1. Personal and Professional development Plan
Sample Essay
Activities Done
Personal Development involves holistic advancement of various
attributes of an individual. There are several components involved in
this that ensure the holistic developments. This helps in the
achievement of social, emotional and mental maturity (DeCenzo &
Silhanek, 2002, p. 144). In order to enhance the holistic development of
a person, there are certain activities that can be undertaken towards
the promotion of efficient development. These activities should be
done continuously to ensure progressive growth of the individual. On
the other hand, a lot of expertise should also be involved in order to
develop the desirable characteristics that will result into object and
autonomous life decisions. Several organizations have adopted training
programs in an attempt to enhance individuals’ performance. These
programs are believed to enhance mental development. However, they
also involve various components that enhance the holistic development
of the people undergoing training (DeCenzo & Silhanek, 2002, p. 149).
At the places of work, training programs have been widely used
because they are designed to enhance professional development
professional advancement in various fields. If certain skills are lacking,
the program will be tailored to cover the gap that is experienced. As a
result of this, effectiveness and efficiency can be achieved in the
organization. The training programs will help in the achievement of
various short term goals. Initially, the achievement of certain
professional expertise is the desire of most professionals. This will be
attained through the training programs in the required areas. In the
same way, organizations always have the desire for increasing the
quality of the production and also competitively positioned in the

2. market. Since the training programs enhance expertise, the output of
the production processes will be considerable increased. Besides, the
quality will also be enhanced, thus, the achievement of the objectives
and goals of the organization.
The training activities will ensure the achievement of independent
actions. Critical thinking of the employees will be developed through
effective and holistic training programs. Personal development will
impact objective reasoning individuals. People should objectively give
judgments to different occurrences and eliminate biasness.
Consequently, the autonomy of the mind should be of critical
consideration in the development. Individuals should be able to reach
logical decisions without manipulation. This can only be attained
through training activities that promote autonomous development. A
wide range of challenges will therefore be avoided because of the
autonomous development and objective thinking. At first, wrong
deductions that can impact adverse consequences will be avoided since
every action and experience is firstly objectively analyzed before
arriving at conclusions. Through the interactions with different people,
there will be easy sharing of ideas that promote social appreciation.
Knowledge and skills learnt from these activities
To ensure that certain personality traits are developed, some aspects of
personal temperaments should be looked into in the process of
preparing a log sheet. One of those aspects is communication. When
handling issues that are related to communication, it is important to
understand that this aspect requires great effort since this area of
development is quite wide. For one to be able to communicate well
with others, he or she should first possess interpersonal intelligence
(DeCenzo & Silhanek, 2002, p. 152). This is an implication that before
projecting a message to the outside world or someone else, the issue of
importance requires one to understand them internally and know the
level to which their communication skills vary from the others and

3. analyze the effects of this on the people they associate with. This is
closely supported by the interpersonal intelligence element of
communication. Awareness of oneself will play a critical role in the
process of ensuring that an individual is aware of the emotional,
intellectual as well as the strengths and weaknesses of a person. The
development of interpersonal skills as a way of enhancing improved
communication will not only improve the way an individual handles the
issues presented to him or her but also increase the efficiency of the
projection of ideas and decisions that have to be delivered at one time
or another.
At a personal level, problem solving ability and intuitiveness in handling
various issues also form a key element in development. This means that
someone in a position of leadership or a normal employee or even in
the scenario of a family, on his or her daily activities and endeavors will
have to go through a few things which are a bit abnormal or prove to
be challenging in the process of accomplishing tasks as well as the
assigned duties. Because of this, intuitiveness and swiftness in the
process of creating solutions to problems is a skill that has proven to be
critical in any kind of environment. For an individual to be able to tackle
problems that he or she faces, there are a few skills and traits that
should be harmoniously inculcated and cultivated towards the
achievement of the common goal of managing to go through the
hurdle. One of such traits is patience, which allows one to use time and
observatory skills while viewing the problems from all perspectives. In
case it is a problem of conflict in the place of work or at a personal
level, it will be important for the individual to be patient while not only
listening to issues of concern by the different parties, but also analyzing
the seemingly small but important details of the situation at hand.
Taking the role of a mediator is today the greatest way of leading a
scenario of problem solving. Leadership comes in various ways
regardless of the position in the workplace stratification in terms of the
rank.

4. Adjustments needed for improved activities in future
Decision making is also an important aspect of development at personal
and professional level. It requires a comprehensive research on the
issue at hand (DeCenzo & Silhanek, 2002, p. 152). It also involves
extensive consultation and enquiries from various stakeholders or
people who may be affected by the decisions and its implications.
Therefore, there is need for hiring all round creative and critical
appraisals of the matter, situation and conflict. Good communication
skills, interpersonal intelligence, problem solving techniques and keen
observing eyes and other personal traits have proven to be effective in
all the situations of personal and professional development.
Process and activities required for the implementation of the
development plan
In order for the development plan to be achieved, certain activities that
constantly measure the periodical attainment against the original plans
should be undertake. This can be accomplished by adopting certain
strategies. The use of performance appraisal is essential in measuring
the achieved development (Sangster, 2000, p. 134). The method
involves the close comparison of the resulting performance against the
training programs. The method will help me in gauging my performance
results against the initial development plan. If the performance gives a
replication of the original development plan, it signifies success in the
adopted mechanisms. For example, in the case of original development
plan that is aimed at the achievement of skills in customer care
services, periodic appraisals will be conducted to help in measuring the
level of customers’ satisfaction. This will make sure that the desired
results are attained in certain durations of time.
Gap analysis will also be critical in the implementation of the
development plan. This involves the measurement of the gap that
exists between the required skills and the acquired skills with regards to

5. the development plan. Training programs and other mechanisms will be
conducted based on the existing gap. In the event of poor decision
making skills, the skills training programs that will be adopted will
mainly focus on decision making skills. Those existing expertise will not
be considered for the training procedures. In the case of
communication or customer care, training and continuous appraisal will
be done to ensure effectiveness. Some of these desired skills and traits
are more or less intrinsic, and result from an internal willingness and
effort to accomplish them. This implies that the decision making,
problem solving and the ability to always ensure a proper time
management routine require the use of personal plan in order to be
achieved. Therefore, it is more appropriate if it is cultivated through
consistent practice and training.
Methodology
Methods for implementing personal development plan
A wide range of methods were incorporated to ensure the attainment
of the original development plan. In an attempt to ensure the
achievement of professional skills in management, intern opportunities
played a critical role apart from the training programs. Through the
interns, I realized my areas of weakness and strengths that influenced
my professional quest. The programs offered me the platform for
enhancing my skills in various management positions. Besides, gap
analysis is easily undertaken during the internship as the expectations
of the market are efficiently determined by the programs undertaken
during that period (Throop & Castelluci, 2009, p. 72).
Critical reflection on personal progress towards personal
development plan goals
Certain models of operations have become instrumental in assessing
the progress made in the achievement of the initial development plans.

6. The SWOT analysis played a crucial role. By analyzing the weaknesses
and strengths, more efforts are made on the training programs to help
in improving the areas of weakness. The available opportunities also
significantly helped in the development of the possible mechanisms to
effectively achieve the required development plans. Favorable
opportunities provided platforms for improving personal and
professional skills.
An updated version of personal development plan and changes made
in the light of feedback and evaluation
Interaction with people from various cultural backgrounds and with
different mental perspectives on issues offered a platform for learning
and understanding how a number of these personal skills can be
attained, and also how they can be used in the professional field. The
ability to get ideas from people of various statuses in organizations and
customers at different levels, the methodology of continuous practice
and appraisal forums has played an important role in enhancing my
chance of getting to learn more intricate matters on dealing with
people. In the case of managers and leaders of organizations, it is
important to understand that the process requires all round reasoning
as well as practical and timely approach in handling the issues (Throop
& Castelluci, 2009, p. 76). Organizations or working environment
comprise of different people from various backgrounds, cultures and
personal goals and traits. These people have to work together in
harmony to make sure that the goals, missions and daily activities
bestowed on the workforce or organizations is achieved. It is not only
the role or personal initiative of the workforce on such scenarios, but
also the mandate of the leadership and management to impact
harmonious change towards attaining the goals and missions of the
organization. It is apparent that all people in the working or interaction
environment should see positive change at some point in course of
their work.

7. This is based on the established Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. After
obtaining the much needed basic needs in the professional area, it is
always good to make sure that through the actions and achievement of
such traits as decision making abilities, problem solving capabilities and
communication based skills, to rise to the helm of Maslow’s hierarchy
of needs in an effort to achieve full satisfaction in the personal and
professional field. Having learnt all these from the training and
disciplined practice as well as through the appraisal forums, the
development plan I have in place has made several strides towards
assisting me in accomplishing my goal (Throop & Castellucci, 2009, p.
78). The goals of enhancing communication skills can be seen in the
responses from the people that I constantly communicate with, either
through the application of technology in email and social media; verbal
or non-verbal communication techniques. The experiences gained from
extensive research practice on problems and solving them have
enhanced my ability to not only engage in positive handling of
problems but also effective decision making through intuitiveness.
Conclusion
The process of ensuring personal and professional development is
critical in the personal as well as professional levels of doing things and
interactions. It is through such plans and their assessment of progress
that one can come to a conclusion on whether there is actual progress
or need for progress. In my personal development plan, they key
objectives of choice were based on the aspects of time management,
customer care and relations, decision making, communication as well
as the problem solving and intuitive abilities. This is because, such
aspects of personal and professional development have the ability to
chart the way forward with regards to only relations with people, but
also the attainment of personal satisfaction in the place of work or
interaction. In my process of implementation, I have realized that the
best ways of achieving such goals are engaging in interactions with

8. different people at different forums, conducting extensive research,
learning from people and conducting continuous progressive practice.
Thus, I have been able to achieve a great deal of my goals and look
forward to developing more in my next level of study in preparation for
the competitive professional arena.
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9. References
DeCenzo, D. A., & Silhanek, B. (2002). Human relations: Personal and
professional development. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Sangster, C. (2000). Planning and organizing personal and professional
development. Aldershot, Hampshire, England: Gower.
Throop, R. K., & Castellucci, Marion B. (2009). Reaching your potential:
Personal and professional development. Boston, MA: Wadsworth
Cengage Learning.
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