StudentWorkbook(1)

Manage personal work priorities and professional development

BSBWOR501A

Student Workbook

2nd Edition

Part of a suite of support materials for the

BSB07 Business Services Training Package

Student Workbook BSBWOR501A Manage personal work

priorities and professional development 2nd Edition 2010

Acknowledgment

Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council (IBSA) would like to acknowledge The Indigenous Lead Centre for their assistance with the development of this resource.

Writers: George Somerville, Jeff Golding, Paulette Threadingham

Copyright and Trade Mark Statement

© 2010 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd

All rights reserved. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher, Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd (‘IBSA’).

Use of this work for purposes other than those indicated above, requires the prior written permission of IBSA. Requests should be addressed to Products and Services Manager, IBSA, Building B, Level 11, 176 Wellington Pde, East Melbourne VIC 3002 or email [email protected].

‘Innovation and Business Skills Australia’, ‘IBSA’ and the IBSA logo are trade marks of IBSA.

Disclaimer

Care has been taken in the preparation of the material in this document, but, to the extent permitted by law, IBSA and the original developer do not warrant that any licensing or registration requirements specified in this document are either complete or up-to-date for your State or Territory or that the information contained in this document is error-free or fit for any particular purpose. To the extent permitted by law, IBSA and the original developer do not accept any liability for any damage or loss (including loss of profits, loss of revenue, indirect and consequential loss) incurred by any person as a result of relying on the information contained in this document.

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Published by: Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Level 11 176 Wellington Pde East Melbourne VIC 3002 Phone: +61 3 9815 7000 Fax: +61 3 9815 7001 e-mail: [email protected] www.ibsa.org.au

First published: February 2010

2nd edition version: 1.0

Release date: June 2010

Printed by: Fineline Printing 130 Browns Road, Noble Park VIC 3174

ISBN: 978-1-921788-58-1

Stock code: BSBWOR501A2CL

Table of Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................. 1

Features of the training program ..................................................................... 1

Structure of the training program .................................................................... 1

Recommended reading .................................................................................... 2

Section 1 – Establish Personal Work Goals .......................................................... 3

What skills will you need? ................................................................................ 3

Positive role-modelling ...................................................................................... 3

Setting personal work goals ............................................................................. 7

Measuring personal performance ................................................................. 20

Section summary ............................................................................................ 22

Further reading ................................................................................................ 22

Section checklist ............................................................................................. 22

Section 2 – Set and Meet Work Priorities ........................................................... 23

What skills will you need? .............................................................................. 24

Prioritising competing demands .................................................................... 25

Managing work priorities and commitments ................................................ 30

Maintain appropriate work-life balance......................................................... 35

Section summary ............................................................................................ 41

Further reading ................................................................................................ 41


Section 3 – Develop and Maintain Professional Competence .......................... 42

What skills will you need? .............................................................................. 43

Determining development needs ................................................................... 43

Making the most of feedback ........................................................................ 48

Learning your way ........................................................................................... 50

Networking....................................................................................................... 53

The competitive edge ..................................................................................... 58

Section summary ............................................................................................ 61

Further reading ................................................................................................ 61


Glossary ................................................................................................................. 62

Appendices ............................................................................................................ 63

Appendix 1 – Personal SWOT analysis worksheet ........................................ 63

Appendix 2 – Time log .................................................................................... 64

Appendix 3 – Indicators of stress .................................................................. 65

Appendix 4 – Personal development plan .................................................... 66

Appendix 5 – Ten-year gap analysis .............................................................. 71

Appendix 6 – Answers to select learning activities ...................................... 72

Student Workbook Introduction

BSBWOR501A Manage personal work priorities and professional development © 2010 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd Page 1 of 72

Introduction This unit looks at the demands that are placed on you as a frontline manager, and the strategies needed to find a comfortable balance between the competing demands of work and life.

Features of the training program

The key features of this program are:

Student Workbook (SW) – Self-paced learning activities to help you to understand key concepts and terms. The Student Workbook is broken down into several sections.

Facilitator-led sessions (FLS) – Challenging and interesting learning activities that can be completed in the classroom or by distance learning that will help you consolidate and apply what you have learned in the Student Workbook.

Assessment Tasks – Summative assessments where you can apply your new skills and knowledge to solve authentic workplace tasks and problems.

Innovation & Business Skills Australia has licensed the use of over 200 video vignettes from the Channel 9 television program, Your Business Success. The videos have been carefully selected and embedded into relevant learning and assessment resources in order to assist education providers and students in the learning process.

Each video is accompanied by a learning activity. Videos can be found on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

Structure of the training program

This training program introduces you to the concept of a personal stock-take. Specifically, you will develop the skills and knowledge in the following topic areas:

1. Establish personal work goals (SW Section 1 Session 1).

2. Set and meet work priorities (SW Section 2 Session 2).

3. Develop and maintain professional competence (SW Section 3 Session 3).

Note: the Student Workbook sections and session numbers are listed next to the topics above.

Your facilitator may choose to combine or split sessions. For example, in some cases, this training program may be delivered in two or three sessions, or in others, as many as eight sessions.

Introduction Student Workbook

BSBWOR501A Manage personal work priorities and professional development Page 2 of 72 © 2010 Innovation and Business Industry Skills Council Ltd

Recommended reading

Some recommended reading for this unit includes:

Cole, K. 2010, Management: Theory and Practice, 4th edn, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Robbins, S, Bergman R, Stagg I, and Coulter M. 2008, Management, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Robbins, S, Millett, B, Cacioppe, R, and Waters-Marsh T. 2008, Organisational Behaviour: Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand, 5th edn, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

General websites of interest

Businessballs – free resources including career help, business training and organisational development: <http://www.businessballs.com>.

About: management – basic information about management <http://www.management.about.com/>.

Free management library – provides free, comprehensive resources about personal and business management: <http://www.managementhelp.org>.

Student Workbook Section 1 – Establish Personal Work Goals


Section 1 – Establish Personal Work Goals

As a frontline manager you will need to establish clear personal work goals, so that you remain organised, focussed and skilled. This will enable you to effectively manage the work of others and act as a positive role model in the workplace.

Effective goal setting is achieved by measuring your performance in your work and aligning your personal goals with the plans of your organisation and the responsibilities of your role.

What skills will you need?

In order to work effectively as a frontline manager, you must be able to:

serve as a positive role model in the workplace through personal work planning and organisation

ensure personal work goals, plans and activities reflect the organisation’s plans, and own responsibilities and accountabilities

measure and maintain personal performance in varying work conditions, work contexts and contingencies.

Positive role-modelling

Role models

The ability to be a positive role model in the workplace is an essential quality for a manager. Role models have a profound effect, modelling appropriate behaviour, offering advice, projecting a positive image and encouraging others.

Inexperienced workers look to role models to see how things are done; for cues on acceptable behaviour. They look to managers and more experienced workers to show the way. These role models strongly shape their workplace performance.

The scenario below provides an example of a manager acting as a negative role model. If you were Shirley, would you feel motivated to work hard and improve? Can you identify the negative behaviours Mary is displaying? How should she have behaved to act as a positive role model?

Scenario: Mary’s situation

Mary is a team leader in a busy call centre. She has been working for the organisation for several years and has become cynical after being overlooked for promotion several times.

A month ago, Mary was instructed to carry out performance appraisals with her team by the floor manager, Sean. The process is supposed to involve both Mary and her employee completing forms to review the employee’s work, and then an interview where areas and strategies for improvement are identified.

Section 1 – Establish Personal Work Goals Student Workbook


Shirley is a member of Mary’s team. She has been working at the call centre for six months and has not been through the appraisal procedure before. Last week Mary gave her an appraisal form to complete and arranged for Shirley’s interview to be held at 3.30pm next Wednesday.

After spending half a day completing her form, Shirley is looking forward to some feedback on her performance and the opportunity to identify some areas in which she can improve.

When Mary arrives for the interview, she is fifteen minutes late. Shirley can also see that Mary’s review form hasn’t been completed. Mary tells Shirley she is keen to get the interview over with and is about to start talking when her mobile phone rings. Mary makes no attempt to excuse herself, turns her back to Shirley and proceeds to discuss a personal problem with a friend for the next five minutes, while Shirley waits patiently

Once the call is over, Mary tells Shirley to just leave her form and that she hasn’t got time to do the interview. Mary complains to Shirley that the appraisal process is an unwanted distraction, and that it is ‘just a hoop she has to jump through’ because she has been told to by that ‘Mr Bean look-a-like’, Sean.

Shirley is angry when she leaves. She decides she will not put much effort in next time and decides it is not worth striving to better herself in her work role if she is not going to receive support from her manager.

Being a role model is not about acting like a saint at all times. Sharing your life experiences, both good and bad, can help other workers learn the best practices and avoid the pitfalls that you have already encountered.

Making a list of your personal role models can help clarify your own approach to life and work. Your role model may be famous, or just someone whose values and behaviour inspired you at some time in your life. Often it is the memory of the little things that someone did that stays the longest.

The following activity will give you an opportunity to reflect on the significant people in your past.

Learning activity 1.1: Role models

Take a minute to think about who's inspired you. Write down their names, what you admire about them, and how you can incorporate more of those traits into your daily life.

Non-work role models:

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Work role models:

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Coaching and mentoring are two techniques that can be used to develop individual workers or teams. These approaches help to motivate employees, and ultimately, can positively impact on the bottom-line of business.

In each instance, the driving force is the relationship between the two people involved in the process. The dynamics and the quality of this relationship must be based on mutual trust, respect and open communication. A sense of ownership, pride, and loyalty are among the many positive outcomes that result from this approach to personal management. Additionally, a worker with a positive outlook is in a better position to deal with new challenges.

Mentoring

Is an effective solution where there are specific tasks to be mastered or skill‐sets to develop. Mentoring is a hierarchical relationship where the senior (experienced) person in an organisation accepts the responsibility of passing on knowledge and skills to a more junior (less experienced) individual. The mentor is often the employee’s boss. An apprenticeship is an example of a formally‐contracted mentoring relationship.

Coaching

Focuses on improving a wider range of work and life skills, with the emphasis on monitoring an individual’s overall progress. It is a continual process that is based on providing instruction, support and objective feedback. Coaching is most effective in response to a performance issue, or when there is a need for a more holistic personal development, as opposed to the learning of tasks and skills. A workplace coach helps workers to achieve short‐ and long‐term goals and provide opportunities to empower staff to realise their potential.



Learning activity 1.2: Workplace mentoring and coaching

How is mentoring and coaching used in your current (and past) organisations?

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Brainstorm some of the skills and qualities that are required to be a successful workplace coach:

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You may have identified some of the following skills and qualities that make an effective coach:

enjoys helping others

is genuinely interested in people and believes in their potential

has good listening skills (active/attentive listening) and can ask the right questions

can develop trust and confidence

boosts confidence -- encourages workers to take responsibility for their own learning and development

maintains high expectations

can identify and adapt coaching to preferred learning styles

matches workers’ needs to performance targets

follows workplace health and safety policies and procedures

can clarify the organisation’s policies and procedures.



Setting personal work goals

Goals and plans

These two concepts are a ‘horse and cart’. Goals are the outcomes that individuals, teams and organisations would like to achieve. Plans are the documents that outline the physical, human and financial resources that are required in order to achieve the goal within a prescribed timeframe.

The scenario below illustrates a manager identifying his organisation’s plans and his workplace responsibilities and reflecting on these as he establishes his personal work goals.

Scenario: Max’s personal work goals

Max has just begun work as the floor manager in a seafood restaurant. He has had no previous experience in restaurants, but has managed teams in business. He has made the shift because he has always dreamed about owning a restaurant one day.

Max knows that to effectively lead his team he needs to be organised, focussed and skilled. To help him achieve this, he decides to establish short, medium- and long-term personal work goals for himself.

To help him establish his goals, Max reviews the restaurant’s business plan and vision statement and his position description. He identifies that the restaurant aims to be at the cutting edge of Australian innovative cuisine and fashionable eating. He also identifies that he is to manage a team of friendly staff that are passionate, are highly knowledgeable about the food and wine they are serving and where it is from, and are able to make recommendations.

With this information in mind, Max sets himself a short-term goal of knowing all about the food the restaurant serves, a medium-term goal to find out about the latest innovations in world cuisine and a long-term goal to receive training or mentoring in general restaurant management.

Identify the goal

There are a few things to consider before you launch head-first into the pursuit of a goal. The brain needs to be trained in how to identify a goal. It can then help you to gather the necessary resources.



Goal identifiers are:

• ‘I will get a job in the banking industry within the next twelve months’. Avoid the use of negative words like; don’t, won’t, lose, stop. State what you want; clearly and in positive terms. ‘I will eat healthy food and drink plenty of fresh water’ is far better than ‘I will stop eating fried food and lose weight’.

Is it positive?

• The goal must be something you want, not what someone else expects of you. An example of a goal that is not meaningful is: ‘I will work in my family business because my father wants me to’.

Is it mine?

• The goal must be achievable given the resources available to you. ‘I will buy a waterfront house on Sydney Harbour’ may not be realistic. Step up to big goals by setting smaller ones in the right direction.

Is it achievable?

• Can you see, touch, taste, smell and hear what it is like to have your goal? ‘I would like a new house, better job and more money’ is just wishing. Specify, in fine detail, exactly what the goal will be like once it is achieved. In business planning, these specifics form the ‘key result indicators.’

Is it specific?

• Set a specific date for when the goal is to be achieved, otherwise it may be forever in the future and not make its way to the present moment.

Is it timed?



Learning activity 1.3: Satisfaction circle

Draw a spider graph of your life at the moment. This is your ‘satisfaction circle’ and will help you identify some areas for goal setting. Where the lines meet is 0 and the outside is 10. Place a dot on each line to represent a score from 0 to 10, and then join the dots together to form a spider’s web.

You may wish to add other lines to the graph, such as study or sport. The areas where your spider’s web is closest to the middle are areas in which you might set some goals:

Learning activity 1.4: Goal statements

Look back on your satisfaction circle and brainstorm some goal statements below. Make sure they meet the criteria for goal-setting as on pages 9 – 10:

Short-term goals (next three months):

At work:

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10 Spirit

10 Achievements

10 Finances

10 Friends

10 Close Relationships

10 Work

10 H lth

10 Fitness



Away from work:

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Medium-term goals (three–twelve months):

At work:

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Away from work:

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Long-term goals (more than twelve months):

At work:

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Away from work:

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Resources

You cannot 'do' a goal. Instead you must acquire the things that enable it to happen. Resources are the things that need to be in place to enable a goal outcome to be achieved. They can be:

Personal resources:

strength

courage

self belief

determination

skill

knowledge

qualifications.

Physical resources:

tools

equipment

vehicle

computer

phone

any object that helped – from a pencil to a bus.

Financial resources:

all sources of funding.

Human resources:

all the people who helped in some way.

Learning activity 1.5: Resources

Recall a time when you performed well at a task. Reflect on what happened by working through the following questions:

a. What was the task you performed well?

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b. Write one or more words to describe how you felt?

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c. What were the important resources in your success?

Personal resources:

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Physical resources:

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Financial resources:

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Human resources:

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Learning activity 1.6: Resources for work goals

Look back over the goal statements you prepared on page 9. Identify the resources you think you will need for each goal:

Short-term work goal

Identify your goal.

Set a time frame for achieving your goal.

List the resources you will need to achieve the goal.



Medium-term work goal

Identify your goal.



Long-term work goal

Identify your goal.



Organisational goals

You must take into account the values and the goals of your organisation when you establish your personal work goals.

The traditional model of company goal-setting starts at the top, with executive management deciding the future course of the company. To help steer the company in the desired direction the management establishes a corporate strategy. This strategy establishes the principles on which the company will proceed. These principles take the form of: a set of values, a vision statement and a mission statement.

Corporate values: each organisation has a set of values which describes the way it wants to do business. It states what the company holds important and establishes the behaviour it expects from its workers. The values statement identifies the territory in which the company operates and provides a road-map for workers if they are unsure of what the company stands for.

Vision statement: this document sets out what the company wants to achieve. It is a simple yet powerful statement of the company’s intentions and is designed to immediately identify its goals to the workers, the customer and the public. It is a small paragraph that provides a positive image of the future. A well written vision statement is both memorable, inspirational and meant to be durable over time.



Mission statement: this is a statement of how the company’s vision is to be implemented. It describes a set of specific behaviours that set the company’s standards in the areas of:

customer service

employee relations

products and services

reliability and quality control

profitability and shareholder responsibility.

These statements form the backbone of the company’s operations. They send a clear message to staff, customers, shareholders and the community as to the aims and aspirations of the organisation. Good managers will ensure that all their workers are aware of the corporate strategy and their personal role in the process.

Learning activity 1.7: Corporate strategy

Identify and read an organisation’s goals (your own, your trainers, another) by accessing the documents listed above.

Provide some thoughts on what you discover:

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Organisational plans

Planning is simply the formal documentation of the goal setting process. Once the direction and goals of a company have been established a set of plans is prepared. Plans are constantly monitored to ensure that changes in the operating environment are responded to effectively and efficiently.

Business plans: organisations of every size are required to have a business plan. The business plan outlines the strategies required to achieve the company’s vision and mission. In some older traditional industries, the business plan may have a strategic outlook of several years. In other organisations, the planning process can change rapidly in response to changing business conditions and technologies. Cole (2010) identifies four key areas of business plan development:

1. Who are we? It is important to include all employees in the development of the company’s vision and mission.

2. Where are we now? This involves a detailed analysis of products, services, employees, customers and competitors.

3. Where do we want to be? The business plan establishes goals and objectives that include measurable outcomes and key indicators of success.

4. How will we get there? What are the actions and strategies that are required to achieve the desired outcomes?



The business plan is a tool that provides strategies for bridging the gap between the company’s current situation and its vision of where it wants to be.

Learning activity 1.8: Business plans

Find an organisation’s business plan (your own, your trainer’s, or another). What are some of the strategies it outlines for achieving the organisation’s vision and mission statements?

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Operational plans: each section manager is responsible for contributing to the overall business plan. Operational plans address the specific projects that will contribute to the overall outcomes. They are specific e.g. to expand the customer car park. They have a shorter and specified time frame e.g. by 31st October. They clearly identify who has responsibility for each action.

In operational planning, think: how, when, why, what, who and where. Operational plans will also clearly specify the financial, human and physical resources that are required for each project, contributing to budgeting and supply planning elsewhere in the organisation.

Ethical plans: commercial companies aim to make money, service agencies aim to help people and change agencies aim for things to be done differently. These are called the ‘bottom lines’.

However, focussing solely on the bottom line can stop us from seeing the larger picture. No company operates in a vacuum; we are all a part of a bigger corporate, social and physical environment. Organisations are becoming increasingly aware of their role as a corporate citizen. Business planning now takes in account a wide range of factors including:

1. Social: how does the company engage the local and wider community as a corporate citizen? Do they give back to the community in some way?

2. Cultural: do the company’s operations take into account the cultural heritage of the area it interacts with? Does it have a management plan that considers all stakeholders in the project?



3. Ethical: is the company upholding the ethical expectations and standards of the community? Will its operations inflict any harm on another person?

4. Environmental: will the company cause harm to the environment? Is there a plan for sustainable use of resources; waste and pollution management and site restoration?

5. Legal: does the company’s project meet the requirements of governing legislation and organisational standards?

Learning activity 1.9: Ethical planning

Search the internet for a company that strongly promotes wider community values within its planning strategies. Note down what you find:

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Briefly describe how the company meets its obligations to the following planning considerations:

Social:

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Cultural:

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Ethical:

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Environmental:

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Legal:

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Planning and people

The key resource in any business plan is the human resource. No amount of money and physical resources will achieve the company vision without people. It is critical to the overall outcome that employees are managed well and cared for responsibly. To do this, each company establishes a set of policies and procedures and ensures that employees are aware of their individual responsibilities and accountabilities.

Policies: a variety of policies are developed and monitored. These include:

conditions of employment including the industrial award and job security

recruitment, training and career development

health safety and welfare

equal opportunity, affirmative action and anti-harassment

promotion, transfer and retirement terms

discipline and grievance

worker consultation.



Procedures: the number of individual company procedures can be extensive and cover areas such as:

operational guidelines

storage and use of equipment

managing and sharing information

communication systems and protocols

staff selection and placement

implementation of governing legislation

o occupational health and safety

o equal opportunity

o cultural heritage

o environmental protection

o physical and sexual harassment.

Learning activity 1.10: Policies and procedures

Identify and summarise two policies and two procedures that play a key role in helping you to manage your priorities and professional development.

Employee responsibilities and accountabilities

Cole (2010) provides the following definitions:

Responsibility: the obligation that an employee has to management to do the job that has been assigned.

Accountability: being held answerable for the work for which you are responsible.

In other words, an employee is hired by a company to:

1. Do a job.

2. Ensure the job’s output meets standards.

A bridge builder is responsible for making the bridge and accountable for the quality of the finished product.

To assist employees to fulfil these obligations, governments and organisations issue supportive documents. These include:

industry awards

codes of conduct for industries and individuals

position descriptions

performance appraisals

personal development plans.



Learning activity 1.11: Responsibility and accountability

Describe how your personal goal setting reflects the responsibilities and accountabilities of your job role. Refer to the following documents:

Industry award:

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Code/s of conduct:

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Position descriptions:

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Performance appraisal:

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Personal development plan:

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Measuring personal performance

Frontline managers work in a variety of work conditions and contexts and need to measure their personal performance across these settings when establishing their work goals.

Once performance in varying settings is measured, areas for attention can be identified, and goals set that enable managers to be organised, focussed and skilled so that they can maintain their performance across the settings in which they work.

There are two questions that relate to the measuring of your personal performance:

1. How effective am I? Effectiveness is commonly referred to as ‘doing the right things’. Ask yourself throughout the day: ‘Is the task I am doing right now the very best thing that I could be doing?’

2. How efficient am I? Efficiency is referred to as ‘doing things right’. It involves getting the greatest outcome from the least amount of energy.

A well-established and simple way to analyse your personal performance in any work context is called a personal SWOT analysis. Many managers use this tool to determine the effectiveness and competitiveness of their company, yet neglect its value in analysing people and their performance.

Personal SWOT analysis

Success in any endeavour involves maximising the use of your talents and minimising the effect of any limitations. A SWOT analysis is a useful technique that helps you to identify your strengths and weaknesses. It also analyses the opportunities and threats that arise from them. Identifying your strengths can help you discover unseen opportunities, whilst managing your weaknesses can help to reduce any threats to your personal development.

The SWOT analysis is a simple yet powerful tool, best approached with an open mind and the use of expansive thinking and brainstorming. You may even get family, friends and colleagues to contribute ideas.

How to use the tool

To perform a personal SWOT analysis, print off the personal SWOT worksheet in appendix 1 of this Student Workbook. Brainstorm some ideas from each of the areas below. Be as objective as you can.

Strengths

what advantages do you have: skills, qualifications, experience, networks?

what do you do really well?

what personal resources can you access?

what do others see as your strengths?

which of your achievements are you most proud of?

what are your core values?



Weaknesses

what tasks do you usually avoid?

what do others see as your weaknesses?

do you have the required education and skills training?

what are your negative work habits?

do you have personality traits that hold you back?

Opportunities

what new technology can help you?

is your industry growing?

do you have a network of strategic contacts?

what trends do you see in your company?

is there a need in your company or industry that no one is filling?

Threats

what obstacles do you currently face at work?

are any of your colleagues competing with you for projects or roles?

is your job (or the demand for the things you do) changing?

does changing technology threaten your position?

could any of your weaknesses lead to threats?

Performing this analysis can provide crucial information. It can point out what needs to be done and put perceived flaws into perspective. Look at your strengths to see if these can open up any opportunities. Then consider your weaknesses and what opportunities you could open up by reducing or eliminating them.

Learning activity 1.12: Personal SWOT

Use chart paper and crayons to complete a poster-sized personal SWOT analysis. Use plenty of colours and draw illustrations, particularly of your strengths. Summarise the outcome of this exercise:



Section summary

You should now understand how to define a set of clear goals that take in to account a wide range of work and personal considerations. You should also be able to measure your personal performance and identify opportunities for personal development.

Further reading

Cole, K. 2010, Management: Theory and Practice, 4th Ed, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Robbins, S, Bergman R, Stagg I, and Coulter M. 2008, Management, 5th Ed, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Robbins, S, Millett, B, Cacioppe, R, and Waters-Marsh T. 2008, Organisational Behaviour: Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand, 5th Ed, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Section checklist

Before you proceed to the next section, make sure that you are able to:

serve as a positive role model in the workplace through personal work planning and organisation

ensure personal work goals, plans and activities reflect the organisation’s plans, and own responsibilities and accountabilities

measure and maintain personal performance in varying work conditions, work contexts and contingencies.

Student Workbook Section 2 – Set and Meet Work Priorities


Section 2 – Set and Meet Work Priorities Frontline mangers need to develop a range of strategies to help them effectively prioritise work tasks and maintain a healthy work/life balance.

Modern trends in management are moving towards increased flexibility. Organisations adopting flexible management practices, such as flexible work hours, are discovering that happy staff are productive staff.

The scenario below demonstrates how left field flexible management techniques have helped a business thrive.

Scenario: the seven day weekend and Ricardo Semler

Can you imagine a company that allows you to:

set your own days, hours and place of work

negotiate your own salary

hire and fire your own boss

choose which projects you will work on

lie down in a hammock if you feel tired?

In this company there are:

no business plans

no organisational charts

no mission statements

no standards, procedures or reports.

At the age of 21, Ricardo Semler took over the reins of his father’s traditionally-run, Brazilian manufacturing business, SEMCO, in 1980. Semler believed there was a better way to run a workplace. He threw out the procedures manual and went on to create one of the most controversial management styles in the history of business. Semler gave his employees the freedom to blend their work life and personal life with enthusiasm and creativity.

Semler challenges us to think of better ways to do our job. Given an open mind to job design and some research into modern technology, most managers can move towards a more flexible approach to work and life.1

1 Wikipedia, 2010, ‘Ricardo Semler’, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ricardo_Semler>.

Section 2 – Set and Meet Work Priorities Student Workbook


Learning activity 2.1: The seven day weekend

Use the internet to research other companies that promote unconventional approaches to job-design and workplace culture. Write some dot-points on what you discover. Space is provided on the next page.

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take initiative to prioritise and facilitate competing demands to achieve personal, team and organisational goals and objectives

use technology efficiently and effectively to manage work priorities and commitments

maintain appropriate work-life balance, and ensure stress is effectively managed and health is attended to.



Prioritising competing demands

Life in a medieval village

Imagine waking up in your medieval cottage and thinking ‘what’s on today?’ The answer probably included:

eat breakfast

grow some crops

have lunch

catch some fish

eat dinner

go to bed.

Life in a modern village

Think of the possible answers to the same question in modern life:

eat breakfast

chair weekly team meeting

have lunch

take part in a teleconference

eat dinner

go to bed.

Modern life is fast, exciting and full of options that did not exist even 20 years ago. Our medieval friend probably had no thought of ever leaving the village. Today you can access almost unlimited information from your desk, instantly communicate with people and businesses worldwide and buy and sell products while flying from one continent to another.

The choices you have now are almost endless. Even choosing what breakfast cereal to buy at the supermarket can be challenging, given the row upon row of different products staring back at you from the shelves. How do you make decisions when faced with a mind-boggling array of choices?

There is no doubt we are stronger and healthier and live longer than our medieval ancestors, yet many believe we are less healthy at the mental, emotional and spiritual levels.

Develop a personal strategy

One of the key challenges of our modern world is to develop a personal strategy for dealing with choices. This strategy must involve you taking the initiative and having a sound method to enable you to control the process. You need to be the dog, not the dog’s tail!

In the management literature there are a hundreds of formalised processes for prioritising, decision-making, action planning and so on. One of the more useful strategies is called the urgent-important matrix:



urgent not urgent

impo

rtan

t 1 -- DO NOW

emergencies, complaints and crisis issues

demands from superiors or customers

planned tasks or project work now due

meetings and appointments

reports and other submissions

staff issues or needs

problem resolution, fire-fighting, fixes.

2 -- PLAN TO DO

planning, preparation, scheduling

research, investigation, designing, testing

networking relationship building

thinking, creating, modelling, designing

systems and process development

anticipation and prevention.

not i

mpo

rtan

t

3 -- REJECT AND EXPLAIN

trivial requests from others

apparent emergencies

ad-hoc interruptions and distractions

misunderstandings appearing as complaints

pointless routines or activities

accumulated unresolved trivia

boss's whims or tantrums.

4 -- RESIST AND CEASE

'comfort' activities, computer games, net surfing, excessive cigarette breaks

chat, gossip, social communications

daydreaming, doodling, over-long breaks

reading nonsense or irrelevant material

embellishment and over-production.

Learning activity 2.2: The urgent-important matrix

In your job, estimate how much time you spend in each category

1. Urgent-important: DO NOW ……….%

2. Not urgent-important: PLAN TO DO ……….%

3. Urgent-not important: REJECT AND EXPLAIN ……….%

4. Not urgent- not important: RESIST AND CEASE ……….%

Total 100 %



Sort your daily work activities into the four categories:

1. Urgent-important: Do now

2. Not urgent-important: Plan to do

3. Urgent-not important: Reject and explain

4. Not urgent- not important: Resist and cease

Concentrate on results, not on being busy

The stages of action in the urgent-important matrix are in the reverse order of the numbers:

1. Start with group 4. Take immediate action to eliminate unproductive behaviours from your day. These activities have no positive outcomes and are de-motivating.

2. Move on the group 3. Where possible, reject these activities immediately and explain why you cannot do these tasks. Negotiate with the originator to find another way of achieving the outcome.

3. The activities in group 2 are important yet often overlooked. They include strategic thinking, planning and deciding the direction of future projects. Break large tasks down into sensible stages and plan timeframes for each stage.

4. Having cleared the deck you can now focus on group 1. These tasks need doing now. Prioritise activities according to their urgency. Create to-do lists and action plans and direct your energy to task completion. Have as few ‘half-done’ tasks as possible.



Scheduling work

Now that you have a clear idea of what to discard and what to work on, it is time to organise a schedule that concentrates on achieving your overall work goals. Sometimes it is hard to know when to start, especially when deciding where to focus effort and resources. An interesting approach to resource allocation is the Pareto principle.

Pareto principle

The Pareto principle is also known as the 80-20 rule. It suggests that 80% of output is produced by 20% of input. It can be applied to many aspects of business; for example, 80% of income comes from 20% of customers. From the perspective of personal organisation, it provides the comforting thought that:

80% of outcomes can be achieved in 20% of our time.

How can you organise your day to have 20% of its available time allocated to the achievement of quality outcomes?

1. Find your best two hours. Decide when you are at your best in any day. Some people are early birds and might function best first thing in the morning. Others might have their strongest energy at mid-morning or in the evening. Work out your best two hours.

2. Make an appointment with yourself. Put yourself into your dairy for your best two hours each day. Try to keep this non-negotiable.

3. Eliminate interruptions. Have a ‘closed-door’ policy for these two hours. Make it clear that you are unavailable during this time.

4. Complete the urgent-important items. The urgent important items must be done. It makes sense for you to get the most important tasks done during the productive ‘20 %’ time slot.

Learning activity 2.3: The Pareto principle

Think about how the 80-20 rule affects areas of your work life. What 20% of issues take up 80% of your energy? (Think about staff, customers, interruptions, returned products etc.).

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Measuring performance

Time log: Keeping an accurate record of completed tasks, even for one week, is an effective way of measuring how well you are achieving your outcomes.

Learning activity 2.4: Urgent/important time log

An example of a time log is set out below. For each half hour, write down what activity you performed, then place a tick in columns 3 and 4 if the task was urgent and/or important:

Time Activity Urgent Important

7.30

8.00

etc

For one week, fill out the time log (a template is at appendix 2 of this Student Workbook), work out the percentages below, and then compare the results to your estimates on page 26:

How much time do you spend in each category

1. Urgent-important: DO NOW ……….%

2. Not urgent-important: PLAN TO DO ……….%

3. Urgent-not important: REJECT AND EXPLAIN ……….%

4. Not urgent- not important: RESIST AND CEASE ……….%

Total 100 %

Reflection: looking back over your week’s work, brainstorm some ideas that might help you to organise your time in a more productive manner:

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The scenario below illustrates how Tamara, a manager experiencing difficulties, measures her performance across her work, prioritises her competing demands and implements strategies to help her achieve her personal, team and organisational goals and objectives.

Scenario: Tamara prioritises her workload

Tamara works for a cosmetics company managing their new home-based sales program. The program is very popular and Tamara is struggling with the workload. The volume of competing demands she is juggling mean that she is constantly being distracted from the task in hand.

After referring to her network for support, Tamara decides to measure her performance across her work, to help her identify means to manage her workload and maintain her performance.

Tamara keeps a diary of her work life and categorises the tasks she undertakes using an urgent/important matrix. She make a number of discoveries:

many of the demands for her time that she is experiencing are ‘urgent-not important’

the volume of ‘urgent’ tasks increases in the late morning and early afternoon

she regularly has to cancel and reschedule her team meetings, which are supposed to be on Fridays at 1pm

she can never find uninterrupted time to complete ‘not urgent-important’ tasks like her paperwork, plan and develop schedules.

Tamara decides to implement a few simple changes to her work practices:

she feels that she is a ‘morning person’, so she decides to come into work an hour earlier and dedicate that time to completing her ‘not urgent-important’ paperwork, planning and scheduling tasks

she identifies common ‘urgent-not important’ distractions, and plans to reject them, offer explanations and negotiate other ways of achieving them

she reschedules her team meetings for Tuesdays at 4pm, when her workload is normally reduced.

Managing work priorities and commitments

Business practices are changing at the fastest rate in history because of the impact of technology, and especially computers and the internet. As a manager, you will gain a huge advantage if you are able stay current with the latest technologies on offer and are prepared to embrace and adapt to change.

In the last 15 years, almost every aspect of business has been revolutionised by technologies that have speeded up, improved efficiency and increased options.



These enable users to more efficiently and effectively manage their work priorities and commitments:

communication

networking

advertising

scheduling

research

word processing

accounting

data management

payroll

banking

training

etc.

Scenario: technology in the workplace

Alexis manages the warehouse for an organisation that buys and sells electrical components. The business is rapidly expanding and the warehouse has a constant workload.

A large consignment is coming in from a supplier this morning, which will need to be checked and stacked before orders are packed and dispatched this afternoon.

When the consignment arrives, Alexis asks two of his team to open the boxes and check the contents and then use the bar-coding machine to scan the order, automatically adding it to the stock-list database.

Alexis’ Blackberry sounds. He’s received an email from one of the sales staff. Her client in Auckland has just received an order and is claiming that they have only received 1000 LEDs but had ordered and been invoiced for 10,000. Alexis sets a reminder in his Outlook calendar to investigate the claim this afternoon. He is too busy to do it now; he has a teleconference scheduled with the managing director.

The scenario illustrates how a range of technologies have been integrated into every aspect of the business. Alexis and his team work in an area in which you might not expect to find much reliance on technology and computers, but as you can see, they play a vital role in managing priorities and commitments.

Some of the technologies most widely used to efficiently and effectively manage work priorities and commitments include:

1. Email: ‘electronic mail’ allows users to instantly send and receive messages and attach digital files (documents, photos, receipts, invoices, resumes, adverts, payslips, etc), between individuals, groups, organisations and mailing lists.

2. Electronic diaries/calendars/Outlook: these tools enable users to keep diaries and set automatic reminders and maintain contact lists.

Outlook is an application developed by Microsoft that comes as standard with their Windows operating system. It is widely used in business and comprises an email tool, an address book and a calendar.

3. Facebook/Bebo/MySpace: these are all different ‘social networking sites’. You create a ‘profile’ in which you enter details and files: photos, images, sound files, video streaming clips, etc.



Other users can then search and find your profile and ask to join your ‘friends list’, and you can search and find theirs, so that networks are created. You can update your profile as often as you like, enabling your network to keep current on your latest activities.

Profiles can be created for individuals, interest groups, organisations, clubs, etc. As an organisation, having a profile on social networking sites enables you to expand you network globally to those you don’t know as those with an interest find your profile.

4. Personal digital assistants (PDAs): Blackberries/smartphones/i-Phones: these are mobile phones with internet capacity and personal organisers. As well as making and receiving phone calls, you can access the internet and your email, organise your schedule, set automatic reminders in your calendar, maintain an address book, etc.

5. Blogs/wikis/chat rooms: these are web pages on which you and others who have similar interests or goals can collaborate and share information and digital files.

6. Skype/web conferencing: these tools (with the addition of a webcam, microphone and speakers), enable you to use the internet to speak to and see others in ‘real-time’. They enable meetings to be conducted between parties in several different locations, without the need for travel.

7. Instant messenger/MSN: these are tools that enable you to send and receive messages instantly between computers. These are like email, but you are instantly alerted when you receive a message, and they tend to be used for shorter and more informal messaging.

8. Twitter: this tool enables you to create a site and write short text updates so that others (either everyone, or, a restricted list decided by you) can read about what you’re up to.

9. YouTube: this website ‘hosts’ video streaming clips. You can post clips for others to view and search and find clips posted by others. There are a huge number of clips on this site covering a wide range of topics.

Learning activity 2.5: Technology hunt

Identify one of the above technologies that you are least familiar with. Use the internet to find out how it could help you to manage your work priorities and commitments.

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Most organisations are completely reliant on technologies to conduct their business, and while technologies can assist organisations to manage their work priorities and commitments more efficiently, they can also create problems:

incompatible technologies

internet speed/bandwidth

faulty hardware

faulty software

inappropriate communication

staff skills

maintaining currency

security issues

confidentiality

network restrictions

file sizes

etc.

Learning activity 2.6: Technology pitfalls

Scenarios:

Shawnie has just arrived at a client’s business to give an important presentation. She has created a PowerPoint using Office 2000 to demonstrate her company’s new product, but when she tries to play it on the client’s laptop, it is not compatible with their version of Office 2007. She is unable to give the presentation and client chooses another supplier.

Michael has had several complaints made about him. He sent an email to his mailing list without blind carbon copying them. Now everyone’s email address has been captured by a phishing company and they are receiving huge quantities of spam mail. He had never heard of blind carbon copying.

Sapphire is running a training course in a customer’s business which relies on the learners’ ability to perform ‘Google’ searches. Unfortunately, they only have dial-up internet and it is taking too long for webpages to load, the course has to be abandoned and everyone feels frustrated.

Omar is getting angry that his customer hasn’t paid their bill. He saved their invoice as a .pdf file and attached it to an email. He has re-sent it and the customer is still claiming he can’t read the invoice. Omar doesn’t understand that his customer needs a .pdf reader on their computer to view it.

Identify solutions that you as a manager could implement in your workplace to avoid each situation occurring again, in the future.

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Learning activity 2.7: Personal reflection

Technology is completely integrated into almost all workplaces.

1. Can you think of an example of when a technology has helped you, or someone you know, to better manage your work priorities and commitments?

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2. Can you think of an example of when a technology has created an issue that has resulted in work priorities and commitments not being met?

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Maintain appropriate work-life balance

A juggler’s guide to life

You may have heard this famous quote from Bryan Dyson, CEO of Coca Cola Enterprises from 1959-1994:

‘Imagine life as a game in which you are juggling five balls in the air. You name them -- work, family, health, friends, and spirit -- and you're keeping all of these in the air. You will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls -- family, health, friends, and spirit are made of glass. If you drop one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged, or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life.2’

In addition to the number of decisions that you make in any one day is the number of requests and demands made upon you. A few years ago you could leave the office for some peace of mind, confident that no-one could ring you or find you for a while. Now there is nowhere to hide. Even if you turn your mobile phone off, the other person simply leaves a message or sends an email, adding to the pile of tasks that you just took a break from.

With the abundance of PDAs, mobile phones, emails and other technologies, we often have little escape from the constant stream of intrusions. People expect us to be available at a moment’s notice. For many, the technologies that were meant to make our lives easier have only made us more stressed.

There is a famous old story about life balance called:

Rocks in the bucket

Start with a bucket, enough big rocks to fill it, some small stones, some sand and water. The only way they can all fit in together is by prioritising:

start with the big rocks

put the small stones in around the big rocks

add the sand and give it a shake

pour the water in. Now it's full.

The message is clear. To find a balance in your life, start with the big things and get them done well. Then you can move on to the smaller issues, making sure you don’t dismiss them as trivial. Finally, remember that there is an essential element that surrounds all that we do. Many people see the rocks and sand as the tasks that we need to complete and the water as the values, beliefs and attitudes with which we approach the tasks.

2 Dyson, B., 2009, ‘Life’, Life rocks, viewed June 2010, <http://amoalsale.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/life-by-bryan-dyson/>.



Learning activity 2.8: Rocks in the bucket

Brainstorm the components of your work-life balance.

Big rocks:

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Small rocks:

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Sand:

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Water:

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Optimum stress levels

It is normal to be stressed. The best athletes and performers attempt to find ‘the zone’, an optimum stress level that produces the peak performance.

The problems arise when you work beyond the optimum level for extended periods of time. You can then find your performance diminishing quite rapidly; for some it is like going over a waterfall. As well as diminished performance you can suffer all sorts of physical, emotional and psychological reactions.

In your car you have a temperature gauge that shows its optimum operating temperature. If you notice your car’s temperature is too high, you pull over and find out what the problem is. To keep driving is to risk serious and possibly permanent damage to the car’s engine. Yet how often do we push our health into the ‘red zone’ and just keep on driving?

How do you know when you are operating at too high a temperature? Unlike your car there is no gauge to let you know when you are in the red zone.

Learning activity 2.9: The balance of positive and negative stress

Watch the video ‘BSBWOR501A: The balance of positive and negative stress’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

What are the leadership trainers from O2C trying to achieve with their business?

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Performance

Stress

Optimum level

Diminished performance



What skills can staff learn from visiting O2C?

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Indicators of stress

Julie Sorensen has identified 20 mental and 20 physical indicators of stress overload.3

Learning activity 2.10: Indicators of stress

Complete the stress indicators worksheet at appendix 3 of this Student Workbook.

How many mental indicators did you score? ………../20

How many physical indicators did you score? ………../20

At what temperature do you operate on any given work day? (circle)

cool warm medium hot very hot boiling

Parkinson’s Law

Cyril Northcote Parkinson (1909 -- 1993) < was a British historian and author of some sixty books. In 1955 he wrote a satirical essay on the inevitable expansion of bureaucracy which included the ‘law’, for which he is most remembered, Parkinson’s Law. Incidentally, as early as the 1930s, Parkinson had successfully predicted that the Royal Navy would eventually have more admirals than ships.4

Parkinson’s Law states that ‘work expands so as to fill the time available for its completion’.

3 Sorenson, J., 2008, ‘Twenty indicators of stress’, Ezine articles, viewed June 2010, < http://ezinearticles.com/?Twenty-Indicators-of-Stress&id=1238500>. 4 Wikipedia, 2010, ‘C. Northcote Parkinson’, Wikipedia, viewed June 2010, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ C._Northcote_Parkinson>.

Add more

Expands

Time

Work



Many workers, especially managers and self-employed business owners find that ‘there are not enough hours in the week’. The strategy they choose to overcome this problem is to add some more of their own. For example, if you find that you still have a full in-tray at the end of the day, it is tempting to stay back and work an extra hour. You may decide to work through your lunch break. Then you find yourself taking work home.

Before you know it, you may have added fifteen or more unpaid hours to your week. Here is the rub: Parkinson’s Law dictates that the work will also expand and you will still have a hefty in-tray at the end of the week. It can come as a shock to find that you are working sixty hours a week and, seemingly, not achieving any more than when you worked forty hours a week.

‘If you are too busy, the strategy to add more hours to your day rarely works’

Learning activity 2.11: Parkinson’s Law

To what extent have you been affected by Parkinson’s Law in the past? What has been the outcome of adding more hours to a busy week?

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Strategies for dealing with stress overload.

Many of us realise when ‘something is wrong’, yet are not sure what to do. ‘It will probably go away on its own’ is a common strategy thought. You feel the symptoms, lack the energy and behaviours start breaking down. The first step to a successful outcome is to admit when things are off track and commit to doing something about it. It is far easier when you decide to be the one to do something. It’s a simpler process to influence the direction of a bus when you are the driver, rather than a passenger. A bus driver can:

check the gauges for optimum engine performance

scan ahead to catch sight of hazards

avoid bumps and potholes

stop when necessary

take the bus to places that he or she chooses

enjoy the feeling of being in control.



What can you do to reduce stress?

The basics eat well

drink plenty of fresh water

get quality sleep (see <http://helpguide.org/life/sleep_tips.htm>)

exercise daily

moderate your intake of alcohol and caffeine

get lots of fresh air.

Sounds easy! In fact our medieval friend would wonder what all the fuss is about. Modern life, however, has placed so many demands on us that it takes discipline and commitment to integrate these behaviours into our daily regime. Many companies are now realising the benefits of a healthy workforce and are introducing these basic health concepts into their corporate culture.

Learning activity 2.12: Healthy workplaces

Use the web to search for information on companies that promote a healthy workplace in their core values. Summarise your findings:

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Stress management tips

1. Get organised: review the urgent-important section of this Workbook.

2. Arrive ten minutes early: get yourself off to a relaxed start.

3. Have regular breaks: there is a lot of research that indicates a daily regime of 50 minutes on and 10 minutes off is more productive than full hours worked end to end. See <http://successbeginstoday.org/wordpress/category/50-minutes/>

4. Break tasks down into smaller manageable steps.



5. Tidy up a bit: having things filed and looking like they are in order can provide motivation. The Chinese have a saying: ‘if business is bad, paint the front fence’. If nothing else you it can make you feel better.

6. Seek out cheerful people: seriousness can become a habit. It is better to find some fun and laughter in each day.

7. Build allies: having people you can trust and rely on to share the load can make a difference when the heat is on.

The ability to control stress in the workplace can make a huge difference to your productivity and quality of life. Your emotional state can be contagious, and the way you handle stress can affect the quality of your relationships. The better you are at handling pressure, the more you'll positively affect those around you.

Section summary

You should now understand how to develop strategies to deal the sheer number of competing demands and decisions that you encounter on a daily basis.

Further reading

Cole, K. 2010, Management: Theory and Practice, 4th Ed, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Robbins, S, Bergman R, Stagg I, and Coulter M. 2008, Management, 5th Ed, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Robbins, S, Millett, B, Cacioppe, R, and Waters-Marsh T. 2008, Organisational Behaviour: Leading and Managing in Australia and New Zealand, 5th Ed, Prentice Hall, Pearson Publishing, Australia.

Section checklist


take initiative to prioritise and facilitate competing demands to achieve personal, team and organisational goals and objectives

use technology efficiently and effectively to manage work priorities and commitments

maintain appropriate work-life balance, and ensure stress is effectively managed and health is attended to.

Section 3 – Develop and Maintain Professional Competence Student Workbook


Section 3 – Develop and Maintain Professional Competence

As a manager working in modern day dynamic workplaces, you should be constantly looking for ways to develop professionally so that you keep yourself organised, focussed and skilled. As such, it is important that you are able to identify, evaluate and select appropriate professional development opportunities.

Maintaining a personal development plan will help you to ensure that you are addressing your personal work goals while ensuring they are consistent with your organisation’s needs, and the skills and knowledge needed to perform in your role.

Knowledge of development opportunities and how to assess yourself against competency standards will enable you to select appropriate professional development.

Scenario: Shunji’s personal development

Shunji works for a mining company and has just been asked to lead a team of community liaison officers who are going to be negotiating with several Indigenous communities.

Shunji refers to his position description, the organisation’s operational plans and the relevant legislation in order to find out more about the work he is going to be undertaking. He reads about his team’s two current identified priorities:

securing local workers, so that his company meets their 20% quota for Indigenous staff, which is mandatory requirement under Indigenous employment policy

engaging cultural heritage officers who can operate within the parameters of the cultural heritage act and the national guidelines for writing cultural heritage plans, to identify areas of special significance that might be disturbed by the company’s activities.

As Shunji is new and inexperienced in his role, he decides to add to his personal development plan, so that he can identify and prioritise his new professional development needs.

Shunji consults with colleagues and his new team to help him prioritise his needs. He decides his immediate priorities are to increase his cultural awareness in order to communicate effectively and build working relationships and networks with Indigenous community members, and to build his personal knowledge of the policies and legislation that will guide his work.

Shunji finds an accredited cultural awareness course, run by a local training organisation and accesses the unit of competency on which it is based. He decides it is appropriate for his needs. He reads the policies and legislation himself and introduces an action learning program, so that he can meet with his team regularly to reflect on their work.

Student Workbook Section 3 – Develop and Maintain Professional Competence




assess personal knowledge and skills against competency standards to determine developments needs, priorities and plans

seek feedback from employers, clients and colleagues and use this information to identify and develop ways to improve competence

identify, evaluate, select and use development opportunities suitable to personal learning style/s to develop competence

participate in networks to enhance personal knowledge, skills and work relationships

identify and develop new skills to achieve and maintain a competitive edge.

Determining development needs

All professionals should develop and maintain personal development plans (PDPs) to help them manage and plan their short-, medium- and long-term employment.

The first step in personal development planning is to assess your personal knowledge and skills and determine your professional development needs and priorities.

Competency standards are nationally used benchmarks for identifying the level of skills and knowledge that you need to perform in a role. You should use competency standards to ensure that the professional development you plan to undertake is suited to your ability levels and the requirements of the role.

Personal development planning

A PDP should be a living document that you take personal responsibility for maintaining over the course of your working life.

In many organisations and institutions, having a PDP is a mandatory requirement for employees and members. Maintaining a PDP ensures that evidence of professional development is kept and can be used to demonstrate adherence to the principles of continuous improvement.

Templates to help you develop and maintain a PDP can be found in a variety of places: your organisation, the internet, etc. A sample template is included in Appendix 4 of this workbook.



Learning activity 3.1: PDP templates

Source a range of PDP templates by referring to appendix 4, your organisation’s documents and the internet. Review and compare these; is there one that would be most suitable for you?

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Personal development planning should be actively undertaken, so that you engage in the process. Day dreaming leads nowhere, so the first thing to do when creating a PDP is to organise a folder which you can write and include documents into.

Your folder will help you maintain a record through your career of your professional development: training, workshops, conferences, projects undertaken, experience, personal reflections, etc.

Short-term planning

Short-term planning is undertaken by determining your current skills and knowledge and the requirements of your role. This is done by accessing your position description, personal documents (previous performance appraisals, etc) and by collecting feedback from employees, colleagues and clients. This allows you to reflect on your ability in the various aspects of your role and identify your strengths and weaknesses.

You should also access other organisational documents and legislation that is relevant for your position. This will enable you to identify the mandatory training and registration requirements of your role, for example: workplace health and safety, first aide, blue card, etc. If you need to undertake mandatory training, it should be your first priority.



Medium-/long-term planning

Medium-/long-term planning is undertaken by measuring your current skills and knowledge against the skills and knowledge required to work in positions that you aspire to work in. This is done by accessing organisational documents and position descriptions of organisations and positions you aspire to work in, for instance: mission statements, corporate strategies, position descriptions. This will enable you plan to fill in the gaps and build the required skills and knowledge.

If you have difficulty identifying positions that you aspire to work in, you can seek professional advice from a careers councillor. It is a huge advantage to have goals to work towards; they help keep you focused and expand your horizons.

Learning activity 3.2: Long-term career goals

Lots of people have general long-term wish lists: I’d like to earn lots of money, I want to retire by the time I’m 50, I want to be able to work until I’m 80, I want to make a difference to my community, etc; but no clear plan to achieve them.

If you don’t currently have long-term career goals, you can begin to identify them by making a wish list and then seeking support to identify realistic ways you can achieve them.

Do you currently have long-term career goals?

if so, are they realistic? Have you planned to develop your skills and knowledge so you can achieve them?

if not, what is on you wish list? Where can you access support to help you identify realistic goals?

Competency based training

Nationally accredited training in Australia is founded on ‘competency standards’. ‘Industry skills councils’ are bodies that develop competency standards for their particular industry. They collaborate with leaders in their industry to identify skills and knowledge that workers in various positions need to be competent in their roles. These are then put into ‘training packages’.

Training packages are documents that outline the range of training options that are available for an industry sector. For example, the course you are undertaking aligns to competency standards in the ‘business services’ training package. There are a wide range of other training packages too, covering industry sectors such as: automotive manufacturing, music, the Australian meat industry, etc.

In training packages the competency standards are presented as ‘units of competency’. Each unit describes the competency standards (skills and knowledge) that a person must have in order to complete a particular work function. For example, the course you currently are undertaking is based on the unit of competency: BSBWOR501A Manage personal work priorities and professional development.

Qualifications are made up from combinations of units of competency. For example, if you are undertaking a ‘Diploma of Management’, you need to complete five ‘core’ units and three ‘elective’ units. The course you are currently undertaking is based on a unit that is one of the core units in the Diploma of Management. It is also a part of other similar qualifications too.



‘Accredited courses’ are qualifications that are nationally accredited, but that don’t fit directly within any of the training packages. They can be made up from units of competency from training packages and new units of competency that are accredited specially.

Determining your competency standards

The ‘Australian qualifications framework’ (AQF) is the framework that defines the levels of nationally recognised education and training in Australia: from certificate I up to doctorate/PhD. Units of competency are written to align with levels in the AQF. For example, the unit on which this course is based is written at the ‘diploma’ level.

Levels in the AQF are split across three sectors: school based, vocational education and training and higher education. For example, the diploma for which this course intended is in the vocational education and training sector.

Each level in the AQF provides a guide about the complexity of skill or knowledge that a competent learner at that level should be able to demonstrate. You should be familiar with the AQF as you choose training, to ensure it is at suitable level for your ability and for the role that you are working in, or, are aiming to work in.

Learning activity 3.3: AQF investigation

Access the AQF handbook from: <http://www.aqf.edu.au/Portals/0/Documents/Handbook/AQF_Handbook_1-12.pdf>.

Read about the ‘characteristics’ and ‘distinguishing features’ of learning outcomes at different qualification levels, to gain an understanding of the expectations of learners at each.

The national training information system (NTIS) maintains an online database of all nationally accredited training in Australia. You can access training packages and individual units of competency through their site: <http://www.ntis.gov.au>.

You can also access training packages and units of competency directly from the industry skills councils.

Learning activity 3.4: NTIS search

Access the NTIS website at: <http://www.ntis.gov.au> and search for the unit of competency which this course is based: BSBWOR501A Manage personal work priorities and professional development.

1. Read the ‘performance criteria’ for this unit. These are the individual skills and knowledge that you will have to demonstrate in order to be marked ‘competent’ in this course.

2. Use NTIS to browse a training package that interests you and is relevant to your current position. Identify a unit of competency that you think is the appropriate level for you and justify you decision.



Determining development needs and priorities

The following points summarise the steps you need to take to complete your PDP:

get a folder to develop and maintain your PDP in

refer to your position description and other organisational documents and legislation to identify the skills and knowledge and mandatory training needed to perform in your current role

gather feedback from employees, colleagues and clients on your personal work performance and review previous performance appraisals and training undertaken to identify own strengths and weaknesses

review organisational documents and position descriptions of jobs you aspire to work in

review training packages and units of competency, using your knowledge of the AQF, to identify appropriate training that matches your ability and the needs of your current role and future aspirations.

The scenario below illustrates how Karen ties it all together.

Scenario: Karen’s PDP

Karen runs a PCYC and manages a team of four permanent and twelve temporary staff. She has always kept a PDP and it has helped her plan her personal development, from a traineeship at the PCYC several years ago, to now being manager.

Karen has decided to update her PDP. This will allow her to identify her immediate short-term goals, and refocus on her long-term goal of becoming a trainer for new childcare workers.

Karen begins by reviewing her organisation’s policies and procedures. She realises her blue card for working with children has expired, so she makes her first priority applying for a new one. Having a current card is a mandatory requirement for her role.

Karen then reviews her position description. It reminds her that she is responsible for advertising for, interviewing and appointing new staff. This is something she identifies as a current weakness. She calls a local training provider and asks their advice. They inform her they can arrange for her to undertake a short course, based on the unit of competency: BSBHRM402A recruit, select and induct staff. Karen uses NTIS to check the unit and thinks it looks perfect, so she adds it to her PDP as a development activity.

In order to address her longer term goals, Karen seeks career advice from a professional. He advises her that in order to move into training, she will have to undertake a certificate IV in training and assessment. Karen uses NTIS to check the unit and adds it to her PDP as a development activity that she will look to undertake in the future.



Making the most of feedback

Feedback from employees, clients and colleagues should be sought to help you to plan appropriate professional development to improve competence. It is a valuable source of information about your personal, team and organisational strengths and weaknesses.

Not all feedback that you receive will be accurate. On some occasions you may be given feedback that you disagree with and decide to disregard. On others you will feel feedback is valid and should be responded to. It is important to review all feedback received, and use your personal judgement to decide its worth.

Some of the most useful feedback you will receive, and some of the hardest for you to accept, will be negative feedback. If you receive negative feedback, even in the form of a complaint or criticism, you should try to view it in a positive manner: as a chance to improve. Try and keep an open mind, do not become defensive or disregard it until you have had time to review it objectively.

There are a range of means you can employ to gather feedback on your performance.

1. Meetings are part of most organisations’ standard operating procedure. They provide a forum in which the needs of your team and organisation, and the strengths and weaknesses of your own performance, can be reflected on and identified.

2. Compliments and complaints: it is useful to review any compliments and/or complaints you receive. These can help identify areas in which you need to improve, particularly if you have received more than one complaint about the same issue.

3. Reviewing work using an ‘action based learning program’ is a great way to implement continuous improvement in your work and that of your team. After every project or major activity you undertake, a session should be conducted in which you review your decision making, draw up conclusions and make amendments to your plan for the next time. If this process is continually undertaken, it allows you to review and improve you work constantly.

4. Surveys can be particularly useful for gathering feedback from employees on issues and for obtaining relevant feedback from clients/customers.

5. Performance appraisals are part of most organisations’ standard operating procedure. They provide an opportunity to collaborate with senior management, reflect on your strengths and weaknesses and plan professional development to reach your short- and long-term career goals.

Unfortunately, the procedure is badly conducted in many organisations. Some of the most common poor practices include:

a. Staff see no action taken as a result of their appraisals and grow to feel it is a worthless exercise.

b. Staff feel like they are being criticised unfairly and judged because their weaknesses are identified, but not addressed.



Learning activity 3.5: Your workplace

What experiences have you had of the performance appraisal procedure in the past?

1. In your experience has it been a positive or negative experience?

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2. What changes could you implement to the way it is conducted in your current workplace?

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Peer review and 360° feedback

A popular trend in performance appraisals is to undertake ‘peer reviews’. This involves gathering feedback on the personal performance of individuals within a team from other team members, against a number of key criteria.

A 360° feedback review goes even further. In this process, a wide range of relevant parties are asked to contribute to an individual’s performance appraisal:

the individual

team members

clients

suppliers

customers

other colleagues

These parties are asked for anonymous contributions against a range of criteria, on which the individual who is the centre of the review can reflect.

As with all performance appraisals, the 360O feedback review process needs careful management so that the individual being appraised doesn’t feel as though it is just an opportunity for others to criticise them. The process should be framed in terms of providing the individual with the chance to see how their performance is perceived by others and areas for improvement.



In the scenario below you can see how Jasmina’s human resources manager implements a 360° feedback review procedure.

Scenario: Jasmina’s 360O feedback review

Jasmina is a project manager at a busy multimedia company. Her team have several large and complex projects that they are working on with local, national and international clients.

Jasmina’s performance appraisal is coming up and her human resources manager, Bob, conducts a 360O feedback review of Jasmina’s performance.

Bob asks the following parties to complete a survey about Jasmina’s performance: the organisation’s chief executive officer, three of Jasmina’s team, a member of the organisation’s sales staff, a member of their administration staff, two contacts with clients she is coordinating projects for and an instructional designer and editor who work for the company as subcontractors.

Bob customises the organisation’s existing survey, so that it is appropriate for someone at Jasmina’s frontline management level. Questions on the survey are designed to determine Jasmina’s performance in demonstrating interpersonal skills, customer focus, innovation, leadership, team support, developing relationships/networks, meeting deadlines, and quality assurance.

Bob briefs Jasmina on the process, being careful to stress that it is a common procedure within the organisation and that it is not going to result in her being fired or demoted. He assures her that its purpose is just so that she can gain insight into her strengths and weaknesses.

After a week, Bob arranges a meeting with Jasmina. Together, they review the feedback he has collected, identify three areas for Jasmina to target and discuss ways they can be improved.

Learning activity 3.6: 360° feedback review

Research the 360O feedback review process.

1. Write a summary, identifying the strengths of Bob’s 360O feedback review process.

2. Write a summary about the ways in which Bob needs to improve the 360O feedback review process, to ensure it is properly implemented and that all parties engage with, and benefit from it.

Learning your way

Different professional development opportunities are suited to different people. For example:

some people like working in groups, while others prefer independent study

some people learn best when they are working from books while others prefer engaging in discussions.



You should reflect on the learning styles that suit you when you are planning professional development.

Learning activity 3.7: Your learning experiences

Can you think of a time when you have had a learning experience that was very profound?

1. What were the main activities undertaken during the learning experience: reading, writing, group discussion, investigation, watching, participating?

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2. Were you learning individually or as part of a group?

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3. What was the environment like in which the learning experience occurred: classroom, workplace, other?

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4. To what extent do you think that the factors above made the experience profound?

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Several academics have identified and created models that differentiate ways in which individuals learn. These include the following influential theories:

Kolb’s model

Honey and Mumford’s model

Anthony Gregorc's model

Fleming's VARK model.



It is valuable to consider your personal learning style within the context of these frameworks, before planning professional development. This will help you to identify, evaluate and select professional development opportunities that are suited to your personal learning style.

Learning activity 3.8: Personal learning styles

You are going to investigate one of the models above and prepare a presentation for the rest of the group.

Divide the models above (and any others that people know about and think are relevant) amongst your group.

1. Research your model, starting here at the Wikipedia page ‘learning styles’.

2. Prepare a short (five to ten minute) summary of the model to present to the rest of the group.

3. Prepare a one page flier about your model to circulate to other group members.

4. After reviewing the presentations, consider: what are my personal learning styles?

Most people have access to a wide range of different professional development opportunities, which may include:

accredited training

informal training

mentoring

coaching

conferences

online

action learning

workshops

reading

research

experiences.

Learning activity 3.9: Professional development opportunities

What experience have you had of the above professional development opportunities?

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Which have been positive and which have been negative?

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Do your positive experiences match those that you would expect to suit someone with your identified learning style?

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Networking

As a frontline manager, building and maintaining networks and relationships is crucial to the success of your role.

Networks are the range of contacts that you have, in which both parties refer to each other for support. As a manager, a wide ranging network will enable you to increase the benefits that you bring to your team and organisation.

The phrase: ‘it’s not what you know, it’s who you know’ is popular and is especially pertinent when it comes to work. If you are able to refer to experts for help in your work, it will save you time and energy and result in a high quality outcome.



Informal networks

Informal networks are those that you build through conversations, social events, meetings and group activities. These can be a great source of current information. People talk about what is new; there is nothing staler than yesterday’s news. Maintaining an informal network is a valuable tool in your personal development. They are an excellent source of ideas, encouragement and support.

Formal networks

Formal networks are those relationships that are more structured and documented. As a manager, you may be a member of a range of bodies, including industry associations, skills councils and chambers of commerce. You may attend formal meetings and conferences and discuss current and future strategic directions of the organisation and the industry. Some of the benefits of formal networks include developing strategic alliances, access to resources, contacts, technical assistance, business and funding opportunities.

e-Networks

Maintaining networks through internet technology is known as ‘e-networking’. If you had used terms like ‘Facebook’ and ‘Twitter’ two years ago, many people would have given you funny looks, but these networking tools are now fully integrated into people’s personal and work lives.

We are in the middle of a ‘global technology revolution’? This technology is being used by more and more people daily to develop and maintain networks; locally, nationally and globally. If your communication network does not include the use of at least some of the latest technology, you risk being left behind. ‘Life in 2015 will be revolutionised by the growing effect of multidisciplinary technology across all dimensions of life: social, economic, political, and personal’.5

Generation Y live and breathe the latest advances in technology. The older ones of us are watching from an ever-increasing distance, often scratching our heads and saying ‘what are they doing?’ Gen Y is using technological language and tools that most of us have never heard before, let alone understand.

It is not just the young people who are skipping ahead. China is experiencing a revolution in information and communications technology (ICT). It has surpassed the USA as the world’s largest telephone user, and the number of Chinese internet users is now the largest in the world. China is also the world’s biggest supplier of ICT products6.

To maintain a sense of currency and to keep yourself in the game, it is vital that your take every opportunity to develop your technological skills. As a manager, you will gain an edge if you are able stay current with the latest ICT tools on offer and use them to form strategic networks.

5 Rand, 2008, ‘The global technology revolution’, Rand, viewed June 2010, <http://www.rand.org/pubs/monograph_reports/MR1307/MR1307.sum.html#top>. 6 Zhang, X. and Zheng, Y., 2009, China’s information and communications technology revolution, Rountledge, Oxford.



Learning activity 3.10: Your networks

Give yourself a score out of ten for how well you use the following networks. Give reasons for your score:

Informal networks ……../10. Reason:

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Formal networks ……../10. Reason:

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e-Networks ……../10. Reason:

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Personal development plan

Most managers have an understanding of using networks to enhance business opportunities; an enormous amount of business takes place at the sporting club. However, networks can also be used to contribute towards your personal development plan (PDP).

Career-minded people

Seek out people you know in the fields of education and career development. National training packages and units of competency are constantly being upgraded and new ones introduced. Having a close contact in this field may well give you the edge when choosing your next career move. Find out what is ‘moving and shaking’ in the training world.

From a formal perspective there are numerous sources of career information. You can visit local training organisations to discuss a possible training plan. The internet opens up training opportunities on a global scale. It pays to know what you are after or you may get lost in cyberspace. It is important to link your



searches to the training needs identified in your PDP. Make sure the horse is in front of the cart.

All training organisations have a webpage with search facilities. You can also expand your options by joining online forums in the fields of education and training. Many industry groups also provide online forums, for example:

Australian women in agriculture <http://www.awia.org.au/plugins/html/online.htm>

offshore oil and gas: <http://www.hsronline.com.au/>

youth performing arts: <http://www.lowdown.net.au/About>

There are many career development sites online. Many of these have free aptitude tests. Some examples are:

Australian government: career advice Australia <http://www.careeradviceaustralia.gov.au/>.

Australian government: career information <http://www.australia.gov.au/topics/employment-and-workplace/career-information>.

Victorian government: career advice and development <http://www.vic.gov.au/employment-workplace/career-development/career-advice-development.html>.

Industry skills councils

There are eleven industry skills councils (ISCs) in Australia. For a full list of, and links to ISC’s, go to <http://www.isc.org.au>. The role of the ISCs is to identify and respond to the skilling needs of their industries. The industry skills council is your representative, advocating on your behalf. It is the network for your industry. The website of your ISC is a great place to start to become involved in the latest developments in your field of business. An example is shown below:



Learning activity 3.11: Industry skills councils

Go to the website <http://www.isc.org.au> and find the link to your ISC. Spend some time getting to know the information and services your ISC provides. Summarise what you find:

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The competitive edge

So far you have looked identifying the skills need for your current and near-future role. Have you thought about what jobs will be like, and what you will be doing ten years from now and beyond?

The future of jobs

Irvine and Thatcher have analysed the predictions and trends affecting the work, worker and workplace of the future and ask the question ‘Are you ready?’ Their findings make for some sobering thoughts about the future and your role in it:7

Work

The nature of work will remain but the tools required to do the job will be very different. ‘Technology is likely to be the biggest change that you will need to accommodate.’

we will move from a knowledge economy to a design economy

knowledge will be more shared and less contained

upcoming technologies that will affect our work:

o virtual and interactive

o nanotechnology

o new materials

o automated processes.

global – competition will continue to come from areas never considered before

speed will be critical – to be faster and better than competitors.

The worker Irvine and Thatcher predict the emergence of a new generation the ‘i Generation’. Expect:

the workforce to become more fluid

the arrival of the multi-worker (multi-cultural, multi-linguistic, multi-skilled, multi-faith)

higher worker turnover, workers will have more options for alternate employment

workers will choose location as a priority driver

workers’ choices will focus on clean, safe and green workplaces

workers will value the opportunity of the ‘brain exchange’.

7 Irvine, T. and Thatcher, M., 2010, ‘Work, worker, workplace of the future – Are you ready?’, docstoc, viewed June 2010, <http://www.docstoc.com/docs/11452400/%D0%B0%D0%B0-wwwfuture2020-Work-Worker-Workplace-of-the-Future---Are-You> .



The workplace

The work environment of the future will change to meet the needs of the emerging generation of new worker. Existing workers will need strong leaders to guide them through this change process. The workplace of the future will include:

movement out of urban centres

work from anywhere

new energy types and new sources for existing types

new materials

green principles: ‘air, land, water and power are all going to be your newest clients’

sustainability as commonplace

carbon credit schemes.

Learning activity 3.12: The future of jobs

Conduct some online research on the future direction of your industry. How do you see your own industry’s work, worker and workplace developing over the next ten years:

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Learning activity 3.13: Gap analysis

Brainstorm some thoughts on the following questions relating to your level of skill:

1. Where am I now?

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2. Where do I want to be?

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3. How will I get there?

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Using the worksheet at appendix 5 of this Student Workbook, conduct a gap analysis of the skills you will require over the next ten years and include these in your PDP.

Reflection

Finally, take some time to reflect on your personal goals that you have developed for the next ten years. Imagine what your world will; look, sound, feel, smell and taste like. In fact, a picture tells a thousand words, so they say. Use the final activity to draw a picture of your world – don’t hold back!

Learning activity 3.14: My world in ten years

Grab some chart paper, some coloured crayons and draw a picture of your world in ten years time. Get family, friends and especially children to help you. Include as many aspects of your life as you can think of. Have fun.



Section summary

You should now understand how to competency standards, feedback and networks to create a personal development plan.

Further reading

Mind tools: personal SWAT analysis <http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMC_05_1.htm>

Goal setting <http://www.usu.edu/arc/idea_sheets/pdf/goal_setting.pdf>.

Section checklist


assess personal knowledge and skills against competency standards to determine developments needs, priorities and plans

seek feedback from employers, clients and colleagues and use this information to identify and develop ways to improve competence

identify, evaluate, select and use development opportunities suitable to personal learning style/s to develop competence

participate in networks to enhance personal knowledge, skills and work relationships

identify and develop new skills to achieve and maintain a competitive edge.

Glossary Student Workbook


Glossary

Term Definition

Accredited Certified.

Bandwidth Your internet capacity or speed.

Blind carbon copying

Or ‘bcc’. This when you send an email to multiple recipients so that their email addresses are hidden and can’t be viewed by other recipients.

Coaching The process whereby a worker is monitored and supported in all aspects of their role.

Dynamic Able to adapt to change. Forward thinking and powerful.

Legislation Documents that detail a particular law: the workplace health and safety act (1995), for example.

Mentoring The process whereby a worker is monitored and supported in a few key areas of their role.

Mind-boggling Intellectually or emotionally overwhelming, hard to comprehend, confusing, surprising, or shocking.

Performance appraisal/ review

A standard procedure in most businesses where workers meet with their supervisors to identify strengths and weaknesses and means to develop.

Personal SWOT analysis

SWOT = Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats.

Phishing The fraudulent capturing of another’s personal details via the internet.

Position descriptions

Documents created by organisations that describe the parameters of their worker’s tasks and duties in their roles.

Spam mail Unsolicited emails, usually advertising.

Student Workbook Appendices


Appendices Appendix 1 – Personal SWOT analysis worksheet

Strengths Weaknesses

What advantages do you have)?

What do you do really well?

What personal resources can you access?

What do others see as your strengths?

What tasks do you usually avoid?

What do others see as your weaknesses?

What are your negative work habits?

Do you have unhelpful personality traits?

Opportunities Threats

What new technology can help you?

Do you have a network of contacts?

What trends do you see emerging?

Is there a need that no one is filling?

What obstacles do you currently face?

Is anyone competing with you?

Is your job changing?

Does changing technology threaten you

Appendices Student Workbook


Appendix 2 – Time log

An example of a time log is set out below. For each half hour, write down what activity you performed, then place a tick in columns 3 and 4 if the task was urgent and/or important:

Time Activity Urgent Important

7.30

8.00

8.30

9.00

9.30

10.00

10.30

11.00

11.30

12.00

12.30

1.00

1.30

2.00

2.30

3.00

3.30

4.00

4.30

5.00

5.30

6.00



Appendix 3 – Indicators of stress

Place a tick next to each indicator that you observe in yourself on a regular basis.

Mental Indicators Tick Physical Indicators Tick

Problems with memory

Inability to concentrate

Poor judgment

Racing thoughts

Moodiness

Agitation

Irritability

Sense of isolation/loneliness

Constant worrying

Viewing everything as negative

Restlessness

Quick temper

Sense of being overwhelmed

General unhappiness

Loss of objectivity

Always being fearful

Anxiousness

Indecisiveness

Inability to relax

Feeling on edge

Headache

Muscle tension

Nausea

Insomnia

Acne breakout

Diarrhoea or constipation

Loss of sex drive

Frequently being sick

Dizziness

Weight gain or loss

Change in appetite

Procrastination and neglect

Alcohol, tobacco, or drug use

Nail biting or pacing

Excessive spending

Tooth grinding

Excessive exercise

Overreactions

Sleeping too much or too little

Starting fights

Total Total



Appendix 4 – Personal development plan

Name

Date of development Date to be reviewed

Discussed with mentor/colleague

Name:

Discussed with manager

Name:

Goals

Timeframe My personal goals are: learning objective/s and action/s required

These should relate to objectives in the individual performance plan.

My professional goals are:

These should relate to objectives to maintain current competence in the job role or future career paths.

Next 12 months

This will depend on type of activity priority/importance of undertaking it



Timeframe My personal goals are: learning objective/s and action/s required

These should relate to objectives in the individual performance plan.

My professional goals are:

These should relate to objectives to maintain current competence in the job role or future career paths.

Next 5 years

This will depend on type of activity priority/importance of undertaking it



Strengths and Weaknesses

Personal Professional

Required knowledge/skills

Consider:

required competencies

job description

service plans and frameworks

Strengths

Consider:

your views

recent tests/appraisals

other people’s views



Personal Professional

Gaps/barriers/obstacles and solutions

gaps in knowledge/skills

changes to systems/services requiring new skills

what will help you to progress in your role?



Professional Development Activities

Identified gap Development activity Details

(provider, location, etc.)

Objective of development

activity Timeframe Cost

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.



Appendix 5 – Ten-year gap analysis

Required skills Strategies for skill acquisition



Appendix 6 – Answers to select learning activities

Learning activity 2.9: The balance of positive and negative stress

Watch the video ‘BSBWOR501A: The balance of positive and negative stress’ on IBSA’s YouTube channel at <http://www.youtube.com/ibsachannel>.

What are the leadership trainers from O2C trying to achieve with their business?

They are trying to minimise stress in the workplace and help work teams and company staff to build resilience for managing stress, and let teams experience positive stress with team building.

What skills can staff learn from visiting O2C?

Positive and negative stress, managing personal stress, building resilience to personal stress, cognitive, emotional and physical skills, trust and skills to handle changes in a fast growing business

Date post:	03-Dec-2015
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