Self-assessment and evaluation of personal strengths and strengths and weaknesses

Management is an essential part of an establishment. Learning this course has not only been enriching in terms of knowledge acquisition on best managerial practices, but also imparted me with skills and challenges to be a better person. Prior to the learning of this course, my idea and conception of management was that of a policy maker, and the employees made to adopt the policies. While these roles may still hold, this course has taught me that the two organs should be collaborative in every aspect. The managers should also enact measures to motivate and challenge their employees (Osland, 2007).

The idea of professional development was alien and unknown to me before the undertaking of this course. Through my action research project, I was able to understand the meaning of action research and acquire proactive experience in professional development undertakings. Application of the action research at BC College helped in my interpersonal relationships, my data gathering and analysis techniques, and decision-making.

I am focused and with a strong desire to achieve in my career. Professional development techniques identified through the action research at BC College would be helpful in helping me reach my career objectives. My strengths also lie on my ability to take corrections. Through my career, I may make mistakes or embrace unproductive career practices. Instances of such practices were identified at BC College. Taking corrections will take me back on the professional development track. I have my weaknesses on being a perfectionist. Failure to achieve my desired goals and intents, exactly how I want them may bring about frustrations. I will focus on changing this unproductive trait as it may impede on my journey to professional development.

Employing science management principles for professional development has many advantages. Firstly, insistence on studying workers in practice avails relevant information for professional development. The principles also state that the best way of doing work should be adopted. This not only enhances professional development, but also ensures higher productivity. Job specialisation ensures that each worker does what they know best, presenting an avenue for further professional development (Jones & George, 2012). On the contrary, these principles are found wanting in that they emphasize specialisation, which may result in boredom in performance of work. At BC College, I observed that lecturing is a demanding job, and specialisation on one task may lead to a routine life, which is boring (Jones & George, 2012).

Plans for continuous professional development

Frequently evaluating my work and comparing it against the existing work mandates will help in my professional development. For instance, lecturers at BC College were reluctant to evaluate their students’ needs, which impeded their professional development. Professional development at BC College recorded satisfaction of the lecturers and the students. Critical analysis helps analyse the management and ones’ performance (Senge, 2000). Keeping up with my clients’ needs would help me keep my professional development progressive. Thus, I will be evaluating my skills and practices, comparing them with the current market demands and updating as necessary to ensure my continuous professional development.

Concepts and techniques of critical analysis and argument construction learnt and applied

Techniques of critical analysis and argument construction learnt through the course came in handy throughout the course assignments and discussions. These included deductive and inductive argument creations. I would employ deductive argument to validate my idea with supportive evidence. For instance, supporting my hypothesis at BC College during the action research. Another argument technique that was found useful was inductive arguments. For instance, I used the available evidence in the form of data to come up to logical conclusions at BC College. The evidences I obtained through the study had little meaning until I analysed them, and I made logical conclusions. Further, I was able to employ logic to present coherent and flowing ideas, arguments and conclusions.

Complexity and challenges of designing and implementing an action research in an organization

The process of action research was particularly demanding. More challenging was the fact that every stage had its unique obstacles and required different approaches to a solution. Right from data collection, there were difficulties in ensuring representation of every stakeholder. I could hardly evaluate the authenticity of the collected data in relation to the action plan. Analysing the data presented further challenges in terms of tediousness and making plausible conclusions. Moreover, ensuring that every stakeholder’s opinion was represented, and ensuring that the interventions would meet the intended results was exasperating. Effecting a change in an institution accustomed to a given way of functioning is a challenging undertaking. Firstly, there were doubts whether the intervention measures adopted would work at BC College. Secondly, the institutional body was reluctant to assume a new way of doing work. However, with the cooperation of the different organs of the institution, these challenges were tackled amicably and to the best of the institution.

Reflection on personal values and behaviours to enhance professionalism

Through the study of this course, I realised the importance of personal values and behaviours to professional development. Among the important values is willingness to serve. An action research project showed that for the lecturers to progress professionally, they had to be actively involved in serving the students. Further, personal commitment to ones’ work, flexibility and ability to respect of other people’s opinion are important aspects to professional development. Prior to undertaking the action research, I believed on being independent and sticking to a strict plan of actions. I realised how detrimental these practices can be as they deterred free sharing of ideas and inhibited accommodation of any unprecedented issues that interacting with students might present.

References

Jones, G. R., & George, M. J. (2012). Contemporary Management, 5th ed. Irwin: McGraw-Hill.

Osland, J. K. (2007). Organizational Behaviour: An Experiential Approach. 8th ed. Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Senge, P. C.-M. (2000). Leading Without Control. In Schools that Learn: A Fifth Discipline Fieldbook for Educators, Parents, and Everyone Who Cares About Education. New York, NY: Doubleday