Managerial Readiness Self-Assessment
COMMUNICATION:
Communication in management and in performing any task is one of several important skills. As we grow up and start to get involved in the real world the use of communication effectively becomes very useful. Everybody deals with communication in one way or another hundreds of times a day. But in management, just communication is not enough, to be an effective manager; one has to be able to communicate very effectively. I personally communicate best using technology. This day in age, we all deal with e-mails, presentations, and documents on a daily basis, and this is what I have become accustomed too. The reason technology is one of my strengths is because it is impersonal. There is no emotion, no relation when using technology over other means of communicating. Getting back to technology, I have always been at the top when it comes to trying new types of technologies to make my life simpler thus making me more effective. I know when to utilize the right technology to complete the task at hand. One of other strengths in communication is being a good listener. To be effective at communicating listening is a must. To be good at this task it is important to realize that when you are listening to somebody, you are not just listening to the words that are coming out of there mouth, but how they are saying it (e.g. tone). Listening in management is important because you need to know what your peers or boss’ are trying to express to use even through some barriers. Finally when it comes to receiving feedback, I can take that great. When people communicate to me that something I that I have done is great, I will keep that in mind when I perform the task again, and do it in a similar matter. Whereas if I was given negative feedback, I will turn it into a positive for myself and correct what I did wrong, basically learning from my mistakes. Receiving feedback is important because it reports your strengths and weaknesses from others perspectives.
There are also areas of communication skills which I am lacking or just underdeveloped. Providing feedback to others, unless it is very obvious is very difficult. I always tend to give positive feedback even when negative feedback should be given. It’s a difficult task because, there are sensitive people in this world, and when you try to give them any feedback, they take it very bad. It just makes not want to give feedback to anyone to not hurt anyone’s feelings. Another one of my weaknesses is my fear of public speaking. Public speaking is a very important communication tool especially for people in top management, but I just become very nervous when the attention becomes focused on me. In addition, another weakness that I have is verbal communication. Before I speak, I think about what I am going to speak in my head, but when in comes out, it comes out a way that was not how intended. I have a lot to work on before I can become an effective communicator.
TEAMWORK:
Another must have skill to be an effective manager is to have great team work skills. When people start working for big companies, most the work that they will be doing will only be a part of the pie. We must work in groups to break a difficult task into a much easier one. Today, many companies make important decisions in group settings (groupthink) and most of the work is now done in groups. So a future manager has to be a good team player and a leader. Team leadership is an aspect of team work that I am good at. I have headed a group during my internship and under my leadership we achieve all of our goals when it was necessary. I have learned a lot about team leadership from that experience. The “How Good Am I at Building and Leading a Team?” is a self- assessment that reinforces my belief that I am a good team leader. Being a good team leader is very valuable because the companies are putting a lot of importance in team projects than individuals. In addition to being a good team leader, I can provide a lot of contribution to a team’s success. This will help me in my career.
Back in elementary school, I used to be a conflict manager, but things are completely different when dealing with older people. Conflict management with older people is an important part of team work that I have to improve upon. Everyday there are situations where a manger would have to step in between subordinates who do not get along. Because when two or more members do not get along, it affects the dynamics and performance of the entire team. I always try to step in-between people who are in conflict, but I need to work on my skills that will better empower me to help the two, rather than just separate them. A manager who can resolve conflicts will get better results out of a team than someone whose skills are not yet top-notch. Conflict management is a very important component of being an effective manger.
SELF-MANAGEMENT:
Self- Management is yet another task that one had to good at in order to be an effective manager, because if one cannot manage him/herself, it will be very difficult to manage others. A manager has to set an example for his group. Understanding of ethical issues is vital to management. If a manger does not make decisions ethically, his subordinates will believe that it is okay to break ethics. Corporate ethics is a very big thing these days because all of the accountability issues that came about in the last couple of years. I understand business ethics very well because I have been in a large corporate environment and seen what should be done and what shouldn’t be. My responsibility toward commitments is also one of my strengths. Whenever a commitment has been made, I will do everything in my power to not break my commitments. If I am not sure I can do something, I will never commit to it.
A personal weakness in Self- Management that I have is a low tolerance for ambiguity. It is very hard for me to do many tasks if I do not have enough information about a subject, or whether or not the results will come out the way I want. I rather wait until I am more knowledgeable in a subject before making any rash decisions. I tend to put off the decision till better indicators emerge. As companies continue to grow in this ever changing world, manager is given less and less information on what they can base there decisions on. To be an effective manager, a person should at least have a moderate tolerance for ambiguity.
Leadership:
Leadership is one of the most important skills in being an effective manager. The definition of a manager includes the fact that a job task for a manager includes leading of a group of people. As the leader, a manager has set a good example for his group and be well liked within the group. Diversity and Global issues awareness is personally what I consider being one of my leadership strengths. When it comes to knowing about global issues I know more than the average person because I read and pay attention to the issues that are affecting people around the world. The self-assessment about being a global manger also shows the fact that I would make a great global manager because I can transfer my skills from a domestic front to a more global one. In addition, dealing with diversity is a very important task that I can handle very well. Me personally being raised in a home with different cultural values different from our society, I know adapt myself to different situations. Project management is another one of my pluses. Going back to my internship, I was given several projects at one time, which require me to go through them and see which projects needed more focusing and what parts I could delegate to others. The important thing to me in project management leadership is that your team must feel that you are working with them, and not just assigning things to them and running off doing unnecessary stuff.
One of my downsides as a leader is strategic thinking. When it comes to thinking a subject out, I am very good at coming up with the basics, but when it comes to very complex things like formulating a strategy I tend to run out of ideas very fast. In order to be good a strong strategic thinker, one just needs to be more experienced with different possibilities of what can or cannot be done. When we are in the classroom most of the strategic thinking is done for us, that’s why when we come out into the real world we cannot think “outside the box” because up until now everything had already been planned. I think the only way to fix this is to get more experience thinking of complex tasks on our own.
CONCEPTUAL SKILLS:
Having good conceptual skills is another important managerial skill. One of my strong suits in conceptual skills is decision making. It is very important for a manager at any level. The self- assessment states that I am a rational type decision maker that emphasizes facts, details, and rational cause-effect logic. But I tend to also be an intuitive type that focuses on possibilities and relationships between ideas. Because I am in the stuck between rational and intuitive decision making, it takes me sometime to make a wise decision because I have to completely think it over. My ability to make good decisions will be a positive in the future because companies are in need of individuals who are good at decision making.
But the drawbacks in conceptual skills are my lack of creativity that also affects me with my critical thinking. For managers, creativity is useful in decision making. It helps one see problems and alternatives that others might not. This skill is essential when formulating strategies that have to be complex yet easy to implement effectively, but I cannot come up with them. Also because I cannot think outside the box to well, my critical thinking is also in the lacking. I can try thinking hard, but I would not a see a obvious choice if it were right in front of me. I need to work on m creativity skills to better my other conceptual skills in order to become a more effective manager.
PROFESSIONALISM:
Professionalism is an additional managerial skill required to be a good manager. A good manager is a thorough professional. I am good at career management which is a part of professionalism. The classes I have taken throughout my life, I have done them to better my self for my career. I entered college as a Computer Engineer because I’ve always had a great passion for computing, but I never forgot favorite thing, managing my own company, that’s why I am also pursuing a minor
in management. The skills that I have acquired to manage my career are invaluable. I will keep looking for new opportunities within my career path and take advantage of them to be successful. I also realize that fact that learning will never stop in our ever changing society. Personal presence is an aspect of professionalism that I am good at. Even if I do not know what I am doing, I tend to be a good motivator, making people feel good about them. And good motivational skills are required from a manager. A manager who can motivate his group will get better results. I am in the middle on initiative. If I really like doing what I am doing, I will do it, breaking all the limitations that my come my way. But on the other hand, if the task was not something I really enjoyed, I will still do it, but without putting to much heart into it.
Good managers are those who recognize can see their flaws and can make an effort to turn them into their strengths. Before finishing my undergraduate studies at UCI, I plan to overcome several of my weaknesses. Not being able to do well at public speaking is one of my main imperfections. I plan to take an oral presentation course next quarter, and hopefully it will get rid of my nervousness problem. I will also try not to be so quiet in my classes and in my social settings. I am tired of being a shy person. My weakness of low ambiguity must change; I have to be able to make spontaneous decisions in order to better my chances of success as a manager. I will also try to be more assertive in the decisions that I make and not second guess myself. Strategic thinking is an aspect that requires more experience. Instead of following directions, I will try to figure things out for myself, which will help give me better insights on what in going on. I will do these things my just to improve my self as a manger, but in order to also just improve my daily life.