Reflective Personal Development Plan: Core Skills Analysis

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Understanding Self and Others
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Executive summary
In this study, the analysis of core skills has been done in reflective format. 4 core skills have
been taken including feedback, written communication skill, Research and findings and team
working. The personal perspectives of all the core skills have been provided in lieu of personal
understanding. Along with this, the contradiction regarding the personal and others feedback
related to core skills have been given. The strength and weakness of core skills have been
summarised. Based on that, the personal development plan has been made which will be
achieved on certain period of time.
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Table of Contents
1. Reflective Personal Development Plan Journal.....................................................................4
2. Summary and Action Plan....................................................................................................10
References..................................................................................................................................13
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1. Reflective Personal Development Plan Journal
What is the core skill to develop?
Working of two or more individual in a group is known as team-working. Team working is the
core skill that needs to be developed
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use relevant
theories and concepts to support your answer)
Team working is an important core skill as it helps in building collaboration and collective
working in an individual. The reason for selecting this core skill is to enhance the skill and
knowledge while working in an organisation. With reference to the Belbin Theory of Team
Working, it can be understood that every person working in a group has different skill and
knowledge, based on which they are provided certain roles and responsibilities (Demos,
2013). Teamwork can help in enhancing different knowledge that can be gained from team
members. Hence, due to this reason, Team-working has been taken into consideration as a
core skill. The other reason for selecting core skill is that team working helps in developing
the various skills such as decision making, communication, and strategic thinking skill which
helps in career development ( Serrat, 2017).
Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers and your tutor,
plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to answer this
question)
As per my understanding and feedback of my tutor and Peer members, it can be observed
that I like to have a correct team working skill within me. I am able to collaborate with my
team members properly but am not able to understand their perspective, which is a limitation
for me. Along with this, through self-assessment, I have recognized that I am also not able to
understand my team members direction of work due to which clashes among us always
occurs. However, to enhance my team working skill I need to learn this core skill within an
organisation.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is there a
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match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
Yes, the contradiction between my perspective and my tutor’s perspective has been
observed. I think that I am not able to understand the perspective of my Peer groups due to
which clashes occur. Besides this, I also think that that I do not have proper decision-making
skill due to which my colleagues are not able to co-operate with me properly. However, with
the viewpoint of my tutor and Peer groups, it can be recognised that I like to have proper
communication and understand mutual understanding due to which the conflicts with my
team members occur within the workplace.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your argument)
As per the view of Komives and Wagner (2016), it can be understood that team working is an
approach through which an individual can enhance the skills. Moreover, when an individual
work in a team he or she learns to solve the challenges of a business. With a continuation of
this, a person also starts to bring new ideas by understanding the different perspective of
their colleagues working members. Moon (2013) has commented in their study that
teamwork helps in building moral which contributes towards achieving the organisational
goal. Therefore, with this understanding, it can be said that the gaining of knowledge about
the teamwork will help me to enhance my skill and knowledge in the future.
Along with this, I will also able to learn the tactics of solving organisational problems. In
supplementary to this, teamwork will also help me to build my moral so that I can understand
and value my work at workplace. Perhaps, I will able to come up with creative ideas while
working in a team as it will help me to brainstorm my mind.
What is the core skill to develop?
Feedback is all about gaining perception of others regarding the performance. Similarly,
feedback is also pointing out the strength and weakness of others in order to improve their
performance. Giving or Receiving Feedback is the core skill that needs to be developed.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use relevant
theories and concepts to support your answer)
It is an essential core skill as it helps in understanding the self as well as others. With the
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help of this core skill, I will be able to gain feedback about my work and performance from my
leaders and colleagues. As well as through this core skill, I will able to learn and about the
ways to identify I others working performance level. With reference to the guidance of Ryan
and Deci, (2017), feedback is an approach through which an individual understand their
strength and weakness inbuilt it within self. Receiving feedback means getting the knowledge
of others point of view regarding self-performance.
As per the implication of Pendleton Model, it can be understood that a person should
recognise both strength and weakness of others. As well he or she should also advise the
ways to fill the gap of weakness.
On the other side, Assiter (2017) has mentioned in their study that giving feedback means to
provide self-perception on the performance of others or other working team members with
the help of feedback to others they are able to understand their strength and weakness
points within the workplace.
Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers and your tutor,
plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to answer this
question)
Presently, I do not have this skill within me due to which I am not able to provide feedback to
others so that they can improve their knowledge and skill at workplace. As well as I also do
not have enough knowledge to gain proper feedback from my leaders for peer groups, that
leads to avoiding the recognition of self-knowledge and performance at workplace. As per
the view of my tutor and team members, I do not have this skill present in me, as I never
participate in any kind of feedback tasks.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is there a
match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
Yes, the contradiction from my analysis and from the analysis of my tutor has been
observed. According to my perception, I do not have much knowledge to recognise the
performance of others and provide them proper feedback for their improvement. Along with
this, I do not have ideas to gain feedback from my leaders and working team members
regarding my performance at workplace. With the perspective of my tutor, I do not involve
myself in the field of feedback for others at workplace. Due to this reason, I am not able to
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develop my knowledge and skill in this particular core skill.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your argument)
As per the view of McQuail and Windahl (2015), feedback is an important approach that
helps in understanding self-performance as well helping others to understand there is
strength and weakness while working within an organisation for the similar task. Further, the
feedback is either taken or given to an individual to correct his or her performance level. The
knowledge of this core skill will help me to understand my weakness as well as strength
while performing in a team or solely. Along with this, the presence of giving or receiving
feedback within self will also help in improving the understanding and recognition skill within
an organisation (Gergely, 2018). Hence, from thi, it can be understood that this core skill will
help me to broaden my skill and knowledge in terms of understanding self as well as others.
What is the core skill to develop?
Researching and information finding is all about conducting the research for gathering the
relevant information. Researching and Information finding is the core skill that should be
developed within the self.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use relevant
theories and concepts to support your answer)
With respect to the view of Dweck (2013), research and information finding skill are utmost
important. This is because; it helps in development of both personal as well as professional
skill. Research and information is a skill that presents knowledge and skill of a person
carrying a specific job role. It also presents a view that an individual is engaging and
involving himself or herself in achieving the organisational goal by conducting proper
research related to the task provided to them at workplace. The reason behind selecting this
skill is that it will help me to become more capable of an organisation as well as put initiatives
towards career development.
Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers and your tutor,
plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to answer this
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question)
Presently, I have this skill which helps me to perform my task better than others. However,
the presence of skill regarding Research and findings is not much reliable as per the need of
the business. As per the view of my tutor, I have understood that I conduct the research and
gather the information related to basic knowledge, which is not enough to fulfill the
requirement of the organisational goal. Due to this reason, I lack to become a good
performer in an organisation. With continuation to this, by doing the self-assessment using
Johari Window, I have realized that I am unable to conduct the research in critical way due to
which I am not able to understand the exact scenario or situation of business in the global as
well as domestic market.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is there a
match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
The contradiction has not been found between the analysis of self and tutor. We both found
the same lack of core skill in me. This lack of core skill is the collection of basic knowledge
based research from the market, which is not sufficient to relate with self working
organisation. There is no contradiction because I have not taken the feedback from my tutor
or colleague regarding this skill.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your argument)
With respect to the study of Hurrell (2016), by applying this is skill I will able to understand
the approaches applied by the competitors in the market through in-depth research. In
addition to this, I will also able to improve my critical analysis skill that can only be mitigated
through research and findings of any subject. From the viewpoint of Sekaran and Bougie
(2016), research skill enables an individual to identify the problem, collect the information
from different resources to address the organisational problem for modifying the strategies
applied to improve the business. With the help of this skill, I will able to enhance my
knowledge about the different aspects on which the research has been done.
What is the core skill to develop?
Written communication is a way of disseminating the information in a written form which
might be a letter, report, memo and else. Written Communication has been taken into
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consideration for development of core skill.
Why is this core skill important? Why did I select this skill to reflect on? (use relevant
theories and concepts to support your answer)
According to the study of Keville et al. (2017), it can be understood that communication is the
most essential skill that must be present within an individual. This is because; it is a mode
through which person sharing the viewpoint feelings and information with others.
As per the Shannon and Weaver Model of Communication, it can be understood that there
are five elements of communication through which an individual share their ideas and views
with others (McQuail and Windahl, 2015). These five components include information source,
transmitter, channel, receiver, and destination. Every individual working in an organisation
must follow. These components of communication while sharing their knowledge and skill
with others.
An individual using the written communication must have a skill of using all the elements of
the Shannon and Weaver model as it will help in effective communication among members
(Leydesdorff et al., 2017). The presence of this is skill is very essential for every individual.
The lack of written communication skill might result in giving poor performance in both
academic performances as well as in professional life.
Reflect on your current competence regarding this skill. How did you assess your
competence? (use your self-assessment findings, feedback from peers and your tutor,
plus your own reflections on your thoughts, feelings, and behaviors to answer this
question)
Presently, I have this core skill in me but it is not reliable in all places. This is because I have
a minimum skill of written communication. As per my feedback from Peer groups, I am not
able to use simple language while writing any kind of information to be shared with Peer
groups. With reference to the feedback gathered from a peer, I deviate from my essential
points while writing the information regarding my ideas or views for others.
Can you identify any contradictions from your analysis above? For example, is there a
match between how you see yourself and how others see you, or not?
Yes, there is vast contradiction observed between my thinking and the thinking of my Peer
groups regarding my written communication skill. Along with this, they have mentioned that I
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am also not able to specify my point of view properly which create chaos while writing the
information for others. However, my perception is totally different from them regarding my
written communication skill. I think that I am able to disseminate the information in proper
way.
How might this skill help me in the future? (use references to support your argument)
Written communication is an essential skill for every individual as it helps in sharing
knowledge in a well-structured format. The presence of this knowledge within an individual
presents that he or she has capabilities to share their ideas and views to others in an
appropriate manner. With the help of this skill, I will able to share my knowledge and opinion
with others in the form of reports, business letter and many others. McCroskey (2015) has
asserted in his study that written communication is the way through which an individual is not
merely able to share their information with others but also by using evidence to support their
information. I will be able to share my information and point of view to others improper format
if I will have this specific core skill present in me.
2. Summary and Action Plan
Summary and Action Plan:
In the overall discussion, I have been able to analyse my personal strength and weakness
which was very important to gather. I have been able to understand the gap of core skills which,
I need to fulfill to develop my both personal and professional aspects. I have selected 4 core
skills namely written communication, giving and taking feedback, team-working, researching
and finding. Through analysis of these skills, I have been able to understand properly the area
on which I should work in the future for improvement. As per the Sigmund Freud Theory of Self,
it can be understood that one should have knowledge about the self. This helps in making an
individual conscious about the things they are doing.
Strengths:
From the above analysis, I have recognised my two strengths in different core skills. One is
‘Written communication’ and another is ‘Research and findings’. From getting influenced by the
study of Penrod et al. (2017), it can be understood that written communication is a core skill
which helps in transferring the information, ideas or views to others in proper way using five
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elements namely sender, receiver, channel, information source, and destination. From this point
of view, I have understood that. If I have well-written communication skill within myself. Using
the application of the above-mentioned theory, I have recognised my strength that, this research
and findings that I do in proper way. I am capable to conduct the relevant research related to the
topic. As per the view of Pedler et al. (2013), research and findings are necessary to analyse
the problems and understand the market or other aspects related to the topic.
Weaknesses:
With respect to the Belbin Theory of Teamwork, it can be understood that an individual
understands that team member’s strength and weakness while working together (Saari et al.,
2018). When an individual will not have a proper understanding of teamwork then they will not
able to form a single team in an organisation. The weakness that has been observed in me by
understanding this theory is that I do not have proper collaboration skill due to which I cannot
understand the different perspective of working of my team members. This led me to stay far
away from building a proper team. Another weakness that has been noticed in my core skill is
giving and receiving feedback. As per the view of Senaratne and Gunawardane (2015),
feedback is necessary to understand self-performance as well as other performance at the
workplace.
Personal Development Plan
Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant Timely
Development
Area 1-
Research
and Findings
To enhance
my skill in
research
Through
regular
feedback
from a peer
group, I will
be able to
measure my
skill. Through
written
feedback
provided by
tutor and
Yes, the
planned
actions are
relevant. I
will give my
research
paper to
tutor and ask
him to
analyse after
completing
my research
Through
taking
feedback, I
will able to
understand
my strength
and
weakness.
Based on
that, I will
rectify
myself.
5th July to 5th
October
2019
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peers, the
evidence will
be formed.
work. This
will help in
identifying
my skill and
knowledge.
Development
Area 2-
Teamwork
To develop
team
working
This will be
measured by
measuring my
performance
while working
in a team. It
will be
measured by
viewing my
improvement
scale.
Yes, this
plan is
relevant to
me and it will
be attained
while
working with
my team
members.
I will work in
a particular
group and
after a week,
I will ask my
teammates
to analyse
my
performance
in teamwork.
Through this
evaluation, I
will able to
understand
my
approach
towards
building
good team.
1st July to
31st
November
2019
Development
Area 3-
Giving and
Receiving
feedback
To improve
feedback
skill
This will be
improved by
participating
in regular
feedback
tests. By
using the KPI,
I will measure
Yes, it is
attainable,
as I will ask
my tutor to
take as well
as give
feedback. If,
I will see that
With the
help of
participation
in feedback
contest
regularly, I
will able to
meet my
5th July to
30th August
2019
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