Reflection - Activity 3.1 My own template for PDP

By completing the pdp grid, I became really aware of the challenges of doing a deep review of my current job. In the process I've got a more intimate knowledge of the demands and skills required of me, but equally important, the expectations others may have of me.

I was very aware of a sort of distillation process taking place. I started with my job description. This seemed only logical to me because the job is relatively new for me. I set to work at mining it for a list of skills attitudes and needs ... which led to monster list (about 60 in all). That raised concerns about what sort of an animal I might be realizing for myself - one that could be overwhelming and unmanageable for the purposes of the course. .. so I sought out some objectivity. Threw a bit of a plea to Anne. She provided some valuable feedback on my concerns and my work so far - essentially offering guidance on how I might take what I had already and move forward with it. I did by somehow paring the many items down to a manageable number via typing and sorting them in Excel, then rewriting them so they were general enough, yet still meaningful.

Via the process, came a bit of a revelation on just how much of the job really involves "people skills" rather than "tech or research skills".Perhaps it shouldn't be so surprising. I've realized that a good portion of my work has to do with leading or encouraging and modelling how to realize change. I'm also realizing the importance of making that process so transparent that its open to scrutiny by others. I think that is a personal value that was there before but I'm now seeing how important it is in a professional context.

I also had some concerns about my focus just on my work and how this might marginalise any opportunity to incorporate personal development. However, I'm now seeing how almost all of these general categories that I've come up with can be equally important in promoting that personal development as well.

Now off to producing my "personal development" objectives.