Skills Audit & Personal Development Planning Report

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Skills Audit & Personal Development Planning Report
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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction........................................................................................................................4
2.0 Audit and Evaluation of Key Skills......................................................................................5
3.0 Personal Development Research and Planning..............................................................10
4.0 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................14
References.............................................................................................................................15
Appendices............................................................................................................................16
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1.0 Introduction
Developing my key skills will assist me in achieving my aims and objectives in my study life
and my professional lives. Key skills like group working will help me conduct operations and
projects with my colleagues, where I will be able to contribute to the overall process of
decision-making ad management. Conducting team work will help me be better in my
professional life. It will allow me to get a hands-on experience on my professional field and
help me understand the environment. This report will reflect on my experience with the team
project I was a part of and explain the significance of study skills and employment skills for
business students.
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2.0 Audit and Evaluation of Key Skills
Audit for personnel skill
Strength
 Pleasant personality
 Go getter attitude
 Team Player
Weakness
 Communication skills
 Public speaking
 Convincing Ability
Opportunity
 Career development
 Skill enhancement
 Enhancement of negotiation skills
Threats
 Shy nature
 Low level of confidence
Table 1: SWOT analysis for my Personnel Skills
(Source: Created by Learner)
2.1 Assess and reflect upon your individual development so far
The activities performed by the team in the direction of accumulating funds for the families
and patients suffering from the menace of Brain Tumour. The activity undertaken helped in
developing my skill of communication and personality development that has helped me in
attracting more attention towards my views and influences the individuals to contribute
towards the social cause. The exercise help to realise the importance of the activity
performed by me and made me realise the benefits from the same (Cervone et al., 2015).
The feeling of accomplishment and being able to contribute for the society is a very surreal
for me and made me realise how big an effect a small contribution can make in the society.
The activity helped me connect to the society, realise the need, and evaluate upon the fact
that how my small effort towards the well-being of the society can lead to make a huge
difference for those in needs. The activity has helped me gain more confidence and realise
that I can make a difference (Allemand and Mehl, 2017). The exercise has helped me gain a
more open approach towards public speaking, enhance my qualities like that of the
negotiation skills, and guide me toward a path in the providing welfare service for the
needful.
2.2 Examine & evaluate the development of your individual skills through the
formative exercise
The exercise gave me an exposure to the society and provided me with an opportunity to
enhance my abilities and skills like that of Decision making ability, Analytical skills, and Time
Management. These skills and abilities not only helped me in developing my employability
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probability but also gave me an on the field experience of interacting with people and helped
me refine my communication skills and public speaking skills (Cottrell, 2015). These
developments in my personnel self has helped me in gaining an advantage over the peers
who are graduates but lack the on field exposure and experience. The exercise helped me
develop several skills and the same area discussed in brief to highlight the growth and
development.
Teamwork: The exercise included us in teams with very specific task. The exercise helped
me to view the goal of the team as a single target and observe the team as one unit. This
helped me realise that how effective team management could be and the combined efforts of
many can help in overcoming even stringent take, which seemed to be impossible for an
individual.
Communication skills: The primary role of any on the field is to have an effective
communication skill. The exercise helped me learn from the strength and weakness of the
other team members and enhance my personnel skills. The exercise gave me an opportunity
to enhance my latent skill and enhance my probability of employment.
Research & planning: The exercise required us to plane a strategic approach to complete
the tasks in the most fruitful manner in the specified period. This could only be achieved if an
in depth research for the task is done. The different inputs form every team member helped
enhance the horizon the scope of the research and develop the most suitable plan.
Decision Making: The exercise made me understand the concept of urgency and take
decision based on my analytical skills. There were situations where the decision needs to be
taken at the most urgent level. In this situation I had to analyse the urgency and with my
analytical skill and take the required decision. This greatly helped me enhance my skill in the
area.
Problem Solving Skills: The exercise exposed us to situations where the scenario was not
in the favour of the team. These were incidents were the latent skill of awareness and
attentiveness of the team played a role. The inherent skills help me to effectively solve the
issues in the optimum manner. This greatly enhanced my problem so0lving skills to also add
to the development of my employability skill for the future.
Time Management: The exercise gave me a great opportunity to enhance my Time
management skills and made me realise the importance of the same not only in my
professional but also in my personnel life. The process of planning and managing the time to
incorporate the different task to achieve the goal successfully at the stipulated time is very
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crucial (Breen et al., 2016). This exercise gave me an opportunity to learn and practically
enhance my time management skill, which is going to help me throughout my future
endeavours.
The exercise helped me by providing a platform to help the society with people suffering
from Brain Tumour and enhance my personnel skill in a more holistic manner.
2.3 Demonstrate your individual development with specific examples and evidence
The exercise was a very enriching experience for me and helped me grow my skills
personnel and professionally. There was an incident where a company was willing to donate
a generous sum for the social cause but needed specific convincing to elaborate of the
necessity to the importance of the cause. It was observed that the government has already
establishment plans to provide free help to those who need care but were unable to afford
the same (Martindale and Dowdy, 2016). I convinced the donor that the donation not only
benefits the patient itself but also helps the family cope form the trauma they faced over time
due to the disease. This also helps them re-establish a life for those who lost their jobs or
businesses in the process of being involved with the care of their loved ones. This influenced
the donor and helped the team gain a substantial donation for the generous cause.
2.4 Reflect upon your individual contribution and the overall team performance
The exercise was successfully achieved and this could not be done without the combined
efforts of the entire team. As a member of the team I had also put in the best of my efforts to
succeed in the task allotted to the team. However, the convincing ability of my
communication skills helped me convince a company to donate generously to the social
cause and help my team to over achieve the target. This was a remarkable achievement for
our team and we had an appreciation ceremony for our achievement (Eubanks et al., 2016).
The act of mine gave my team an edge in enhancing the overall prospect of attaining a
distinction but this also provided all of us with a mental joy and accomplishment to be able to
help the society and those in need.
2.5 Reflect upon 1-2 experiences in the team project process using a cycle/model of
reflection to support your discussions, e.g. Gibbs’ Model of Reflection
The exercise began with the initial research and planning to the breakdown of the overall
task into achievable targets for the overall team. The team did an excellent job in generating
the overall structure for approaching the task. The same could be addressed by implying the
Gibbs Model of Reflection (Leigh, 2016). The components of the model include description,
feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion, and action plan.
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Figure 1: Gibb’s Model of Reflection
(Source: University, O. 2019)
Description: The issue in front of us was that the requirement of an effective plan could
enhance the overall prospect of the exercise. The team collectively approached the task by
brainstorming and putting in their efforts to develop a specific and strategic path to approach
to achieve the desired goal.
Feelings: The approach was a very holistic one, made me as well as everyomg feel part of
the team, and helped us in relating to the issue more efficiently. This gave me a feeling of
belongingness and did not let me feel left out.
Evaluation: The overall exercise was very positive and accommodative to every suggestion
of all the team members. This had developed a very positive and enthusiastic atmosphere in
the team. This though was very positive but was observed that some of the member’s
possessed a dominating attitude and out go trait. It was observed that at some decisions the
genuine suggestions were also negated due to the dominating nature and persuasion of the
few.
Analysis: The situation made me realise that this was not correct to negate the views of the
some team members even without considering the implications of the same. This also made
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me realise that the constrain of time also did not permit to analyse all the inputs. The other
fact that came to my notice was that the few having the dominating traits did not reflect
poorly in the future, as the individual was enthusiastic in nature.
Conclusion: The planning could be more elaborate in nature and focus to incorporate more
ideas to help ease the task for the future. These though cold take some more time but the
same could be planned accordingly.
Action Plan: if the situation as such is faced in the future i would devote more time to the
research and planning to formulate a road map which could help achieve the task more
efficiently and help in succeeding the task.
2.6 Refer to qualitative and quantitative evidence to support the above, e.g. feedback
from peers, team targets (stats)
Team Name: Crimson Hue
Target of the team: To raise at least 30000 pounds through a fundraising campaign for The
Brain Tumour Charity
Total number of people who came to the event 612
Total number of donators: 518
Amount of money collected from donations: 41800 pounds (Approximately)
Average donations by an individual: 90 pounds (Approximately)
Highest donations by an individual: 8000 pounds
Total percentage of donators out of everyone: 25 percent (Approximately)
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3.0 Personal Development Research and Planning
3.1 Consider the key study and employment skills for business students referring to
suitable sources
Students who have studied business related courses in their universities and have
graduated with a degree require certain study skills and employment skills that will allow
them to do their job better and get better employment opportunities.
A few of the study skills required are:
 Time management: Time management is one of the most essential study skills that
are required by business students. Having good time management skills will allow
the student to manage time and conduct activities accordingly, to ensure that no time
is wasted (Thompson, 2017).
 Group working: Business students will need to work in groups in order to complete
a certain project. The students need to be comfortable working in groups and must
value the decisions and satisfaction of the teammates to make sure that no conflicts
arise and projects are completed smoothly.
 Communication: Good communication skills are very important for business
students. Communication skills allow a student to communicate with their classmates
and teachers. It will also help the student in their professional lives. Good
communication skills give a good impression about the student’s behaviour and
capabilities.
A few of the employment skills required by business students are:
 Critical thinking: Companies prefer graduates who have good critical thinking skill
skills that will allow the student to think out of the box in order to fashion innovative
product and service concepts.
 Decision Making and Communication: A student with the ability to take swift and
effective decisions will increase the chances for the student to get employed. Good
communicators will also be able to communicate their decisions to others with proper
and easy to understand explanations (Morgan, 2017).
 Listening and negotiation: It is very important for business students have good
listening and negotiation skills as business involves a person to listen carefully to the
words of individuals. Business involves a lot of negotiations, and the student must be
fully capable to conduct negotiations and bargain the best deals.
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3.2 Determine the areas that you need to develop with regard to these skills (arising
from part A)
As of now, I have developed multiple study skills that will improve my studying. I have also
learned multiple employment skills that will assist me in landing good jobs more easily. I still
have many underdeveloped skills that constitute the bulk of my weaknesses. My main
weaknesses are – ineffective skills of communication, public speaking skills, and ability
to convince others.
By developing my skills of communication, I will be able to exchange information with others
easily and effectively. This will also improve my self-confidence, another weakness of mine.
Developing my skills of communication will help me to work better in groups and allow me to
convince others easily. Developing my skills of communication will allow me to negate most
of my weaknesses. Effective communication will help me to become a better public speaker,
and not be shy from it (Flannery et al., 2017). My ability to convince others will also be
increased. Developing my skills will help me to become a better student, with the increased
prospects of landing good jobs in the future.
3.3 Explore and consider the opportunities to learn and develop whilst at University
Studying in a university will be extremely beneficial to me as it will assist me in developing
my study skills and employment skills. The reason for enrolling in a University is to gain
higher knowledge on my subject of choosing and have mastery over it. University will allow
me to get a degree in my field of choice, which will in turn allow me to land the job that is
desire and is within my qualifications.
Developing my skills in college will allow me to become a better student, which will help me
get good grades. These skills will allow me to get better jobs and be more productive in it.
Skills like communication, decision-making, group work, independent research, analytical
skills, problem solving, and critical thinking will allow me to be better capable to handle the
work pressure in my future job. Having good control over these skills will help me present
myself in a better way to the employers. I believe this will increase my chances of getting the
job (Howard et al., 2018).
Universities conduct many internship and externship programmes which can further increase
my knowledge in practical situations; a more hands-on experience. This will make me more
ready for my professional activity.
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3.4 Research a number of developmental / learning opportunities
Universities provide students with many opportunities to learn and develop new study and
employment skills. These opportunities are discussed below:
 Internship: Universities provide external courses where the students will be put in
the shoes of an employee for a short period of time. The student is paid for his work
provided. These programmes are set in a way where the students experience a more
hands-on approach in their professional field. The students will be able to gain new
skills and also develop them in a short period of time in internship (Qiu et al., 2018).
The students will then be ready for a professional job, and employment in
businesses.
 Developing skills through classes: The best way for students to learn new skills
and develop them is through the classes conducted in university. Classes provide
significant knowledge and information about one’s professional stream. This will
prove to be the first phase towards a student’s professional career. Classes include
practical classes and exams, which will help the student, measure his or her own
performance. Many universities provide smart-classes, which includes study
materials like videos and presentations that will further enhance the student’s
knowledge and skills.
3.5 Discuss the areas for development and the avenues for improvement that you
intend to pursue
As described before, I wish to develop my communication skills. Developing my
communication skills will help me communicate with others in my university, my teachers,
and individuals who will be involved with my professional field. In my professional field, good
communication will help me to understand my role and purpose of the company I will be
employed. It will help me to communicate better with my co-workers and managers, allowing
me to work productively and efficiently, with fewer chances of any mistakes happening.
I also wish to develop my business-related professional skills. Some of these skills include
decision-making. Developing good decision-making skills will allow me to take fast and
effective decisions in my studies and professional field (Drew and Bingham, 2017). Effective
decision-making will also improve my leadership traits and skills, which is very important in
the line of business.
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3.6 Support your work with evidence from your searches, enquiries, applications, etc.
relating to developing your skills / seeking experience
There are many books that are available online that have helped me to gain significant
knowledge and enhance my skills. Books like The Business Student's Guide to Study and
Employability by P. Morgan published in the year 2017. This book helped me to get all the
necessary information and knowledge about the relevant employment skills. The skills will
increase my chances of getting employed and make better in my professional life.
The book Essential Study and Employment Skills for Business and Management
Students by K. Gallagher and published in the year 2016 have provided me significant in-
depth knowledge about the skills that I desire to develop, like communication skills, planning
skills, and decision-making skills.
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