2. Developing a Personal Development Plan
Developing Business Practice – 302LON
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Unit: 10 Knowledgecast: 1

3. Module Learning Outcomes
In this Knowledgecast, we will:
Analyse a range of learning styles and the factors that influence successful study
Discuss the value of reflection and self-evaluation as a learner
Prepare a Personal Development Plan to address areas in need of development throughout your programme of study
In this Knowledgecast, we will cover 3 key areas:
Review of the key academic and business skills that influence your success
Revisit the role of reflection and self-awareness
Focus on Development Planning as your End of Module Assessment

4. Module Overview
Unit 1
Developing as a learner 2
Working independently and with others 3
Academic writing 4
Critical thinking, reading and taking notes 5
Using data in your studies 6
Business and management research 7
Career development strategies 8
Effective self marketing tools 9
Successful work experience 10
Personal Development Planning
The modules is built around 3 Elements critical to supporting students make the transition into CULC and for success in their first career step:
Lifelong learning skills
Skills for successful 21st century careers
Your Personal Development Planning

5. Lifelong Learning Why focus on lifelong learning now?
“Lifelong, lifewide, voluntary, and self-motivated pursuit of knowledge for either personal or professional reasons”
Lifelong learning enhances:
social inclusion and active citizenship
personal development
competitiveness and employability.
Continually adapting to change by acquiring:
New skills
New ways of thinking
Source:
UK Department of Education (2000)
Source:
EU Commission (2006)
Why focus on lifelong learning now?
Managing your transition into higher education
Lifelong learning refers to more than just your experience in formal education environments
Reflects the need to continually develop and grow your knowledge and skills, and be aware of what you need to learn and how you could learn
What does the term lifelong learning mean?
One definition offered by UK Department of Education (2000) “White Paper on Adult Education”
What is the business case for lifelong learning?
One perspective from the EU Commission Paper (2006) “Adult learning: it is never too late to learn”
Scientific and technological innovation and change has had a profound effect on learning needs and styles.
Learning can no longer be divided into a place and time to acquire knowledge (school) and a place and time to apply the knowledge acquired (the workplace).
How do I do ‘lifelong learning?
You need a clear focus on what you are trying to achieve, why and how
To achieve this, you need well developed learning skills

6. Your Core Skills
Cognitive skills: critical thinking, analysis and synthesis
Problem solving and decision making: using quantitative and qualitative data
Research and investigative skills: as part of individual and team assignments
Information and communications technology skills: using a range of business applications
Numeracy and quantitative skills: data analysis, interpretation and extrapolation
Communication skills: oral and written English, using a range of media
Interpersonal skills: talking, listening and negotiation
Team-working skills: leadership, team-building, influencing others
Personal management skills: time management and planning, motivating yourself, using initiative
Learning skills: reflective, adaptive and collaborative
Self-awareness: sensitivity and openness to others who are different to you, emotional intelligence
Key Skills as defined by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education. These apply at all levels: UK
European
International
Why are they important to you now?
Clear framework of transferable skills that you need to develop to be successful in your studies
Framework of skills that employers are looking for you to demonstrate evidence of high level of skill and tangible results
Framework to review your own performance and for lifelong learning
They may all be obvious skills however when did you last consider yourself in these terms, and what standard or benchmark are you setting yourself?
This approach mirrors the common practice in most global organisations in identifying the core skills (often referred to as competency frameworks) that are required by the workforce to achieve their strategies, and fit within the context of the culture of the . In organisations, this framework would be used for:
- Identifying the person specification for a role
Creating the recruitment process to select the right people to achieve the role and fit into the organisation’s culture
Identifying development needs
Increasingly common, used as part of the overall reward framework to determine financial and career outcomes
This framework will be used in later on in the module to
complete your own self-evaluation and
identify some of your initial development needs.
Source:

7. How Do People Learn?
Kolb’s Learning Cycle
Experience
Reflection
Theorise
Experiment
There are many different schools of thought on how individuals learn. One approach looks at what motivates us as human beings to learn – such as reward and punishment. Another approach considers the process of learning taking into account individual’s preferences and styles.
The model suggests that ideas and experience are a connected and integrated process. Learning:
Starts with an experience
That experience is reflected upon
We try to conceptualise what happened and formulate a theory or a set of predictions
We then test out our theory

8. Honey & Mumford Learning Styles
Activist
Reflector
Theorist
Pragmatist
How can I use this information?
Effective learners will be able to learn in all 4 styles
Identify your strengths or preferred learning style
Reflect on your past experiences of learning where learning was not successful
Identify opportunities to learn using each of the 4 styles
Honey and Mumford have developed a series of questionnaires to help individuals to identify:
their preferred learning style where they are more comfortable and most likely to focus their attention
identify which learning styles that are underused
plan their development to ensure that they are equipped to operate in all 4 styles
The questionnaire is also used in organisations as a teambuilding exercise to:
Develop an awareness of shared learning styles
Identify diversity in a team and the range of behaviours that can be observed in a team setting
Open discuss how different individuals experience working together. For example, how might an Activist feel about working directly with a Theorist?
Apply learning styles to using a team’s strengths and identifying where potential weaknesses may be in the make up of the team. For example, if a team has no member with a clear preference for Reflection, how might the team actively learn from experience and apply feedback to any future activities

9. Reflection: How do you do it?
Schedule sufficient time to reflect on your experiences
Being clear about what specific experience you are reflecting on
Choose a suitable method to record your reflections
Use the skill of ‘critical thinking’ to consider ideas and evidence
Be honest with yourself about your thoughts and your feelings
Be open to feedback
- There is still a lot of debate about the process of reflection.
- What we know is that universities, professional bodies and management/executive development programmes are all now focusing on this key transferable skill to equip individuals with the ability to learn through experience – a key lifelong learning skills
Let’s focus on Cameron’s (2009) approach to Reflection.
A simple and well structured approach
The key for anyone engaged in the process of ‘reflection’ is that they follow some simple guidelines
But it is equally important that you adapt the process to meet your own style of learning

10. Managing Your Studies
Forecasting & Planning
Organising
Commanding & Implementing
Coordinating
Controlling & Monitoring
‘…still recognised as relevant for the managers of today and tomorrow.’ Moorcroft (2000:8-10)
Cameron (2009) makes an analogy with Fayol’s 5 Elements of Management as the 5 key skills or stages a student needs to master to ensure successful achievement of their goals.
Why do you think Cameron suggests this particular model?:
Fayol was one of the first, and one the leading, thinkers about the concept of management
According to Fayol, management is about the effective and efficient use of resources
Resources need to be integrated so that there is a constant flow of activities
A manager needs to be flexible in their approach to meet the changing circumstances
Fayol’s model seems logical, consecutive stages
Describes a ‘project management’ style approach with a defined beginning and concludes (not with a definitive end) with constant monitoring and adjustment
We are going to use this model to think about an approach you can take to manage your studies from the establishing your goals through to reviewing your achievements and ongoing progress.
Based on Fayol’s 5 Elements of Management (1916)

11. Motivation – Achieving Your Goals
‘At present, goal-setting is one of the most influential theories of work motivation applicable to all cultures’. Hannagan (2005:363)
Clearly Defined
Challenging
Committed to
Receive Regular Feedback
Recognise Complexity
Motivation – a key skill for managers that relates to:
Motivating yourself
Motivating others
Taking action to address de-motivation by knowing your derailers
Goal Theory is more of a motivational technique rather than a theory.
People strive to achieve goals that will satisfy their emotions or desires.
Goals guide your actions and behaviours at work, your performance level and will lead to certain consequences or opportunity for feedback
The amount of effort used to achieve your goals is drawn from a combination of
goal difficulty
and your commitment to achieving the goal
To motivate a person, goals must take into consideration the degree to which each of the following exists:
Clearly defined goals which are specific
Moderately challenging but realistic. Goals which are too difficult/too easy will lead to stress and feeling of low motivation
A commitment to yourself to achieving your goals. One of the important factors here is that you have set the goals for yourself, or at least actively participated in setting your goals
Feedback is received (or sought) on the progress towards achieving your goal
Consideration of the complexity of the task.
If you follow these simple rules, your goal setting process will be much more successful and your overall performance will improve.
Link here:
Goal theory has been linked to a range of processes used in organisations to manage performance
Management By Objectives, and now more commonly seen in ‘Performance Management’ processes
Typical application here is setting and reviewing of objectives which are a combination of tangible targets and behaviours, linked to tailored development and training to support the individual to achieve the objectives
Based on Goal Theory (Locke, 1968)

12. 5 Factors for Successful Team Working
Clear and shared goals
Agreed ways of working
Effective communication
Support and cooperation
Regular review of progress
Clear and shared goals
Everyone needs to be working towards achieving the same goal
Team often use SMART objectives to clearly state what is to be achieved
Agreed ways of working
- Identifying the WHAT, WHERE, HOW AND WHEN for the group to achieve their goals
Ground Rules are often used to clarify the behaviours that are acceptable/not acceptable
Effective communication
Often supported by the Ground rules, teams need to communicate effectively to share needs, progress, dependencies, address issues and celebrate success/learn from failure
Support and cooperation
The ability to work flexibly to support each other to achieve a shared goal
Thinking back to our discussion on Emotional Intelligence, you need to be aware of your impact on others and how you build successful relationships with others
Regular review of progress
As we saw with Goal Theory, regular progress reviews with constructive feedback is important if the goal is to be achieved
Feedback should be sought by the leader from a range of sources (from within and outside the team) that focuses on both the strengths/what is working well and what needs to be improved
The most efficient teams are able to openly share constructive feedback and make adjustments as required, often referred to as ‘self-managed teams’

13. A Simple Communication Framework
Sender
Receiver
Message
Presentation
We respond to communication in two ways:
The content of the message
The presentation of the message
Once the message has been transmitted by the Sender, they have no control over the eventual meaning of the message as it is received by the Receiver. A message that is poorly communicated can lead to:
Confusion (the meaning or purpose is unclear)
Conflict (the meaning or purpose evokes a negative emotional reaction)
Avoidance (the meaning or purpose is disregarded)
We are going to be using this simple framework to explore the 4 key stages in any communication – written, verbal or non-verbal. By considering each of these stages carefully when planning any communication, you will maximise your control over both:
How the message is received
How the meaning is communicated
Further References:
You can find more detail about this model in Cameron (2009)

14. 4 Assessment Steps: No 4 – Plan the Time
Why Don’t All Students Succeed?
Ability To Pass:
Knowledge and Skills
Ability To Manage:
Time
Motivation
Self Confidence
Poor communication can prevent students from achieving the grades they expect to receive.
We also need to consider that factors that impact our ability to manage our studies:
Poor Time Management
Practice Fayol’s 5 elements of a good manager
Develop your Time Management skills now!
Get organised and use technology to help you
Identify your time stealers
Poor Motivation
Make changes as soon as you realise you are feeling that:
Effort does not lead to performance
Performance does not produce rewards
Goals are no longer clear and challenging
Feeling overwhelmed and drained of energy
Poor Self Confidence
1. In conversation with… yourself:
What are you telling yourself?
Is it positive or negative?
What are your feelings?
What can you learn from these feelings?
2. Turn negatives into positives
Use positive self-talk
Focus on positive actions
Re-word negative statements into positives
And remember positive self-talk is a powerful tool

15. Stages of Research
Identify Research Area
Formulate Research Questions
Create Research Design and Methodology
Write Research Proposal
Complete Literature Review
Collect and Analyse Data
Write Up Research Findings
In order for managers and leaders to make effective decisions, they need to rely on a broad range of information. In your studies, you will be learning and practicing the skills required to collect, interpret and present this type of critical business information. You can use these same skills in the workplace to influence and lead the decision making process.
When approaching a piece of research, there are a number of core stages that new researchers will be typically asked to complete in the design and delivery of their research findings.
It is important to flag:
It is easy to think of this as a linear process although the experience of completing research suggests that there can be many stages being revisited and amended throughout this process
This is a typical model however students need to make sure they understand the specific requirements of any piece of research set by a Tutor, and this can also vary between institutions
There can be many stumbling blocks along the way for a new researcher (and for the experienced) therefore keeping your Supervisor informed of your approach and your progress can be critical to help you move forward, without getting demotivated and disillusioned
Excellent planning & organising, time management and communication are key skills required for any researcher to demonstrate in order to meet the goals and requirements of the research
Keeping a reflective record of their experience of completing a piece of research is a critical tool to support the ongoing development of these business and management skills

16. Being a Reflexive Practitioner
‘An acknowledgement
of the implications
and significance of
a researcher’s choices
as designer, observer and writer.’
The aims of reflexivity include:
Examine your unconscious reactions to the research methodology
Explore the dynamic between the researcher and the researched
Understand the role of the researcher in the construction of knowledge
A key application of your skill of reflective thinking is to consider how the researcher interacts with each of the types of data and information in order to construct knowledge.
Review the tips:
Keep a log of your experience of designing, conducting and writing up of research in a learning journal
Review your observations throughout the duration of the research
Provide a summary of these key themes in your final research report
Consider the external and internal pressures that may have influenced your decisions through the duration of the research
Identify and explore measures that you can use to manage any bias in your behaviour and decisions

17. What are we going to cover next?
In our next Knowledgecast, we will look at:
Analyse a range of learning styles and the factors that influence successful study
Discuss the value of reflection and self-evaluation as a learner
Prepare a Personal Development Plan to address areas in need of development throughout your programme of study
In our next Knowledgecast in Unit 10, we will be exploring:
Review of the key academic and business skills that influence your positive thinking and develop your Growth Mindset
Using your self awareness data to help define your career goals
Using reflection to continue to develop your lifelong learning skills

18. Knowledgecast Summary
In this Knowledgecast, we have looked at:
Analyse a range of learning styles and the factors that influence successful study
Recognising the link between learning through experience and reflection as a key management skill
Discuss the value of reflection and self-evaluation as a learner
Reflection as a key academic and business skill to support deep learning
Prepare a Personal Development Plan to address areas in need of development throughout your programme of study
The use of skills frameworks to help identify and create your academic and lifelong learning plans

20. Seminar - Module Overview
1. Developing as a learner
10. Personal
Development Planning
2. Working independently
and with others
5. Using data in your
studies
6. Business and
management research
3. Academic writing
4. Critical thinking, reading
and taking notes
9. Successful work
experience
8. Effective
self marketing tools
7. Career development
strategies

21. Seminar: Group Teach-In
Student ‘Teach-Ins’ increase motivation to learn, promote deep learning and enhance self-esteem
(Wagner and Gansemer-Topf, 2005)
Choose a topic from this module
Prepare a 5 minute ‘teach-in’
Everyone actively participates
Recognise how your strengths have been used to produce your Teach-In
Be ready to run your session in our last Group Activity

22. Group Activity: Group Teach-In
Student ‘Teach-Ins’ increase motivation to learn, promote deep learning and enhance self-esteem
(Wagner and Gansemer-Topf, 2005)
Choose a topic from this module
Prepare a 5 minute ‘teach-in’
Everyone actively participates
Recognise how your strengths have been used to produce your Teach-In
Be ready to run your session in our last Group Activity