Personal Development As A First Line Manager - Assignment Example

? PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT AS A FIRST LINE MANAGER Personal development planning Personal Development plan is a plan of action that allows an individual to set numerous personal targets and objectives. This helps the individuals in setting a path through which he/she could achieve the target set for one's own personal development in terms of skills, knowledge, attitude etc. The plan enables an individual to align his/her personal goals with the organizational goals. This assists the individual in improving his/her work performance. Thus this personal development benefits the organization by improving its performance in the short term as well as in the long-term (The Keynote Project, 2002). The personal development goals will indirectly lead to the fulfillment of the goals set by the school. The personal goals I have set for achieving are related to the improvement of my work performance. The objective of acquiring event management skills helps them acquire skills that would enable me to efficiently manage and arrange school events. Thus meeting the organization's objective of providing good quality educational service of which such entertainment is a part. Also implementing and learning how to manage the Inventory control system named jump-stock would assist me in taking care of canteen inventory and other school supplies inventory (Burg, 2013). This efficient and faster management of inventory will assist the organization in running its operations most effectively. Therefore, providing high quality educational service with added school facilities and attracting more customers leading to increasing sales. Improving time management skills, stress management and financial skills will assist me in carrying out my responsibilities effectively. Financial skill would help me identify if there had been any glitches in the financial records of the facilities. Time management could help me complete work responsibilities before time and with highest work quality. Stress management could assist me in handling difficult situations with intelligence and thus help the organization run its operations most effectively. I plan to enhance these skills by taking a Stress Management training Diploma Course offered by The Stress Consultancy and Open Learning Institute (Stress Management Training, n.d.). Writing and speaking skills and improving relations with subordinates pertains to enhancing communication skills. The former will aid in becoming proficient in speaking and writing, thus helping in getting the message across within or outside school effectively. The latter would support in developing friendly relations with subordinates and detecting any conflicts/issues with them and taking an immediate action. This leads to increased motivation among employees and increased efficiency in school facilities provision. So effective communication helps the organization achieve high sales, lower cost, higher profitability and high quality service objectives. Learning how to operate knowledge management system also brings company to achieving the same objectives mentioned above. This is because knowing how to use and implement this system in facilities department could help in better decision-making. I identified numerous learning and development opportunities that would assist in achieving my personal development goals. The reason is the nature of the goals themselves. All the goals could be achieved either by taking the relevant courses online or attending workshops, keeping a log and relevant notes from these courses/workshops. Learning from all these relevant courses and workshops is essential in acquiring the relevant skills since they add value to my work at school as Facilities Manager Assistant. These courses would help me move forward with my plan and thus enhance my work performance for my and company's benefit. I will review the progress of my plan on monthly basis. This will enable me to see how far along have I achieved my objectives. If needed, I will be able to see whether the goals set require to be readjusted according to the changing work environment or job requirements. Moreover, in case I am lagging behind achieving an objective, I could re-evaluate my situation to see how could I fasten my pace to achieve my goals. WORK PLAN The work plan priorities have been given weight out of 100 percent according to the importance of each of the objectives. The highest percentage shows the objective is of most importance and is the first to be worked upon achieving. Apart from the percentage method, there are numerous other methods that could be used to prioritize tasks. Two of them are through a Gantt chart and the ABCDE method. Gantt chart includes each and every step which will be involved in achieving the set objectives. The objectives set will be listed in the Gantt chart in order of priority and time taken to complete a certain task according to the time set for it. ABCDE approach assists in prioritising the tasks according to the five letters ABCDE. A stands for 'very important', B for 'important', C for 'nice to d', D for 'delegate' and E for 'eliminate, whenever possible'. Considering the fact that this plan is my personal development plan, so ABCDE approach does not apply since all objectives are to be achieved by me. Neither does the Gantt approach apply since that does not really show the importance of each objective and the method is mostly used for projects. Thus the percentage allotment was the best approach (Tracy, 2008). Time allocated to achieving objectives would depend on the nature of the tasks. In objectives where I have to acquire certain set of skills, more time will be required. While for enhancing already existing skills would require lesser time. Also, the time required to achieve a particular goal also depends on the importance of the goal. For instance, the majorly important goal for me now is improving stress management and communication skills pertaining to relations with subordinates. Considering both are given equal importance/weightage, it is prudent that major chunk of our time will be spent and allocated in achieving these two objectives. Thus the expected time is according to the importance of each of the objectives set and the complexity of the tasks involved in achieving the objectives. The reason for developing flexibility in a work-plan is simply to provide any margin for changes in it. It is always possible that certain changes occur in the job or in the environment around the job, causing it to change the characteristics valued and worked for. Thus the objectives and priorities change according to these alterations. Flexibility gives us a margin to re-adjust our objectives according to the changes that might have occurred. So for continuous and effective improvement in my work, I will require my work plan to be flexible. This is because along the way while performing the tasks aligned, I might have to revise the goals set according to the progress or the environmental changes discussed above. DEVELOPMENT AND MAINTENANCE OF WORK RELATIONS Being the Facilities Manager Assistant and dealing with subordinates like the school caretakers, maintenance staff and cleaners, having a combination of democratic and autocratic leadership styles is the most appropriate. The reason behind this is that the staff and subordinates like these fall in the lowest level of an organization's hierarchy. Therefore they need to be directed to their responsibilities and must be led with a certain level of sternness to ensure they complete their assigned works. However, the friendly attitude and environment along with a certain degree of strictness is what is required to keep them working with motivation. Thus I will be implementing a combination of these two leadership styles. Work relations with colleagues, managers and subordinates are maintained and developed by creating a friendly work environment. The school promotes a friendly work environment and everyone over here knows everyone else. Subordinates due to the friendly environment feel free to share their grievances with their supervisors. This informal and friendly attitude helps in developing a good working relationship. Moreover, in breaks and at the end of the schools, teachers especially and sometimes managers and work staff socialise. Other means of socialising include the different school functions and parties that take place. This informal communication enables the organization to promote a good healthy working environment for people. Another way of maintaining or developing good working relations with other members of the school is individual's friendly attitude. Many at times it often happens at other places (schools in particular) that certain individuals create petty issues and arguments which disturbs the work environment. If every individual works with a pleasant and good-natured behaviour, it is easier to develop a good working environment. Also, listening to subordinates carefully and promptly acting on solving their challenges increases the trust factor in them. This develops a feeling of being important in the subordinates and thus develop good relations with them. The main standards of conduct for the school employees includes their ability to apply their knowledge of work on the tasks assigned to them. The company rules and regulations are set, the compliance to which is an essential standards of behaviour. Employees need to be more friendly, customer-focused, team-focused and must have in them the sense of responsibility and accountability. Integrity, pride, importance for the company's values, mission and ethics are what is needed exactly for employees to work in an organization most ethically. Professional attitude in terms of punctuality and responsibilities is an essential standard to be achieved by every employee. For managers, displaying a good behavioural conduct and adhering to company rules is crucial to promote such behaviour among employees. In this case, high-quality service, loyalty, friendly attitude, ethical conduct, trust, integrity, respect, accountability and sense of responsibility are a few standards that require to be reached (Mayhew, n.d.). ABILITY TO SAFEGUARD THE WELFARE OF TEAM IN A WORKING ENVIRONMENT For a first line manager to protect the team's welfare at work involves certain measures that must be taken. The first of these measures include focusing or dealing with stress in stressful situations. Line managers must work with a calm mind in a stressful condition because with a tensed mind, they cannot think clearly and may end up taking wrong measures. They must not let their personal problems get in the way of their work. Alcohol or drug abuse must be avoided. They should maintain a work/life balance leading to their more affectionate attention towards team's welfare. Bullying and harassment if being done anywhere within the manager's watch must be stopped. Performance issues must be given social attention and subordinates must be guided and supervised to remove these issues. Providing the team with job satisfaction is extremely important, which is done by communicating with the team and cooperating with them. Also the managers must handle conflicts with confidence and make a knowledgeable decision to curtail the issue. This will help them vouch for the team's interests and make a decision which covers some aspect of each team member's preference (Moreau, 2012). There are many risks that could impact a team. For instance internal conflict, any kind of discrimination, different types of harassments etc. are a few instances. These risks are identified firstly by keeping friendly relations with everyone in the team. Inspections on monthly basis could be done to identify if any such kind of risks are being experienced by the team members. Problems like personal issues, drug/alcohol abuse are a few other problems that could harm the welfare of a team. These again could be rectified by observations and feedbacks from supervisors and maybe through surveillance footages. Moreover, these risks could be monitored through weekly or monthly surveys throughout the organisation both in teams and individuals. Likewise, teams must be given freedom to report any such issues so that an action could be taken against such situations (Moreau, 2012). Numerous actions could be taken after spotting the risks to the team's welfare. Firstly, we can alter or modify the legal rules and regulations of the school. These laws must embody that any kind of assault or discrimination will be subject to legal action against the one committing it. Health and safety rules provide members of organizations enough safety to the employees of the company. If a team is deprived of certain health benefits, it must be reported in the HR department and the person responsible must be sued or suspended according to the seriousness of the situation. The procedure of taking an action however must be in a certain sequence. In case of first identifying the risks threatening the safety of team and its members, a fair warning must be submitted to the one responsible. In case of continuation of the risks even after warning, which we could identify through continuous monitoring, the responsible person must be suspended or sued. In case of any financial risk or loss, the team must be compensated by the company (Moreau, 2012). CONCLUSION The Personal development plan I have devised as a Facilities Manager Assistant will not only help me enhance my personal skills, but will also bring the company a huge advantage in terms of higher profitability and sales. The plan displays the personal objectives with percentages specifying the degree of importance of each and how could each be achieved. Managing and developing a friendly work environment and following the autocratic and democratic leadership styles along with many other measures could help sustain good work relations. Being a line manager, it is my responsibility to vouch for my team's interests and values. I must take care that they are not subjected to any form of discrimination or harassment. In case they complain of such a risk, I must take a legal action against the guilty person after a fair warning. Moreover, the team could be protected from such risks by continuous observations and monitoring through monthly checks and surveillance footage. The plan is a complete guide of how my personal goals could help and benefit the organisation on the whole. APPENDIX PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PLAN What are my development objectives? Priority What activities do I need to undertake to achieve my objectives? What support/resources do I need to achieve my objectives Target date for achieving my objectives Actual date of achieving my objectives To improve time management by setting a deadline of 5 hours earlier for every work 15% Setting deadlines for every task 5 hours before the actual deadline. Keeping a log-book which will record all deadlines and tasks with actual and set deadline. Everyday for the next 2 years Have been achieving this target regularly every day since a month now Enhance writing and speaking skills by keeping a diary log of to do's and not to do's in professional writing and speaking 5% Take a professional English writing and speaking course Online access for the course and a diary-log required for notes related to the subject 1 month Currently taking the course which is of one month Improve relations with subordinates by conducting meetings twice a week 20% Meetings arranged twice a week while discussing issues and subordinates' grievances Notes informing the subordinates about the meetings days and times. Twice every week for the next 2 years Achieved for the past month Learn how to operate and efficiently use knowledge management systems 10% Take knowledge management technology program and training courses Knowledge management course registration and material for later use and understanding provided by the training courses 2-3 months with the writing skills course Currently taking course of 2 months Enhance financial skills by attending financial learning workshops online 15% Take financial management training workshop Course registration and learning material from workshops 3 months, after the two courses mentioned above Yet to be taken Improve stress management by taking a Stress Management Training course 20% Stress management training diploma course Course registration, course notes and books etc., availability of online access. 3-4 months along with the financial course Yet to be taken Acquire event management skills by taking an online course 5% Take event management course and workshops Course registration, learning material. 1 month, after the above courses Yet to be taken Enhance inventory management by installing and learning about jump-stock inventory management system 10% Learn about jump-stock inventory management system through an online course Online access to the course and course material 2-3 months along with the event management course Yet to be taken Review Date: On monthly basis REFERENCES Burg, N., 2013. The 5 Best Inventory Management Apps. Forbes.[online] Available at: [Accessed 3 Dec. 2013]. Mayhew, R., n.d. Employee Standards of Professional Conduct & Behavior.[online] Available at: [Accessed 3 Dec. 2013]. Moreau, X., 2012.Safeguarding the welfare of a team in a working environment.[online] Available at: [Accessed 3 Dec. 2013]. Stress Management Training, n.d.Stress Management Training Diploma Courses by Distance Learning. The Stress Consultancy and Open Learning Institute. Available at: [Accessed 3 Dec. 2013]. The Keynote Project, 2002. Personal Development Planning Guide. London: The Nottingham Trent University. Tracy, B., 2008.The ABCDE Method for Setting Priorities.[online] Available at: [Accessed 3 Dec. 2013]. Read More