MANAGE PERSONAL WORK PRIORITIES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CANDIDATE RESOURCE & ASSESSMENT BSBWOR501A

MANAGE PERSONAL WORK PRIORITIES AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CANDIDATE RESOURCE & ASSESSMENT BSBWOR501A

Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd 9 Koppen Tce, Cairns, QLD, 4870 Email: info@precisiongroup.com.au Website: www.precisiongroup.com.au BSBWOR501A Manage Personal Work Priorities and Professional Development ISBN: 978-1-74238- Copyright Notice No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by an information retrieval system without written permission from Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd. Legal action may be taken against any person who infringes their copyright through unauthorised copying. These terms are subject to the conditions prescribed under the Australian Copyright Act 1968. Copying for Educational Purposes The Australian Copyright Act 1968 allows 10% of this book to be copied by any educational institute for educational purposes, provided that the institute (or the body that administers it) has given a remuneration notice to the Copyright Agency Limited (CAL) under the Act. For more information, email info@copyright. com.au or visit www.copyright.com.au for other contact details. Disclaimer Precision Group has made a great effort to ensure that this material is free from error or omissions. However, you should conduct your own enquiries and seek professional advice before relying on any fact, statement or matter contained in this book. Precision Group (Australia) Pty Ltd is not responsible for any injury, loss or damage as a result of material included or omitted from this material. Information in this course material is current at the time of publication.

Table of Contents 2 Legend 3 Qualification Pathways 4 Qualification Rules 5 Introduction 7 BSBWOR501A/01 Establish Personal Work Goals Key Points Serve as a positive role model in the workplace through personal work planning and organisation Ensure personal work goals, plans and activities reflect the organisation s plans, and own responsibilities and accountabilities Measure and maintain personal performance in varying work conditions, work contexts and contingencies 19 True or False Quiz 21 BSBWOR501A/02 Set and Meet Own Work Priorities Key Points Take initiative to prioritise and facilitate competing demands to achieve personal, team and organisational goals and objectives Use technology efficiently and effectively to manage work priorities and commitments Maintain appropriate work-life balance, and ensure stress is effectively managed and health is attended to 41 True or False Quiz 43 BSBWOR501A/03 Develop and Maintain Professional Competence Key Points Assess personal knowledge and skills against competency standards to determine development needs, priorities and plans Seek feedback from employees, clients and colleagues and use this feedback to identify and develop ways to improve competence Identify, evaluate, select and use development opportunities suitable to personal learning style/s to develop competence Undertake participation in networks to enhance personal knowledge, skills and work relationships Identify and develop new skills to achieve and maintain a competitive edge 51 True or False Quiz 52 Summary 53 Bibliography 55 Assessment Pack 1

Use considered risk taking in your grey area...and others will follow you! Legend This symbol indicates the beginning of new content. The bold title matches the content of the competency and they will help you to find the section to reference for your assessment activities. Activity: Whenever you see this symbol, there is an activity to carry out which has been designed to help reinforce the learning about the topic and take some action. This symbol is used at the end of a section to indicate the summary key points of the previous section. This symbol is used to indicate an answer to the Candidate s questions or notes to assist the Facilitator. 2

Qualification Pathways There are always two choices. Two paths to take. One is easy. And its only reward is that it s easy. Source Unknown This unit of competency is provided to meet the requirements of BSB07 Business Services Training Package although it can be used in a range of different qualifications. The BSB07 Business Services Training Package does not state how a qualification is to be achieved. Rather, Registered Training Organisations are required to use the qualification rules to ensure the needs of the learner and business customer are met. This is to be achieved through the development of effective learning programs delivered in an order that meets the stated needs of nominated Candidates and business customers. 3

Qualification Rules You re either part of the solution or part of the problem. Eldridge Cleaver Qualification requirements include core and elective units. The unit mix is determined by specific unit of competency requirements which are stated in the qualification description. Registered Training Organisations then work with learners and business customers to select elective units relevant to the work outcome, local industry requirements and the qualification level. All vocational education qualifications must lead to a work outcome. BSB07 Business Services Training Package qualifications allow for Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) to vary programs to meet: Specific needs of a business or group of businesses. Skill needs of a locality or a particular industry application of business skills. Maximum employability of a group of students or an individual. When packaging a qualification elective units are to be selected from an equivalent level qualification unless otherwise stated. 4

Introduction Whether as an individual, or as part of a group, real progress depends on entering whole-heartedly into the process and being motivated to make you a more deeply satisfied human being. Source Unknown This unit of competency is all about being able to manage your skills and priorities in the workplace. It will help you with the skills you need to demonstrate competency for the unit BSBWOR501A Manage Personal Work Priorities and Professional Development. This is one of the units that make up Diplomas in Business. This manual is broken up into three distinct sections. They are: 1. Establish Personal Work Goals: First we will examine the process of personal goal setting; how you can go about setting and achieving goals in your personal and professional life. 2. Set and Meet Own Work Priorities: Then we will examine how you go about meeting priorities at work, and we will look at time management techniques in some detail. 3. Develop and Maintain Professional Competence: In the final section we will examine how you can go about determining your skills and developing these to ensure that you can achieve all the goals that you set yourself. At the conclusion of this training you will be asked to complete an assessment pack for this unit of competency. The information contained in this resource will assist you to complete this task. On conclusion of this unit of competency you will have demonstrated your ability to develop goals, set and meet your work priorities and undertake personal development. 5

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PART 1: Establish Personal Work Goals Key Points Section 1 In a workplace, you will act as a role model for other employees through the personal qualities that you possess and the performance that you demonstrate while undertaking your work on a daily basis. In order to ensure that your work goals are adequate; compare them to your organisation s plans, your personal plans for the future and all the responsibilities and accountabilities that you face. Even though you have a set of goals in mind, it is often useful to stretch yourself looking into the future for ways of improving your work. Be sure that you continually measure your personal performance. This is the most effective way of ensuring that you are addressing your goals and will achieve your lifetime goals. 7

Personal Goal Setting The process of setting goals is one of the most effective methods used for setting personal or work based priorities and for planning your work load. In order to be most effective in the work place, you will find that you need to have a solid set of goals in place. This leads you to knowing what you need to achieve, and then to find a way of moving towards that goal on a step by step basis. It allows you to choose where it is you need to head in your professional life. By knowing where it is that you want to head, you put yourself in the best position to figure out how to actually get there. Goal setting techniques are used by a wide range of people: elite athletes, successful businesspeople and achievers in science, technology and the arts will all use goal setting techniques to focus their efforts. Professional and personal goals give you long-term vision and short-term motivation. They focus your acquisition of knowledge and help you to organise your time and your resources so that you can make the very most of your life. The setting of clear, achievable goals allows you to ensure that you achieve your goals and allows you to measure your performance towards those individual goals that you have set during the process. By having goals in place both short-term and long-term, you can actually feel like you are making progress, rather than just working away and never seeming to actually get anywhere. There are a range of goal types. You may set goals in the long-term (life long goals), you may set medium term goals (to be achieved in the next 3 to 5 years) and short-term goals (achieved in a year or less). Starting to Set Personal Goals We will now move on to looking at the methods used to actually set your goals. We will look at a simple method that you may like to use in order to try and set your overall goals and objectives. This method starts with life-long goals, moves on to medium term goals and then ends with the development of a to-do list of tasks that must be undertaken to achieve the longer term goals. Your Lifetime Goals The first task that is undertaken is the broad overview. It begins with setting the life-time level goals. What the individual wishes to achieve in their lifetime. By undertaking this long-term planning, the person gets an overall perspective on what they hope to achieve and where they are actually heading. This goal setting should be as broad as possible, and in order to achieve this, you may like to consider a number of areas such as: Artistic goals Attitude Change: consider any areas where your overall attitude towards life in general 8

may be holding you back and any areas where it may be desirable to change your thinking towards given areas. Work: What is it you want in your professional life, your career? Education: Is there anything you need to learn? Want to learn? Feel you need to learn to reach your greatest potential in life? Family: Move to look at your personal life. Do you want to be married? Do you want children? How do you believe you will be seen as a family member? How do you want to be seen by a partner or by members of your extended family? Financial: What do you want to earn? Physical: Think about your physical life what would you like to achieve in terms of health, fitness and the like? Enjoyment: What do you want to get out of life? Do you want to have fun? What makes you most happy? Service: think about how you want to be looked on in terms of the way that you work to make the world a nicer place to be. Your lifetime goals can be quite broad, you may have just one which encompasses everything, but try to have as many goals as you can. This helps you gain perspective on who you actually are and what you want to get out of your life as a whole. The list of goals that you want to achieve during your lifetime can then be prioritised. This means taking your list and organising the goals in the order of priority that you want to achieve them. The goals can then be examined and reprioritised until they reflect the life that you want to lead. How to Start to Achieve Your Lifetime Goals So you now have a set of lifetime goals that outline the life you hope to lead. This can now be broken down into a set of 10 year goals, that you need to complete to reach your lifetime goals, then set 3 year goals, 1 year goals and 1 month goals, all working towards those lifetime goals. 9

Activity One Lifetime Goals Complete the table below with your lifetime goals. Goal Priority 10

Activity Two Setting Life Goals Now break these lifetime goals down, setting goals for the next 10 years, 3 years, 1 year and 1 month. 10 years 3 years 1 year 1 month 11

Now that you have broken everything down into small bite-sized pieces, you can begin to write a To Do list. The To Do list is what you need To Do today and this week in order to work towards your short-term goals. The early stages of your goal planning may involve you in reading books or learning about a software application in order to allow you to work towards those longer term goals. The overall plan that you set yourself should be reviewed carefully to ensure that what you are trying to achieve is actually achievable and realistic. Staying on Course How can you make sure you are actually staying on course with your goals? Once you have your initial plan in place, you need to ensure this is continually updated as required by reviewing your goals and your achievements towards those goals. The To Do List should be updated at least once a week, daily is preferred. Then every so often you should set up a time to actually sit down and review those longer term goals, such as your annual goals. You may find that there is an easier way of recording your goals. You may like to use software such as GoalPro, which is software you can have on your computer and use on a daily basis. The trial version of this software can be downloaded from www.goalpro.com. GoalPro Software - useful for tracking your goals 12

Setting Goals Effectively Let s now examine a set of criteria that you can apply when you are writing new goals for your life: Make every goal you set a positive one: Do not write any goal in a negative way or use language that may be discouraging to you and the achievement of your goals. Make sure that every goal that you write precisely sets out what you want to achieve: Include statements that provide measures of your performance and have dates and times in place so that you can be sure that you are able to measure the performance level you are expected to achieve. Set each goal to a specific priority level: You are likely to have multiple goals, it is important that you know which goals you want to achieve and when so that you deal with the most important ones first. Ensure that your goals are written down: This makes them seem more concrete. Make your goals small: The lower the level of the goals you are trying to set, the more you need to ensure that they are small and actually achievable. If the goals that you are setting are too big, you will find yourself getting discouraged when you are unable to achieve them as well as you thought you might. Make the goals performance oriented: Often times you will find the goals that you write are outcome goals they state what you need to achieve. Often if you do this you will find that the goals that you have set are difficult to actually achieve because of circumstances that are completely outside your control. By ensuring that your goals relate to performance, even if something gets in the way you can still work towards achieving those end goals, rather than failing to achieve them and simply giving up. Make your goals realistic: Make sure that the goals that you set are actually achievable. There is nothing worse than reviewing your goals and finding that you have managed to achieve none of them. You know what you want to do, so you know how best to get there. By having a set of achievable and realistic goals in place you can find yourself in the best position to resolve these issues. Don t set the goals too low: While your goals need to be set in a realistic manner, it is also important not to make them too easy to achieve. You need to strike a balance between goals that are achievable and those which actually provide you with some degree of challenge. If your goals are too easy you may find yourself achieving everything and realising this is too easy. 13

Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen, but give us the determination to make the right things happen. Peter Marshall 14

Achieving Goals Achieving a goal is a big thing. You need to make sure that you take the time to make yourself feel good for achieving a specific goal or objective in your life, this makes you feel like you are actually getting somewhere with your goal achievement and making sure that you understand the importance of what you have achieved. This can be a good time to actually sit down and consider your achievement towards your other goals as well. Ensure that you reward yourself so that it makes the hard work you are putting in actually worthwhile. You should then sit down and look over the other goals and tasks in your list and consider: Whether the goals are too easy Whether the goal set was too lengthy to achieve Whether you learned anything from working towards the goal Whether you have new knowledge that can be applied to achieving other goals Whether you noticed any areas where there are deficiencies in your knowledge Whether there are new goals you can now write Whether your goals need to change due to your personal growth Whether as you change with age your goals need to change to reflect this Whether there are goals that you are no longer interested in achieving Whether any of your goals no longer bring you pleasure. Now try Activity Three over the page. 15

Activity Three Work Goals Set a series of work goals for yourself (for the next 12 months) and prioritise these using A, B and C. Goal Priority 16

Let s now move on and consider how to ensure success in your goal setting. Your work goals and your personal goals should be aligned in some manner: Do not have them as separate functions, rather look for ways where the two can be incorporated into each other. Note any relationships between achieving personal and work goals, as this synergy may allow you to work smarter not harder. Look for those areas where you are most highly motivated and try to establish why this level of motivation occurs. What is it about certain goals that make you really want to achieve them? Go back over the various lists of goals and objectives that you have written and list any activity that you consider to be critically important. Write those important goals to achieve down so that you have summarised the priorities of each of your goal lists. Write a To Do list which identifies the activities needed to achieve each of your goals that you want to start work on immediately. What can you change tomorrow to work towards your goals? Make sure that you take time every three (3) months or so to review your goal lists. Remember that we are always changing, and so our goals must change to reflect the changes that exist within ourselves. Always remember that you need to focus on what you want To Do as well as what it is that drives your life along. Ensure your To Do list is constantly rewritten so that it is accurately reflecting what needs to be accomplished in your life. Recognise success: Realise when you are actually achieving your goals. Measure your performance and ensure that you keep track of where your goals lie at any time in your life. Remember that everything you do is a step closer to achieving your goals. You should also work to set goals with your family. Help children learn this process early in life. Decide what you should be accomplishing and then stick to what you are good at. Do not attempt to be or do all things for all people. Remember, dreams and wishes are not goals until they are written as specific end results on paper. Written specific goals provide direction and focus to your activities. They become a road map to follow. Being busy with activities does not pay, only results do. As in rugby you only get points for a try it is results that actually count. It has been said that the amount of information available to us is now doubling in less than 30 months. We must learn to focus on only what is truly important to our self and our job. Be sure the goals and activities that you are working for are yours and that you really want and desire to achieve them. Commitment is vital to your success in achieving them. You will find that the more motivated you feel about a specific goal, the more you are likely to be willing to work towards it. Get yourself motivated and ensure that you are excited about the potential that you have in your life for success. This level of motivation works to make you feel more confident about achieving your ultimate goals and objectives. 17

Whenever you are setting goals, ensure that you are setting them in a way that makes them achievable. Having goals that are too difficult reduces the excitement that you feel for achieving the goals and makes you feel down and demotivated. This makes you much more unlikely to actually work towards achieving those goals and objectives in your life. Remember, the best goals and objectives are: Clear Concise Understandable Realistic Measurable Activity Four Reflect on what you have learnt in this section. How did the goal setting exercises help you? Did you find them easy or difficult? Do you believe these goals will help you achieve everything you want to achieve in your personal and work life? 18

Section 1 - True or False Quiz Please tick True False Goal setting should only be practised at work. Goals should be sharp and well defined. Work and your personal life should be in balance in order for you to be most effective at each. Only short-term goals should be set. Lifetime goals should only include work goals. Goals must be prioritised. Your goals should not be updated regularly. Goals should be expressed as a negative statement. Written goals are more effective than those that are not written down. Exciting goals are more easily achieved than boring goals. 19