Personal And Professional Development Management Essay

PERSONAL AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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Introduction
It is through personal and professional development that one can accomplish a better and successful career. It does not matter the field an individual belongs to, whether an engineer, doctor, software developer or any other area, it is through personal and professional development a person can achieve the ultimate success. Both the personal and professional development begins at the very early stage of an individual’s life when they are first admitted to a school. While personal and professional developments are equally crucial in determining the career success, a clear difference exists between the two. Professional development entails a person continuously sharpening various skills to entirely get a better understanding of the job they are doing and how they can further improve their expertise. With the continuous improvement of skills, individuals increase efficiency in executing their roles in the workplace. In the current world, things are constantly changing, ranging from economic, legislative and technological changes which necessitate the development of new skills set to keep up and remain effective. A person anticipating to achieve an active professional growth must ensure that their understanding and knowledge in their field of expertise is always at the highest level possible. Although professional development involves the acquisition of knowledge and skills for advancement in a particular career, it also includes an element of personal development. Personal development involves gaining the skill set an individual requires to achieve the needed results both in their roles and overall lives. It entails improving one’s skills and potential both in and out of the workplace. It is possible for a person to possess the skills needed at the professional level but lack the personal skills. An individual with both sets of skills is more likely to deliver excellent results than the one who only has one set. Therefore, to perform at the top level, it is always essential for an individual to assess both their personal and profession skillset to ensure that they are rhyming with the company needs, goals and objectives at any given time. This paper will comprehensively explain how personal and professional success is dependent on a person’s skill at various levels, including, individual, relational group, and profession. Various theories will be used to explain the role each skill plays in personal and professional development.
Individual Skills: Time Management Skills
Time management is a process of allocating various activities different amounts of time-based on their complexity and importance with the aim of increasing the efficiency, effectiveness, and productivity (Claessens, 2004, p. 18). Time management is critical as it helps people to do the things that matter and avoid those that do not. Often, people find it difficult to manage time effectively while carrying out different activities at home, school and even in the workplace. Many are the times when an individual fails to complete a particular task within the stipulated time (Claessens, 2004, p. 18). People with excellent management skills can work smarter rather than harder, and they can get more done in less time, even in instances when pressure is high and time is scarce.
Three types of behaviors can help an individual to manage time and thus avoid unnecessary pressure. Such behaviors include time assessment, planning and monitoring behaviors (Claessens, 2004, p. 95). It is important always to assess the time a person has every day and all tasks one must accomplish on that particular day or week. With such information, it will be easy to know the amount of time to allocate to every assignment depending on their urgency and importance. Planning is another essential behavior of active time managers. Many are the times when unexpected events occur which can complicate things and reduce the efficiency of completing a particular task. These events are referred to as inevitable challenges, and it is crucial to prepare for them (Claessens, 2004, p. 95). A friend or relative may unexpectedly turn up for a visit, a student may find out that a fabulous speaker has visited the campus, an injury or illness may occur, or deadline for a particular task may change. An effective time manager must have the ability to plan for inevitable, so that they can stay on track (Claessens, 2004, p. 96). While preparing for inevitable, it is essential to put alternative plans in place in case the original ones cannot be excellently executed.
Various planning strategies can be utilized to enhance performance, which includes anchored planning, contingency planning, and priority focus. Anchored planning entails allocating specific goals and activities quantified the number of times (Claessens, 2004, p. 96). On the hand, contingency planning involves insertion of forthcoming events that may interfere with the original plans in time management plan and laying down alternative plans. Finally, priority focus is a type of planning that refers to a broad, integrated focus on a person’s work priorities while preparing to carry out tasks. Those tasks that are important and urgent should always be given the priority and must be allocated enough time and completed first.
Monitoring behavior is also critical as far as personal time management is concerned (Claessens, 2004, p. 97). People with this behavior can monitor time through the assessment of the ongoing project and can use the outcome of such evaluation to make changes which will enable effective execution of the task on board. In simple terms, an individual with this behavior keeps a track-record of the progress of the implementation of a particular task with the aim of determining whether the work is still on schedule. In case the project is not proceeding according to the plan, they can adopt different mechanisms to speed it up and save time for other tasks (Claessens, 2004, p. 97).
Another effective strategy for time management is the application of Covey time management matrix, a diagram that helps an individual to figure out what they are supposed to be doing with the time they have (Actitime, 2018). Covey matrix is divided into four quadrants based on the urgency and importance of the tasks at hand. The items that are urgent are placed in quadrant one which consists of the functions that should be dealt with immediately. In quadrant 2, the critical issues that are not urgent are placed here. Such items despite being important, they do not require immediate attention. Covey indicates that the items in this quadrant are essential for the achievement of long-term goals. The third quadrant or quadrant 3 contains those items that are considered urgent, but are not important (Actitime, 2018). According to Covey, these items should not be given higher priority or should either be eliminated or minimized because they consume much time. Finally, in quadrant four there are those items that are unimportant and at the same time are not urgent. These tasks do not require to be executed any time soon and in some cases add little or no value. Covey suggests that they should also be eliminated or minimized since they are useless time wasters. Possessing above time-management skills is fundamental for both personal and professional success since they can help an individual to increase efficiency in time management hence increase effectiveness in the completion of various tasks at home, school and in the workplaces (Actitime, 2018). Effective time management also helps to improve individual’s productivity in the workplace because of completion of tasks within the required time.
While in school, I have found myself in a tight corner when the deadline for the submission of assignments approaches. In most cases, I have found myself completing my assignment some hours before the deadline. This can be attributed to poor time management skills since I have failed to strike a balance between my study and leisure time. I have been using more time in revision and research living little or no time for other activities, and this has resulted in stressful situations particularly during submission of the assignment. With the information above, I now have an effective tool to counter this problem. In the future, I will be in a position to allocate various tasks different amounts time and plan for unexpected events as well as monitor the progress of various tasks in order to make changes in case they are required.
Relational Skills: Emotional Intelligence
In the recent studies, emotional intelligence has been shown to influence the interaction between an individual and their colleagues. People with high levels of emotional intelligence have a reduced aggressive behavior and are more likely to relate positively with the other people. One of the definitions put forward to explain the meaning of emotional intelligence (EI) is that EI is the ability a person has to monitor their emotions as well as that of others, assess them and use the outcome as a guide to their actions and thinking (Brackett, Rivers and Salovey, 2011 p. 89). In other words, emotional intelligence involves recognizing, understanding and choosing how one thinks, feels and acts. It influences how an individual interacts with their colleagues, allows a person to set principles, defines how and what an individual learns and determines the majority of one’s daily actions. Individ...