The desired job role is that of a Project Manager; the company’s vision is to become the national leading supplier of healthy fruit flavored soft drinks, be recognized for the highest quality, and be known for passion in customer service.  As a project manager, I will strive to ensure projects are undertaken within scope, professionaly managed, and the objectives achieved. In line with the company  vision, I believe changing the company’s strategy to be a project driven company will greatly enhance performance and take it closer to acheving and exceeding the vision.

Personal goals

• Familiarize, including through taking short courses, on the latest skills and trends in Project management and get the necessary certifications
• Identify and execute intiatives that have high impact and high visibility, such as changing the processes for acquisition, manufacture, distibution, advertising, and customer services tasks to be project driven (create a project driven organization)
• Develop a framework showing how the Project Management Office/ Division is aligned with strategic enterprise objectives of the organization
• Evolve the Project Management  Office / Department to support digital business and bimodal It in the company’s operations, including, and especially, customer service

One of the objectives of the organization is to hire people with the right set of skills for the right positions, as dtailed in the employee guidelines. Acquiring Project Managenet training and certification will take me towards fulfilling this company objective. In identifying and executing initiatives with high imapct and vsibility, I will be helping the company achieve its objectives of being the leading suplier of quality and healthy fruit flavored soft drinks and to be innovative and contnuously improve to respond to changing needs of Australians. Evolving the Project Managment Division to be aligned with strategic objectives and to support digital processes will help achieve the company goal of constantly monitoring the environment to identify opportunities as well as threats and help adapt the organization to changing need and business environment

Prioritise tasks and actions to achieve the two goals

URGENT – IMPORTANT MATRIX

Use technology to organise and plan work tasks and actions

The Apps considered are WunderList (https://www.wunderlist.com/) and Trello (https://trello.com/). After evaluating both applications, the chosen app is Trello. This is because while WunderList has good features, trello is feature rich in collaborative work as well as in undertaking personal work and tasks. With Trello, one can organize tasks, get remindes when behind schedule, set goals, and collaborate with others. Collaboration is going to be very important and crucial for acheving the set work goals  (Duffy, 2017)

 Work-life balance

SWOT Analysis

2. Stress Management Plan

Stress Causes

Worrying about whether I am in the right profession and whether I will ever meet my professional and career goals

Financial shortfalls such as money needed to pay back college loan, car, and maybe get a mortgage

Negative people

Too much work

Inability to meet my set goals and objectives despite putting in much effort

Non-cooperative colleagues at work

problem with a close family member

Techniques I can use to manage my stress

Prioritize my work and eliminate things that do not add much value, such as frieds/ colleagues that make my life hell

To deal with the stress of too much work, I will plan my time effectively and concentrate on doing the simple tasks first to have a sense of accomplishment

Financial troubles will be solved by setting realistic financial goals and objectives

Will start exercising and eating healthy to help manage stress and attain better health

Will be cooking at home to cut on the costs of eating out and also use cooking as a form of therapy (‘Harvard Health Letter’, 2015)

Deep breathing/ meditation to relieve stress and maintain balance

Avoid toxic relationships and seek to resolve long standing conflicts wth family members

Maintain a healthy balance between work and rest, and sleep at least eight hours

Do one fun thing every week, such as painting or going for a hike/ long walk  

Join a health and wellness club

How others can help

Have quality conversations with loved ones and spend time together with them

Seek out a mentor from among my senior managers, especially on career goals

Join a special interest group, such as Yoga or fitness club to share experiences

 Actions

 Upload evidence (for example email or screenshot) onto eCampus that you’ve performed at least two actions.

5. Develop a career plan and maintain professional competence

PART A: DEVELOP A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN

1. Career Goals

 Short term career goals

Attain requisite qualifications in project management

Gain practical skills in project management and be in charge of at least two projects in the company as a way of introducing project driven techniques in company operations

My preference is in the manufacturing industry or at the very least, the construction sector where project management skills are greatly beneficial

Long term career goals

To gain post graduate qualifications in Project management

To gain promotion as a senior manager in Project management/ product development . Being a project manager/ product development manager will give me a platform to use my project management skills. It will also give me a platform to do what I really love, which is getting someithing from being an idea to a realized finished product

Have gained four solid years of experience in project management

Personal Asessment

Based on Alexander (2017)

2. Prepare for and then conduct face-to-face feedback sessions with at least 2 people who know you well (and preferably who you work with, for example a colleague and boss) to get third party assessments of your current competencies.Record (audio or video) both sessions, which should each be around 5 minutes long. Add the ratings to the KSA Assessment Checklist, and make notes of their feedback.

Gap Analysis

From the personal analysis and evaluation based on AQF and project management institute, as well as feddback session with my manager I need to make improvements on project management methodologies, especially for different porject types since am more conversant with the traditional (waterfall model) but need to improve on agile project management. I need to improve on my knowledge of earned value analysis to manage people and human resources. I need practical experience in project risk management and how to manage procurements for projects and gain more technical expertise and competencies in managing projects, as well as effective decision making. My competency in most areas is proficient; however, my goal is to attain advanced competencies, and this I will achieve throgh practical projects where I learn on the job and apply theoretical knowledge. Within the present year, I want to be involed in two projects, where I am at least in charge of one project to grasp key skills such as procurement management, decision making, managing risks, and evaluating and managing earned value (Russell, 2012). I want to complete a technical course in project management within the next eight months to increase my technical skills and competency as well as in project management methodologies. In three years time, I want to complete a post gradiuate qualification in project management with up to date industry qualifications to attain the level of advanced knowledge in project management

 PART B: A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT (PD) LOG

4. Self Asssement with VARK

Based on my VARK test scores, my prefereed learning methods are kinesthetic where practical exercises, case studies, senses, and trial and error is used. Based on these, learning through practical project management will be very suitable to me. Read write is also a preferred learning method involving notes, lists, and texts, and so an academic course taken online/ part time where I read and undertake assessment tests suit me very well. Visual learning is not really my cup of tea, but mixed with other methods such as illustrations and vidooes in online learning suit me well

5. Professional Development (PD) Log

 Measure and maintain performance in varying conditions

General manager Position

Responsibilities

Developing and executing a new project driven business strategy for ANZ business region

Lead sales and marketing, business development, and business solutions to drive growth in frut flavored soft drink sles, in line with company objectives

Optimize operational performance and manage transport and logistics to enahnce efficiency

Identify opportunities for cross border busness

Lead a management team while managing all aspects of ANZ region operations

Identify opportunities for business process improvements

Develop new policies to reduce wastes and increase efficiency

Develop a Plan for Quality Improvement

Self Assessment Table

Knowledge, Skills and Attributes/Abilities (KSA) Assessment Checklist

Prepare your personal General Manager Development Planthat answers the following questions:

• How have your work conditions or situation changed?
• What additional knowledge, skills and attributes/abilities will you need for the General Manager position?
• What process will you follow to get back on track?
• What networking opportunities will you add to your PD Log?

The evaluation shows that I still have areas to improve on; the situation has changed a little bit in that instead of being involved in managing projects, I will have a greater role entailing managing teams, people, incuding business teams and having to develop strategies. Ther is a skill gapin that most of the required knowlegde and skills show I am in the development phase and not at least proficient, based on industry job requirements. I will need to enhance my knowledge by undertaking an MBA online to get the general grounding in management and complete the pofessional development course, as well as undertake short courses on strategic management. The MBA is particulalry important for such a job (‘Kettering University Online’, 2017), as is experience and so I will continue to seek tasks that enhance the required skill set for the job especiallythe soft skills needed to get teams moving forward (Isacke, 2013)

Submission Checklist

This checklist is to be completed by the learner to help check that all evidence has been supplied.

Direct Observation Checklist: Oral Communication

This checklist is to be completed by the trainer/assessor to assess the oral communication roleplay.

Don’t stop now …

Please save and upload this file (Section 2 of the unit) onto eCampus under the relevant unit.

We will be in touch as soon as your submission has been assessed.

References

Alexander, M. (2017). 6 traits of highly effective project managers. CIO. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://www.cio.com/article/2433916/project- management/project-management-six-attributes-of-successful-project- managers.html

Duffy, J. (2017). Trello review. PCMAG. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2487001,00.asp

Fuhrmann, C., Hobin, J., Clifford, P., & Lindstaedt, B. (2013). Goal-Setting Strategies for Scientific and Career Success. Science | AAAS. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://www.sciencemag.org/careers/2013/12/goal-setting-strategies-scientific-and- career-success

‘Harvard Health Letter’. (2015). Best ways to manage stress – Harvard Health. Harvard Health. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://www.health.harvard.edu/mind-and- mood/best-ways-to-manage-stress

Isacke, H. (2013). Soft skills for strong leaders. London: New Generation Publishing.

Katzenbach, J., & Smith, D. (2015). The Wisdom of Teams: Creating the High-Performance Organization (1st ed., pp. 5, 63). Harvard Business Review Press: Harvard.

‘Kettering University Online’. (2017). The importance of an MBA education for General Managers. Online.kettering.edu. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://online.kettering.edu/news/2017/10/13/importance-mba-education-general- managers

Russell, L. (2012). Managing Projects: A Practical Guide for Learning Professionals (1st ed.). San Francisco: Pfeiffer.

Tammy. (2017). How Does Teamwork Help Organizations? | Learn2. Learn2.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018, from https://www.learn2.com/team-building- organizations/