectives. I identified three weaknesses in my traits. These include lack of self-confidence, poor decision-making skills and poor time management skills. The key opportunities depicted by the analysis included advancing my technology skills, improving my work experience and devolving my communication skills. Indeed, such information presented me with data that I used to develop my SWOT analysis and Personal Development Plan to explore my strong and weak spots and to improve where necessary. This has enabled me to come up with action plan to improve on my weak areas and to come up with strategies from transforming my strengths into weaknesses. In my view, this will enable me to advance in mapping out my career path as well as advancing in my future career in the next semester. Despite aiming to achieve high grades, I still need to attain other personal goals to fully realise my objectives as well as be set on a career path. At present, a number of internal factors stills affect my personal life and development. For instance, after developing my SWOT analysis, it was clear that I face a range of internal strengths and weaknesses to my personal, career and learning development. This implies that although some aspects about my self-identity are positive, there exists a range of other weak areas that I have to improve on next semester in order to realise my learning and personal life objectives. This means that I have to keep on improving my time management skills, strengthen my decision-making skills as well as keep improving on my self-confidence. Of the three, I believe that most focus will be put on my decision-making skills, as it affects a range of other aspects including time management skills. For instance, I can’t fully influence decisions as I’m too agreeable. In all, I’m contented with my progress even though I’m aware that I need to keep improving. At present, the opportunities in my learning are defined by my capabilities to identify opportunities in my learning and career life and harness them to improve on my strengths and weaknesses. I also posses the ability to acknowledge and correct my previous mistakes as well as be willing to improve the weak areas. Indeed, I never overlook any weak spots. Additionally, I’m able to assert myself and learn from daily experiences. References Bolton, G 2005, Reflective Practice: Writing and Professional Development,    2nd edn, Sage Publications, London, p.3. Milkman, K, Chugh, D & Bazerman, M 2008, How Can Decision Making Be Improved? viewed 8 Jan 2014, http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/08-102.pdf University of Waterloo 2013, Teamwork skills: being an effective group member, The Centre for Teaching Excellence Environment, viewed 21 Oct 2013, https://uwaterloo.ca/centre-for-teaching-excellence/teaching-resources/teaching-tips/tips-students/being-part-team/teamwork-skills-being-effective-group-member Read More