Introduction
In various instances new managers are faced with situations that call for a change in management perspectives. One of such situations is where managers focus on the contributions of other employees in the organization rather than doing things personally. It is a common knowledge that the management skills learnt in class may differ significantly from those required by a prospect manager to plan, manage and motivate other individuals in the organization (Box & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2012). The business in this context is considered a highly practical interactive environment, which introduces a manager to employees’ needs and to the specific goals or objectives of the organization.
2.1 Assessing personal management skills performance as a prospect manager
Personal management skills performances are important attributes for a prospect manager since they enhance individual’s performances and relationship in the organization. In my area of profession, personal performance management competencies improved relationship; working on a continuous feedback system and coaching; allowing for employees’ participation in the various processes and; being able to recognize employees based on their commitments to the organization are important skills performance attributes (Winstanley 2005). It is however important noting that all the mentioned skills performance attributes rely on good communication skills, which are important when it comes to ensuring good performances based on the organizational goals. Communication skills are therefore considered important competencies that area applicable in the whole performance management process since is allows for particular processes like performance planning, process communication and regular interactions with employees for training and successful achievements. In a nutshell, it is highly recommended in my area of profession that in order to ensure effective communication with employees and other staff members, there are needs to establish better working relationships, allow easy access to organization information, and be able to work as a team.
On the side of relationships, the needs to work effectively with each of the employees arise and require personal efforts and time. The main idea in this case is to ensure that each employee is connected and that his or her efforts are values in the establishment. In this relation my role as a prospective manager entails individualizing my efforts to communicate with employees, recognize their strengths and be able to support their personal development plan as long as such plans are linked to the organizational goals (Box & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2012). Other than recognizing the strengths of employees, there is also need to consider personal talents as one of the elements that have significant impacts on the overall performance of the organization. As a prospective manager the decision to allow employees do their best in their respective areas of work would means creating a base for talent exploration alongside encouraging the development of skills (Winstanley 2005). The conditions mentioned above are considered highly important when it comes to improving the work relationships between employees and respective manager for positive performance improvements.
On the side of feedback and coaching, I understand that successfully performing manager is able to establish a performance routine that includes regular and intensive discussions about work experiences and performance levels of each employee (Winstanley 2005). The performance management routine should always remain as simple as possible and every informal discussions should focus on best the employees and their respective supervisors can improve personal development. As a manager, there is need to engage employees in discussion personal contributions to the organization through the use of open-ended questions. The feedback obtained in such circumstances should be based on the manager’s personal observations as well as on the performance data, which is available for access.
A prospect manager should also allow employees to participate in some of the major decisions of the organization, especially those decisions related to planning, assessment and development of a product or service. Involving employees in decision making processes allows them to keep track of the personal performance levels and also to take responsibility of warranting that the institution be in a position to achieve both long term and short term objectives (Winstanley 2005). This understanding is based on the assumption that individuals can at times be distinct and may only remember those things that they have discovered, learnt and experienced themselves.
2.2 Analysing personal strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats
Studies have shown that those individuals who succeed in their managerial roles explore personal talents and use every little skill they have to improve on the overall management activities. The fact that these managers have good knowledge about their personal attributes like strength and weaknesses means that there are better opportunities to limit the number of problems encountered during performance management (Box & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2012). SWOT analysis becomes an important tool used by prospect managers to understand the fundamental personal characteristics that have impact on own performance levels in the organization alongside ensuring improved relationships between managers, employees and other stakeholders. The table below provides an analysis of my personal strength, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, and as a prospect manager, there is need to work more on weaknesses, use every little opportunity to enhance personal development while using personal strengths to increase employees’ productivity (Winstanley 2005).
Strength:Strengths are positive personal attributes that I have control over and I must capitalize on in order to improve my skills and competencies. · I have strong technical knowledge in my field of study such as hardware and software management as well as manageable programming languages. · I have efficient communication techniques, teamwork control skills and management skills, and therefore I feel competent as a prospective manager. · I have higher work ethic, have always conducted my duties with higher levels of discipline; I have the ability to withstand pressure at workplace; I am creative, optimistic and always driven to ensure performance improvement. · I have good contacts and able to create a foundation for improved social networking or interaction with other professional organizations. |
Weaknesses:Weaknesses are generally negative personal attributes that I have knowledge about, are under my control and I can plan to improve. They include: · Low self-esteem, especially when the work is compelling and lack of self-confidence especially when working will employees with higher level of experience. · I am high tempered and may get it hard dealing with non-committed employees. This becomes a challenge when it comes to delayed decisions that have negative impacts on the performance results. · I lack the ability to manage stress and may at time get overwhelmed very easily · I have always considered myself not assertive and this has become a major challenge when focusing on the final output of a management decision. · I always feel dissatisfied with new ideas, especially if such ideas are considered to be highly sensitive to the organizational businesses. This makes me be nervous when implementing new ideas |
Opportunities:Opportunities are those external factors that I do not have control over, but are since through them, I can plan to take advantage of the business environment to improve on personal development and business outcome. They include: · Globalization, introduction of highly improved IT systems and changing business trends of management. The above factors make business processing and performance control easier tasks · Based on the management skills I already have, it is possible to link my personal experiences to the organizational requirements and create a base for stable growth. · Through greater self-knowledge, there is opportunity for expanded managerial roles, better relationships with employees and improved personal planning · There are greater opportunities in the field of prospective management and greater knowledge and experience will allow me to explore other related fields of management. · The organization has always remains competitive and through the customers’ referrals, there is chance for the institution to create stronger customer base. This means that there is job guarantee as long as individuals are able to perform their roles according to the organizational demands or objectives. · As a prospective manager I have the opportunity to meet managers from other organizations, which are considerably more competitive and therefore an improvements in my personal managerial skills. |
Threats:· Threats are negative external factors that I have no control over but in a position to influence the effects so that there is positive outcome. They include: · Factors such as downsizing and obsolescence that have the tendency to diminish job outcomes · There are advanced stages of competition from my work cohort and this makes my position highly competitive · In most cases, I have to compete with superior skills , levels of experiences and diverse knowledge, which require regular update of personal development plan · At times, the company’s employees exhibit limited professional skills in their respective areas of work and this makes management un uphill task. · The fact that the company has few managers in the same job area means that I have to work extensively to guarantee that the establishment meets its objectives. · The extreme changes in business cycles have practical effects on the business performance and therefore some of the policy made may turn obsolete or impractical. |
2.3 Setting and prioritising objectives and targets to develop personal potential
Studies have shown that managers who set objectives by planning their time in more realistic manners always obtain maximum benefits from their areas of engagement (Thomas 2006). The various stages like specifying the kind of goals to be achieved, visualizing the results of a particular process, breaking large goals into smaller manageable tasks and prioritizing on the details of the set steps improves personal performances. On the hand, prioritising on the objectives is deemed fit for those managers who would want to keep up to date with the demands placed on the organization son that urgent needs can be considered or handled first and effectively (Thomas 2006). The manager should be in a position of determining lower objectives, which are most cases having the characteristics of becoming imminent. In case of a sudden change in the goals, the management to be in a position to adjust time and priorities attached to each objective so that there is review and update of personal potentials.
For the purposes of developing personal potentials, the manager needs to prioritize objectives and targets, which can be done using a grid of urgency as discussed below.
Priority 1: The objectives included in this cell should be prioritised over all other objectives since they define an individual and his or her management roles. Even though the manager may include other priorities, it is significant to note that he or she will be finally responsible for the various outcomes and therefore needs to ensure that each leading task is performed effectively an within the time allocated.
Priority 2: The objectives outlined in the second cell are not the managers’ priorities, but there is need to consider them since they are still important to personal development. The fact that these objectives or activities are important means that the manager should consider performing them in time just like other priorities since any failure will make them to fall under priority1. The leading tasks may be delegated so that the available time is optimized, but it also become significant for the management to supervise and offer appropriate support to maintain the objected level of quality.
Priority 3: The objectives included here are considered urgent but may not be important towards personal development. The fact that these tasks are not important means that the manager should not put much effort and time on them since they may end up delaying even the most important tasks that need to be performed. If possible, the manager should delegate the leading roles or tasks at this stage so that there are no delayed responses to the most stringent tasks.
Priority 4: The objectives outlined in this cell are not urgent and therefore the associated tasks are also considered unimportant to personal development. The manager should understand that some of the tasks under this category are mare distractions and should be eluded promptly.
In general, setting and prioritizing objectives and targets are important concepts when it comes to personal skill development since they allow the manager to understand reasons for including tasks in his or her management areas, the costs and time associated with such tasks and the possible outcomes.
4.1 Explaining how personal managerial and personal skills will support career development
Before engaging is career development, a prospective manager should assess his or her personal characteristics like skills and interests, likes and dislikes as well as strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (Thomas 2006). This first stage will allow the manager to match his or her profile to the career goal alongside identifying those aspects in both present and past jobs that may have effect in determining the career goals. Some of the common aspects linked to the field of management are: personal traits and skills requirements; implications for previous jobs the manager liked or disliked; skills developed through education; past training that can be applied in a future job; willingness to relocate to other areas and; personal efforts and time one is willing to commit towards career development.
On a similar note, the prospect manager should relate personal managerial skills like leadership, interpersonal problem solving, and personal skill to an area of career development because these factors have significance in influencing the outcome of a process (Raelin 2002). For example, leadership skills inspire the procedure of decision making, allows for proper time and cost planning, helps in areas of resource management, improves interpersonal relationships and allows one to manage others well. Proper leadership skills will allow the manager to relate well with other individuals and to improve on the overall performance (Raelin 2002). On the same note, enhanced personal leadership will create a base for managed self-knowledge, expansion of career possibilities and improved self-esteem. Other than leadership skills, a prospect manager should have interpersonal problem solving skills so that there are better understandings in the organization. Efficient decision-making is appropriate in problem solving, which means that the manager must be in a position to listen, provide accurate interpretation and design appropriate work plan to solve any problem that may have potential threat in an organization.
4.2 Reviewing own career and personal development needs, current performance and future needs to reduce a development plan
Own career and personal development requires current performances and future needs retail around improving some of the mentioned weaknesses towards personal development. The weaknesses in this context are considered those factors within the control of the prospect manager and can be possibly influenced to ensure positive outcomes (Raelin 2002). For example, the managers’ work plan should include improving self-esteem, developing anger management skills, being able to manage stress and also viewing his position with higher levels of positivity so that there is motivation to other employees. The table below analyses the managers’ personal development needs, current performance and future needs applicable in reducing the development plan.
| Personal development needs
· Improving self-esteem: this will allow the manager to interact more freely with other staff members and to assign roles in ways that maximizes the overall organization output. · Developing techniques of anger management: this will help the manager to respond positively to challenging situations to an area of career development. · Developing techniques of managing stress: management stress is an important factor that affects the performance of leader. It is worth noting that the work environment is full of challenges some of which may have impact on employees’ morale. |
Current performance needs
· The manager needs to improve on current work relationships by being able to apply little authority to ensure higher performance. The relationship in this case can be improved through proper decisions, accurate communication linkages, and effective assignment of roles. · The manger must learn to view other people’s contributions in his or her career development with positivity so that there is a platform created to allow for skill adjustments. |
Future needs
· The manager will provide opportunity for team decision-making so that there is a collective responsibility to enhance career development. · The manager will require specific training in areas of anger management such as psychological counselling and regular practice |
Conclusion
There is need for the prospective manager to build confidence and develop valuable skills as part of the management team. In other words, it is hard for a new manager to learn organizational cultures and performance needs through trial and error (Allan 2009). This means that the leadership must be in a position to describe its specific roles in the organization both as a manager and a leader; be able to develop employees to meet their ultimate potentials; be in a position to delegate duty with authority; empower employees through coaching; remain motivated towards achieving the desired result and; also be in a position to conduct appraisal and manage the overall organizational performance.
References
Allan, B. (2009). Study skills for business and management students. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill/Open University Press.
Box, S., & Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. (2012). Transferable skills training for researchers: Supporting career development and research. Paris: OECD Publishing
Raelin, J. A. (2002). Personal career development for professionals. Washington, D.C: Beard Books.
Thomas, M. (2006). Mastering people management: Essential skills for building a winning team. London: Thorogood.
Winstanley, D. (2005). Personal effectiveness: A guide to action. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.