Management Competencies
One day I hope to be a manager, and so I need to develop the skills that will help me achieve this. I know that I am already a natural leader, as I tend to position myself as a leader of a group and/or be put into a leadership role by my fellow classmates, workers, and superiors. I feel that to become a good manager I need to develop several important abilities.
I would like to develop my ability to plan and implement large team projects. I feel that I already have a good idea of how to break down large projects into smaller components, but I also need to be able to see the bigger picture and understand how the project fits into the scope of the organization. I think that being highly efficient in seeing how a project breaks down will come with practice, and can be learned through trial and error. In terms of seeing the bigger picture, I will have to make sure to keep the goals of the organization in mind throughout all stages of the project and constantly make sure that the project is helping to further these goals.
The other important step in team projects is the team. I am good at figuring out who should be working on what part, based on their skills and knowledge. The biggest challenge for me will be how to keep everyone on task and yet to not micro-manage people. I hope to be able to do this by setting reasonable deadlines that give a little bit of play and by making sure everyone knows what the deadlines are. I also need to remember that others are competent at what they do, otherwise I wouldn't have given them the job in the first place. Finally, I plan to promote a sense of openness and teamwork by making myself accessible to the team and giving praise more often that criticism.
I know need to develop how to balance being a manager with having time to complete my own work. I plan on doing this in two ways. First, by making sure my employees are confident in their own skills, through hiring the right person for the job, providing training if needed, and giving encouragement. The second is to trust that my employees will come to me if they have questions, and therefore I can work on my tasks without having to micromanage them. Furthermore, I will make sure that my work schedule is accessible to my employees so they know when I am available and when I am not. If I see that I am falling behind on my own work, I will make sure to block out time on my schedule that is work "for me" time.
