Assignment |learning and Development Plan

Running head: LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
LEARNING AND DEVELOPMENT PLAN
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

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Learning and development plan is the basis of development or enhancement of
professional competencies (Smith 2016). Learning and development plans are prepared in order
to increase the productivity and capabilities of the employees (Zepeda 2013). Learning and
development is considered to be aiming to improve the group and individual performance by
increasing and sharpening their skills and knowledge. In every organization, learning and
development plans are strategized and implemented (Schmeck, 2013). However, certain
ambitious professional individuals make their own learning and development plans in terms of
the professional or academic courses they are planning to enroll in to enhance and sharpen their
academic or professional skills (Guskey 2014). The respective paper is a learning and
development plan of me, a Business Administration graduate from India in order to give my
career and professional opportunities shape and structure.
Self- Introduction
I am Rajneesh Sharma from Punjab, India and a college graduate in Business
Administration from Punjab University, India. I am pursuing Masters postgraduate program in
Business Project Management from Asia Pacific International College. I have been planning to
become a successful business project manager in future after I complete my post- graduate
course. I believe in the fact that being a business project manager would enable me to have a
wide and broad horizon regarding the discipline of project management and it would also enable
me to sharpen my skills in the areas such as optimized and intense introspection and
investigation, analysis and the four golden skills of management, namely, Planning, Organizing,
Leadership and Control. As a management student, I believe that I have core competency in
handling projects and getting the things done as what is required and expected from the people or
the subordinates. As I am exceptionally good in management areas such as Planning and

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Organizing with a commendable hold on interpersonal communication (both verbal and written),
I am confident about my disposition. For the success of a business project, the dexterity and
capability of a project manager is responsible. A project manager in a company is held at a high
esteem. A project manager is responsible to handle the projects from planning to execution of the
project. This is one of the reasons why project managers are always on demand. A career in
business project management is indeed a career of high esteem and prestige. Therefore, I have
chosen the profession of a project manager as it is a prolific profession and has a plethora of
options to get career and professional opportunities within the organizations. I also have
certificates of the soft skills and other skills required to be a manager. For instance, I have
certificate on “Problem solving skills” and “leadership skills” certificate from Indian institutions
apart from the database management skills that I had learnt in my college days. Other skills
include Communicative English skills and Information Technology skills that would also help
me in performing my duties and responsibilities as a business project manager more effectively
and efficiently.
Mega trends and challenges:
Project management industry is an ever evolving and prolific professional industry in
Australia. The profession of project management has not only become only a job title, but also
evolving as an essential skill for a broad range of industries. The profession of project
management is highly regarded as a forefront of corporate change. Projects are the nerve system
of a business enterprise. Projects keep the business enterprises surviving and thriving in the
fierce world of competition in the global as well as local business paradigm. Project management
has also been regarded as a source of innovation and growth, contributing close to almost 30% of
the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of the country Australia. The country Australia had started

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providing power, prestige and publicity of the profession Project Management from as early as
1950s. However, with the advent of new business paradigm, the profession of Project
Management has also become multidimensional and multifaceted. The Australian labor market
has provided a plethora of opportunities to the new and creative project management experts to
exhibit his or her talent in the business arena of the country. The nation has built the first ever
institute of Project Management with the name of Australian hub- Project Managers Forum in
order to provide platform and panels for the upcoming project management experts as early as
the year 1950. With over 570 000 individuals nationally, the Australian market is a highly
skilled and growing area. Therefore, it can be enumerated that Australia is a commendable and
fertile market for the industry of project management to survive and thrive. However, the
challenges faced by the country in the field of project management are its “diversity problems”.
As it is known that Australia is a country of beautiful ethnic diversities, the country has also a
plethora of problems regarding the issues of diversity. The Australian project management
departments in the firms and other institutions have exhibited racial insensitivity and prejudiced
attitude towards the Torres Strait Islanders and Australian aboriginals while recruiting them in
the project assistant, employee, subordinate or project manager positions. The project
management experts in Australia had been known to have facing internal problems, such as
prejudices and racial insensitivity which has most of the time, escalated to lack of proper
communication within the department where the projects are going to be held and executed.
Such areas need an immediate attention and improvement.
Goals:
As a post graduate student of management from a reputed university, I have an aim to
become a successful project manager in a business enterprise in Australia. As a management

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student, I believe that I have almost all the qualities that essentially make me a good manager in
an organization, for example, the POLC factors, which are, Planning, Organizing, Leadership
and Control. The aim of my career is to become a successful, efficient and effective project
manager. With my excellent communication skills, analytical abilities and sharp deducing
abilities, I would be able to position myself best in the respective field. As I feel that I am
confident enough regarding the profession I chose, I would also search for better opportunities
within the organization where I would be placed as a project manager. For instance, I would like
to get opportunities for higher designation, such as that of a project strategist or a project
coordinator in my near future. Undertaking different projects in different fields and genres of
business has always enthralled me. I am absolutely confident of the part that with the help of
proper guidance, training and work experience, in the next ten years of my professional life, I
would be able to place myself in a better position in the arena of career and occupation. Even
though I know that the task of project management is cumbersome and requires a lot of effort,
efficiency, patience, decision making skills and leadership skills, nevertheless, I still believe that
I possess all such necessary skills in order to achieve my objectives (both long term and short
term) in the arena of project management. The enumeration of my short term and long term
objectives or professional goals is given hereafter.
Long term goals
1. To start a six- month internship in any authentic and verified project management
company or in any business enterprises, preferably middle run and the start up enterprises
as they might be dealing with a dime-a-dozen new, innovative and creative projects,
which are also some of my areas of interest.

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2. After the completion of my internship program and reception of the required certificate, I
would be entering into an authenticated business enterprise as a fresher who is also an
internship certificate holder. As I enter into a good company, I would be having the plan
to work in that respective company for at least two years so that it enhances my bio- data
or resume.
Short term goals
1. To enter into a short term internship program as soon as possible
2. To enhance my soft skills as well as other professional and occupational skills in order to
see myself to be in a position where I would be confident enough to attend the main
interviews in the main and big organizations and be posted as a successful project
manager.
3. Enhance my communication skills rather than what it was before by attending
communication classes and carrying out pragmatic communication tasks in any institute
or the institute where I am studying right now.
4. Make myself physically and mentally strong as the tasks of a project manager requires
tenacity and physical as well as mental strength. In order to do so, I need to get into a
healthy dietary pattern with proper regime or regimen for exercise along with breathing
exercises, yoga and meditative exercises such as Vipassana meditation or Pranayama
meditation so that I am able to focus on my work and concentrate on my profession even
more than what is expected from me.
5. Maintain a journal or a To- Do list so that I remain organized in my code of conduct and
disposition.

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Ethics and Professional values
Ethics and professional values can be briefly and precisely defined as the personal and
corporate standards of behavior expected by professionals (Phillips 2013). The word
professionalism originally applied to vows of a religious order. As far as the ethics and
professional values of project management profession is involved, certain parameters, guidelines
and checklists need to be followed by the project manager as well as his or her subordinates. In
my case, I believe that honesty, respect, integrity and honor are the most important parameters
for becoming a good project manager in any organization, big or small, international, national or
regional. In the world of project management, ethics play a very important role in the day- to-
day interactions and behavior that are executed and exhibited by the project managers, assistant
project managers, project coordinators and the subordinates or the employees who are working
under the project or the respective undertaking (Phillips 2013). Ethics enables stakeholders,
employees, vendors, and taxpayers to be comfortable and confident by knowing project
management professionals (PMPs) are held to strict and high standards when they make
decisions or act on their behalf to execute on projects. I strictly believe in becoming honest,
responsible, respectable and accountable to my departmental head while delivering my work or
allotted task of managing the project that has been appointed to me. The ethics and professional
responsibilities that I am planning to take in my profession as a project manager is enumerated
hereafter.
1. As a project manager, I would be holding myself completely responsible and accountable
for the success as well as failure of my venture or undertaking, decisions, actions or
repercussions. As I will be the project manager, therefore, I would be having
responsibilities such as planning, organizing, coordinating, leading and controlling the

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project as well as the subordinates. Therefore, whatever might be the result, I would be
accountable for it, either as success or a failure.
2. Being respectful and demonstrating a high regard for one, others, and any resources
entrusted with is the second most important ethics that I, as a project manager, would be
displaying through my disposition, mannerism and code of conduct.
3. The third ethics, which is fostering excellence through mutual respect, trust, confidence,
cooperation, and diversity would be religiously observed by me in order to maintain the
ethical standard of my project and the organization as a whole.
4. Practicing fairness at all times, making decisions, and remaining impartial and objective.
Behavior must be free from self-interest and self-gain, prejudice, or favoritism are the last
but not the least ethics that I am ought to follow as a project manager in any organization.
Competency Assessment:
As far as my managerial competencies are concerned, I am confident that I would be able
to be a good leader. As I inherently possess the qualities of a leader, such as, since childhood, I
always had the ability to lead my group, keeping everyone and everything organized with a goal
in my mind. Therefore, since my undergraduate program days, I had been convinced that the jobs
or professions that demand leadership abilities and qualities are the best jobs for me. Therefore, I
decided to take the respective “Project management” as my profession. Apart from that, I had
always been creative, innovative, adventurous and experimental in my attitude and my
professional as well as academic interests. Therefore, I would be obliged to receive the golden
opportunity of working with market leader start-up companies and other business enterprises that
would be innovative and prolific in nature, so that I can exhibit my adventurous fervor and
creative skills while working with them.

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According to the five stages of competencies as stated by Dato (2014) in competency metrix, my
competencies are enumerated hereafter:
1. Stage 1: Unconscious incompetence: In my school days, I had been blissfully unaware of
my core competencies of having great leadership qualities and communicational skills as
I did not receive many opportunities to exhibit my talent.
2. Stage 2: Conscious incompetence: As I entered into my post graduate program, I realized
that there are certain drawbacks in me which are my incompetency, such as, lack of
attention, lack of patience and perseverance. However, in order to rectify them, I had
started practicing mindfulness activities which has helped me immensely in overcoming
such drawbacks.
3. Stage 3: Conscious competence: As far as my managerial competencies are concerned, I
am confident that I would be able to be a good leader. Since my undergraduate program
days, I had been convinced that the jobs or professions that demand leadership abilities
and qualities are the best jobs for me. Therefore, I decided to take the respective “Project
management” as my profession.
4. Stage 4: Unconscious competence: I am multi-lingual since my adolescence but I never
realized that it could have been kept under a competency. I realized that being
multilingual would provide me a multidimensional platform in my profession as a Project
Manager.
5. Stage 5: Shared competence: As I have great communication skills apart from being
bilingual, I can sense that it is one of the most important skills required for the
development of an individual in managerial profession. Therefore, I preach about the
utility of good communication skills apart from other skills such as leadership and

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organizational skills to other students to make them understand the importance of a good
communication in an organization.
Sr. No Competency Explanation
1. Communication skills Bi-lingual, dexterity
In interpersonal
communication
2. Leadership skills Different kinds of
leadership skills, good
oratory skills,
manipulative skills
3. Lack of mindfulness Lack of attention,
patience and
perseverance. Plans to
start mindfulness
thinking and
meditation to solve
such problems.
4. Adventurous Experimental,
innovative and
adventurous
5. Coordination Good coordination
and organizational
skills.

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The respective paper concludes to be a learning and development plan of me, a Business
Administration graduate from India in order to give my career and professional opportunities
shape and structure. I am Rajneesh Sharma from Punjab, India and a college graduate in
Business Administration from Punjab University, India. I am pursuing Masters postgraduate
program in Business Project Management from Asia Pacific International College. I have been
planning to become a successful business project manager in future after I complete my post-
graduate course. The respective paper concludes to be a comprehensive and precise learning and
development plan in order to increase my efficiency in my profession.

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References:
Dato’R, P.P.D., 2014. Competency management: A practitioner's guide. eBooks2go.
Guskey, T.R., 2014. Planning professional learning. Educational Leadership, 71(8), p.10.
Phillips, J., 2013. PMP, Project Management Professional (Certification Study Guides).
McGraw-Hill Osborne Media.
Schmeck, R.R. ed., 2013. Learning strategies and learning styles. Springer Science & Business
Media.
Smith, A., 2016. Experiential learning. Edward Elgar Publishing Limited.
Zepeda, S.J., 2013. Professional development: What works. Routledge.