If you first read posts that relate to 1.1 and 1.2 you should be able to identify what skills and knowledge are needed for your current role so do this first. You could also look at your job description for help with this. If there are areas on the job description where you feel you need to develop on then you are starting to form the basis of a skills gap analysis on yourself.

Once you understand the requirements of your role you could then expand on this to consider the team or department you work in and what areas you might want to diversify into. Maybe learn a new role enabling progression opportunities or simply to make yourself more versatile within the team for helping colleagues, covering absences and holidays or taking on new responsibilities. Look at what your team does and think about what you can currently do and what areas you feel you are lacking in. This feeds into your skills gap analysis in that you are looking forward at your future needs.

Finally, how do you fit into the organisation as a whole. You may be a small cog in scheme of things but once you undertake this exercise not only will you start to see how important you as a team member but you will also be able to see how you can make yourself more valuable and contribute more to the strategic objectives. You may see other teams or departments that you could currently fit into or again you may be able to identify what it is you would need to do in order to progress into new areas.

The point of the above is to make your self fully aware of what your current value is and what your opportunities are. The theme throughout all my posts on this unit is that you manage your own personal and professional development. When it comes to your appraisal or 1 to 1 meetings, your Manager will be impressed with your own self evaluation and be able to engage with you more effectively around your development needs and plans for the coming year.

Its useful to write all of your findings down and be able to make suggestions on how you can become more effective and build on your skills and experience.

Learners, if you are undertaking the Level 3 or 4 in Management this post will assist with the following criteria:

Unit 300 ML9 1.3 Evaluate their own current and future personal and professional development needs relating to the role , the team and the organisation

Unit 300 ML9 2.3 Identify future and current likely skills, knowledge and experience needs using skills gap analysis