Nisha Deepak STU22118

IBAM MASTER OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION

MODULE TUTOR NAME STUDENT NAME STUDENT NO ASSIGNMENT : : : : : Personality Skills Development Carl Gregory Nisha Deepak STU22118 Formative Assessment 24-01-2011

SUBMISSION DATE :

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118

TABLE OF CONTENTS
page no

1.0 Introduction
1.1 What

is Personal Development plan? 1.2 About myself

2.0 Diagnosis 2.1 SWOT

3 3 4 4 5,6 7 8

analysis 2.2 Skills Audit Template

3.0 Personal

Development table

4.0

Conclusion

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118

1.0 Introduction
This assignment seeks to prepare a Personal Development Plan. In order to proceed further it is necessary to understand What personal development plan is?

1.1

WHAT IS A PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN?

Personal Development planning has been described as ''a structured and supported process

undertaken by an individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement and to plan for their personal, educational and career development.''

1.2

ABOUT MYSELF
My first class on personal skills development (25/10/2010) was the day I realised the purpose

of my life. The activity of 'Bucket list' not only help me to set my goal but also weaved the path to attain my goals. It was in this class, I realised that my duties and responsibilities towards my course were immense and I needed to start from the scratch. I was actually puzzled and quiet stressed. Firstly because I have done Under Graduation in Arts completely different from MBA. Secondly the pattern of education in UK is completely different from my country. What made me to choose MBA? It was my passion towards the growth of myself and my career. To successfully complete MBA I will analyse the requirements of the targeted duties and responsibilities in relation to my inventory of skills including my strengths and weaknesses in relation to the requirements of my goals in mind for which I am willing to know my deficiencies in terms of skills. I will therefore have to make an action plan on how to correct my deficiencies and improve on my weaknesses to take advantage of my strengths in attaining MBA and quality of a person that I want to be as a result. To analyse the above statements a diagnosis is applied using SWOT Analysis and Skills Audit Template.

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118

2.0 Diagnosis 2.1 Swot Analysis

SWOT Analysis is an assessment of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. SWOT Analysis is used in the early stages of planning. It is also used in problem solving, decision making, or for making aware of the need for change. It can be used at a personal level when examining career path or determining possible career development. The given below is my personal SWOT Analysis

Strengths Hard worker Good communication skills Good listener Responsive Opportunities To engage others in providing feedback about their experience of me. To enhance my ability to manage the need to complete task quickly in order to be able to deliberate more carefully. To learn from others in similar roles to me.

Weaknesses Do not handle multiple immediately competing demands well Time pressure causes stress and can lead to emotional 'hijacking

Threats Time pressure which can derail my plan for self improvement because it catapults me back to my usual habits. The multitude of everyday demand which conspires against self reflection.

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118

2.2 Skills Audit Template

SKILL Organisation management and SKILL LEVEL Low High time Prioritising, dealing with 1 2 3 4 5 paperwork; interruptions; planning your day. and Ability to make decisions; 1 selecting suitable solutions; analysis of appropriateness. Leading teams; consulting 1 team members; task allocation; objective setting. Matching tasks to providing guidance advice; maintaining motivation and focus. staff; 1 and staff 2 3 4 5 TYPICAL DESCRIPTORS SPECIFIC COMMENTS Have to give more concentration Need more improve. Need to improve

Decision making problem solving Planning

Delegation

5 Have to maintain

Motivation

Applying motivational 1 techniques; understanding individual motives; making tasks challenging; encouraging creativity; providing team support; engendering trust and openness. Providing guidance; listening 1 skills; ability to draw out information; reinforcing behaviour using feedback; negotiating; planning goals and objectives. Understanding and 1 communicating organisational objectives; use of SMART objectives to achieve targets. Relating to others; building 1

5 Need to sustain

Coaching

5 Need to maintain

Target setting

5 Have to improve

Interpersonal skills

Need to

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118 rapport and positive relationships; being sensitive to peoples needs; using influencing and persuasive skills to help others improve performance or overcome problems; listening effectively and providing feedback; being assertive; use of body language. Written communications Structure and format of 1 letters, memos, e-mails, reports Structure and format: 1 techniques for effective presentations; using the telephone; meetings. 2 3 4 5 improve

Need more improvement

Oral communications

5 Need to sustain

OTHERS SPECIFIC TO MY ROLE

The results after the diagnosis shows : Where I am good Where I need to improve Where I need more concentration to improve

The skills which need more concentration to improve are:

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118 Organising and Time Management Decision making and Problem Solving Interpersonal Skills Written Communications Target Setting

3.0 Personal Development Table

To develop and achieve the skills listed above a Personal Development Table is planed for each skill What I am trying What internal What extended What are the How will I review to achieve weakness is threat is learning my progress standing in the worrying me activities way Organising and Time Management Do not handle multiple immediately competing demands well. Time pressure which can derail my plan for improvement because it pulls me back to my usual habits. Fear of failure Planing and working on time table. Allot time limit for each activity and complete the task within that period. Review the time table weekly. compare how much work is done and the time spent.

Decision Making Lack of and Problem confidence Solving

Making a note of Tutor Feedback all that is know after each regarding the topic assessment and ask help from tutors which one will apply better. Actively participate in group work Reading ilearn notes on writing skills and practising the skills while working on assignments. Frequently ask my fellow mates to comment on me. Engage a friend to provide feedback on my work in every two weeks.

Interpersonal Skills Written Skills

Not Gregarious

Lack of trust

Lack of knowledge

I T skills

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118 Target Setting Lack of knowledge The multitude of everyday demands. To work according Tutor feedback to the tutors after every topic. recommendation.

4.0 Conclusion
The Formative Assessment has helped to me to reflect on myself, understand what are my present duties and responsibilities and what is my present position. SWOT analysis is an effective tool for self diagnosis which helped me to dig deep in, to find out what my strengths and weaknesses are and what possible opportunities and threats are on my way. The analysis of Skills Audit Template helped in deriving skills that needed to be developed. Finally the skills to be developed are applied to the Personal Development Table. The goals to be attained are listed along with the weaknesses and threats. Each skill is developed by applying and practising the learning activities. The progress of each skill is then reviewed frequently to ensure how effectively the skills are attained in the given time limit

IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118

The Goal: Just Do It Now Writing the Business Plan

1/2/98 Consider a team that is enthusiastic about an idea for a new business and has done a considerable amount of thinking about it and initial work evaluating the opportunity. Team members believe the business venture they are considering is viable and has excellent market potential. The business venture also maps well with the team's skills, experience, personal goals and values. Now it is time to start developing the actual business plan. As noted previously, a business plan is a written document that delineates the proposed venture. It must illustrate current status, expected needs and project results of the new business. A business plan is written for many reasons. When you are planning to start a business, its most important purpose is to help you be sure the business is carefully planned and makes financial and operating sense. The plan may also be used to convince investors, or other sources of financing to invest money in your business. Therefore, it should be complete, organized and factual. The emphasis of the business plan should be the implementation and success of the venture. Thus it is important to translate the plan into action. The planning and the development of such a business plan is neither quick nor easy. In fact, effective planing is a difficult and demanding process which requires time, discipline, commitment and practice. However, it can also be a stimulating and rewarding process. Preparing and effective business plan for a start-up can easily take 200 to 300 hours. Squeezing time into evenings and weekends can make the process stretch out over 3-12 months. By then, much opportunity cost may have occurred. A business plan for a business expansion, a market downturn or a leveraged buyout typically takes half that time. The reason is that more is known about the market, its competition, financial and accounting information. As shown in Table 1, a business plan is absolutely essential for success. A dehydrated business plan (which is what we will do in Administration/Entrepreneurship 510 usually is shorter (15-30 pages) excluding tables. Essentially such a plan documents the analysis of and information about the heart of the business opportunity, competitive advantages of the business and then provides creative insights. Such a bare bones plan can be completed in much a shorter time. The down side of such a plan is that it is not intended to be used exclusively in the process of raising capital, going public or determining future competitive initiatives. It is merely a shortcut on the road to success. Before launching into the completion of the project, it is important to organize your team of consultants. For your team to work effectively you must learn about each other and understand each other's strengths and weaknesses, commitment, and limitations. You must then establish norms or set expectations about the project. This entails setting specific goals, assigning IBAM Personality Skills Development January 2011

Nisha Deepak STU22118 responsibilities, and establishing a realistic timeline to achieve your objectives. All of this must occur BEFORE you can effectively as a team.

Table 1

Criteria Rated as Essential In New Venture Evaluation

Characteristics % of Successful Seekers

Business Stage
Seed Start-up 1. Expansion Bridge financing Other 29% 65% 38% 10% 12%

Amount of dollars sought 2. Venture capitalists (sought over a million dollars) Written business plan
Balance sheet 3. List of product competition Marketing plan Cash flow projections for 3 years

44% 98% 95% 94% 98% 94%

Where firms seek equity capital

In-state venture capitalists Out-of-state venture capitalists In state corporations 4. Out of state corporations In state private investors Out of state private investors Instate consultants/investment bankers Out of state consultants/investment bankers 85% 58% 40% 34% 79% 47% 57% 31%

SOURCE: Hustedde, Ronalid J & Pulver, Glen C.. 1992. Factors affecting equity capital

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acquisition: The Demand Side, Journal of Business Venturing, September: 369-70.

Development Process
There are numerous ways of actually developing a business plan. Regardless of the approach, all emphasize a balance between process and results. Research indicates that certain ingredients are common to almost all successful planning efforts. They include:
o

Establishment of project goals which are: Specific and concrete Measurable Time anchored Realistic and attainable Flexible (e.g. capable of being modified and adapted Goals are not dreams, fantasies or the product of wishful thinking. Nor are they mere predictions or guesses about future outcomes. A goal is a decision or choice about future outcomes. Goals setting is not a task but a process, a way of dealing with the world.

Establishment of priorities. Here you need to determine which aspects of the plan are most important. Research indicates that the marketing plan, the financials and management team are most critical to business venture success.

Identification of problems and obstacles. Proactive planning means you anticipate rather than react to conflicts and problems. You develop "disaster plan" which indicates the steps that will be taken should specific problems (e.g. a team member fails to meet a deadline, you can't get information you need in time, ) arise.

Specification of necessary tasks and action steps Devise an overall schedule for preparing the plan and list tasks that need to be completed. One useful approach is identifying all tasks is called cognitive mapping. With this approach you brainstorm information about the task and its underlying components. After doing this, you put the tasks into a logical order It is helpful to break larger items (e.g. market research, benchmarking of competitors, financial analysis) into the smallest possible

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Nisha Deepak STU22118 components. Be as specific as possible. Then prioritize them. Determine which tasks can be done simultaneously and which are contingent upon prior actions. Develop a project flow chart. or a Gantt chart. A flow chart is a graphic device for sequencing significant events and yes or no decisions. Sequencing is arranging them in order of their desired occurrence. A Gantt chart is a graphic scheduling technique. They graphically depict the project schedule by subcomponents. By adding the time line of completed activities, actual progress can be assessed at a glance. Establishment of progress milestones, especially revenue, expense and cash targets, deadlines and dates
o

Establishment of progress milestones It is absolutely essentially that project milestones be built into the project. Milestones have been shown to move projects along to completion. The general wisdom is that 80 percent of a task is usually accomplished using the first 20 percent of the effort. Therefore, one needs to focus first on what will result in 80 percent of the accomplishment. Table 2 indicates the key elements of successful new venture prospecting. If you are gong to get funding, then these things are a must. Be sure your project includes these elements. For this project, two specific milestones have been established for you. They relate to key components of the final business plan delineated in the next section:

March 17, 1998

Oral presentation to class on the scope of your project and preliminary written report which deals with:
o

Nature of the product or business you have chosen to analyze (Section VII) Economics of the Business (Section V) Mission Statement (III) Management Team (Section X) People Resources (Section XI) Preliminary Financials (XIV) Project Planning Schedule and Gantt Chart (Similar to Section XV) but relates

o o o o o o

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Nisha Deepak STU22118 to the project rather than the business) Information presented here may be modified and likely will for your final project report. The goal is to get some initial work completed. If the class desires, we can pick an earlier date for presentations but it will need to be on a non regular class night or a Saturday. Final Project Presentations to classmates and outside reviewers!!
o o

Three copies of your final business plan 50 copies of the Executive Briefing for distribution to your classmates and outside reviewers. Oral presentation. Packet which includes copies of all your oral presentation materials including the visuals and graphics (can be a computer disk, IBM, word). Webpage for your proposed business venture. Peer evaluations

June 4, 1998

o o

Table 2

Criteria Rated as Essential In New Venture Evaluation ___________________________

Capable of sustained intense effort
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Nisha Deepak STU22118

Thoroughly familiar with market At least 10 times return in 5-10 years Demonstrated leadership in the past Evaluates and reacts well to risk Investment can be made liquid Significant market growth Track record relevant to venture Articulate venture well Proprietary protection
SOURCE: Hall, John & Hofer, C.W. 1993. Venture Capitalists' Decisions in New Venture Evaluation, Journal of Business Venturing, January: 37

Vandra L. Huber E-mail: vandra@u.washington.edu Home page: http://weber.u.washington.edu/~vandra

Site designed by Dave Gerson, last modified on April 14, 1998

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