Personal and Professional Development Report: Gibbs Reflective Model

This report, prepared by a student, focuses on personal and professional development within the context of a business studies course at the University of Suffolk. The report utilizes the Gibbs reflective cycle to analyze the student's experiences, particularly in relation to a project on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) activities. The student reflects on their learning process, including initial knowledge gaps, teamwork experiences, and the development of skills such as communication, research, and problem-solving. The report details each stage of the Gibbs model—description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan—to provide a comprehensive account of the student's growth and insights. The student also discusses the importance of self-awareness and the application of ICT in the learning process, and concludes with an action plan for future development. The report highlights the importance of continuous learning and skill enhancement for career success.

Personal and Professional
Development

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................3
CONCLUSION ...............................................................................................................................6
REFERENCES................................................................................................................................7

INTRODUCTION
Personal and professional development is basically the learning process that engages
either organisation or individual to acquire the new knowledge or skill in order to thoroughly
enhance the operations and build up viable career. Such academic learning keeps the individual
updated by constantly developing their capabilities which act as an opportunity in terms of
personal development (Bukor, 2015). This procedure usually include the reflective portion where
the individual addresses his/her personal experience while working for the certain business
module. To better define the topic, Gibbs model is used which is the reflective cycle that
comprises of different stages based on which an individual deeply describe his/her experience
while acquire new skill.
MAIN BODY
Gibbs reflective cycle was developed in 1988 by Graham Gibbs which is a framework
that is used to highlight the experience of an individual in a learning process. This offers the area
where deep discussion is made by the individual in terms to determine the things which worked
well or didn't go in predetermined direction. It is considered as the popular model in terms to
give structure to the thought process which leads to better sense of understanding and enhance
the person's ability in terms to deal with any similar problem in the near future effectively. In
relation to the respective model, Gibbs model is articulated to determine the contribution of an
individual while working in business module (Cassematis and Wortley, 2013). Additionally, the
module is about the essence for business to practice Corporate Social Responsibility activities in
order to successfully work and overcome challenges in the competitive business environment. It
comprises of the six stages based on which an individual have shared their experience which is
determined below:
Description: When the task was allotted to me by lecturer the purpose of this project was
to gain deep insights about the CSR activities and how it can help to mitigate the challenges
within an organisation. The objective of this particular module was to improve the learning for
personal development due to which I was required to prepare the presentation and determine the
role of manager for personal and professional development. In the beginning I had moderate
knowledge in relation to the essence of CSR due to which I sharpen up my knowledge regarding
subject and focused more on the team work. Participation in team helped in gaining knowledge

about various facts and figures along with that the assistance of professor was useful in terms to
proceed the academic work in right direction. Better emphasize on the subject improved my
secondary research ability as for better articulation of data in presentation I access various books,
journal, article as well as use search engine in order acknowledge the wise understanding over
subject.
Feeling: While undergoing the verbal discussion about the module for the first time with
the other team members, I realised that I do not have proficient knowledge about the subject. As
rather than putting forward the unique solution or measure I gave more emphasize to my
listening ability. Reason being lack of adequate information which can affect the significance of
my content. This whole process made me anxious in terms to effectively perform the business
module and conduct presentation. Later on, this team work and the guidance from my professor
significantly assisted me to gain deep insight about the topic. So while I was studying about the
module, I was constantly in touch with other individual that directed me the way to follow the
learning procedure. Certainly after my task was over, I was confident enough about my
performance even my tutor and professor was happy for the successful completion of topic that
gave me weird overview. This project was not only about the theoretical knowledge but along
with that, I acquire certain new skills which is associated with effective communication that
came with constant interaction and presentation programme. Along with that, I had no better
overview about the importance to acquire problem solving skill but while carrying out my
module, I marked my all problem and take significant efforts in terms to resolve them and
properly understand the subject.
Evaluation: During the tenure of this academic learning, I experienced both positive as
well as negative situation in terms to effective cover up the module. All these circumstances or
situation strengthen my abilities in order to address the problem and support the new skill
effectively. Like, earlier I used to hesitate to ask my problems to the tutor and share my content
during the time of discussion. This affected my image in front of the other individuals which
affected my morale and self confidence. But, once I studied the topic, I automatically generate
the interest on module and my internal urge helped to cope up with the hesitation issue. Although
team member most of the time neglect my points but this act as a positive situation for me
because it motivate me to effectively manage my time and allocate abundant time to the module.

So, the presence of other member significantly helped me to develop my skill and bring
transition in my roles as well as responsibilities.
Analysis: Effective communication and extensive research work helped me to deal with
the situation by which I landed up in acquiring significant knowledge over the allotted subject.
Somewhere, my low confidence in terms of discussing the problem and giving personal opinion
hindered my performance in the initial days. This somewhere affected my performance as I was
not able to utilize my starting days proficient which has created gap in my performance.
Although, the constant support from the professor's side was useful for me in terms to
continuously improve my experience by improving task activity. To produce the better outcome,
I use the ICT which is Information and Communication technology in terms to better manage the
resources which was used to create, store, disseminate as well as manage the information. It
assisted me to sort down the relevant information about the CSR activities which led to deeply
understand the topic and ways to offset the challenges in dynamic environment. Similarly, while
conducting presentation, I was confident enough to present as well as handle the queries of
viewers. As due to the significant research work and indulging into problem solving activities, I
was able to acquire proficient knowledge over the subject. So rather than hesitation, I maintained
eye constant and effectively deliver the topic for which I gained desirable response.
Conclusion: While carry out the work in this module, I learn to better understand the
module and accordingly allocate time to better manage the performance. This is the better way to
cover all the aspects and gain consistent knowledge over the subject. I thoroughly enjoyed
working in this activity because of the productive knowledge acquired from the topic in terms of
successful completion of task. For more improvement in this situation, I would have effectively
utilised the whole tenure which I was not able to due to hesitation and inadequate knowledge of
subject. Along with if I would have clear all my doubts and confusions during the time of
discussion. This can landed up in saving more time while conducting research work. Although I
was able to balance my time but, from the next time I will prefer to be more proactive in terms to
cover up all the subjects and activities significantly. Future, use of ICT technology during the
tenure of the module assisted me to fully utilise the technology in terms to store, design and
retrieve the data effectively. Therefore, in order to improve the outcome from next time, I will be
more inclined toward the technology because it help to better achieve the objective.

Action plan: If the similar situation exist again then, I will better deal with it by gaining
significant amount of training in the various ICT technology because it will help me to better
manage all the data and convert it into relevant outcome. This technique will significantly work
in my favour by mitigating negative impact of the circumstance on my personal performance.
Although, I have developed problem solving skill but still I need to constantly polish it in order
to derive out the unique and creative solution. This additional learning of the technology and
urge to acquire new skill will help me in personal and professional development. Hence, it is the
desirable way by which I will get better opportunity to deal with the situation at real time by
better engaging my time and bring out productivity while carrying out task.
CONCLUSION
From the above report, it has been determined that the role of personal and professional
development is to improve the self awareness that pursuit direction in terms to make the effective
decision and reach out to unique solution. It basically involve the reflective portion that is used
to illustrate the continuous learning process of an individual in order to significantly perform
their actions. Thus, it examine the favourable way that encourage the people to practically work
under the academic portion and systematically share their experience during the particular
situation, activity as well as event.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Bukor, E., 2015. Exploring teacher identity from a holistic perspective: Reconstructing and
reconnecting personal and professional selves. Teachers and teaching. 21(3). pp.305-
327.
Cassematis, P. G. and Wortley, R., 2013. Prediction of whistleblowing or non-reporting
observation: The role of personal and situational factors. Journal of business ethics.
117(3). pp.615-634.
Dumas, T. L. and Sanchez-Burks, J., 2015. The professional, the personal, and the ideal worker:
Pressures and objectives shaping the boundary between life domains. The Academy of
Management Annals. 9(1). pp.803-843.
Gifford, R. and Nilsson, A., 2014. Personal and social factors that influence pro‐environmental
concern and behaviour: A review. International Journal of Psychology. 49(3). pp.141-
157.
Häkkinen, P. and Hämäläinen, R., 2012. Shared and personal learning spaces: Challenges for
pedagogical design. The Internet and Higher Education. 15(4). pp.231-236.
Machani, S. E., Couse, J. M. and Mahgoub, H., IMS Health Inc, 2014. Secure identity and
personal information storage and transfer. U.S. Patent 8,856,507.
Pineau Stam, L. M., Spence Laschinger, H. K. and Wong, C. A., 2015. The influence of personal
and workplace resources on new graduate nurses' job satisfaction. Journal of nursing
management. 23(2). pp.190-199.
Sendjaya, S., 2016. Personal and organizational excellence through servant leadership. Springer
International Pu.