Assignment Brief

BTEC Level 4-5 HNC/HND Diploma (QCF)

To be filled by the Learner

Name of the Learner : Lahiru Anjana Kandelekamge

Edexcel No : Centre No : Batch: HND-COM 002

Date of Submission :

Unit Assessment Information

Qualification : HND in Computing and Systems Development

Unit Code & Title :Unit 3–Employability and Professional Development

Assessment Title & No’s : Undertaking a community development project

Learning outcomes and grading opportunities:

LO 01:1 Be able to take responsibility for own personal and professional development
Learning Outcomes LO1.1 LO1.2 LO1.3 LO1.4
LO 02: Be able to demonstrate acquired interpersonal and transferable skills
Learning Outcomes LO2.1 LO2.2
LO 03: Understand the dynamics of working with others
Learning Outcomes LO3.1 LO3.2
LO 4 : Be able to develop strategies for problem solving
Learning Outcomes LO4.1 LO4.2 LO4.3

Merit and Distinction Descriptor

M1.1 M1.2 M2.2 M2.7 M3.3 M3.4 D1.4 D2.3 D2.5 D3.5
D3.7

Assessor : Mr. Indika Sandanuwan Internal Examiner (IE) :

Date Reviewed : Date of IE :

Date Issued : Date Due :

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development i

 PLAGIARISM AND COLLUSION DECLARATION

 I know that plagiarism is a punishable offence because it constitutes theft.

 I understand the plagiarism and collusion policy of the Edexcel UK.

 I know what the consequences will be if I plagiaries or copy another’s work in any of the
assignments for this programme.

 I declare therefore that all work presented by me for every aspect of my program, will be my
own, and where I have made use of another’s work, I will attribute the source in the correct
way.

 I acknowledge that the attachment of this document signed or not, constitutes a binding
agreement between myself and Edexcel UK.

 I understand that my assignment will not be considered as submitted if this document is not
attached to the attached.

Therefore, I hereby, declare that I know what plagiarism entails, namely to use another’s work and
to present it as my own without attributing the sources in the correct way. I further understood
what it means to copy another’s work (collusion) and I have read the points in the ‘ PLAGIARISM
AND COLLUSION DECLARATION’ above and understood them clearly.

Signature of the Learner………………………………………………

Date of assignment submission: ……………………………………..

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development ii

 PLEASE READ THIS GUIDE CAREFULLY AND ADHERE TO THE RULES.

Guide to Write Assignments

General guidelines that learners must adhere

1. All assignments must be professional. They must be spiral bound (in black) and must attach
this assignment brief as the first document (cover sheet) by completing the appropriate data
that must be filled by the learner.

2. All assignments must be prepared by using word processing software. (E.g. MS Word)
Read the word processing rules below.

3. Learners must use academic writing and must use Harvard Referencing all the time. If a
learner is not aware of Harvard Referencing or academic writing, he / she must obtain
proper guidance from a tutor relevant to that field.

4. All learners must avoid copying and pasting directly from the internet or using open
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must paraphrase and summarize all your answers by mostly referring to relevant text books
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5. All the assignments should print in A4 sized paper, and make sure to only use one side
printing.

6. Allow 1” margin on each side of the paper. Keep a gutter space of 0.5” for binding

7. Ensure that your assignment is does not contain drastic formatting and printing mistakes
such as missing page numbers, missing learner information and unit information in the
footer, spelling mistakes, wrong words in wrong places, printing errors, missing ink, missing
figure numbers and names, missing most important required contents of the assessment
tasks. Therefore, double check your assignment before the submission and never insert
individual sheets into plastic A4 folders or write contents in the assignment using pens or
pencils.

8. Assignment deadlines are fixed and not subjected to be extended and therefore you need
to submit your assignment on time unless a mitigating circumstance.

Word processing rules that learners must adhere

a. Use a font type that will make easy for your examiner to read. The font size body should be
12 and all headings must be 14 points. Only titles must be 16 points and should be in the
style of Time New Roman, Arial or Calibri. Other font styles are not accepted.

b. Use 1.5 line spacing for word-processing. Justify all paragraphs.

c. Ensure that all headings are consistent in terms of size and font style.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development iii

 d. Use footer function on the word processor to insert Your Name, Subject, Assignment No,
Page Number on each page. This is useful if individual sheets become detached for any
reason.

Assignment Brief

Task 1 – Undertaking a community development project

Identify a problem from the environment / community and plan, organize, lead and control
a small scale project in a nature of a fund raising event executed with careful guidance of a
supervisory lecturer (tutor of the unit) as a collective team effort combining skills of the
entire students in a selected batch.

However, team members must understand the importance of the event and then must
recognize their interdependence in achieving goals of the event.

1.1 Review different tools and methods your team could use to devise a realistic solution to
an identified community problem. (LO 4.1)

1.2 Developing an appropriate strategy for resolving the community problem (LO 4.2)
(Here you must reflect how you developed suitable methods to resolve the problem
outcomes. If you have deviations you can reflect them.)

1.3 Evaluate the potential impact on the community by implementing the project. (LO 4.3)
Discuss project sustainability (Discuss whether the outcomes of the project satisfied your
initial plans)

You are required to insert an annexure providing sufficient evidence on the project
undertaken (project proposal, project plan, photos, videos, etc).

Task 2 – Demonstrating understanding of team dynamics

You are required to create a PowerPoint presentation that,

 Discuss the impact of team dynamics you have learnt and its application during the
project
 Analyze different team roles and their outcomes
 Discuss how individuals worked together to achieve shared goals (LO 3.1)
 Different methods that would have been used to complete tasks and to achieve
team goals via this project (LO 3.2)

You are required to justify your presentation by providing evidences on team work (photos / videos)
during the project.

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Task 3 – Demonstrating acquired interpersonal and transferable skills

3.1 Comment on the easiness of communicating to a group of people who are diverse in
thoughts and acts? Was it the same manner you communicated to all of them who worked
with you? Justify your answer. (LO 2.1)

3.2 What are the realistic methods you incorporated to demonstrate effective time
management strategies to manage your time individually and to contribute towards the
completion of the project on time? (LO 2.2)

Task 4 - Developing a PDP portfolio (Personal Development Plan)

Assume that you have been employed as a Project Coordinator at your dream organization.

4.1 Do you think that undertaking a community development project as part of completion
of the HND Diploma has assisted you in satisfying the skills and competencies required
by the organization to fit into the aforementioned position? Reflect on own current skills
and competencies against professional standards and organizational objectives by using
effective judgments.
You are required to provide understanding of the skills and competencies required to fit
into the position of a Project Coordinator. (LO 1.1)

4.2 Evaluate essential development areas required to suit the organization’s requirements
by making use of SWOT. (LO 1.2)

4.3 Then devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs
above. Use SMART objectives to synthesize your PDP. (LO 1.3)

4.4 Based on the targets provided in the PDP, you have to reflect own development against
original aims and objectives set with realistic improvements against defined characteristics
for success via a viva. (LO 1.4)

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Abbreviations

EPD Employability and Professional Development

USA United States America

UK United Kingdom

HND Higher National Diploma

PDP Personal Development Plan

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Acknowledgement

The success and final outcome of this assignment required a lot of guidance assistance from
many people and I extremely fortunate to have got this all along the completion of my
assignment work. Whatever I have done is only due to such guidance and assistance and I
would not have forgot to thank them. I respect and thank Mr. Indika Sandanuwan for giving
an opportunity to do this assignment. I extremely grateful to both of you for providing such a
nice support and guidance. Finally, I would like to thank my parents and my friends who
gave me a support to make this assignment successfully…!

List of Figures

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Figure 1 Slide 1........................................................................................................................10

Figure 2 Slide 2........................................................................................................................10

Figure 3 Slide 3........................................................................................................................11

Figure 4 Slide 4........................................................................................................................11

Figure 5 Slide 5........................................................................................................................12

Figure 6 Slide 6........................................................................................................................12

Figure 7 Slide 7........................................................................................................................13

Figure 8 Slide 8........................................................................................................................13

Figure 9 Slide 9........................................................................................................................14

Figure 10 Slide 10....................................................................................................................14

Figure 11 Slide 11....................................................................................................................15

Figure 12 Slide 12....................................................................................................................15

Figure 13 Slide 13....................................................................................................................16

Figure 14 Slide 14....................................................................................................................16

Figure 15 Slide 15....................................................................................................................17

Figure 16 Communication process...........................................................................................18

Figure 17 SWOT analysis........................................................................................................30

Figure 18 SMART goals..........................................................................................................34

List of Tables

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Table 1 SMART goals for identified weaknesses....................................................................36

Table 2 SMART goals for identified weaknesses....................................................................37

Table 3 SMART goals for identified weaknesses....................................................................37

Table 4 Activities.....................................................................................................................45

Table 5 Budget.........................................................................................................................46

Table 6 Project Plan.................................................................................................................48

Contents

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Abbreviations............................................................................................................................vi

List of Figures.........................................................................................................................viii

List of Tables............................................................................................................................ix

Task 01:......................................................................................................................................1

1.1. Review different tools and methods your team could use to devise a realistic
solution to an identified community problem........................................................................1

1.2. Developing an appropriate strategy for resolving the community problem....................4

1.3 Evaluate the potential impact on the community by implementing the project...............8

Task 2.......................................................................................................................................10

Task 3.......................................................................................................................................18

3.1 Comment on the easiness of communicating to a group of people who are diverse in
thoughts and acts? Was it the same manner you communicated to all of them who worked
with you?..............................................................................................................................18

3.2 What are the realistic methods you incorporated to demonstrate effective time
management strategies to manage your time individually and to contribute towards the
completion of the project on time?.......................................................................................23

Task 4.......................................................................................................................................26

4.1. Do you think that undertaking a community development project as part of completion
of the HND Diploma has assisted you in satisfying the skills and competencies required by
the organization to fit into the aforementioned position? Reflect on own current skills and
competencies against professional standards and organizational objectives by using
effective judgments..............................................................................................................26

4.2 Evaluate essential development areas required to suit the organization’s requirements
by making use of SWOT......................................................................................................30

4.3 Then devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs
above. Use SMART objectives to synthesize your PDP......................................................34

4.4 Based on the targets provided in the PDP, you have to reflect own development against
original aims and objectives set with realistic improvements against defined characteristics
for success via a viva............................................................................................................38

Conclusion................................................................................................................................40

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development x

Annexure 01.............................................................................................................................42

Annexure 02.............................................................................................................................43

Annexure 03.............................................................................................................................49

Reference..................................................................................................................................51

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Task 01:

1.1. Review different tools and methods your team could use to devise a realistic
solution to an identified community problem.

As the HND 002 batch, we had to solve some humanity and social problem as a project of
employability and professional development subject. So, we discussed about many humanity
problems. But we could not select the humanity problem. There was a massive flood in May.
It began with the monsoon and it impacted to western province and southern province, but
most of western province. Many people had lost their shelters and loving ones. Many people
convert into refugees after the flood and they had lost all the things that they earn within
whole life except their life. So, we decided to held flood donation campaign for giving help to
the refugees. After decided, we had needed a proper plan to accomplish the donation
campaign and we had to decide the donating items. After discussion we decided to donate dry
foods for them, because, they can use dry foods later. We had problems from start of this
project, because, lack of experience. But, we succeeded. Now I`m going to explain the
problems that we are faced.

Before talk about problem analysis and solving methods and techniques, we should have to
get an exact idea whether what is the problem. We can divide problems into few categories
like humanity, environmental, society, business and others. Problems can be arisen suddenly
in any moment and any time.

What is the problem?

A problem is an issue or obstacle which makes it difficult to achieve a desired goal, objective
or purpose. It refers to a situation, condition, or an issue that is yet unresolved. In a broad
sense, a problem exists when an individual becomes aware of a significant difference
between what actually is and what is desired.

Problem Analysis and Techniques

Identifying the important elements of a problem situation by analyzing relevant information,

framing problems, identifying possible causes, seeking additional needed information,
framing and reframing possible solutions, exhibiting conceptual flexibility, assisting other to
form reasoned opinion about problems and issues. Following shows the analysis tools.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 1

 Fishbone diagram

Fishbone Diagrams also referred to as cause and effect diagrams, are a problem solving and
fault-finding tool which dissect an issue or problem into a standard four contributing sources
approach. Fishbone diagrams get their name from their close resemblance to fish bones. The
main horizontal line or "backbone" carries the problem statement, and the diagonal lines on
either side of this line pointing towards it represent each of the contributing sources from
which other lines stem representing possible causes or hypothesis.

 05 whys

The 5 Whys problem solving technique uses a very simple iterative approach in analyzing
and attempting to find the root cause of a problem. The concepts consist of defining the
problem in a problem statement first and then asking why is this is the case, or why is the
problem what it is. This technique is sometimes approached in a team environment and can
involve brainstorming as an idea generation process to identify potential causes.

 Root cause analysis

Root cause analysis is referred to the process of analyzing the effects and symptoms of a
process and tracing theses faults, failures and issues back to their root causes of why they
eventuated and what actually caused the problem in the first place.

 Pareto principle and charts

Pareto problem analysis and Pareto charts are based on the Pareto principle which is named
after Italian economist Vilfredo Pareto. The application of the Pareto principle in problem
solving and analysis can provide a great starting point with simple data analysis of process,
plant failure or production data to provide an early insight into problem causes and effects
without intense or complex analysis.

 Process flow charts

A process flow chart is a process analysis tool which maps out a process and its steps through
a set of standardized flow chart symbols. The process flow chart is an initial step in process
re-engineering and continuous improvement that help understand the different process steps,
the sub-steps within these and the nature of these steps. It is a similar approach to value
stream mapping where the value stream of a product or service is mapped from raw materials

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 2

to customer distribution. Some process flow charts can be very complex and used in
engineering design and plant designs, these are usually known as schematic diagrams and use
a different set of symbols and provide more detail of the process.

 Problem trees

Problem trees state the problem statement as the first level of the tree and then causes of this
problem statement branch out into the second level of branches and so forth. This approach of
problem definition and dissection is used by management consulting and operational
consulting firms in mapping out the problem areas or causes of underperformance in certain
business areas. The problem tree is very similar to a potential problem analysis but not as
lengthy and is intended to generate discussion or brainstorming among the management team
and business or process improvement team on potential causes of that eventually lead to the
problem statement.

Mostly we use 05 whys technique get an exact idea about raised problems. Because, through
this technique, we can identify the real problem quickly. If we want to cure the wound
quickly, we have to medicate the root of the wound. Like that, we have to find the problem
quickly and after that we can get the actions for the identified problem. Using this problem
analysis technique, we can ask ‘Why’ in every problem.

When we were discussing to select the humanity problem, we use this, because, after
suggesting this humanity problem, I also thought ‘Why we are giving things to them?’ After
that I could get the answer for that question. So, as a project coordinator, I accepted the
suggested humanity problem.

After selecting this problem, we wanted to know, ‘What are we offering to them?’ Team
mates introduce various things that refugees need. There are sanitary items, dry foods,
medicines, clothes and others. In here I asked myself ‘Why’. After that, I understood whether
dry foods are the most suitable item for offering. So, I said that, the dry foods are the best for
offering and I explained the reasons and it was accepted by the team.

We used process flow chart to identify the main process of this project. When we were
preparing the project plan, this technique helped us to identify main process of the project and
actually this is a problem analysis tool, but this also helped us to complete above process.
And also, process flow chart is a problem analysis tool and we could identify the problems
among processes of the main plan.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 3

1.2. Developing an appropriate strategy for resolving the community problem.

Problem Definition

Flood is the very dangerous natural disaster in Sri Lanka, because of this, many people
bereave their houses, furniture and electric items and also, dear ones. Several main roads are
closed in the area as they are not accessible, and some villages are surrounded by water,
making villagers helpless. Those people are not in position even to fulfill their basic needs as
they are confined in their houses and even some people had to left their houses. The flood
level in most of those affected areas is about 5 or 6 feet high, but in some areas this level is
more than 10 feet. The electricity supply and water supply of those areas have completely
ceased and some water-borne diseases have started to spread, causing lot of health issues to
the people in those areas. Because of that, we consider the flood is the dangerous natural
disaster as Sri Lankans. So, we need to help them.

Analyze the problem

Therefore, before we start the campaign, we need to make a proper plan to execute tasks
accurately. After that, we nominated the roles to divide responsibilities among us and it will
help to increase team work spirit and organizing skills. I have included roles and
responsibilities in task 02. Because of responsibility dividing, we could able to complete our
project on time and successfully.

Project plan is the main and basic document of all kind of projects. It describes about all the
tasks and how to achieve the noted tasks. So according to project plan, we did not have a time
to do a fund-raising event or collection from other batches. So, we collect the money from
our batch only.

 Strengths
 Improve our teamwork and organizing skills.
 Many students had brought the sanitary and food items after quick inform.
 Actually, we should had taken the decision in a very short time frame. So, it improves our
ability to take quick decisions.
 Because of this project, it improves the leadership and planning skills.

 Weaknesses

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 4

 Less experience of the planning and organizing the project.
 Minimal facilities.
 Lack of time.

 Opportunities
 Reduce the hungry of the people who faced the flood at least 02 days.
 Make happiness at least few moments.

 Threats
 Time management
 Cost management
 Risk management

Getting and analyzing solutions

Our HND 002 batch has 12 students and before selecting the humanity problem, we called a
meeting and discussed each other about the matter. Before selecting the matter, batch mates
introduced the few humanity problems. Following shows the ideas of them.

 Flood donation campaign.

 Lack of facilities in rural school.
 Gender based violence.
 Blood donation campaign.

Mainly, we focused on the flood matter. Because, Kalutara is the risky area for flooded
people and flood is very common matter in Kalutara district. And also, at this moment, Sri
Lanka has a huge flood and many people turns into refugees because of it. So, we decided to
select the flood matter as our humanity problem.

Goals

 Organizing the campaign.

 Find budget.
 Select a place to distribute items.
 How to distribute items.
 Find accurate details about the flood.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 5

Objectives

 Distribute food and sanitary items to people who surrounded by the flood.
 Make a balm for them at least a small time.

Problem solving method

To solving this matter, we need to buy the dry food items and sanitary items. Because, we
decided to create a small pack to purpose of easy distribution. There are dry foods, sanitary
items, medicines and other essential small items like soap and tooth brushes in one pack. For
buying these items, we needed some kind of budget and we did not have enough time to do a
fund raising event. We donated money of our own and our families donated some kind of
food items.

After collecting the donations, we went to the super market and we selected the items to buy.
As we planned, we bought items with cheapest price. Actually, they also, helped us to buy
some goods after saying our purpose. After buying all the items, we started the packing
process and we created the 100 packs.

Required resources

 Sanitary Items (tooth brush, tooth paste, )

 Dry foods (Maggie noodles packet, )
 Medicines (Panadol, Siddhalepa balm)
 Water bottles
 Shopping bags
 Transport

Approvals

First of all, we discussed with our lecturer about our selection and he liked it. But he
mentioned the time and cost limitations of the project. But with our explanation, he decided
that we can make it. After that we gave project proposal and he accepted it. And also, he
helped us to travel packs to the selected area and distribute it. In here, I have a responsibility
to thank him.

Collecting Budget

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 6

As I described, we did not have a time to perform fund raising event or collecting from other
beaches. So, we collect the money from our batch only. We contribute as out limit and we did
not pressure anyone to contribute. But all of our colleagues contributed for the campaign with
warm hearts.

Buy Items

After selecting the community matter, we created the project plan. According to project plan,
we had to buy food items, sanitary items and medicines. So, we went to the super market to
received items. In this day, we did not have full budget. But, we received items and gave
them to the advance for the receiving. After we collecting discussed budget, we went to the
super market again to buy all the things that we received.

Conducting the Campaign

We conducted our flood donation campaign on 28 th May 2017, because, in that days, Sri
Lanka had to face a huge flood and because of that, many people had lost their lives and
many people turn into refugees. So, we did not have a time to waste and we had to get a quick
decision to conduct this campaign.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 7

1.3 Evaluate the potential impact on the community by implementing the project.

We held a flood donation campaign for our EPD assignment, because, we had given the
solution for the community problem as requested from assignment. In present we all are
living in a community. Every community has some kind of problems and it ca be varied
according to community type and country. There are so many community problems we can
see and we can categorize them according to the country. Developed countries like USA, UK,
China and other countries have a set of community problems and still developing countries
like Sri Lanka, India and other African and Asian countries have various community
problems than developed countries. Commonly, we can see the Adolescent pregnancy, access
to clean drinking water, child abuse and neglect, crime, domestic violence, drug use,
environmental contamination, natural disasters, ethnic conflict, health disparities, HIV/
AIDS, hunger, inadequate emergency services, inequality, jobs, lack of affordable housing,
poverty, racism, transportation and violence.

In Sri Lanka, we also have above mentioned community problems. Mainly, as Sri Lankans
we have to face to the natural disasters about 3 to 5 times per year. Luckily, we don`t have
volcanos and hurricanes. But we have faced to the floods and droughts in every year. I live in
Kalutara and Kalutara is situated in wet zone of the country. So, luckily, I have not to face
droughts but some areas like Hambantota, Anuradhapura and Mannar people should have to
face to the droughts in middle of the year. So, if Kalutara has no any droughts, we have faced
to the flood and Kalutara is nominated by the government as very risky area in flooding.
When flood activates, so many people turns into refugees in Kalutara district and people need
to get out from their lands. Sometimes, even they don`t have something to eat or something to
wear. After flood, they don`t have anything except wearing clothes. So, we need to help them
to rebuild their fallen lives.

In May 2017, Sri Lanka had to face to the massive flood and it spread very quickly in few
districts like Kalutara Ratnapura and Gampaha. Because of this massive flood, many people
had lost their dear ones and property as well. “Kalu” river overflew suddenly and people did
not have time to think. For rescuing their lives, they need to get out from their lands and got
together in a safe place. But they did not have minimal facilities for living. In this case, we
selected this community matter as our assignment and we needed to give some aids to them.
So, this is the best time to do something like that.

Basic needs

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 8

As I mentioned before, we gave aids to displaced people but, we needed to give the aids to
them by our hands. So, we found a boat to carry packs to them. One pack has sanitary items,
dry foods and medicines and one pack suits for one person. So, we wanted to give aids for
small village and we found it. This small village was surrounded by the flood and they have
not find any aids before. So, they were very happy and blessed and thanked us very much.
Because of us, they could be survived few days until getting more aids. Through this
campaign, we could not give the long-term solution for their matters, but we could be able to
give a solution for few days.

Increasing health

With this campaign, we able to increase health level of the villagers. We included the sanitary
items to our packs and it helps to decrease some kind of problems. And also, we included the
basic medicines to the packs.

Changing minds

After doing this campaign, few other batches of our institute were decided to provide aids to
the displaced people. As HND students, we could be able to give lesson to the other batches.
And also, we changed their minds. So, I think, this is the positive impact for the society from
our project.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 9

Task 2

Figure 1 Slide 1

Figure 2 Slide 2

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 10

 Figure 3 Slide 3

Figure 4 Slide 4

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 11

 Figure 5 Slide 5

Figure 6 Slide 6

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 12

 Figure 7 Slide 7

Figure 8 Slide 8

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 13

 Figure 9 Slide 9

Figure 10 Slide 10

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 14

 Figure 11 Slide 11

Figure 12 Slide 12

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 15

 Figure 13 Slide 13

Figure 14 Slide 14

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 16

 Figure 15 Slide 15

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 17

Task 3

3.1 Comment on the easiness of communicating to a group of people who are diverse in
thoughts and acts? Was it the same manner you communicated to all of them who
worked with you?

Communication is a Latin word which means ‘to share’. It is the sharing of information
between different individuals. It includes the sharing of ideas, concepts, imaginations,
behaviors and written content. Communication is simply defined as the transfer of
information from one place to another. This transfer of information can be conducted in
different ways. Communication is a simple process, yet showing complexity in some aspects.
Different ways of communication and the distances over which one is required to transfer the
information make the process complicated.

There are three elements necessary to conduct a communication. There is the sender, a
medium and a recipient. Medium means the platform over which information is conducted.
The sender is the most involved person with a full understanding of that matter which he
wants to deliver. On the other hand, the receiver does not necessarily know about the sender
and the subject of information which the sender aims to deliver.

Following shows the main communication process.

Figure 16 Communication process

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 18

Sender/ Source

In the communication process, the sender is the individual who initiates a message and is
often called the communicator or source of communication. The sender may be a speaker, a
writer, or someone who merely gestures. The individual who responds to the sender is called
the receiver or audience.

In communication and speech theory, the reputation of the sender is important in providing
credibility and validation to his or her statements and speech, but attractiveness and
friendliness, too, play a role in a receiver's interpretation of a sender's message.

Encoding

In order to communicate meaning, the sender must begin encoding, which means translating
information into a message in the form of symbols that represent ideas or concepts. This
process translates the ideas or concepts into the coded message that will be communicated.

Channel

Also called as media, the channel is the means by which a message is transmitted. Most
channels are either one common channels include the telephone and a variety of written
forms such as memos, letters, and reports.

Decoding

Decoding means that the message which source has encoded then the decoder interprets the
message according to his own mentality and experience. So, where the message is simple and
clear. Then the encoded message will be easily understood by the receiver.

Receiver

In the communication process, the receiver is the listener, reader, or observer that is, the
individual to whom a message is directed. Another name for receiver is audience or decoder.
When the message is received by the receiver, the recipient reads and understands it. He may
translate the information to better understand it.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 19

Feedback

From the discussion, we can say that feedback is a system where the reaction or response of
the receiver reaches to the sender after he has interpreted the message. Feedback is inevitably
essential to make two-way communication effective. In fact, without feedback in
communication remains incomplete.

And also, we cannot forget the communication types when tailing about communication.
There are the two major communication types and they are verbal communication and non-
verbal communication.

Verbal communication

Verbal communication is the sharing of information through speech. It includes the

information that people hear on radios, televisions, telephones, speeches and interviews.
Effective verbal communication incorporates the use of interpersonal skills. Factors that
contribute to the effectiveness of verbal communication are the clarity of voice and
perception and listening skills of the recipient. Verbal communication, if it is conducted in a
two-way loop, is usually based on immediate responses. Verbal communication is also
influenced by eye contact, gestures and facial expressions. The hearing and understanding
skills of recipient help him understand the context of information and develops his responses
accordingly. Linguistics and the way of presenting information build the impact of
communication on the recipient.

Non-verbal communication

Written or spoken words are not the only means for sharing a message. When there is no use
of words, and the recipient understands what the sender is asking, then it is known as non-
verbal communication. Non-verbal communication is conducted through eye contact,
postures, gestures, facial expressions and haptics.

Visuals are also an excellent way to represent any information. Use of pictures, symbols and
graphs can help a person communicate effectively. Even hairstyles and clothing of a person
convey information regarding his nature, mood and intentions. People use architectures, and
different colors and textures for home and office surfaces to represent their interests and
preferences.

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Written communication

Written communication includes the kind of information transfer where the encoding of a
message is done in written form. The message may only be written in words, or it may
include different symbols, or sometimes even machine codes. Written communication is
influenced by writing and representation skills of an individual. Written message is
developed while taking the audience into consideration. Different audiences have different
levels of perceptive abilities. Different kinds of messages require different techniques of
writing. Like an analytical report is written in a way greatly different to a CV or an essay.

Communication with the team members.

When it comes to the project scenario, it is the main thing that the project coordinator should
give first priority. Project coordinator should communicate with all the team members who
worked with him properly in order to achieve ultimate project objective.

As the Project coordinator I had to communicate with various kinds of people and groups, in
order to bring our project plan to a success. I had to discuss various issued regarding the
project with the team members, outsourced service providers and lectures to find out proper
solutions and to act accordingly within the limited time. As the project, I had to use additional
communication types under above main types to communicate with various peoples and
groups. And it was the very effective methods.

Open communication

Open communication is an informal way of communication which is always convenient to

communicate with the colleagues or friends. All the members in the group can participate to
this type of communication without any hesitation because anyone can express his or her
emotions without any fear and share with anyone. Usually this type only involves discussion
where everyone shares their ideas freely.

We used this communication types in most of situations with my team. They helped me to
get an exact decision in a right time and moments. Because of this freely environment, every
member can introduce and explain their opinion to the others and because of that, I could be
able to made best decisions quickly and right time. And also, we communicate with victims
as a team, we listened what they had to say and we shared our feelings with them freely.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 21

Reserved communication

Reserve communication mostly take place between two people or two groups who cannot
discuss about their communication with any other third party. This type of communication is
may held in between the superior & subordinate or superior person with his team in the
organization so that no disclosure of their strategy if any. It also keeps the conversation secret
done in between the communicators.

As the project coordinator I had to discuss several critical issues of the program we started
with the lecturer. So, we had one or two private conversations which any of the other team
members had not participated. And also, when selecting the community program and setting
initial plans only our team and the lecturer were participated.

Direct communication
Direct communication is very straightforward method and can do with full confidence
without any hesitation. A communication held between two person or group regarding any
discussion openly, face to face is what mostly identified as direct communication. This
communication is always clear without arising any confusion or doubts.

This communication method was very effective When dealing with the outsourced service
providers. We had to use this method in situations like purchasing required aid items,
obtaining services from boats and getting transports services. we communicated with them
directly to inform them about what we are going to do and how their services are required.

Finally, when communicating with the above-mentioned groups of people we had to use
different types of communication methods, and it was formal and informal ways to deliver
our ideas and obtain their services. Because of above mentioned details, you can understand it
properly and it describes the way that we communicated with others.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 22

3.2 What are the realistic methods you incorporated to demonstrate effective time
management strategies to manage your time individually and to contribute towards the
completion of the project on time?

Time management refers to numerous techniques and skills that can help a person to make
use of the available time in the most efficient way and to accomplish goals, tasks and projects
within the predetermined period of time. Time management skills vary from, but are not
limited to, prioritizing tasks, planning, scheduling, organizing and the delegation of functions.
However, it also includes an analysis of the time spend for different activities as well as close
monitoring that allows one to improve his time management skills.

An individual that applies time management techniques can improve his productivity, which
allows this person to get more work done within shorter amounts of time. Time management
allows us furthermore to take control over our professional as well as personal life, as it helps
us to know what needs to be done and what goals need to be accomplished on a daily basis.
Effective time management can be a true advantage for an employee as it allows him to meet
deadlines of projects without having to delay the completion of it.

As the project coordinator of this flood relief project, I need to form many abilities and skills.
Time management is the main skill among them and this is the very essential thing for our
life and because of this ability, we can spend our time easily and comfortably. Actually, I like
to do any kind of work on time and this is ability which already I have. I am trying to finish
any work in the specific time period and with this time management skill, it makes life easier.

So, according to this project, time management skill is the very valuable, because, I had a
very limited time period to plan and launch this project. Actually, we cannot success this
project without time management skill and with this ability, we could complete the project in
planed time period and also, finally this is not only my success, my team members also have
this ability, because, without them, I cannot complete this project successfully. My team also
worked as planed as me. So, this success belongs to all of us.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 23

Start the day with a clear focus

During this project, I kept my mind free and clear. Because, it is very essential to do assigned
tasks properly and Sometimes, I have a forgetful mind. I don`t need to fail this project
because of me. So, I kept my mind clear and because of that, I could be able to kept my mind
with a focus about the works. And also, I could be able to remembered previous day works of
this project. When stating the day, I tried to remember previous day works and after that the
remaining works. So, this was the very helpful method to accomplish our project on time.

Have a dynamic task list

Besides having the project proposal and project plan, I maintained a list of tasks and activities
which should be carried out each day until the end. I updated the list regularly by marking the
completed tasks, altering some task relevantly and adding new tasks for each day’s goals.
This list gave me a quick overview of the tasks which are urgent and important which was
very much useful to complete all the tasks within the planned time without missing even a
single task of our project.

Set Priorities

Among the project tasks, I had to categorize tasks as urgent or not urgent. Because, some
tasks should be finished to start another. These tasks must be finished first. For example,
according to our project, we had to make packets, but if we don`t have any items, we cannot
make packets likewise. So, we need to buy items before pack them. So, we need to priorities
this good buying task and other tasks depending on this task. Because of this categorize
process, we could complete our project on time. Because of this, every task can be acquired
without breaking the flow. So, this process is also helped to complete our project on time.

Managing Interruptions

During the project execution time so many interruptions were occurred sometimes without
even knowing that they are happening. Sometimes interruptions are inevitable, but most of
the time I put a great effort to avoid those unnecessary interruptions to save the time required
for the project tasks.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 24

Managing Procrastination

In many occasions, the idea of procrastinating came to my mind when some important tasks
become difficult to achieve and there were lot more task that can be achieved easily. But by
realizing that procrastination will affect the project negatively, I have taken many actions to
accomplish the tasks within the time. Some important tasks were break down into smaller
segments which require less time commitment, helped me to achieve the goals easily.

Keep health of the body

Health is the very essential thing for all the creature of the world. So, if we have healthy
body, we can do more things without wasting more time and resources. If we don`t have a
healthy body, we cannot do assigned tasks properly and when doing the assigned tasks, it
takes more time and it is the time wasting. I had limited time to finish this project and I
cannot put the project at risk by being unhealthy.

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Task 4

4.1. Do you think that undertaking a community development project as part of

completion of the HND Diploma has assisted you in satisfying the skills and
competencies required by the organization to fit into the aforementioned position?
Reflect on own current skills and competencies against professional standards and
organizational objectives by using effective judgments.

Professional development plan

The personal or professional development plan is a formal means by which an individual sets
out the goals, strategies and outcomes of learning and training. Again, this is in alignment
with the professional program of study and is often written to meet requirements from
regulatory or statutory bodies around continuing professional development and revalidation
to retain a license to practice, stay on a professional register and demonstrate professional
standing.

Actually, A professional development plan is a set of guidelines used to improve or redirect a

career. It improves self-knowledge and identity, develop talents and potential, build human
capital and employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams
and aspirations.

Role of project coordinator

A project coordinator is the member of a project management team responsible for keeping
the project organized and running smoothly. The project coordinator works alongside the
project manager to track and dispense all of the information the various team members need
to do their jobs effectively. The project coordinator is responsible for keeping the entire
project running smoothly.

Project coordinators must be flexible and adept at multi-tasking, as they are generally
required to perform a wide variety of tasks on a daily basis, sometimes even simultaneously.
While the specific role of the project coordinator will vary somewhat from company to
company.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 26

Skills and competencies against professional standards and organizational objectives

I was the project coordinator of this particular flood relief project. In this scenario, I had the
opportunity to extend my support towards that real time community problem, and it gave me
the opportunity to work as a team with my colleagues in HND 002 batch, my responsibility in
this project was to handle all the team members well and to achieve ultimate objective of the
community project. One area that has been built by doing this worthy cause perfectly was, it
helped me to get the knowledge on a lot of project planning and skills for handling the
project.

As I possess several significant skills related to project coordinators or project managers,

which are identified as professional standards and organizational objectives, facing the
challenges of the project becomes easier than thought. Following describes the leadership
skills.

What is leadership?

Project leadership is an interesting and increasingly popular field of investigation. It is an

area growing in relevance and importance as projects are being delivered in a more complex
and uncertain environment one which, many would argue, requires more leadership. Much of
what we know about what makes up the leadership of effective project coordinators,
including the skills and competencies that contribute to it, takes the form of lists of important
project coordination skills and competencies. These lists can make use of grouping or sorting
into technical, business and social skills, for example and some are very complete. However,
they are also static. While the lists are useful in that they provide a starting point by which to
understand what is important for a project coordinator, or a way by which to assess progress,
it is difficult to deduce from the lists which skills and competencies are most important for a
particular project coordinator in a particular context. It is also not clear which of the skills
and competencies fit with particular elements of the work of the project coordinator, or if
these should change with changes to the characteristics of the project being delivered by the
project coordinator. This investigation sought to identify important skills and competencies,
project characteristics that would affect the importance of these skills and competencies, and
potential gaps between the skills and competencies and the work of the project coordinator.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 27

Motivating and inspiring team members.

Leaders develop a vision and then continually communicate that vision throughout the
organization, working with the team to achieve the vision. Leaders keep their people
enthusiastic in doing their work and focused on the project vision. They encourage the team
members to do their best and accomplish the work with full self-satisfaction for the making
their contribution towards the project vision. Motivating team members is a challenge with
constantly changing parameters. As a team leader, the strategies you employ on any given
day to maintain productivity and keep workers focused can change depending on the
workplace climate, assigned tasks and looming project deadlines. Good leadership qualities
encompass a basic toolkit of motivational strategies to maintain team member cooperation
while allowing you the flexibility to tackle daily motivational issues.

Communication

Excellent communication skills are vital, to enable a project coordinator to communicate

effectively with a broad spectrum of people at different levels within an organization and
externally. In order to lead a project, you must be able to clearly communicate your vision,
goals, guidelines and expectations to others. The ability to deliver and receive constructive
feedback and listen to others is another important part of leading a team of individuals.
Essentially, being a great communicator is a key element to working well with others in any
work environment.

Sharing a Vision

The ability to see the ‘bigger picture’ behind a project and effectively convey that vision to
others is an incredibly valuable and important quality in a Project Coordinator. Successfully
articulating the vision of a project ensures the team can experience it in their mind and helps
to get them on board without delay.

Integrity

Part of being a great team leader is the ability to gain the trust of your team. By
demonstrating that you are committed to adhering to both your values and ethical practices in
general, team members will soon recognize that you are an honest leader whom they are
happy to put their trust and faith in.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 28

Team Building

The project coordinator needs to be a good team builder. A team builder can best be defined
as a strong person who provides the substance that holds the team together in common
purpose toward the right objective. The team starts as a group of strangers and needs to be
made into a core group of people. Keeping the sense of team spirit alive despite the many
problems in the project’s execution, is another crucial quality a project coordinator should
have.

Problem Solving
When a leader analyzes a situation and identifies a problem, then he has to decide how to
provide an effective solution to that problem. Since the time we had selected this community
event, we had to face many types of problems until the end. One of the major problem we had
was, how to find the required funds to the project. As the people with conceptual skills are
good at solving problems, and making strong, swift decisions that will yield results, problem
solving skill helped me to guide the team on those critical situations to find the appropriate
solutions.

Time management

Time management refers to numerous techniques and skills that can help a person to make
use of the available time in the most efficient way and to accomplish goals, tasks and projects
within the predetermined period of time. Time management skills vary from, but are not
limited to, prioritizing tasks, planning, scheduling, organizing and the delegation of functions.
However, it also includes an analysis of the time spend for different activities as well as close
monitoring that allows one to improve his time management skills.

This is also very essential and very use full skill of mine, because, without this skill, we
cannot accomplish our project on time. I always believe that time is important and work
within the relevant time makes a person success. So, managing the activities of our
community problem within the limited time was not a challenge to me even we had a greatly
limited time to act. I had allocated the time to all the essential tasks successfully, which made
the whole project success at the end.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 29

4.2 Evaluate essential development areas required to suit the organization’s
requirements by making use of SWOT.

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis is a process that identifies an organization's strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats. Specifically, SWOT is a basic, analytical framework that assesses
what an entity can and cannot do, for factors both internal strengths and weaknesses as well
as external potential opportunities and threats. Usually a business, though it can be used for a
place, industry or product. Using environmental data to evaluate the position of a company, a
SWOT analysis determines what assists the firm in accomplishing its objectives, and what
obstacles must be overcome or minimized to achieve desired results: where the organization
is today, and where it may be positioned in the future.

Figure 17 SWOT analysis

A SWOT analysis is usually presented as a square with each of the four areas making up one
quadrant. This visual arrangement of the information provides a quick overview of the
company’s position. Although all the points under a particular heading may not be of equal
importance, there are some insights to be had in seeing how the number of opportunities
measures up to the number of threats, and so forth.

When using SWOT analysis, an organization needs to be realistic about its good and bad
points. Analysis needs to be kept specific by avoiding gray areas and analyzing in relation to
real-life contexts. SWOT analysis should be short and simple, and should avoid complexity
and over-analysis, as much of the information is subjective. Thus, companies should use it as
a guide and not a prescription.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 30

Strengths

describe what an organization excels at and separates it from the competition: things like a
strong brand, loyal customer base, strong balance sheet, unique technology and so on. For
example, a hedge fund may have developed a proprietary trading strategy that returns market-
beating results; it must then decide how to use those results to attract new investors.

Weaknesses

stop an organization from performing at its optimum level. They are areas where the
business needs to improve to remain competitive: things like higher-than-industry average
turnover, high levels of debt, an inadequate supply chain or lack of capital.

Opportunities

refer to favorable external factors that an organization can use to give it a competitive
advantage. For example, a car manufacturer may be able to export its cars into a new market,
increasing sales and market share, if tariffs in a country are substantially reduced – the
"opportunity" in this case.

Threats

refers to factors that have the potential to harm an organization. For example, a drought is a
threat to a wheat-producing company, as it may destroy or reduce the yield of the crop. Other
common threats include things like rising costs for inputs, increasing competition, tight labor
supply and so on.

Personal SWOT analysis

Strengths

 Good communication skill.

 Give space for other ideas.
 Integrity.
 Balance every works in my life.
 Curiosity for find new technologies.
 Try to finish every works in specific time period.
 Motivating and inspiring others.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 31

Weaknesses

 Because of anger, sometimes, I cannot get exact decisions.

 Because of rapidity, some works can be missed and forget.
 Presenting something in front of a group of people really makes me nervous and shy.
 Stress can be appeared, when working in a limited time period.
 I feel like fear to meet new thing.

Opportunities

 Because of working with the different kind of groups of the people in society, I could be
able to get an idea about, how to deal with the people.
 Working with different kinds of fields, it allows me to improve knowledge about them,
and also, it increases the job opportunities, that I can apply.
 This is a great opportunity to identify peoples and due to working with them, I can get
experience.
 Because of discussions with friends, peoples and others, it improves the bonds.

Threats

 Some new technologies, I have not considered as important. But it can be very important.
 Underestimate or overestimate my skills.
 Overthinking.

Essential development areas

Fear to do new things

Currently, I feel like fear to do new things. And also, it should be a bad feeling in my mind.
Because of this, I have missed many opportunities and this is a black mark for my career. I
like to do something new. But with this feeling, I cannot do that. So, this is my main
weakness. So, I need to prevent this feeling. To preventing this, I have to plan that new thing
properly. Due to plan, it can be hold that feeling until finishing planed thing.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 32

Stress

In present, stress has become the main mental problem. In the society, we can see many
peoples are in stress due to many problems like poverty, drugs, jobs and so many others. So, I
also have stress in sometimes due to work loads. Actually, being under pressure is always a
normal part of my life. Because of stress, it impacts physically and emotionally. Stress can be
appeared in every moment of life and most of facing challenges, worrying about something
and also, even living in a regular life can be caused. I can use few methods to avoid stress.
First of all, I can identify and understand the causes for the stress. This is very important step
and without this step, I cannot avoid stress. After identifying, I should have to plan all the
tasks with time. Time management is the best solution for stress. Because, time is the main
reason for appear stress in present.

Anger and rapidity

I am a guy who with quick anger. This is another bad feeling of mind. When person with
anger, that person cannot think straight and at this moment, even his ability to logical
thinking decreases very much. Because, the anger is in that person`s mind. Due to anger, that
person cannot get direct decision properly. So, I have to avoid this from my mind.

Rapidity is also another weakness of mine. Because of rapidity, I have missed many chances
and time. Time is very precious thing, but due to rapidity, it can be wasted. If we finished
some work very quickly, it is very good thing, but because of quickness, that work can be
messed up. That means, accurateness can be decreased due to quickness. And also,
sometimes, we have to make decisions quickly, but these decisions can be inaccurate. So,
these 02 things can destroy my professional and personal life. So, I have to avoid them.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 33

4.3 Then devise a personal and professional development plan based on identified needs
above. Use SMART objectives to synthesize your PDP

SMART goals

What is SMART goals?

Many people spend their lives drifting from one job to another, or rushing around trying to
get more done while actually accomplishing very little. Setting SMART goals means you can
clarify your ideas, focus your efforts, use your time and resources productively, and increase
your chances of achieving what you want in life.

Figure 18 SMART goals

Specific

Your goal should be clear and specific, otherwise you won't be able to focus your efforts or
feel truly motivated to achieve it. When drafting your goal, try to answer the five "W"
questions and following shows them

 What do I want to accomplish?

 Why is this goal important?
 Who is involved?
 Where is it located?
 Which resources or limits are involved?

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 34

Measurable

It's important to have measurable goals, so that you can track your progress and stay
motivated. Assessing progress helps you to stay focused, meet your deadlines, and feel the
excitement of getting closer to achieving your goal. A measurable goal should address
questions such as,

 How much?
 How many?
 How will I know when it is accomplished?

Achievable/ Attainable

Your goal also needs to be realistic and attainable to be successful. In other words, it should
stretch your abilities but still remain possible. When you set an achievable goal, you may be
able to identify previously overlooked opportunities or resources that can bring you closer to
it. An achievable goal will usually answer questions such as:

 How can I accomplish this goal?

 How realistic is the goal, based on other constraints, such as financial factors?

Relevant/ Result-Oriented

This step is about ensuring that your goal matters to you, and that it also aligns with other
relevant goals. We all need support and assistance in achieving our goals, but it's important to
retain control over them. So, make sure that your plans drive everyone forward, but that
you're still responsible for achieving your own goal. A relevant goal can answer "yes" to
these questions.

 Does this seem worthwhile?

 Is this the right time?
 Does this match our other efforts/needs?
 Am I the right person to reach this goal?
 Is it applicable in the current socio-economic environment?

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 35

Time-bound

Every goal needs a target date, so that you have a deadline to focus on and something to work
toward. This part of the SMART goal criteria helps to prevent everyday tasks from taking
priority over your longer-term goals. A time-bound goal will usually answer these questions:

 When?
 What can I do six months from now?
 What can I do six weeks from now?
 What can I do today?

PDP with SMART

Fear to do new things

Specific Identify and analyze background details of new thing.

Measurable Note down the important facts as most important wise. Because of this,
I can measure task weight.
Attainable Find ways to achieve new thing.
Relevant Try to achieve new thing and find alternate ways to achieve this quickly
than previous time.
Time-bound Before achieving, I have to assign time period to achieve this and after
achieving, I have to re-evaluate. Because of re-evaluate, I can have idea
about the time periods and it will help to the next new thing.
Table 1 SMART goals for identified weaknesses

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Stress

Specific Every day, I am going to practice stress reduction method.

Measurable I will keep a book for note down the daily stress level.
Attainable When I feel stress while doing some work, I stop that work and I will
switch to another work. This will help to reduce stress.
Relevant I will find details about stress and talk about stress with colleagues.
Time-bound After few weeks, I will re-evaluate about my stress using notes.
Table 2 SMART goals for identified weaknesses
Anger

Specific Every day I am going to practice anger controlling method.

Measurable I will keep a book for note down the moments and reasons for the
anger.
Attainable I will take five slow deep breaths when I feel anger, and practice
positive self-talk to stop negative thoughts.
Relevant I will think about the reasons to get anger and try to identify the real
situation.
Time-bound After few weeks, I will re-evaluate about my anger using notes.
Table 3 SMART goals for identified weaknesses

Rapidity

Specific I am going to plan each and every day, when I wake up.
Measurable Note down the main tasks, I have to complete in day.
Attainable Mark the task as completed when task is done.
Relevant After completing task, re check the task.
Time-bound End of the day, re evaluate the completed and uncompleted tasks.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 37

4.4 Based on the targets provided in the PDP, you have to reflect own development
against original aims and objectives set with realistic improvements against defined
characteristics for success via a viva.

Long term goal is to make myself as an important part of the project coordinator at the flood
relief project as well as any kind of project. So that I need to develop certain skills which will
be assisting me to become an efficient team management member. To make the project
objectives, I need to coordinate with the team and delegate responsibilities. In this task I have
to explain my own aims and objectives using personal development plan.

According to PDP, I have identified and listed few weaknesses of mine in above tasks. And
also, I have synthesized it with SMART objectives. I have a small fear to do new things. This
is my first weakness and this will be a black mark for my career life. With this, cannot
develop my career life or personal life. I like to do something new. But with this feeling, I
cannot do that. So, this is my main weakness. So, I need to prevent this feeling. To preventing
this, I have to plan that new thing properly. If I want to do new thing, first of all I have to
plan that. According to new thing, this can be different. But due to plan, I can track the tasks
which completed or not. And also, I can prioritize tasks according to new thing using this
plan. When planning, I need to find the ways to achieve new thing easily. So, because of plan
I can prevent this. While doing flood relief, as the project coordinator, I had to organize the
flood relief event. Actually, I had not organized any kind of events or sessions. I felt like fear
to accept this project coordinator role. But I had to accept it and I completed this flood relief
event successfully. So, secret of my success is planning. As I said, I planned the main tasks
and sub tasks also. Due to task plan, I could complete all the tasks without procrastinations.
And also, with this plan, I could prevent the fear, because, I knew the tasks and how to
achieve them.

In order to the PDP, I have to manage my stress while I’m at home, office and my studying
institute. In my present situation, for many reasons, I feel pressured in my office sometimes
even at home. Stress mostly affects my mind and body, and I'm still trying to control it. In
some stressful situations, I can’t continue to work, get angry and have a headache. And also,
if I do a work in stress, it should be messed up. Because of this, it wastes my time. This is one

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 38

of the most important weaknesses I must improve or I will not be able to take on a higher
responsibility in the future.

And also, finally, I have anger and rapidity. These are other weaknesses of my mind. When I
am in an anger, I cannot do anything properly, even thinking. Because, anger prevents other
feelings. So, I have to practice anger reduction techniques. Rapidity is also a bad feeling in
my mind. Because of rapidity, I have made many problems. Therefore, I have to re check,
when work is finished.

When an individual develops a development plan for himself then he even sets the various
aims and objectives along with it. These objectives and aims divide and break the aim into
simpler short term goals that could then be achieved easily. Learning is encouraged against
the aims and objectives. This kind of a learning process helps in the achievement of the
developmental plan and working on the areas that have to be developed and worked upon.
Unless an individual develops the objectives and aims, he will never have the clarity on the
areas that are still to be worked upon and developed. The table or the developmental chart
should have the aims and objectives written along with them. Unless there is a set target, the
person would not be able to concentrate and develop on the areas and the points that have to
be developed in an individual.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 39

Conclusion

This is a very important project among other HND projects, because, this helps to improve
our interpersonal skills. As the project brief, we had to select the humanity problem and we
have to give solutions for the selected humanity problem. After discussions, we selected the
flood as our selected one. In this, we decided to organize flood donation event to distribute
aids to the homeless. Actually, in that days, Sri Lanka had faced to the huge flood and many
people had caught to the flood. Many people have lost their families and shelters. Those
people are not in position even to fulfill their basic needs as they are confined in their houses
and even some people had to leave their houses. The flood level in most of those affected
areas is about 5 or 6 feet high, but in some areas this level is more than 10 feet. The
electricity supply and water supply of those areas have completely ceased and some water-
borne diseases have started to spread, causing lot of health issues to the people in those areas.

In this assignment, I had to complete 04 main tasks and also, it has sub tasks. In task 1.1, I
had to review different tools and techniques to identify the problems. I explained few
techniques. Such as 05 why technique, fishbone diagram like wise. In task 1.2, I have to
introduce appropriate strategy to resolving a selected humanity problem. In here I mentioned
the problem analyzing methods, flow of the event. And others. In task 1.3, I explained the
impacts of this project. Actually this project has many positive impacts to us as also,
refugees.

In task 2.1, I had to create a slide show to discuss that what are the team dynamics, roles and
responsibilities and alternative paths to achieve this event. Also, I have included the pictures
of this event. It proves our team work and planning skills.

IN task 3, I have to include about communication to the assignment. Communication is the

most important thing in project, because, without communication, we cannot provide
information to the society. Communication can divided into few parts. If we want to do any
kind of communication, we need these parts. As I said, this is very important assignment,
because, we can learn many things through this. Time management is the very important
thing. I have to find and explained that what is time management and how to manage time.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 40

This project is time critical one. Because, I had 02 days to plan and organize the event. So,
above mentioned time management steps helped me to achieve this success from my first
event.

In task 04, I have to identify the leadership skills of mine and explain identified details as a
project coordinator. Actually, project coordinator coordinates the whole project. Without this
role, projects cannot be succeeded. SWOT analysis is the best way to identify strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities and threats in ant thing. It can be applied to this scenario also. So,
in task 4.2, I have included the SWOT analysis according to selected community matter.
SMART is the theory that teaches how to achieve goals and objectives. So, in task 4.3, I had
to compare identified weaknesses of my mind with SMART. This theory helps to achieve to
the objectives easily and smoothly. And also, I had to reflect own development against
original aims and objectives set with realistic improvements in task 4.4.

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 41

Annexure 01

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 42

Annexure 02

Project Proposal
Flood Relief

Lahiru Anjana Kandelekamge

HND-COM 002

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 43

Table of Content

1. Background…………………………………..45
2. Collecting funds……………………………...45
3. Activities and Time allocation……………….45
4. Communication………………………………46
5. Budget………………………………………..46
6. Resources…………………………………….47
7. Main outcomes of the project………………...47
8. Project Plan…………………………………..48

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 44

1. Background

In May 2017, Sri Lanka had to face to the massive flood and it spread very quickly in few
districts like Kalutara Ratnapura and Gampaha. Because of this massive flood, many people
had lost their dear ones and property as well. “Kalu” river overflew suddenly and people did
not have time to think. For rescuing their lives, they need to get out from their lands and got
together in a safe place. But they did not have minimal facilities for living. The flood level in
most of those affected areas is about 5 or 6 feet high, but in some areas this level is more than
10 feet. The electricity supply and water supply of those areas have completely ceased and
some water-borne diseases have started to spread, causing lot of health issues to the people in
those areas.

2. Collecting funds
As I described, we did not have a time to perform fund raising event or collecting from other
beaches. So, we collect the money from our batch only. We contribute as out limit and we did
not pressure anyone to contribute. But all of our colleagues contributed for the campaign with
warm hearts.

3. Activities and Time allocation

Activity To be
completed by
Design awareness flyers to be published on Social Media. 26/05/2017
Collect money from immediate family members and friends. 26/05/2017
Collect reliefs coming from donors after publish the event other than Water 27/05/2017
Bottles.
Collect Water Bottles and purchase bottles if necessary. 27/05/2017
Segregate all the reliefs. 27/05/2017
Pack the reliefs as per the plan. 28/05/2017
Arrange transport for flood relief distribution. (with a back-up boat facility) 28/05/2017

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 45

 Table 4 Activities

4. Communication

Communication is the very important topic when we are going to do any kind of work.
Because, sometimes, we have to get permission from authorized persons before doing some
particular work or sometimes we have to get advises before doing works. So, we cannot
forget communication when we are doing some works. As the others, we have to
communicate with others about this project before we are stating this project. So, first of all,
we discussed with our lecturer Mr. Indika Sandaruwan about this project. Sheave valuable
advises and she told the way to end this project successfully. According to advises, we
contacted with principal and we told him to our idea briefly and we reserved a time slot to
meet the principal. After that, we met the principal and talked about this project. Later we
talked about this project, benefits and uses with parents. They also appreciated and thanked
us. And also, they promised to help us.

5. Budget

Cost for one Number

Item Total Cost
Unit of Units
Include Relief pack
- Magee Noodles 41/- 150 6150/=
- Water Bottle 30/- 150 4500/=
- Maari Biscuits 28/- 150 4200/=
- Sop 40/- 150 6000/=
-Tooth Brush 45/- 150 6750/=
- Tooth Past 50/- 150 7500/=
- Panadol Card 36/- 150 5400/=
- Cream cracker Biscuits 50/- 150 7500/=

Total 320/= 150 48000/=

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 46

 Table 5 Budget

6. Resources

Resources are the very important and unforgettable thing when it comes to conduct a project.
Because, every project needs some sort of resources for complete it successfully. So, our
Flood Relief project also needs some kind of resources. After analyzing our project, we
divvied our resources into things that need an environmental emergency.

Following shows the resources.

 Group Members
 Sponsors
 External Parties

7. Main Outcomes of the Project

On the successful completion of this project, the following achievement will be gained by the
people affected and its.

The proposed intervention will focus on flood response and immediate post flood situation.
The immediate needs are food (through community kitchen), safe drinking water, fast food,
camp for temporary shelter, and medicine for general diseases related to public health.

- Supply emergency food and water

- Send emergency medical supplies
- Provide for basic sanitation needs
- Provide counseling for children after traumatic events
- Give comfort and hope through spiritual support

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 47

In times of disaster, children living in poverty are the most vulnerable and they need
immediate help. Our donation to disaster relief will help a child recover physically,
emotionally, and spiritually

8. Project Plan

Start Resours
Phase Task Date time End time name
Disscuss about
community
problems. 11.00 am 11.30 am
Select the All
Planning community problem. 27/05/17 11.00 am 11.30 am members
Staffing. 11.35 am 12.10 pm
Decide aids. 12.15 pm 1.00 pm
Finalizing. 02.00 pm 05.15 pm
Selecting super Ravindu
market. 05.15 pm 05.16 pm Madushan,
Siroshan
27/05/17
Pieris,
Reserving goods. 05.30 pm 07.20 pm
Lahiru
Anjana
Prerequisite Collecting
things contributions. 09.15 am 09.20 am
Buy items. 09.35 am 10.10 am
Packing items. 10.25 am 01.45 pm All
28/05/17
Loading packed members
items to the vehicles. 02.00 pm 02.20 pm
Traveling to the
destination. 02.30 pm 03.30 pm
All
Loading items to the
04.00 pm 04.45 pm members,
boat.
lecturers
Starting and reach to Ravindu
Executing the village. 28/05/17 05.00 pm 05.45 pm Madushan,
Distributing packs to Lahiru
the villagers. 05.45 pm 06.25 pm Anjana,
Jayendra
Return. 06.45 pm 07.45 pm Matharage
Table 6 Project Plan

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 48

Annexure 03

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 49

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 50
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Acquired-Interpersonal-and-P3TTH34KRZZA . [Accessed on 23rd 2017].

Docc, R. (2017). Communicate in a variety of styles & appropriate manner. wesrch. [Online]
Available at https://www.wesrch.com/gp/communicate-in-a-variety-of-styles-appropriate-manne
r-2063. [Accessed on 20th June 2017].

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Available at https://www.thebalance.com/how-to-create-a-professional-development-plan-
20%2059790. [A ccessed on 26th June 2017].

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[Online] Available at https://boardview.io/blog/pros-cons-brainstorming-best-alternatives/ .
[Acce ssed on 13th June 2017].

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Employability of Engineering Students, Inida, 2014.

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Fitzpatrick, M. (2017). Advantages & disadvantages of brainstorming. Career Trend.
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L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 52

Assessment Criteria

Achieve
Outcomes/Criteria for PASS Possible evidence Possible evidence provided by the learner
d
LO1 Be able to take responsibility for own personal and professional development
1.1 reflect on own current skills and competencies against Task 4.1
professional standards and organizational objectives PDP
1.2 evaluate own development needs and the activities Task 4.2
required to meet them PDP
1.3 devise a personal and professional development plan based Task 4.3
on identified needs PDP
1.4 reflect on own development against original aims and Task 4.4
objectives set in the personal and professional development PDP & VIVA
plan
LO2 Be able to demonstrate acquired interpersonal and transferable skills
2.1 communicate in a variety of styles and appropriate manner Task 3.1
at various levels
2.2 demonstrate effective time management strategies Task 3.2

LO3 Understand the dynamics of working with others

3.1 analyse team dynamics, discussing the roles people play in a Task 2
team and how they can work together to achieve shared goals Presentation
3.2 discuss alternative ways to complete tasks and achieve Task 2
team goals Presentation
LO4 Be able to develop strategies for problem solving

4.1review tools and methods for developing solutions to Task 1.1

problems Community
Development Project
4.2develop an appropriate strategy for resolving a particular Task 1.2
problem Community
Development Project
4.3evaluate the potential impact on the project of Task 1.3
implementing the strategy Community

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 53

 Development Project

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 54

Grade Descriptor for MERIT Possible evidence by the student Feedback
M1 Identify and apply strategies to find appropriate solutions
M 1.1. effective judgments have Task 4.1
been made

M 1.2. complex problems with Task 1.2

more than one variable have
beenexplored
M2 Select / design appropriate methods / techniques
M2.2A range of methods and Task 4.2
techniques have been
applied
M 2.7Appropriate learning Task 4.3
methods/techniques
have been applied
M 3 Present and communicate appropriate findings
M3.3 A range of methods of Task 1, 2, 3, 4
presentation have been used
and technical language has
been accurately used
M3.4 communication has taken Task 3.1
place in familiar and unfamiliar
Contexts

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 55

Grade Descriptor for Possible evidence Feedback
DISTINCTION
D1 Use critical reflection to evaluate own work and justify valid conclusions
D 1.4 Realistic improvements Task 4.4
have been proposed against
definedcharacteristics for
success
D2 Take responsibility for managing and organising activities
D2.3. Activities have been Task 3.2
managed
D 2.5The importance of Task 3
interdependence has been
recognized andachieved
D3 Demonstrate convergent / lateral / creative thinking
D3.5 Innovation and creative
thought have been Task 1
applied

D3.7 Effective thinking has taken Task 4.1

place in unfamiliar
contexts

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 56

Strengths: Weaknesses:

Future Improvements & Assessor Comment:

Assessor: Signature: Date: ____/____/______

Internal Verifier’s Comments:

Internal Verifier: Signature: Date: ____/____/______

L.A. Kandelekamge Employability and Professional Development 57