Module

Professional development For Strategic

Managers
Level
07
By
Muhammad Najam Mahmood Chaudhry
Student ID: 1028710
Guildhall College

18-02-2011

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 Contents
Task 1
1.1 Introduction to Personal Development Plan 01
Definition of Personal Development Plan 01
Importance of Personal development Plan 01
My Three Skills 02
1.2 Introduction to Professional Skills 03
Definition of Professional skills 03
Importance of Professional Skills 03
Task 2
2.1 Skills audit 04
Definition of Skills audit 04
Importance of Skills audit 04
Table of Skills audit 05
2.2 SWOT Analysis 08
Definition of SWOT analysis 08
Importance of SWOT analysis 08
My five future priorities 09
Task 3
3.1 Table of Personal Development Plan 10
3.2 Obstacles to achieving objectives 11
How to overcome those obstacles 12
3.3 Reflective report 13
References 14
Appendix
Manager Self Assessment Exercise
Belbin Team Roles Inventory
Memletics Learning Style Inventory

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 Task 1
1.1 Introduction to Personal Development Plan
Definition:
This is a process that is used to review, build and reflect on your personal weaknesses
and how you are going to improve them. This helps you to reflect on what you have
achieved as well as helping you to set goals with clear road map towards the
achievement of the goals. (Goolge Online)

Importance:
A personal development plan provide a framework that will make individuals to
identify the area of their weaknesses and strengths and gives us a guide that will
capitalize more on the existing skills and capabilities. Major objective of personal
development plan is to aware yourself with strengths, weaknesses and also the new set
of some hidden qualities that are unknown for any person before this assessment of
personal skills.
This process gives you clear idea of your future carrier. When you know that which
areas you would like to develop aware then you would take steps to enhance your
assets. Through this process any one have the clear image of where you are heading in
future. As a result of this process a person will better know that which decision is best
for the future. After personal development plan assessment majority of the people
become more responsible in their life.
Personal development plan is a lifetime process. It should not stop as long as there is
need for it. (Charles Godbout)

My three skills:
After my personal development assessment I have come to know that I have three
qualities that are very vital for me in future. These three qualities are:
1. I am a team player and I like to work in team environment. Because during the
eight years of my practical life, I work as a member of team. One advantage of
working in team is that, there is healthy competition and a greater chance of learning
from the experience of other team members.
2. My second quality is that I am very co–operative to everyone. Because during my
job I also very co-operative to any new member of my team and guide him in right
direction to perform his duties.

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3. Good listening is my third quality that I possess. I was well know as a person
that speak less then listening and get maximum information from the listener.
This will proves that I am very good listener.

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1.2 Introduction to Professional Skills:
Definition:
Professional skills are those skills that are involves in the activities of gain the mean
of livelihood. These skills are the learning capacity of a person to carry out a pre-
determined result often with the minimum out lay of time or energy or both. In these
days people needs to have a broad range of professional skills to contribute to a
modern economy and take their place in the technological society of 21st century.
(Goolge Online)

Importance:
Every person has some professional skills that are very important for his professional
life. These skills play a vital role in the professional development of a person. A
person can use these skills both for personal benefits and benefits form the
organisation for which he works. For personal interest person can use these skills for
career development and to gain a high profile reputation in his organisation. By
utilising the professional skill of their employees an organisation can gain more and
more competitive advantage and get a leading place in domestic and international
markets.
I have done three exercises in my class to assess my professional skill. These
three exercises are: (I attach these three exercises in Appendix)
1. After my “manager self assessment”, I come to know that in which areas I am
very strong as a manager and in which areas I am weak as a manager and I must
develop that area for my future. This exercise also shows me that what skills are good
for my current job and what skills are vital for me in future.
2. The result of “Belbin Inventory” shows that I am a very good co-ordinator, which
ensures that internal resources are applied to the team objectives. Belbin Inventory
also concludes that a co-ordinator can clarify the goals, promote decision-making and
delegates well.
3. “Memletics Learning Styles Inventory” is very helpful for me to assess my
learning styles. This exercise shows that I am more social and verbal in learning.
Because I am more comfortable when I work and study in group. I am also verbal
style learner because I easily pick information though reading books, lectures and
audio cassettes.

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 Task 2
2.1 Skill Audit:
Definition:
Skill Audit is a process of measuring and recording of skills of an individual or a
group. The main purpose of skill audit is to identify the skills and knowledge that a
person or group currently have and what skills and knowledge are require in future.
(Goolge Online)

Importance:
Carrying out a skill audit is an important step that aware a person to the gap between
current skills and the skills and knowledge that need in future. This process is very
important for career changing and development. If you are serious about career
development, then you need to build up a detailed understanding of your strengths and
talents. If you are clear on this, then you can assess career ideas with your skills and
strengths in the mind.
Work that allows you to do what are good at will be more fulfilling for you and you
And your employer is likely to be happier with the results you produce too.
(Google Online)

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SKILLS AUDIT Table:

Knowledge and skills which I consider Your Ability Rating (1-5) or strong /
to be important for my current Job weak / somewhere in between
1. Ask questions to ensure others understand 4
my instructions.
2. Ignore all distractions while listening to
4
other.
3. Use a writing style that is professional and 4
seldom misunderstanding.
4. Work to ensure that my team is meeting or
4
exceeding customer expectations.
5. Ensure staff members understand how 4
their work affects the customers.
6. Set goals with staff members and create 4
action plans.
7. Am effective at delegating work. 4
8. Know the big picture and my department’s
5
role in the organisation.
9. Follow up all tasks that I have assigned to 4
staff members.
10. Create a positive atmosphere in which 5
teams work together effectively.

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Knowledge and skills which I consider Your Ability Rating (1-5) or strong /
to be important for my future career weak / somewhere in between
1. Use positive language in my 5
communication
2. Adjust my communication style to my
5
audience.
3. Ensure staff members understand how 4
their work affects the customers.
4. Set goals with staff members and create
4
action plans.
5. Use a consistent time management system. 5
6. Know the big picture and my department’s
5
role in the organisation.
7. Am comfortable with disciplining an 4
employee.
8. Solicit input from various resources before
4
making decisions.
9. Work effectively with persons of diverse 4
personalities and backgrounds.
10. Am able to solve most problems that
5
arise among workers in my department.

Every person has a lot of strengths as well as some weaknesses. Some of my strengths
are as under:
My first quality is that I always use positive language while talking to others. And I
change communication style according to opponent. I am a good team player and
always want that my other team members understand their work and meet the
requirements of the customers. I always like to work in an environment where the
work is done on daily goal bases. I also have good time management skills. I can
work more effectively with persons of diverse personalities and backgrounds. My last

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quality is that I am always unbiased and calm while handling the conflicts of other
team members.
Some of my weaknesses are as following:
My first weakness is that I am a good team player but I always shaky while some one
ask me to lead the team that’s why I an not comfortable while giving presentation to a
group of people. My observations are not good it is not easy for me to take a review
of other employee performance. My other weak point is that I am not aware of the
employment laws of my organisation and I also don’t know how to handle the
harassment cases of employees.

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2.2 Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT is abbreviation of following
S=Strengths W=Weaknesses O=Opportunities T=Threats

Strengths:
Strenghts are the positive aspects or present situation of any person.

Weaknesses:
Weaknesses are the negative aspects or present situation of any person.

Opportunities:
What aspects or foreseeable future situation could use to my advantage.

Threats:
What aspects or foreseeable future situation could be use for my disadvantage.
(Google Online)

Importance of SWOT Analysis:

In simple terms we can say that SWOT analyses matrix helps us in generating data or
information to match with the goals, mission, capabilities, capacities and environment
of an individual or a group. In personal SWOT analyses strengths comprises of
tangible and intangible positive attributes that are internal and within our control,
weaknesses includes the factors that attracts us and give us a reason to make hard
work and develop to achieve them and last comes the threats that too external factors
that are not in individual control and can hamper the personal goals. The SWOT
displays the analyses in a logical order that contributes in understanding, decision
making, presentation and discussion. This analysis promotes proactive thinking
instead of depending on the instinctive and habitual reactions. (Megha Tiwari)
I already discuss my strengths and weaknesses in 1.2 and 2.1.

My five future priorities:

After my SWOT analyses, my five future priorities are as under:
My first priority is to understand all the employment laws of my organisation. So I
can handle the employee harassment case efficiently. And as a result employees feel
secure and work for the sake of the organisation.
My second priority is to promote a co-operate culture in my organisation, so all the
departments work collectively to fulfilled the desired tasks successfully.

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My third priority is to become a team leader and always leads the team from front by
setting examples for others.
My fourth priority is to become a problem solver and sole the problems in such a way
as to recognise the root cause and not only limits to symptom.
My fifth priority is to become a god presenter so as to present my ideas and views
comfortably to my staff members.

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Task 3 3.1 Personal Development Plan:
Developing a Personal Development Plan
How can I meet those How will I know when I have met
My current needs
needs? those needs?
I am a good listener but to
If I get full information from
I want to become a become a very good
listener, this means I become a
good listener. listener, I must practise
very good listener.
active listening techniques.
I have to observe employee If I determine the potential of
I want to become a performance and other employees after observe their
good observer. documents to get most performance. This shows that I
information. become a good observer.
If the ratio of problems in my
I become a good problem
I want to become a department id decrease regularly.
solver only when I got the
good problem solver. This shows my expertise in
root cause of problems.
problems solving.
I always change my If I will confident while given
communication according presentation to my staff members.
I want to become a
to audience. But I have to If my staff understand me and pick
good presenter
make my talking style with all the information. This means that
very few mistakes. I become a good presenter.
If in future in if there is
For this purpose I have to
improvement in my skills and
I need to enhance my attend more and more
knowledge and career planning.
skills and knowledge training courses and
This all shows that I achieve my
workshops
target of enhance my skills.
If all the sections of my
For this purpose I
organisation work collectively to
I want to create a co- encourage employees of
accomplish the entire task. As a
operate culture in my department to help the other
result of this organisation progress
organisation. departments to accomplish
day by day and become a market
the tasks.
leader.
A positive contribution of my
For this purpose I have to department in organisation’s
I want to become a lead the team from front progress and growth shows my
good leader and set example for my leadership qualities of use my staff
staff members. members intelligently. That is a
sign of a good leader.

3.2 Obstacles to Achieving Objectives:

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 Objectives Obstacles
I want to in touch with latest I am very much busy with my office and
development in science and technology have no time to attend training courses.
I want to become a good decision maker My observations are not very good and I
also face strong opposition for my
decision.
I want to conduct effective survey for Some of senior members o my
performance evaluation department does not want evaluation and
create hurdles in the way of promoting
juniors.
My main objective is to introduce co- Some of the other department heads does
operate culture in my organisation. not allow their staff to help the other
departments to complete the tasks of
organisation.
I want to know all laws about handling Because I have no time to look at laws
the harassment cases. and always intent to improve my
department’s performance.
I want to become a good problem solver Main hurdle is that I have few assistants
and investigator. and not have many resources to
investigate the root cause.
I want to become a good leader I always hesitate to lead from front
because some senior officers not want
that I become a leader.
I want to customer survey to k now their Main hurdle for this objective is those
level of satisfaction. senior colleagues that not sincere with
their work and think that after this survey
they may lose their position in the
organisation.

How to overcome the obstacles:

Every one has some objectives in his life and he also has to face some hurdles in the
way of achieving that objectives. I also have some objectives and some hurdles in the
way of achieving those objectives. By using my strengths positively I can remove
hurdles.

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To remove the first obstacle I must attend training courses and workshops regularly in
order to in touch with the every latest invention in science and technology. I can
overcome the second hurdle by improving my observations and make right decisions
at right time. Because the output of my decisions can minimise the effectiveness of
my opposition. To remove third obstacle I must convince my senior colleagues that
performance not only promote the juniors but it gives you an opportunity for career
development. To solve my fourth problem I must convince the other head of
departments on a single point of increasing the organisation’s growth and
profitability. And I ensure them that co-operate culture is not for my personal benefit.
I can overcome the fifth problem by understand the all employment to handle their
harassment cases effectively. As a result of this employees feel secure and safe and
they work without any tension for the sake of the organisation. To become a good
problem solver I must increase my resources and give extra time to investigate the
root cause of the problem. To become a good leader I must end my hesitation and
always lead my team from front and set an example with my performance. And my
good performances give answer to my critics. I can achieve my last objective by ask
my senior colleagues in straight forward way to change their negative behaviour and
be sincere with their work because the customer satisfaction is always comes first. If
you do not change your behaviour I will the senior management about your attitude.
After take all the above steps I can overcome all my hurdles and achieve my all
objectives comprehensively.

3.3 Reflective Report:

This reflective report is like a conclusion which mansion all the things that I learn
after studying this subject. After studying “Professional Development for Strategic
Managers” I learn so many things that are hidden for me in the past. During this
period I had done a lot of exercises to explore my personality and skills.

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First of all I had done my skill audit. As a result of this audit I aware of many skills
that I possess. From that some of the skills are very important for my current job and
some of the skills are very vital for my future job. I had also done my manager- self
assessment exercise. After this exercise I came to know my strengths and weaknesses
about my communication style, customer service abilities and management
performance skills. I also learn more about my organisational skills and skills about
legal issues. As an outcome of this exercise I know myself much better as a team
player and problem solver. I also had done “Belbin Inventory” exercise. This exercise
explore my personality and as result of this technique I came to know that I am good
as a co - ordinator which can ensure all the resources that are applied to team
objectives. A co- ordinator can also clarify the goals and promote decision-making. I
also complete “Memltics Learning Inventory” that help me to determine that which
learning style I possess. This exercise shows that my learning style is social because I
can learn every thing through more and more practise. Without any practical learning
is very difficult for me.
I also did my SWOT analyses, which give ma a complete review of my personality.
As a result of this analyses I aware that what are my strengths and how I use them to
create more and more opportunities in future. I also aware of my weaknesses that
become threats for me in future. I also make my personal development plan, which
conclude that what are my current needs and how I achieve that needs in future.
This subject plays a vital role for my career development in future. Because after
studying this subject I know that which skills are important for my current job and
which one are important for my future career. And I also aware that what are my
strengths and how I use them for my betterment and what are my weaknesses how
they create threats for me in future. Keep in mind all above factors I can easily plan
my career by using strengths for my benefit and safely remove threats.

References:
What is Personal Development Plan. [Online] URL:
http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_is_personal_development_plan&src=ansTT
[Accessed 08th Feb 2011]

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Charles Godbout. Importance of having a Personal Development Plan. [Online]
URL: http://www.articlesnatch.com/Article/The-Importance-Of-Having-A-Personal-
Development-Plan/854350 [Accessed 08th Feb 2011]
Lane, Carla. (2011) Skill. [Online] URL:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skills [Accessed 10th Feb 2011]
(2011) Skill Audit. [Online] URL:
www.hull.ac.uk/php/cesagh/documents/SKILLSAUDIT.rtf
[Accessed 12th Feb 2011]
A Personal Skill Audit. [Online] URL:
http://www.how-to-change-careers.com/personal-skills-audit.html
[Accessed 13th Feb2011]
Personal SWOT Analyses. [Online] URL:
http://www.psni.org.uk/documents/42/Personal+Swot+Analysis.pdf
[Accessed 15th Feb 2011]
Megha Tewari. (2011) SWOT Analysis Template. [Online] URL:
http://www.buzzle.com/articles/swot-analysis-template.html
[Accessed 17th Feb 2011]
Three Exercises Attached in 1.2 Students compiled by class lectures.
Tables of Skills Audit students compiled by class lectures.
Table for personal Development plan in 3.1 Students compiled by class lectures.
Table for objectives to Achieving objects in 3.2 Students compiled by class
lectures.

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