Programme: Pearson BTEC Level 7 Extended Diploma in Strategic Management and Leadership
Unit Number and Name: Unit 2 Professional Development for Strategic Managers
Assignment title: Professional Development for Strategic Managers
Credit value: 05
Level: Level 7
4500 words
Purpose of this assignment
This assignment will enable you to take responsibility for your learning and development needs in order to gain the personal and professional skills needed to support the strategic direction of an organisation. You can achieve this by analysing your current skills and preparing and implementing a personal development plan. Evidence for this assignment needs to be generated continuously over a suitable period of time (e.g. a minimum of 6 months).
Scenario:
In this you will have to write a personal professional development plan. Here, while writing your personal development plan you will have to identify a range of inter - personal skills and competencies and evaluate the value of these skills for strategic managers/ leaders to achieve strategic objectives. You will then have to link this evaluation to leadership requirements for a specific goal (you may decide which one). After that you must analyse how effective you are at time management by keeping a time log and reviewing it after a period of one week.
Once the task is finished you will have to carry out a SWOT analysis against the current and future leadership requirements of a suitable job role. Finally you will have to research at least two (2) different learning styles.
At this point, using your skills, construct your personal and professional development plan for a minimum of period of 6 months with a suitable range of SMART objectives and identify development activities that meet leadership development requirements. Then critically examine the process by reflecting on the achievement against expected aims and objectives and discuss how you would review and update the plan based on the achievement of strategic goals. Please note that you must submit your Personal Development Plan and the SWOT Analysis Plan. Both of these two documents can be found in the study material.
Task 1
I. Be able to assess personal and professional skills required to achieve strategic goals.
1. Identify a range of inter-personal skills and competencies and evaluate the value of these skills in order for strategic managers/leaders to achieve strategic objectives and develop good working relationships. Link this evaluation to leadership requirements for a specific goal. (1.1).
2. Analyse how effective you are at Time Management by keeping a time log and reviewing it after a period of one week, to identify where improvements could be made. (1.2).
Task 2
II. Be able to conduct a skills audit to identify learning style
1. Carry out a personal SWOT analysis against the current and future leadership requirements of a suitable job role. Within this analysis identify leadership and management standards that would be a useful benchmark. (2.1).
2. Research at least two different learning styles e.g Kolb's learning cycle and provide a critical analysis of how people learn. This can be in the form of an inventory or questionnaire to identify your own preferred learning style. (2.2).
Task 3
III. Be able to implement a personal development plan
1. Using your skills audit, construct your personal and professional development plan for a minimum period of six months with a suitable range of SMART objectives and identify development activities that meet leadership development requirements identified in the skills audit. (3.1).
2. Critically examine the process by reflecting on the achievement against expected aims and objectives and discuss how you would review and update (evaluate) the plan based on the achievement of strategic goals. (3.2, 3.3).
Assessment Criteria:
: Use appropriate methods to evaluate personal skills required to achieve strategic goals
: Apply techniques to assess the professional skills required to support the strategic direction of the organisation
: Carry out a skills audit to evaluate the strategic skills needed to meet current and future leadership requirements
: Apply appropriate techniques to identify preferred learning style
: Construct a personal development plan that meets leadership development requirements identified in the skills audit.
: Use suitable methods to assess the outcomes of a personal development plan against personal work objectives.
: Evaluate the impact of own learning against the achievement of strategic goals.
Learning outcomes:
• Be able to assess personal and professional skills required to achieve strategic goals.
• Be able to conduct a skills audit to identify learning style.
• Be able to implement a personal development plan.