INTRODUCTION TO

PERSONAL
EFFECTIVENESS
WHAT'S
INSIDE?

01 Introduction
What Does Personal Effectiveness Mean?
Why is Personal Effectiveness Important?
Major Inhibitors of Personal Effectiveness
Main Areas of Focus

02 Personal Effectiveness in the Workplace

Benefits of Personal Effectiveness
What are Personal Effectiveness Skills?

03 Developing Personal Effectiveness

Tips to Improve Personal Effectiveness at Work

04 Conclusion
01
Introduction
Personal effectiveness is a common desirable skill employers look
for when seeking new talent. It’s also an attribute that is frequently
linked to people who are motivated, organized, know what they
want and consistently set out to get it.

Understanding personal effectiveness and making a plan to

implement it in your life is a great way to pursue both personal and
professional growth.

Objectives:

At the end of this module, you will be able to:

Assess existing habits that develop Personal Effectiveness​
Identify personal strengths and weaknesses and create an
action plan for self-improvement​

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 What Does Personal
Effectiveness Mean?
Personal Effectiveness is an When you demonstrate personal
approach to success that effectiveness, you will be working with all
involves utilizing all of your of the resources available to make the
energy, skill and motivation to progress you aspire to. Whilst making use
develop and reach the goals you of the help and support that other people
set for yourself. Individuals with can give you, it will also involve confidently
good personal effectiveness tend managing yourself and understanding
to constantly strive to achieve that it is your responsibility to take the
more, advance their careers and necessary steps towards growth and
grow in both a personal and change.
professional sense.
On an individual level, personal
effectiveness means different things to
different people. We all have our own
standards of success and achievement,
and working at the highest level of
personal effectiveness will look different
for everyone.

To put it simply, personal effectiveness

means getting the best out of yourself.

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 LET'S GET TO KNOW YOU!

INSTRUCTION: Indicate which of the following is most applicable to you and

choose how frequently you do the statements below. Please answer as honestly
as possible. Submit your response during the session.

Almost Rarely Sometimes Often Almost

Never Always

Sets and achieves Specific,

Measurable, Achievable,
Realistic, Timely (SMART) Goals

Effectively manages personal

and professional time

Motivated to complete tasks

and reach objectives

Handles pressure well and

meets deadlines

Has strong communication and

interpersonal skills

Can easily adapt to change

Actively seeks out

opportunities for learning and
self-improvement

Takes initiative and proactively

solves problems

Has a positive attitude towards

work

Has good decision-making

skills

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What are your personal goals
for this year?

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 Importance
Linked to positive wellbeing

Personal effectiveness is a trait that is often

linked to positive wellbeing and is an
important part of leading a successful and
fulfilling life. In a professional sense, it’s an
important skill that means you will be more
productive, motivated and consistently
meet goals and make progress, no matter
what your role is.

In order to demonstrate personal effectiveness, you first need to

understand what your highest level of performance is. Then you can
identify what personal effectiveness looks like for you and figure out
the ways that you are going to achieve this.

Helps you feel more satisfied and accomplished

Implementing personal effectiveness into your life is important
because it helps you feel more satisfied and accomplished, which is
good for positive mental health. People who understand
themselves and their abilities deal better with unexpected
situations, lead more fulfilling lives and have more faith and
confidence in themselves, which is an essential part of success and
satisfaction.

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 Allows you to assess personal and
professional goals

Focusing on developing personal

effectiveness is also important
because it allows you to sit down
and really think about what it is that
you want to achieve in life, at work
and from your relationships.

People who make detailed plans and have an idea of where they
are going tend to be more likely to meet their goals and they're also
more likely to consistently make progress.

Gives you an edge as a professional

Personal effectiveness is an important quality to have if you want to

stand out in the workplace and impress the people that you work
with. People who have good personal effectiveness skills are better
to work with because they are motivated, engaged, organized, and
consistently deliver what they have promised. If you want to
succeed at work, having personal effectiveness skills will make a big
difference.

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 Inhibitors
01 Lack of Self - Understanding
As a species, humans often fail in the self-awareness
department. Self-awareness is the capacity to look
inward and understand our own feelings, emotions,
stressors, and personality. These key understandings
play a critical role in influencing our judgements,
decisions, and interactions with other people. A lack
of self-awareness is perhaps our most significant
enemy to self-growth.

Poor Time Management 02

Time never seems to be enough for most people.
However, the fact of the matter is that each of us
have the same amount of time, but what
differentiates productivity is how we use that
time. It’s important to look at the big picture of
what needs to be done and the time available to
complete all your work. Poor time management
means that you’re not able to see the big picture
and plan accordingly

03 Ineffective Stress
Management Techniques
One of the key barriers of personal effectiveness is stress.
The truth is we can never eradicate stress but we can
manage it in a way that it does not affect our efficiency. It is
undeniable that stress is part of our busy lives. Managing
stress can be challenging – but it can be done. Stress can be
managed in various ways, but not all coping techniques are
created equal.
Most stress management techniques have positive effects
on the mind and body; however, some coping mechanisms
can be harmful to overall health, relationships, or careers.
While these responses may seem to help in the moment,
they do not improve the situation or the body’s response to
it, and they often come with their own consequences.

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 What are your inhibitors?
Pause for a while and ask yourself the following questions:

How well do you manage your

self? What strategies do you
do to set and achieve your
personal goals?

How do you currently manage your time

and prioritize tasks?
Are there any strategies or tools that
have been particularly effective for you
in eliminating distractions? ​

How do you currently handle stress

and maintain a healthy work-life
balance?
What tools that have been
particularly effective for you?

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Main Areas of Focus
There are several main areas of focus when it comes to personal effectiveness.
By focusing on these areas, individuals can develop the skills and strategies
needed to improve their personal effectiveness and overall well-being.

How we do you manage yourself? When you

have strong self-management skills, you tend to

Managing be more successful at work. That's because

these skills help you stay productive and find
Self ways to embrace your independence. Even if
you feel that your abilities in this area are
lacking, there are plenty of ways you can work to
improve them.

How well do you manage your time? Improving

your time management at work allows you to Managing
Time
enhance your performance and achieve your
desired goals with less effort and more effective
strategies.

How well do you manage your stress? There is

no benefit to putting our minds through the
endless cycle of stress day in and day out. It can
Managing be exhausting and very bad for your health.

Stress
While some types of stress can be useful as it can
help you think quickly and solve problems, most
types of stress are often unnecessary and can
even be harmful to your health. That's why it is so
important to learn how to manage stress.
When our brains are stressed out, we do not perform as well as we would
when we are able to think clearly and focus on the task at hand. Your
creativity, motivation, productivity, and even your immune health can suffer
due to chronic ongoing stress. But when you are able to effectively reduce
stress in your life, you gain back the control to be creative, focused and
resourceful.
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 02
Personal
Effectiveness in
the Workplace

In the workplace, personal effectiveness is all about performing to

the best of your abilities. If you are using personal effectiveness in
the workplace, you will be managing your time well, staying on task,
meeting deadlines and making sure that all of your work is done to
the best of your abilities.

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Benefits of Enhanced Personal Effectiveness
The greatest advantage in enhancing personal effectiveness is the revival of
self-confidence. It goes a step above efficiency.

Personal effectiveness enhances performance, supports us to achieve desired

results, and to work towards personal goals.

We all share responsibility to develop positive personal strategies for coping,

wellness, self-development and the ability to develop and maintain
relationships.

Personal effectiveness means that we:

Demonstrate the ability to effectively cope with change

Make effective decisions even in the face of uncertainty

Engage in a growth mindset and self-development that supports our

work performance and career growth

Hold ourselves accountable to commitments, actions, and behaviors

Develop strategies to manage workload through effective time and

priority management

What are Personal Effectiveness Skills?

Every day we spend our time and energy on achieving our goals. But even the
same goal can be reached with different costs by different people. It happens
because we all have different personal effectiveness.

Our personal effectiveness depends on our innate characteristics – talent and

experience accumulated in the process of our personal development. Talents
first are needed to be identified and then developed to be used in a particular
subject area (science, literature, sports, politics, etc.).

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Experience includes the knowledge and skills that we acquire in the process of
cognitive and practical activities. Knowledge is required for setting goals,
defining an action plan to achieve them and risk assessment. Skills also
determine whether real actions are performed in accordance with the plan. If
the same ability is used many times in the same situation, then it becomes a
habit that runs automatically, subconsciously.

Here are some skills that will greatly increase the efficiency of any person who
owns them:

Creative and Critical Thinking

Creative and critical thinking play a

crucial role in personal effectiveness by
enabling individuals to generate new
ideas, solve problems, make informed
decisions, and communicate effectively.

Creative thinking allows individuals to come up with unique solutions and

perspectives, while critical thinking involves evaluating information objectively
and rationally.

When combined, these two forms of thinking can enhance personal

effectiveness by providing a well-rounded approach to decision making and
problem solving. Additionally, they also help individuals become more
adaptable and innovative, and make more informed choices in their personal
and professional lives.

Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (otherwise known
as Emotional Quotient or EQ) involves
understanding and managing emotions
to improve relationships and reach
personal and professional goals. It helps
with effective communication, conflict
resolution, and decision making by
connecting with one's feelings.
With high EI, people are better equipped to manage their own emotions and
respond to others in ways that are productive and positive, leading to improved
decision-making, problem-solving skills, and overall success in personal and
professional life.
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Emotional intelligence is commonly defined by four attributes:

Self-awareness – You recognize your own emotions and how they affect your
thoughts and behavior. You know your strengths and weaknesses, and have
self-confidence.

Self-management – You're able to control impulsive feelings and behaviors,

manage your emotions in healthy ways, take initiative, follow through on
commitments, and adapt to changing circumstances.

Social awareness – You have empathy. You can understand the emotions,
needs, and concerns of other people, pick up on emotional cues, feel
comfortable socially, and recognize the power dynamics in a group or
organization.

Relationship management – You know how to develop and maintain good

relationships, communicate clearly, inspire and influence others, work well in a
team, and manage conflict.

Time Management to Maximize Productivity

Time management plays a crucial role in

personal effectiveness as it helps
individuals to prioritize tasks, allocate
sufficient time for important activities,
reduce stress, and increase productivity.

Effective time management allows

individuals to balance their personal and
professional responsibilities, meet deadlines,
and achieve their goals.

It also helps to minimize distractions, increase focus, and create a more

organized routine, leading to better overall performance and satisfaction.

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 Effective stress management helps you break
the hold stress has on your life, so you can be
happier, healthier, and more productive. The
ultimate goal is a balanced life, with time for
work, relationships, relaxation, and fun—and
the resilience to hold up under pressure and
meet challenges head on.

But stress management is not one-size-fits-

all. That’s why it’s important to experiment
and find out what works best for you.

Effective Communication

Effective communication plays a

crucial role in personal effectiveness
because it allows individuals to
express their thoughts, ideas, and
needs clearly and effectively. Good
communication skills can help build
and maintain relationships, resolve
conflicts, increase productivity and
teamwork, and achieve personal and
professional goals.

Good communication involves active listening, empathy, non-verbal

communication, and the ability to adjust communication styles to different
situations and people. Improving communication skills can greatly enhance one's
personal effectiveness in both personal and professional settings.

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03
Developing Personal
Effectiveness
Whether you are an employee, working in HR, a strategist, a manager, or a
business owner, how you manage your skills and time is essential to achieve
maximum personal effectiveness.

Personal effectiveness is the way that a person makes use of their skills and
how they use those skills to improve their overall success. Personal
effectiveness incorporates the following goals:

Deliver high-quality work

Make people happy
Positively influence people
Advance in your career
Create and keep successful relationships
Earn respect from colleagues
Earn a lot of money
Become an expert in a specific field

This list continues.

People who portray personal effectiveness do not waste their skills and abilities,
but instead, they make good use of them.

So, how can you become more personally effective? You need to clarify your
values, goals and priorities in order to know what skills you need to grow to
achieve your goals, then you can decide how to apply your skills and invest
your time and effort to become more personally effective.
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Tips to Improve Personal Effectiveness at Work
In "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" Stephen Covey emphasizes that
personal effectiveness is the foundation for both personal and professional
success, and that it requires the development of certain habits and skills. Some
of these include:

Habit # 1

BE PROACTIVE
Take responsibility for your actions and decisions,
rather than being passive and reactive.

Habit # 2

BEGINWITH THE END IN MIND

Clearly define your goals and objectives and work towards them
consistently.

Habit # 3

PUT FIRST THINGS FIRST

Prioritize your tasks and focus on the most important
ones first.

Habit # 4

THINK WIN - WIN

Seek mutually beneficial solutions in relationships and
interactions with others.

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 Habit # 5

SEEK FIRST TO UNDERSTAND,

THEN TO BE UNDERSTOOD
Listen actively and empathetically to others before trying to
communicate your own perspective.

Habit # 6

SYNERGIZE
Work effectively with others to achieve more
than you could alone.

Habit # 7

SHARPEN THE SAW

Continuously work on self-improvement by taking
care of your physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual
well-being.

These habits are not meant to be followed in a linear way, but rather to be
integrated in a holistic way into your personal and professional life. They are
interdependent and all of them are important to achieve personal
effectiveness.

To understand more, watch this video on:

THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE BY STEPHEN COVEY

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What habits are you practicing?
Please print and answer this assessment form. Kindly bring it during the
collaborative session. Thank you!

Page 18
 Conclusion
04
Personal effectiveness is a key trait amongst successful people and
professionals, and being able to hone the skills necessary to
demonstrate it will make a big difference.

Having an excellent understanding of your own strengths and

motivations takes time, but the benefits of this awareness and drive
are endless.

Other Trainings under Personal Effectiveness:

The Power of Self - Awareness

Time Management
Stress Management
Work Attitude and Values Enhancement (WAVE)

Page 19
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