Dimensions of Personal Effectiveness

A detailed report as part of Behavioral Science Subject in the 3rd

Semester of MBA course.

By

Kanika Narang
Enrollment No- A30301920016.
 Table of
Content
Title
s
Introduction
Page No.
3
Defining personal Effectiveness 4
Dimensions of Personal Effectiveness 4-7
Skills Considered for Personal Effectiveness 7-9

Principles of Personal Effectiveness and SWOT 10-11

Importance of having Personal Effectiveness 11-12

Personal Effectiveness at Workplace 13

Conclusion 14

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 Introduction

Personal Effectiveness plays an important role in everybody’s day to day life. Regardless of
age, it is one such important component which will be useful throughout the life. At every
stage of life, learning process changes and we can adapt to it by applying principles and
dimensions of personal effectiveness. It is very important to analyze yourself and identify the
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats, this will help to overcome the obstacles
one faces and also by identifying the potential they can bring out the best out of themselves.
Dimension of Personal Effectiveness focuses on three aspects such as Self disclosure,
Application of Feedback, Perceptiveness. There are other components to it as well such as
internal and External locus of control, Self Esteem, Stress management, Goal setting and Self
Discovery. This report will give an insight about the definition of personal effectiveness, its
dimensions, components, importance, principles and different models on this topic.

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Defining Personal Effectiveness?
Personal Effectiveness refers to bringing out the best from yourself. This approach focuses
on utilizing the energy, skillset and motivation in order to achieve the goals and targets which
are set. We all have different goals that are to be achieved and to reach there everyone has
standards being set. Individuals with good personal effectiveness tend to constantly strive to
achieve more, advance their careers and grow in both a personal and professional sense.

Dimensions of Personal Effectiveness

Self-Awareness Perceptiveness

Self-Disclosure Feedback

1. Self-Awareness: An important dimension of personal effectiveness is self-awareness. It

helps to understand how well one understands oneself. It is usually high among people
concerned about themselves, their behaviour, feelings, attitudes and mannerisms.
However, most people do not give a second thought to self-awareness, because they feel
that they know
themselves
the best.

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“A”: The upper left-hand square is the arena or the public “self” – depicts part of one’s
behaviour known both to oneself and to others with whom one interacts. The arena includes
information such as name, age, physical appearance, location, contact address and familial or
organizational affiliation. It is an area characterized by a free and open exchange of
information between oneself and others. Arena increases when the blind, closed and dark
areas decrease.

“B”: The blind area represents those aspects of one’s behaviour and style that others know
but that we do not know or realize. We may not be aware of certain of our mannerisms, but
others perceive them as funny, annoying, or pleasing. For example, someone might be
surprised to hear that their method of asking questions annoys others because it is interpreted
as cross-examination, rather than curiosity or a request for information.

“C”: The closed or concealed area represents things that we know about ourselves, but do not
reveal to others. Things in this area are secret. For example, staff may be annoyed if their
supervisor does not ask them to sit down during a meeting, but they will remain standing
without letting the supervisor know that they are annoyed. The supervisor may think that the
staff do not mind standing and accepts their behaviour as part of their official relationship.
Most people have many such feelings in their closed areas that they are unwilling to reveal to
the persons concerned.

“D”: The fourth area is the dark area, aspects of ourselves unknown to us and to others. The
dark area cannot be consciously controlled or changed, and as such it will not be further
considered in the discussion on increasing personal effectiveness.

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2. Perceptiveness: Perceptiveness is being sensitive to and insightful about other people. It
is the ability to pick up verbal and non-verbal cues from others. Some people by nature
are more perceptive and sensitive to people and situations. Perceptive behaviour leads to
being more aware and considerate of others. It should be combined with openness and
using feedback usefully to increase personal effectiveness.

Perceptiveness can be learnt through:

 Checking with others about their reactions to what has been said.

 Working on one’s listening skills.

 Being aware of language, tones, gestures and facial expressions.

 Realizing and taking into consideration that people have personal issues they cannot
always leave outside the office.

3. Self-Disclosure: Also known as Openness. It refers to sharing one’s ideas, feelings,

experience, impressions, perceptions and other relevant personal information. Self-
disclosure leads to mutual trust and thus enhances personal effectiveness. It is directly
linked to the areas known as “Arena” and “Closed”. Self-disclosure is sometimes
misunderstood as revealing everything about oneself with everyone. Self-disclosure can
be characterized as effective, if what is being made known is relevant and appropriate.
Inappropriate sharing does not contribute to effective openness.

4. Feedback: Feedback is a reaction or response that we receive from others regarding our
attitudes, behaviour and performance. It is also a reaction or response that we give to
others regarding their attitudes, behaviour and performance. The use or lack of feedback
determines the size of our blind area. By being open to receiving feedback, we could
reduce our blind area, thus opening up our Arena.

a) Receiving Feedback: Receiving feedback is an important part of increasing

personal effectiveness. Accepting feedback helps us to know how we are
affecting others

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 b) Giving Feedback: By giving effective feedback to others, we can reduce their
blind areas, thus opening up their arena. Motivational feedback looks at the
strengths of a person, such as what is being done well, and why.
Developmental feedback considers those things that could be improved and
suggests or asks how to do so.

Skills considered for Personal Effectiveness

Confidence: People with personal effectiveness competency tend to be more confident

because they have a better understanding of themselves and their abilities. If you have a clear
idea of what your very best work looks like, you are going to have a lot more confidence in
your abilities and will also be more confident talking about where your talents lie

Understanding Strengths and Limits: In the same vein of having an excellent

understanding of yourself, people who demonstrate good personal effectiveness know their
own strengths and limitations. They can identify what they are good at, which of their skills
are the most valuable, and what situations they work best in, all of which lead to greater
success in a variety of contexts. Having good personal effectiveness skills also means that
you understand where your abilities are limited and where you may need additional help or
support. This also involves having a good idea of what kind of situations you struggle to
work well in, whether that’s the environment, certain types of projects or with certain groups
of people. Knowing where your strengths and weaknesses lie will help you make effective
plans that avoid any potential setbacks and utilise your skills to ensure success

Optimism: People who demonstrate personal effectiveness tend to have the drive to bring
about change in the world, or at least want to reach their own goals and get what they want
out of life. Optimism is a key part of believing that these changes can occur, and contributes
to the determination that is required in order to keep pushing yourself to achieve and always
giving your all to a task

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Stress Management: Being able to acknowledge that you are feeling stressed and making a
plan for how you are going to deal with that is a key part of making progress and working
effectively. This skill ties into all the aspects of personal effectiveness that
require understanding yourself, as knowing what makes you stressed and how best to combat
this will help you to avoid or reduce stressful situations and work more efficiently

Persistence: Persistence is a skill with similar importance to determination, but involves

more resilience when you come up against problems. People with personal effectiveness
skills are persistent and resilient in their drive to achieve, and don’t let problems get in the
way of their success. Instead, they come up with solutions to the problems and focus on their
overall goal to find the motivation to keep going

Problem-Solving: A key aspect of personal effectiveness competency is being able to solve

any problems that come your way. If you are motivated to do your best then you will also be
motivated to work through anything that gets in your way, and having good problem-solving
skills will make this easier

Reflection: At the start of your personal effectiveness journey, you will need to spend some
time reflecting on what personal effectiveness looks like to you. This will allow you to
identify where your skills lie, what peak performance is for you, and what goals you are
aiming for at work or in your personal life that you can work towards. It is also an essential
skill throughout your journey towards personal effectiveness, as it means you can
continuously analyse and assess how you are doing and make any necessary changes to your
plans

Time Management: A key part of personal effectiveness is the ability to accurately plan and
carry out tasks, whether this is as part of a team, project or just to work towards your own
goals. Excellent time management skills are a vital part of good planning, as they help you
make more specific and realistic plans and ensure that you meet deadlines

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Organization: Organization is one of the most important personal effectiveness skills. If
you’re going to consistently work to the best of your abilities and push yourself to develop,
you need to be able to do all of the planning and background work necessary to make this
happen. A key aspect of personal effectiveness is the ability to use all available resources and
maximise your productivity to get things done. Excellent organisational skills are vital if you
want to be efficient and resourceful, along with being a common trait in successful
individuals

Building Habits: People with excellent personal effectiveness deeply understand themselves,
the way that they work best and the skills they have at their disposal. To utilise all of these
attributes effectively, building habits allows you to make the most of this understanding and
put it into practice

Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence feeds into the aspect of personal

effectiveness that is all about having an excellent understanding of yourself. Being able to
identify, understand and manage the emotions that you are feeling makes you a more reliable
worker, helps you to realistically plan what you can get done, and also makes it easier to deal
with sudden changes in any plans or issues that crop up

Self-Motivation: This is also a very important aspect when it comes to using personal
effectiveness to bring about personal growth and change. Whilst you may rely on support and
encouragement from others, ultimately you are the only one who can make a difference in
your own life, and so you have to motivate yourself.

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10
Importance of Having Personal Effectiveness
1. Self-awareness: Personal development begins with self-awareness. You get to know who
you really are; your values, beliefs and the purpose you wish to pursue. True fulfilment can
never come from chasing other people’s dreams. If you want to achieve lasting happiness,
you need to design your life based on who you are. You can chase your own goals and
objectives. When you are chasing your own goals, there is as much pleasure to be derived
from the journey as there is to be derived from reaching your destination. Self-awareness is
the first fundamental step in the personal development process

 2. A sense of direction: Once your self-awareness is raised, you are clearer on the things
you wish to achieve from life. Decision-making becomes a lot easier. Tasks which used to
take a great deal of your time, no longer make it onto your to-do list. You now realize that
they do not move you towards your objectives and therefore are not worthy of your time

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 3. Improved focus and effectiveness: With personal development comes clarity. Even with
an improved sense of direction, there will always be multiple tasks looking for your attention.
As your personal development improves, prioritization becomes much easier. You are clearer
on your objectives and you can quickly identify which task will give you the best result with
the resources available to you at that moment. Improved focus and effectiveness comes with
knowing and playing to your strengths

 4. More motivation: When you know what you want to achieve, it is easier for you to see
the benefits of taking action. Even when the task ahead is not enjoyable; if you can see a clear
benefit, you are more motivated to take the necessary action. There is truth in the old adage
‘Where there is a will there is a way’. With strong personal development, you develop the
necessary will

5. Greater resilience: There will be tough times in life. When these tough times occur, you
need to have the skills and attributes to deal effectively with them.  Personal development
cannot prevent all bad things from occurring but it will help you deal with them when they
do. You will have greater confidence, resilience, personal and interpersonal skills to cope
with any eventuality

6. More fulfilling relationships: Relationships are a double-edged sword. They either lift
you up or drag you down. When you improve your personal development, you are better able
to see which relationships are worth investing in and which need to be cut loose. You also
develop the skills to make the most of those relationships which have the most positive
impact on your life.

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Why is Personal Effectiveness needed at Workplace?
Work to Your Strengths: While this may seem obvious, many people still neglect to focus
on their strengths – both at work and in their life. Often, we spend so much time working to
strengthen our weaknesses that we forget to capitalize on our strengths. It is a much better use
of time to put all of your skills, energy, and talent into something that works to your strengths
than to spend countless hours on something that brings out your greatest weakness. Choose
careers and hobbies that capitalize on your strengths and the sky is limitless for how much
your personal effectiveness will improve. In the workplace, it is likely that your strength is
someone else’s weakness and vice versa. Therefore, if all members of an organization bring
their greatest strength to the job every day, the team is likely to be much more successful

Understand When to Give Yourself a Break: Knowing when to unplug and recharge is a
key component of personal effectiveness. The reality is, no person can function at 100%,
seven days a week, 24 hours per day. It is crucial to know when to take a break. In order to
operate at your best at work, you must also take the correct actions outside of work. Take
time at the end of each day to unplug and be sure to get a good night’s rest in order to operate
at your full capacity the next day. This will set you up for more productive days at work

Continuous Learning and Development: Another key component of improving your

personal effectiveness is to always be learning and developing your skills. Whether this
means attending seminars, participating in workplace training, or even just reading a book,
you should live a life of constant learning. This will improve your personal effectiveness by
increasing the magnitude of your talents, skills, and energy.

Ways to Maximize Personal Effectiveness?

1. Increased productivity
2. Improved levels of happiness and job satisfaction
3. Stronger work relationships
4. Reduced levels of stress/frustration

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Conclusion

The report on “Dimensions of Personal Effectiveness” focuses on various

aspects of it. Personal Effectiveness basically means bringing out the best in
yourself and self-motivating in order to achieve goals or targets in a specific
period of time. zit covers a brief description about the components such as
Johari window, Dimensions of Personal effectiveness such as Self- Disclosure,
Perceptiveness, Feedback etc. Understanding the skills required for utilizing
Personal Effectiveness. A brief about the importance and its usage at the
workplace, A few ways where one can actually utilize their Personal skills. An
insight about the Seven Principles which are followed i.e. A-D-D-R-E-S-S.

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