Report on Strategies for Work Priorities and Professional Development

This report examines the multifaceted aspects of managing personal work priorities and professional development. It delves into the characteristics of a good role model and strategies for embodying those qualities, emphasizing self-awareness, positive choices, and accountability. The report identifies key traits of effective leaders, such as emotional stability, enthusiasm, and communication skills, and suggests methods for developing them. It outlines the importance of aligning personal work goals with organizational objectives and provides practical approaches for meeting job responsibilities, measuring and maintaining personal performance through various indicators, and prioritizing tasks effectively. The report further explores the use of technology for organizing and managing work, maintaining a healthy work-life balance, ensuring competency standards are met, and determining personal developmental needs. It also covers the identification of personal learning styles, leveraging learning opportunities, gathering and utilizing feedback, networking for professional growth, and contributing to an organization's competitive edge. The report concludes by highlighting the relevance of these principles for professionals in managerial positions and their impact on work culture and employee behavior.

MANAGE PERSONAL WORK PRIORITIES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Student Name
Student Number:
University Name:
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Executive Summary
Through this study efforts have been made to comprehend the factors making a good role model
and how to acting as one for employees followed by indentifying the traits of an effective leader
and how to develop them; aligning work goals and plan to the organisations goals and plans;
meeting job responsibilities; methods for measuring and maintaining personal performance and
prioritising work; organizing and managing work through technology and maintaining a work/
life balance; ensuring personal knowledge and skills are meeting the requisite competency
standards and determining own needs for development; determine own personal learning style
and how taking advantage of learning opportunities and collecting feedbacks on personal
performance and using it for improving competence; increasing knowledge, gaining new skills
and developing relationships through networking, ensuring new skills to maintain own
competitive edge and contribute to that of the organisation's.
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Contents
Project 1...........................................................................................................................................2
Introduction......................................................................................................................................4
Body.................................................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................12
References......................................................................................................................................12
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Introduction
Managing personal work priorities and professional development focuses on looking at the
demands placed on professionals in different roles and the requisite strategies for maintaining a
healthy balance amidst the contending demands of work and life. This study asserts on the things
individuals must know for managing themselves within a work setting further emphasizing the
relevance to set goals and meet priorities, analyse information and use different ways to gain
more competence.
Discussion
1.
A good role model is made by understanding oneself. According to Wiegman, 2018,1 for
becoming a good model for all and ensuring acting as a one for employee s I supervise , knowing
what I am is a must with intent of identifying my values and the aspects of my personality I
might be passing on to others besides figuring out the negative aspects and working on getting
them resolved; knowing who are looking up to me and why for frequently acting on my good
qualities, reaching out to others besides building stronger relations with people I am surrounded
with; making positive choices (self and others) for teaching positive values and ways of thinking
to others; determine my bad habits and resolving them by questioning myself if I have hurt
others around me, are the consequences of my actions were good or bad, what were the long-
term impacts etc.; admitting the mistakes and be apologetic for making bad choices and
correcting it; exhibiting confidence in whatever actions I take and always leading responsibly for
setting example to others following the suit.
1 Wiegman, J, “Qualities Of A Good Role Model,” Seedling, June 22, 2018
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2.
Discussed below are the traits of an effective leader
Emotional stability: a good leader must be capable of tolerating stress, having a positive attitude
in every situation and adjusting with others.
Enthusiasm: a good leader is active, energetic and motivated, always alert and quick to respond,
welcoming change. According to Mishra, 2018,2 leaders who are passionate for their work are
more likely in passing on that zeal to their followers.
Communication- leadership and communication are connected. An effective leader is capable of
communicating with different people across roles, social identities and more in different ways
right from passing on information to coach their people.
Motivation: what keeps people motivated is known by a good leader. They frequently praise,
appreciate and recognize their followers besides giving positive feedback and working on team
building.
A leader can develop these traits by him/her through comprehending and believing into the
vision, practicing discipline, developing awareness about the surrounding situation and about
their people, and continuous learning.
3.
According to Zak, 2019, 3aligning of my work goals and plan to the organisation’s goals and
plans can be ensured by looking into what the strategy and vision of the company are; the
number of hours worked must not define the work goals rather it should be a measurable metric
contributing in attaining the vision and goal extending throughout a company; focusing on the
achievement of goals by learning the progress made to attain the company-wide goals and how
the bigger picture is affected by my contribution.
4.
2 Mishra, A. S, “Integrity, empathy, genuineness and humility as the necessary traits of an effective
leader,” Effective Executive, 21, no.3 (2018): 5-6.
3 Zak, H, “How to Align Your Personal Goals With Organizational Goals and Excel at Work,” Inc., June 12, 2019
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According to Na-Nan and Sanamthong, 2019, 4meeting my job responsibilities can be ensured by
seeking for a performance plan, getting the standards of the job discussed with my senior about
the responsibilities must be achieved; listening how it is expected by my seniors into performing
the major duties; setting specific and achievable goals precisely defining what is intended by me
to achieve; and ensuring that goals are measurable and attained within a given time period.
5.
According to Feng and Agosto 2019, 5my personal performance can be measured and maintained
by using the below mentioned indicators-
Customer Satisfaction- keeping a track on the satisfaction level of the customers through
follow-up questionnaires for comprehending the problem areas, if any.
Employee Satisfaction –assessing the quantitative measures like employees productivity to
qualitative factors such as motivation or satisfaction to understand whether I have played by role.
Teamwork – assessing the teamwork metrics focusing on attendance, readiness to help others,
efficiency, initiative or quality, say for example, how effectiveness of a team member in do a
task.
Goals achievement – analysing the company expectation to meet and maintain my personal
goals
6.
4Na-Nan, K. and Sanamthong, E. “Self-efficacy and employee job performance,” The International Journal of
Quality & Reliability Management, 37, no.1, (2019):1-17.
5 Feng, Y. and Agosto, D. E. “From health to performance,” Aslib Journal of Information
Management, 71, no.2, (2019): 217-240.
6

Work can be prioritized by
Preparing to-do list- begin every day by jotting down what is wanted to be done by me and
when followed by ranking the tasks based on its urgency or relevance for planning the day and
focusing.
Regular reviewing my workload – according to ICAEW 2020,6 instead of averting a task I am
not do at, delegating it to an experienced team member must be considered or allocating a
particular time for doing it.
Setting realistic deadlines for my tasks- looking at my to-do list for estimating time needed for
completing each tasks to see things that can be achieved by me within a working day or week
without being over-optimistic.
7.
For organizing and managing my work technology can be used by
Using group chats – according to McNulty 2018, 7modern instant messaging platform like
Google Hangouts accessible via desktop or mobile allow chatting with up to 15 people at a time
thus, eliminating the need to send back and forth email chains on time or personally walk up to
the person.
Using Smartsheets for tracking to-do lists and monitoring deadlines – designed to
collaborate and work management this will help me assigning tasks, tracking on progress made,
setting priority deadlines, getting calendars managed and sharing documents even reminding
employees of upcoming deadlines.
Hosting sharable files in Dropbox – for remaining informed and successful Dropbox can be
used for ensuring quick access to company data from anywhere, anytime thus, organizing and
managing my work on time.
8.
6 ICAEW, “10 ways to… Prioritise your workload: Available at: ICAEW, April 13, 2020.
7 McNulty, J, “High-tech workplace tools are key to winning the war for talent,” Strategic HR Review, 17,
no.4, (2018):176-180
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According to Roche 2020,8 maintaining a work-life balance can be ensured by
 Focusing on my strengths instead of trying to be master of everything.
 Prioritizing my time by categorizing tasks base on urgency and relevance.
 Knowing own peaks and troughs by assigning complicated, time consuming and more
focus tasks that are for mornings to avert procrastination.
 Plotting some personal time by ensuring giving time to personal life - family and on
health to remain stress free.
 Setting working hours and sticking to it
9.
Although any particular standard does not cover the competencies for my job, it is important
that my personal knowledge and skills are meeting the require competency standard. According
to Rama Krishna, Sahoo and Sharma 2019,9 this can be done be indentifying the competencies
of my role, generally assessing the relevant attitudes, skills and knowledge that must be taken
followed by breaking the tasks or role within the responsibilities related with the job into
elements, stages or steps for aligning with quality or efficiency. I will also be mapping the self-
assessment test for monitoring my own work and performance against these certain performance
standards. Review my current position and existing skills and knowledge will help in realizing
my potential and assessing them against the identified competencies needed for the job.
10.
According to Taufek and Mustafa 2018,10 my developmental needs can be determined by
8 Roche. “20 tips for maintaining a healthy work-life balance,” Roche, April 13, 2020.
9 Rama Krishna, G. P., Sahoo, C. K. and Sharma, R, “Team building, employee empowerment and employee
competencies,” European Journal of Training and Development, 43, no. 1, (2019): 39-60.
10 Taufek, F. H. M. and Mustafa, M, “The effect of training and development towards employee performance:
A case study in proton tanjung malim,” Global Business and Management Research, 10, no.3, (2018): 777.
8

Setting clear expectations- I need to first clearly set the expectations for my role within the
organization. For effectively monitoring the performance I will measure it against the job
descriptions in case there is any substantial change to my role or small changes periodically.
Monitoring performance – setting clear goals and responding to the performance deviations, if
any. This comprehension will be helping me in placing myself in a better position for positively
responding to my developmental needs.
Setting up personal development plans- this will not only profoundly impact on my motivation
but regularly reviewing the plan will be helpful in determining the development needs that are
related to my work.
11.
According to Kerns 2019, 11the personal learning style of my is visual learning style and taking
the advantage of learning opportunities can be ensured by focusing on the learning strategies that
involve visuals in the form of diagram, arrows, and pictures in my notes or internet or books etc.
for better comprehending what is happening around me. Repeated study of my notes, study
sheets and text will be an important strategy. I will also be focusing on the objectives of my
learning for better understanding and implementing them on different situations.
12.
According to Chong and Leung 2018, 12for gathering feedback about my personal performance I
will be asking the seniors during the annual or bi-annual performance review. Will also be
focusing on seeking feedback from my subordinates as 360 degree reviews soliciting feedback
from them will help in getting a clear picture about my personal performance and identify the
areas where I need to improve my competence for ensuring that over the time my effectiveness
increases. I will also ask the clients and mentors as periodic collection of feedback from them is
also a good idea for reviewing the outcomes and getting the changes implemented in real time.
11 Kerns, C. D, “Managing leader learning preferences at work: A practice-oriented approach,” Journal of
Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 16, no.5, (2019): 10-27.
12 Chong, V. and Leung, S. T, “The effect of feedback, assigned goal levels and compensation schemes on task
performance,” Asian Review of Accounting, 26, no.3, (2018): 314-335.
9

According to Sherman 2012,13 I will be using this feedback for improving my competence by
developing an improvement plan by assessing the behaviour and actions needed to be improved
besides seek coaching from a trusted colleague working with me so that he/she can observe my
behaviour and give suggestions for making difference.
13.
According to Huang, Wang and Yao 2019,14 networks can help me increasing my knowledge,
gaining new skills and develop relationships by establishing informal business contacts or
making formal communication at seminars, conferences, training programs or even social
gatherings. Making such contacts may provide me personal or professional support in future by
getting access to skilled professionals.
14.
According to Scivicque 2020,15 this can be ensured by investing into me by getting my
professional capabilities needed for the role developed through workshops, webinars, seminars,
etc. or joining a professional association for involving with likeminded professionals and gaining
from their experiences.
15.
13 Sherman, R, “4 Steps to Using Feedback to Improve Your Performance,” Emerging Leader, April 13, 2020
14 Huang, K., Wang, K. Y. and Yao, Y, “ Social network and tacit knowledge acquisition: The role of entrepreneurs
social skill,” International Journal of Organizational Innovation, 11, no.3, (2019): 315.
15Scivicque, C, “How to Keep Your Competitive Edge in the Workplace,” Career, April 13, 2020.
10

According to Davis 2019,16 by learning effective management of my time at work and
developing new skills meeting the requirements of my job I can contribute to the organisation's
competitive edge.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that manage personal work priorities and professional development is
applicable to people engaged into managerial positions, having distinguished. Professionals in
this role have work ethic affecting the work culture and behavioural patterns of others since
managers are perceived as role models by people surrounding them.
References
16 Davis, P. J, “Training employees to be a source of sustained competitive advantage,” The Journal of Applied
Business and Economics, 21, no.5, (2019): 29-39.
11

Chong, Vincent and Leung, Simon. Tak-wing. 2018. The effect of feedback, assigned goal levels
and compensation schemes on task performance. Asian Review of Accounting, 26, no.3, 314-335.
Davis, Paul. J. 2019. Training employees to be a source of sustained competitive advantage. The
Journal of Applied Business and Economics, 21, no.5, 29-39.
Feng, Yuanyuan and Agosto, Denise. E. 2019. From health to performance. Aslib Journal of
Information Management, 71, no.2, 217-240.
Huang, Kai-ping., Wang, Karen. Y. and Yao, Yan-Hong. 2019. Social network and tacit
knowledge acquisitor: The role of entrepreneurs social skills. International Journal of
Organizational Innovation, 11, no.3, 315.
ICAEW. 2020. 10 ways to… Prioritise your workload. ICAEW
Kerns, Charles. D. 2019. Managing leader learning preferences at work: A practice-oriented
approach. Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, 16, no.5, 10-27.
McNulty, Jacob. 2018. High-tech workplace tools are key to winning the war for talent. Strategic
HR Review, 17, no.4, 176-180.
Mishra, Aditya. S. 2018. Integrity, empathy, genuineness and humility as the necessary traits of
an effective leader. Effective Executive, 21, no.3, 5-6.
Na-Nan, Khahan. and Sanamthong, Ekkasit. 2019. Self-efficacy and employee job
performance. The International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management, 37, no.1, 1-17.
Rama Krishna, Gupta. Potnuru., Sahoo, Chandan. Kumar. and Sharma, Rohini. 2019. Team
building, employee empowerment and employee competencies. European Journal of Training
and Development, 43,no.1, 39-60.
Roche. 2020. 20 tips for maintaining a healthy work-life balance. Roche
Scivicque, C. 2020. How to Keep Your Competitive Edge in the Workplace. Careers
Sherman, R. 2012. 4 Steps to Using Feedback to Improve Your Performance. Emerging Leader.
Taufek, Fatini. Hanim. Mohamed and Mustafa, Mazlina. (2018). The effect of training and
development towards employee performance: A case study in proton tanjung malim. Global
Business and Management Research, 10, no.3, 777.
12

Wiegman, J. 2018. .Qualities Of A Good Role Model. Seedling
Zak, H. 2019. How to Align Your Personal Goals With Organizational Goals and Excel at
Work. Inc
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