Manage Personal Work Priorities And Professional Development Essay

In this paper I volition olfactory modality at the fondness characteristics of creation a pricey parting nonplus and hard-hitting leader and reflect upon how these comp ar to my characteristics and traits in the character reference I perform in my acetify as a supervisor. I will overly debate how I can develop as a better leader, how I manage my responsibilities in the work trust and my professional development. A frank role sit isnt necessarily a leader, from my experience many of the good role models I mother seen creatent made a good leader even though they were genuinely good in their previous role. Even if you are a leader doesnt mean that you are a good role model and I pick up seen plenty of those too. A good role model in the workplace has credibility, leads by grammatical case, has the respect of their colleagues and is often imitated by them.If you search for what makes a good role model? on the lucre you will divulge hundreds upon hundreds of sites w hich give you a image of identical characteristics depending on the crook ( virtually sites say between 5 and 10.) You will similarly find that characteristics of being a good role model extend and apply beyond the workplace. It is withal in-chief(postnominal) that the good traits, attitudes and behaviours are consistent to become a good role model. I believe that one of the most important characteristic of being a good role model is qualifyting a good example. Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville Role Models Defining Positive Role Models, advert the following characteristics of a good role model- A sense of duty to work for the common goodCompassionateCan work through challengesCommitted energy to attain goalsPossess high standards and ValuesCourage and StrengthModels ForgivenessTrustworthyHumilityPeacefulWiseAdmits when they are wrongGenuine shaftUnderstands the whole situationNot mentioned in this list directly is being crawl inl pungency suitable and well-rounde d and good communication (although these are mentioned regularly in some other lists found). To be a good role model in the workplace for the employees I supervise I affair up to lead by example. I need to be aware of the characteristic and traits of a good role model and develop the characteristics I move intot possess or need to be essential. To be a good role model for the employees I supervise basically need to lead by example and possess the majority of the characteristics supra.For example I determination my excellent communications skills I have developed from almost 9 years in policing to non only communicate with the employees I supervise but nimblely listen to them. Only recently I was conducting a safety interaction with an employee and after talking about safety issues, he trusted me enough to talk to me about some of his own(prenominal) issues and sought my advice on matter. I am also very good at working(a) through challenges and use my acquaintance and ab ility to think outside the box to solve issues that arise. This is a daily occurrence in my role as I am in control of an entire rail yard and its operations which are very fluid and ever changing. I am very move to my role and this is turn outn by my capacity to assist others that require assistance. Recently we were short staffed and I back uped out an employee in shunting operations that freeed us to complete the task and achieve the goals of departing all trains on time.I use honest self-reflection after my shift to determine whether or not I was a good role model that day and look for ways to improve on my performance. Feedback from staff and even watching them work during my shift using my ideas or practices also show that I am being a good role model. Finally performance reviews with my manager also reflect on whether I am a good role model.The traits of an useful leader adopt those of a good role model, to be an effective leader you need to be a good role model. Leaders hip Getting it done (Rex Campbell, 1997) states the two most important traits of an effective leader is motivation and communication skills. It then goes onto describe fourteen other traits that an effective leader is likely to possess, but states that not many leaders will possess all of them well developed but most leaders will have most of them developed. The fourteen traits are Personality (including inter in-person skills)Persuasive (communication skills)PersistencePatiencePerceptiveProbity (Honest and Trustworthy)Praise GivingPositive predilectionPeople BasedPossible (Realistic)PracticalProgressivePrepared (Knowledgeable)Power Building7 Traits of Highly Effective Leaders ( Inc.com, Peter Economy, Aug 23 2013), streamlines the above traits down to the ability to inspire action, optimistic, integrity, supporting and facilitating your team, confidence, communication, and decisive. After studying the traits listed I disagree with the trait of being optimistic and believe being rea listic is to a greater extent than important. I also believe that being creative, level headed, being able to manage conflict and a committed worker are also very important traits.I believe that I possess all the traits mentioned of an effective leader in some capacity with some being more developed than others. I have excellent interpersonal and communication skills that I have developed over nine years of policing that allow me to talk to flock. These include active listening, asking questions and giving clear tasks. For example, even though its partof their line of business and I still ask people to perform tasks as it is obliging and makes them feel like they are choosing to the task and feel motivated. I am turn inledgeable and know where to find the answer if I dont know it off hand. I am one of only three supervisors in my management team that have had the experience in all roles of the employees that we supervise, this allows me to help when people require assistance or have problems.Im often asked to assist and only offer my help and dont barge in or takeover because they arent doing it the way I think. I am not one of those supervisors that sit back when times are tough, instead I am on that point at the frontline working through the challenge. At the end of every shift I supervise I say thank you the employees I supervise especially if its been a challenging shift. To be good and my job role requires me to be decisive, creative, level headed and realistic due to the, I allow my employees to think of solutions and give them feedback and other ideas. I tend not to tell them what to do and micro-manage instead I choose to step in when they are stuck or there is some conflict of dynamic and ever changing work situation. Logistical problems will often arise and need to be solved efficiently ideas.I have good conflict management skills and have settled a number of disputes that have occurred between employees. A short while past I had two employee s who were arguing outside my perspective quit loudly and onward I had an opportunity to see what was happening one of the employees came rushing into the stead very flustered and disturbance stating that he needed to go home. I spoke to both employees separately and together to resolve the issue and the upset employee confided in me that he had some other personal issues that may have affected his reaction. There was still grounds for his complaint so the other employee was dealt with. I gave the upset employee ten minutes to calm down and gather himself and after that time he thanked me and stated that he was ready to resume work. I believe that this terminus was possible because I of my conflict management skills which included my integrity, my communication skills and the employees feeling comfortable enough to confide in me.As I have mentioned before I am believe I have the traits and that I am an effective leader however I am not perfect and there is always room forimprov ement. Knowing what makes and effective leader is the first step to developing the skills. As I have read in some of the articles some of the traits come naturally, some are easily developed and some will require hard work to develop. If possible I think its important to have a good leadership role model as I do. This would help you set the standard and with some personal reflection or feedback from others allow you to list the traits that require development. In my organisation supervisors and managers are given leadership stores to provide this training and help triggers self-reflection and development of the traits of an effective leader. During this workshop I demonstrated my traits as a leader and was able to develop those which require improvement.My organisations plans and goals are reflected in the mission, vision and values with safety being the main core value. By working safely, ensuring other employees work safely and ensuring the mission, vision and values are followe d or worked towards would ensure that my work goals and plan reflect this. I have a yearly Personal Performance Review (PPR) with periodic meetings through the year, that ensures my work goals and plan reflects that of my organisations. There is weekly management meetings that I attend (shifts permitting) where we are updated with any changes or updates the organisations plans or goals. Most recently my company is trying to reduce operating costs and we have been asked to be wary of costs and find ways to reduce cost. This is supplemented by regular emails and correspondence from colleagues about our organisations goals and plans.To ensure I meet my Job responsibilities I need to know and understand what my job responsibilities are. As a supervisor at Aurizon I have responsibilities that are common to all supervisors, managers and sometimes all employees, as well as a number of responsibilities that are unique to my job role. At the time of applying for my position I was supplied Po sition Description which identified the key responsibilities of my role and this was followed up by a meeting with my manager upon being successful. There is also a handbook created by previous supervisors that lists the daily responsibilities of my role (although this is mainly used for use by those acting in the role.) I have a diary that I record my daily actions that I not only use as evidence for my PPR, but also to ensure I have met some of my daily/monthly responsibilities. I alsocreate daily lists to ensure that not only my regular daily responsibilities are carried out but also any additional requirements that arise are met.As previously mentioned I have a PPR to measure my personal performance on an annual basis with periodic meetings to assess my progress. To assist with evidencing this and maintaining this I have a diary that I record targets and responsibilities I perform. I also keep any emails of praise from my manager, other colleagues in my organisation, and externa l parties. Regular conversations and feedback from my colleagues and mangers also provide measure of my performance. I maintain my performance by ensuring I meet my monthly targets or key performance indicators and analysing it on a regular basis to ensure its at the appropriate level or higher. If I believe that my performance is not to standard or if I was informed that it was to the expected standard I would look at ways to improve my performance. In my organisation and for my role my in particular my work revolves around timetables for trains and is very time based. In my office we have a whiteboard with the timetable for my shift and the next train after which becomes one of our main priorities for the shift.To organise and prioritise my work I write a list at the start for the shift which would include my daily responsibilities such as meetings and checks. I then add tasks specific to that day that regularly occur or have been prearranged for the day, new tasks are added to th e list as they come up. All the tasks will have a specific time frame of completion whether it is to be completed by the end of my shift, during my shift or in some cases over a period of days, weeks or months. To help me organise my work I use technology to help organise and manage my work. I mainly use my outlook calendar with reminders of regular daily tasks and use it to set reminders for early tasks that extend beyond my shift. We also receive daily emails from colleagues regarding our priorities or tasks for the day. Due to the nature of my work and my sometimes limited time in front of my ready reckoner I prefer to not use technology, as it changes regularly and isnt necessarily the most efficient way to manage my work.I am able to maintain my work/life balance quite easily due to my role and the number of people in my team. I am one of fivesome supervisors that perform my role and we work a 24hr roster, so there is always one of us (or in some case an acting supervisor.) This means that I almost never take work home and when I leave, I leave my work at the gateand most of time work my set roster. This allows for a regular amount of life time which is important with a young family. I have a good relationship with my manager and I am pretty lucky that he is very pro-family and out of work activities. I also have a number of activities outside of work and more importantly away from work people which include volunteer fire and rescue, regular exercise and socialising with friends. During work time I also look to have a least half an hour away from my desk/work duties for my lunch break to take time out. I have number of skills and knowledge that I am required to remain competent in to maintain both legal and organisational qualifications and knowledge.To ensure that these standards of competency I have regular refreshers and assessments mutualist on the qualification or competency required. The majority of these are monitored by the training departmen t in my organisation and other employees. I also have a computer based program with my training profile and due dates, these are mainly revolved around computer based training. A number of my competencies or qualifications are skill based and requires periodic assessment, so I regularly make time to practice and use these skills in the workplace as I dont regularly use them as part of my role. In addition to my requalifications and refreshers, I ensure my knowledge is maintained I regularly re-read rule books and workbooks from course. My PPR process allows my manager and me to identify developmental needs and so far I have completed and Excel course, leadership course and do drugs and alcohol sampling course, with a number of other development opportunities already identified.I even suggested this course which I saw as beneficial to my development. at one time again self-reflection and identifying gaps, weaknesses and room for improvement help me identify my developmental needs. W hen looking at my developmental needs I also need to take into business relationship my personal study look. There are numerous theories and models on learning styles, some of which pigeon hole your learning style while other identify you aim towards that style. According to work line uped from Barbe, Swassing and Milone Learning styles consist of three types, Visual (seeing and reading), Auditory (hearing and speaking), and Kinaesthetic (touching and doing.) After reading the traits for each style I would most likely identify myself as having a visual learning style followed by an Auditory.Honey and Mumford (based on work by Kolb) identified four learning styles as Activist,Reflector, Theorist, and Pragmatists. Activists tend to enjoy team/group activities and learning Reflectors tend to enjoy self-paced learning, scenarios, observations and meetings Theorists tend to enjoy reading, experiment based activities, classroom and laboratory/workshop training, conferences and discus sion Pragmatists tend to enjoy on job training, coaching and work based projects. After conducting the test based on this model I show low preference to having an Activist learning style and moderate preference to the reflector, theorist and pragmatist learning styles. I also conducted another test on the internet based on the Gardner model which is an expansion on the three types of learning styles of visual, auditory, and kinaesthetic. Gardners model expands the different styles to seven, consisting of visual, social, physical, aural, verbal, solitary, and logical.After taking this test I showed that I rarely use/prefer visual and physical learning styles, and have a moderate preference towards all the other learning styles. Based on the various results and self-reflection of my personal learning style it is quite clear that I have a moderate preference towards a number of learning styles. My personal learning style is that I like to read and take notes on the theory of the knowle dge/skill to be learnt, question the material and ask what-if questions (especially if its knowledge of rules,) followed by on job mentoring. My past two main qualifications/skill that I have gained in train operations was following this process. I know from previous courses and employments that I dont like role-play scenarios and prefer on job experience.To ensure that I took advantage of learning opportunities I would if possible adapt/suggest the learning style to suit my own. However I am more than capable of still learning in a different style than my preferred styles and wouldnt pass up an opportunity for learning. As previous mentioned during this paper my main source of feedback is from my PPR process with my direct line manager. I also receive some feedback from my peers, direct reports and internal and external customers usually via my line manager. My company also has a development program for managers with confidential surveys of your line manager, reports and peers. al l feedback I receive, whether it is good or bad, I will analyse for anyways to improve my performance or competency. This could be to learn new skills, development programs, courses to expand on a current knowledge/skill base or to observe/shadow a colleague.I have anumber of networks both personal and work related that are of assistance to me in my current role. Due to the size of the town I live and work in, I have a number of personal relationships that have assisted in these networks. I am a volunteer firefighter and have a network of other volunteers I encounter both through the brigade and through other agencies. Having a variety of people has not only allowed the sharing of knowledge regarding emergencies, but has also assisted in the foundation of other networks. This has been beneficial to me as I have been able to use my extensive knowledge of emergency situations in my role and increase my work related networks. A network that I use to increase my knowledge on a regular b asis is with the mechanical department.I have a good relationship with the supervisors and direct reports and receive a lot of technical information that is of great benefit to me. In general by having good relationships/networks you can gain knowledge by asking questions and shadow/observe best practice. Maintaining a competitive edge in the work place is a very important in todays age, if you dont then youll be left behind. An important outlook is to know that you dont know everything and that you need to keep learning and acquiring knowledge and skills. Currently in my workplace I have a competitive edge over my peers, as I am motivated, have more qualifications and skills than the majority of them, better communication skills, better computer skills, my willingness to learn new things and most importantly that I strive to do my job to the best of my ability.To ensure that I acquired new skills I would seek learning opportunities both in and out of the work place. I would identif y these learning opportunities through my PPR process, feedback and self-reflection. In conclusion to manage my work priorities and professional development I use self-reflection, my personal performance review, and feedback to identify development needs and opportunities. By being aware of the many traits that make a good role model and an effective leader, I can use self-assessment and other forms of feedback to improve and develop my skills. Also by being aware of the traits I can identify a role model of my own to help in becoming a better leader.