Employability and Professional Development Report

This report discusses personal and professional skills, team dynamics, communication strategies, time management, problem-solving methods, and their impacts on business. It reflects on skills, development needs, and strategies for achieving shared goals in a software project.

EMPLOYABILITY AND
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

TABLE OF CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................1
1.1 Reflect on own current skills and competencies against Professional Standards and
organizational objectives:-...........................................................................................................1
1.2 Evaluate own development needs for the selected job role:-................................................2
1.3 Devise a personal and professional development plan that include current performance and
future requirements......................................................................................................................3
1.4 Reflect on own development against original aims and objectives set in the personal and
professional development plan....................................................................................................5
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................6
2.1 various style of communication with team members............................................................6
2.2 time management strategies...................................................................................................7
TASK 3............................................................................................................................................8
3.1 Analyze team dynamics discussing the roles people play within a team outlining how they
can work together to achieve shared goals for the software project............................................8
3.2 alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve team goals..................................................9
TASK 4..........................................................................................................................................10
4.1 Review tools and methods for developing solutions to specific problem...........................10
4.2 Develop an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular problem...................................12
4.3 potential impacts on business of implementing the strategy...............................................13
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................14
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................15

LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1: team development process...............................................................................................9
Figure 2: Leadership effectiveness................................................................................................10
Figure 3: Deming- Shewart Cycle.................................................................................................11
Figure 4: Appreciative Inquiry method.........................................................................................11
Figure 5: Eight discipline methodology........................................................................................12
Figure 6: The problem solving cycle.............................................................................................13
Figure 7: critical path in red color.................................................................................................13

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional skills play a critical part to achieve the desired goals and objectives.
Development is required in personal skills and competencies to meet the professional skills and
requirements. The report will discuss own set of skills and competencies against the professional
standards and objectives along with an evaluation for development. The report will devise a
development plan for personal and professional growth and reflect its suitability to achieve the
professional goals. Team dynamics, the role of individual and communication mechanisms will
be discussed from the perspectives of project manager. Various alternatives ways to complete the
tasks will be discussed. The report will also focus on the tools and techniques those can be used
to resolve the particular issue in the project and how alternative strategy can be formed to resolve
the issue. Impact of a solution of the organization will be explained. Note that, the report will
consider the personal role as project manager in Software Ltd which is developing payroll
management system.
TASK 1
1.1 Reflect on own current skills and competencies against Professional Standards and
organizational objectives:-
Software Ltd. is a software development company in U.K. I have been working as a Project
Manager for the company. The work of a Project Manager is very standardized and efficient as it
requires skills and efficiency to achieve the targets of an organization. A Project Manager is a
person who led an organization with efficient teamwork. They focus on utilization of available
resources in the best possible way so as to achieve maximum profit and growth for the
organization. They build themselves as good listeners, efficient communicators, team leaders and
responsible managers to manage team work properly (Kerzner, 2013). But they lack at a situation
where there is non-availability of workers with team spirit. Let’s discuss Project Manager’s
skills:-
 The responsibility of Individual - An IT Project Manager manages to support every
member or worker of the team, train them and provide them the competent knowledge to
accomplish every task mentally and physically. He is also responsible to appoint best
team members among the available candidates.
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 Relationship with Employees - An IT Project Manager focus on maintaining good
relations with employees which in turn help him to create the environment of proper and
efficient working. He should not be a bias among the employees as it leads to
discrimination and political consequences among them which directly and indirectly
affects the ongoing projects of an organization (Martinelli and Milosevic, 2016). To build
a good relationship with employees the manager should be a good listener as well as a
good communicator.
 Proper selection of capable Candidates - When an IT Project Manager is assigned with
a project he gets an opportunity to reflect his skills. He then conducts the process to select
the team members and assign them to work as per their capability and knowledge. His
major responsibility is to judge the techniques suitable for the project and communicate it
with the team to achieve high profile standards (Davis, 2014).
 The ability of Decision Making - Quick decision making is the skill which opens up the
platform for an IT Project Manager in accomplishing the project faster along with time-
saving.
 The ability of Learning and Development – Learning carves out the potential of a
person. A Project Manager is always in a search of learning new ideas and technology
and implements the same in developing the project. As the ideas and knowledge is passed
on to other members they become more efficient and productive.
Therefore, as per the requirements of Software, I look myself as a person with professional skills
and a competent leader in order to lead and manage the entire team. I find myself capable enough
to achieve the targets of Software and take it towards the era of development with my
communication skills.
1.2 Evaluate own development needs for the selected job role:-
Personal development refers to the improvement of personal skills and potentials to carry out
success in personal life as well as in the workplace. On the other hand, professional development
refers to developing or improving necessary skills to carry out particular role effectively.
Effective professional development includes knowledge and understanding of expertise of an
individual (Rosenberg et al, 2012). Skill development includes:-
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 Project scheduling – Time management is very important key towards success. The one
who manages time and works efficiently will achieve target quickly. A manager should
prepare the schedule for the project keeping in mind the work capacity of employees and
technology available with them. Project scheduling is a very important task to be
performed by the project manager (Ju et al, 2012). The content of project scheduling
includes the time required to complete the project, segregation of work between
employees, rules, and regulation to be followed in the use of technique etc.
 Management of risk – Risk and return are associated with each other. High risk brings a
high return and vice versa. A manager can face many types of risk related with the
project. He should be always ready to face the risk and its consequences. Risk can be of
many types like environmental risk, political risk, social risk, business risk etc (Andrews
and Russell, 2012). IT Project Manager should be always ready to face risk.
 Costing control – Cost and budget management is the important factor to be focused
upon. Every project should be assigned a particular budget so that the team is able to
decide the fields of expenses. But the expenses should be incurred under the supervision
of the manager and proper documents should be maintained for the same. All the
expenses should be regularly consulted and sanctioned by the finance department.
Costing control supports the project manager in making strategies for the project.
1.3 Devise a personal and professional development plan that include current performance and
future requirements
Table 1: Personal and professional Development
Skills Current performance Future requirement and strategies
Communication Various communication skills are
used by the project manager to
inform and give knowledge to
team members about the project. It
is required to establish within
another department for the
Some strategies and practices have to
be made by the project manager in
regard to improve their communication
skills through team meeting and social
media. The manager has to improve
work policies for the growth in future
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effective progress on the project. work (Moon, 2013).
leadership Leadership is an important aspect
of recommendation for a
teamwork. The current skills of
project manager as a leader are
effective as seen through the work
done by the team. But some
influence about the motivation to
workers will help in improvement
in teamwork (Zepeda, 2012).
The leader of a group has the rights and
roles to improve the work and manage
the performances of the group
members. Some strategies for the
participation of all the members in
specific works are lacking which has to
be made in future.
Decision
making
Decision made by the project
manager regarding the policies and
practices used in the project
reflects the task completed by the
team members and their attention
towards the work. The policies
used in the firm are effective but
are not sufficient for team bonding
which has to be improved.
The decision of a project manager has
to be made accordingly by
understanding the need and
requirements of the employee along
with goals of the firm. These strategies
help to improve the productivity of
organization in future (Kerzner, 2013).
time
management
The current skills of time
management of the project
manager are helpful in managing
time through schedules and tables.
These are difficult to be used as
the schedules cannot define the
exact time and efforts used in
tasks.
New strategies in regards to time
management are made which includes
timescales and internet organized
schedules for the progress of
employees along with the achievement
of organization objectives.
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1.4 Reflect on own development against original aims and objectives set in the personal and
professional development plan
The above developmental table indicates the skills and strategies used in the Geek Ltd. the plan
discussed above shows the practices and role of the IT project manager of the organization along
with the requirement of strategies for the future plans. The above strategies are helpful in the
development of the organization and personal skills of the project manager. Some are mine
suggestions for the team are mentioned below:
Leadership skill development: a good leader has the role in guiding and communicating
effectively to its team for the better results of the projects or activities. The cooperation of the
manager with their opportunities is basic for management of good relations between team and
firm. Therefore to achieve the professional developments and standards along with goals and
objectives, there is need of leadership skills (Moon, 2013). An effective leadership can help to
achieve the performance and productivity from others to achieve the organizational goals and
objectives on time.
Effective communication skills: Project manager has to possess the skills and capabilities of
good communication among the project team and clients as it helps to achieve proper
collaboration and data sharing. It is also required to develop to communicate the goals and
objectives effectively to the team members for the desired outcomes.
Problem-solving capabilities: Leader has to possess the skills of problem-solving and faster
decision making as it helps the organization to achieve to reduce the wastage of time and
resources and empower for higher performance and productivity from individual or team.
Therefore, professional goals and objectives have the role of decision making with consideration
of all related data (Magee and Webb, 2015). Problem-solving skills helps to reduce the internal
dependency on the resources and promote the innovation in work.
Time management and priority developments: Project leader or manager has to consider the need
of time management to ensure smooth execution of plan and development. Priorities need to be
defined on the activities and have to be attained within time to achieve the desired outcomes on
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time (Zepeda, 2012). Original goals and objectives have contribution of time management to
achieve the outcomes with high profitability and benefits.
TASK 2
2.1 various style of communication with team members
Role of the project manager indicates that they should communicate and spread information
regarding to the project within the team members of an organization, this helps in the achieving
the objectives of the organization easily and effectively. The communication with the manager
makes easier for the employees to communicate with each other. This helps the manager to
assign the team to their work. The communication skills are separated into three basic categories
such as verbal and nonverbal, behavioral and responsive which are further described:
Verbal and nonverbal communication: the manager is connected with his team members through
the verbal and nonverbal source of communication. The verbal source contains the individual
speaking, direct meeting and giving the team directly about the project. While nonverbal source
includes the mails, messages and paper works given and taken within the manager and team. IT
project manager makes groups and teams for the assigned projects and exchange of tasks and
work are done through nonverbal means. The change in verbal and nonverbal means can be done
with the change in time and situation (Knapp et al, 2013). Communication through verbal source
can be done in passive and active styles such as for passive style can help to motivate and
monitor the work done by the employees, on the other hand, active style can help in boost up the
team spirit within employees. However nonverbal sources are also used to discuss the work and
new ideas and help to conclude the whole project under the supervision of a manager.
Behavioural source of communication: behavior of an individual can influence the growth of
organization directly or indirectly. The behavior of the relation of project manager and the team
affect the work done by them which also affects the growth and development of individual itself.
Openness between the employee and the manager helps in the discussion regarding to the project
and work assigned to them. This avoids the hesitation and improves the communication skills of
employees with the customer too. Group meeting and social media could be used by the project
manager to influence the behavioral skills and motivation given to team can help in gaining great
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results in the work (Dasgupta et al, 2012). Positive Behaviour of the employees helps in creating
a positive environment among the organization.
Responsive communication: responsive communication is used in the organization to obtain
feedback from the customer for their products and from employees about their work. These
responses help the manager to take decisions about the techniques and tools used for the project
and improvising them for the better outcome (Guffey and Loewy, 2012). The project manager
can decide his team for the upcoming projects and helps him in his leadership progress. The
responsive communication helps in deciding the project schedules for the team and time
management in the organization.
2.2 time management strategies
The time management for an assigned project is important for the organization. The time
management is done by the project manager by making time schedules and tables along with the
dividing the task within the team for effective results. The goals of the organization can the
effect achieved with the help of efficient time management program. The following factors help
in time management:
Adopt prioritizing workload: the work is divided into the team by using work breakdown
strategies made by the project manager. The priorities are decided for the selection of project
modules such as planning, data gathering, allocation, etc for reducing cost and efforts given for a
project. The perfect prioritizing of the work in term with their team lead the organization to its
desired goals and profits (Goetsch and Davis, 2014). It also gives information about the
workload distribution available and used in the organization.
Setting work objectives: the team should have idea and information about the work they are
doing to achieve the objectives of the project for the firm. The expectation and efforts given to a
project should be analyzed by the project manager to obtain better results and approach the goals
of the organization.
Appointment and reliable estimates using time effectively: time management of the object can be
done by organizing the team meeting and appointment with the clients to reduce time
consumption. Discussion about the progress, efforts, cost and time of a task can be done in these
meeting and it also helps to improve communication. Changes made by the project manager in
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regard with the progress of project and installation of new tools and techniques can also are
informed to the team (Rosemann and vom Brocke, 2015). Advance or reliable estimation made
for a project can improve the outcome of the project along with its budgeting and quality control
of product which enhances the organization progress.
Making and keeping task time: management of the time taken by a task is done by the project
manager and this helps them to monitor the efforts and cost of the project and observe about the
satisfaction level of organization and clients (Griffin, 2013). These efforts and plans used in the
projects help the team for the better experience and store them for further projects.
TASK 3
3.1 Analyze team dynamics discussing the roles people play within a team outlining how they
can work together to achieve shared goals for the software project
Individual’s performance and productivity can be supported to a high extension in a teamwork.
Therefore, the organization has the role of teamwork to achieve the goals and objectives with the
contribution of an individual with communication, collaboration, support, and data sharing to
each other. However, behavior and attitude are two major things those can impact the team work
and contribution. Project from the organization can involve following people:
Project manager: blueprint and idea generation are two major initiations those are taken by the
project manager. Planning, design, implementation, and monitoring are operations under project
manager role. The manager is liable to direct and control the work towards the defined goals and
objectives (Barnett and McCormick, 2012).
Designer: Ideas, expectations, and blueprints of the projects are taken from the project manager
and logically designed by a designer. Therefore, database structure, user interface design and
working of modules are designed on the basis of defined goals. The designer has the main role to
transform the requirements into the technical possible structure.
Programmer: logical designs are coding into program and modules by a programmer. The
physical implementation of requirements is taken into existence through a programmer which
has communication with the designer for sustainable changes and project manager to collect new
requirements and report the progress.
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Testing staff: proper functionality and features of the project are tested whereas changes are
communicated to the designer or programmer (Georgiadis, 2014). Testing team has a role to
determine the suitability of outcome for the desired product.
3.2 alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve team goals
It is essential to achieve the project results on time and within constraints to achieve the
profitability. Therefore, to complete tasks and achieve the goals, following two approaches can
be used:
Team development
Without an effective team, it is complex to ensure resource utilization and higher performance.
The project manager has to determine the capabilities of the individual to achieve the goal and
then has to break down the project into manageable chunks. Role and responsibilities are
allocated to team members and they are also trained for skills and capabilities. Individual
commitment and loyalty for the project outcome are tested and applied for motivation to enhance
the performance (Woodcock, 2017). However, team development also has consideration of
health management, workplace benefits, transparent communication, strong bonding and
collaboration for shared goals.
Figure 1: team development process
Effective leadership
The project manager has to communicate the standards and directions to team members so that
shared goals and objectives can be mapped with the business practices. Directions and standards
for project completion have to enhance the outcome and reduce the risk of rollback and other
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delays in the project (Northouse, 2015). Also, effective leadership is required to uncover the
hidden talents and capabilities in team members so that they can understand their potentials to
support the project and deliver the quality outcome.
Figure 2: Leadership effectiveness
TASK 4
4.1 Review tools and methods for developing solutions to specific problem
Time management is a major issue in a project which is impacting the activities and overall
profitability. Unwanted delays in activities are disrupting the planning and interrelated activities
for smooth execution. Therefore, the project manager can use the following tools and approaches
for the solution to time management issues:
Deming- Shewhart Cycle: In a comparison of traditional work accomplishment method, it has
replaced the check phase with study and enforces the observation and study of the
implementation. Hence, the tool is significant for project manager and organization to ensure that
each activity and module is completed within time whereas it is also effective to understand the
source of delay (Madu, 2012).
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Figure 3: Deming- Shewhart Cycle
Appreciative Inquiry
This method is effective to make use of individual’s contribution for timely delivery of project
outcome. The model appreciates the contribution and promotes interdependency of project
modules for effective outcomes. It also can help the organization to link the activities and
appreciate the team for shared objectives.
Figure 4: Appreciative Inquiry method
The Eight Discipline Methodology
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The model is effective to formulate team for the project and focus on the requirements of the
project so that unwanted delay due to lack of resources and skills can be eliminated. The model
is also effective to determine the problem and associated sources of the problem so that team can
be developed to reduce the impacts and promote the time optimization (Kerzner, 2013).
Figure 5: Eight discipline methodology
The project manager can prefer to use the eight disciplinary methods as it helps to avoid
the time wastage in between the project execution and helps to structuralize the project
outcomes. The organization can use the technique to optimize the time at various levels of
project execution and completion with the integration of team members.
4.2 Develop an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular problem
In order to resolve the issue, the project manager can use a systematic approach for problem
solution. For example, first of problem has to identify and then needs to be explored for impacts,
sources, and solutions. New goals and alternatives for problem solution need to be determined
from the explored information. Most suitable method, solution or technique for problem-solving
can be implemented in the project and monitored for the outcome. (García Peñalvo, 2015) If
there are further problems in implementation, then cycles needs to be initiated for solutions as
new phase.
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Figure 6: The problem-solving cycle
The organization also can prefer to use critical path analysis, in which organization can
determine the potential paths for the outcome and their cost and time. The critical path is that
which has high investment or time to complete whereas suitable path might contain less time
with proper resources utilization. Therefore, following is the suitable path for the problem of
time management whereas red colored path is critical path for the project (Leach, 2014).
Figure 7: critical path in red color
4.3 potential impacts on business of implementing the strategy
In order to resolve the issue of time management, an organization can use strategic
implementation but it can impact the business in the following manner:
Resource requirements: in order to cover the project completion within time, the organization
has to manage new skills and capabilities in the organization so that overall performance and
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productivity can be empowered. The resource is also required as expertise for the project to
implement the changes. Therefore, resource requirements or arrangements in the workplace are
due to changed project planning and a new strategy in business.
Time of delivery: With the implementation of the new strategy, an organization can face the
issue of time of delivery for a short term as the integration of new strategy has paused for
ongoing operations along with a collection of multiple sub requirements (García Peñalvo, 2015).
Overall time of delivery might be affected wit change in structure, role and responsibilities and
project planning.
Economic impacts: Time management practices for the project can introduce new resources and
assets those can impact the business for financial values. Capital is required for change
management in an organization related to the implementation of the strategy.
CONCLUSION
The presented report has been concluded the own skills and capabilities according to
professional requirements and helped to understand the need of improvements. It also has been
helped to devise the personal and professional plan for professional goals and objectives. The
report has been discussed team communication strategies and management techniques along with
team dynamics and role assignment to members. Various alternatives ways to complete the
project tasks and ensure work completion has been discussed. Particular problem or time
management has been determined and resolved with the review of tools and techniques. The
strategy of critical path analysis has been recommended to enhance the performance and reduce
the issue. Also, the impact of strategy on business has been determined.
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