The Developing Manager - Assignment Example

Manager’s Career Development Plan and Manager’s Career Development Plan Introduction Management involves directing people to complete tasks in the right way through guidance and motivation. This means that organizations cannot survive if they do not have managers who ensure that their businesses run efficiently. Efficient managers need to possess skills that enable them to execute their tasks correctly; for example, they need to have effective communication skills, team work, problem-solving techniques, delegation, project management, and negotiation (Williams, 2009). I possess these skills and I believe that they will enable me to become a manager in future. Despite the fact that these skills enable manager to carry out their functions efficiently, these individuals may possess weaknesses that prevent them from achieving their targets. For example, I have a weakness of aiming at perfecting my work. However, I can correct this weakness by sharpening my planning skills to ensure that I set targets that are achievable according to the situation at hand. I will assess my managerial skills at Sweet Waters Company in this essay and develop a career development plan for employment and personal growth. Assessment of my own Management Skills Efficient Communication I have efficient communication skills that enable me to facilitate duties and inform employees about the targets of a business. I inform workers about the work that they should carry out and how they should do it to ensure that they are on the right track. My communication skills also enable me to harmonize teams effectively; for example, when the company employs new workers, I inform those employees about their duties and the company’s expectations (McGrath, 2012). I also introduce these workers to the others who already work for the organization so that they can identify one another. This skill also enables me to solve problems that arise in the company. Delegation Delegation involves assigning duties to workers so that they can complete them on behalf of the manager. Delegation enables managers to assign duties to employees who have the right skills; this enables companies to achieve their targets because workers complete numerous duties simultaneously (McGrath, 2012). I have the skills of determining the workers who are suitable to complete certain tasks because I match their skills with those required to carry out certain duties. If the organization lacks workers who can complete certain tasks efficiently, I organize for them on the job trainings that fill their skills gaps. Leadership Leadership involves showing individuals the right way to follow when they are completing their tasks. Managers should possess this skill because they cannot manage successfully if they are not efficient leaders. I lead workers by motivating them to aim at achieving high targets that are achievable. Organization I also have organization skills that I use to prepare the resources of the company so that they can be ready for use (Taylor, 2012). I organize all the areas of the company in the finance department such as preparing funds to use for different functions and preparing the tools that workers use in the division. Problem-solving Problem-solving skills enable managers to solve conflicts that arise in their organizations successfully. I use my problem-solving skills to resolve conflicts among workers and departmental managers in the organization. I find solutions that end the conflicts in a way that satisfies all the parties who are involved in the problem. This increases the satisfaction of workers and it motivates them to work hard for the organization (Williams, 2009). Project Management Project management involves planning activities that enable a company to achieve a certain objective in a systematic method (Balzac, 2011). I use charts to determine the activities that should take place in a project and the order in which they are executed. I employ operations management to determine the length of time that every activity in a project takes to be completed. This skill enables the organization to save time and costs. Team Management Team management is a skill that enables leaders to organize various players in a company so that they can work in union. I manage teams by first determining the workers who should work in a team. I choose workers who possess different abilities to belong to one team; this ensures that every team in the company has a wide range of skills (Balzac, 2011). I also solve conflicts that arise among workers in a team by bringing them together and enabling them to understand one another. Workers trust me because of this ability of managing them in teams and this motivates them to work harder towards achieving the company’s targets. Financial Management Financial management is the pillar of success in every organization because it enables them to reduce cost and increase revenue (Taylor, 2012). This means that managers cannot determine the right direction for an organization if they lack the skill of managing finances. Financial management involves drawing preparing budgets that forecast the sales and costs that a company expects to incur in a certain period. Managers then compare the set targets in the budget with the actual revenues and expenses that a firm achieves during that period (McGrath, 2012). This helps them to develop plans that enable their companies to reduce cost and increase sales. I use my financial management skills to evaluate budgets and determine new techniques of making them realistic and achievable in the company. Personal SWOT Analysis Strengths The managerial skills that I possess are some of my personal strengths. However in addition to these skills, I have other strengths that include understanding, negotiation, time management, and accountability. I have the ability of managing time efficiently because I set targets that enable me to complete tasks within certain periods. I set the time targets by assessing an activity and determining the time that an average employee would take to complete it. I then motivate workers to concentrate on their duties to ensure that they complete them before the set deadline (Taylor, 2012). I also have the ability of negotiating successfully with various stakeholders such as customers, workers, suppliers, and partners. I maintain cordial relationship with these parties because I give them a chance to speak out their minds and respond to them in an understanding way. I use my communication skills to inform partners about the company’s plans and to give feedback to their questions in a friendly manner (Williams, 2009). My interpersonal skills enable me to create numerous long lasting networks for the company. I also have the strength of accounting for all my actions and decisions and I train workers to acquire this ability. I make decisions based on facts and plans in the company and I also account for how I allocate funds to various activities in the organization (McGrath, 2012). This strength enables me to ensure that the company achieves its targets. Weaknesses Managers possess weaknesses despite their abilities that help them to manage their organizations successfully. The weaknesses deter managers from utilizing their abilities efficiently in a company. My major weaknesses are perfection and strictness on time. I guide workers about how they should manage their time to ensure that they balance between their job and family. When I train the employees to do this, I always expect that they will observe deadlines when carrying out their activities. I also expect workers to arrive and leave the workplace on time. When workers fail to achieve the time targets, I feel disappointed. This disappointment may lead to stress when employees delay activities by large time margins. I aim at perfecting all the activities that I carry out. I always expect employees to meet or exceed the exact targets of the organization. However, in real sense, workers especially those who are newly employed cannot meet the exact targets. This achievement is also nullified by the occurrence of unfavourable circumstances such as inflation and breakdown of machines. When I fail to perfect my targets, I always work harder than before so that I can perfect the activities in the organization. Opportunities Opportunities are the techniques that I can use to develop more strong personal skills than those that I have currently. I have the opportunity of improving my perfection by employing the use of forecasting techniques such as regression that take into account errors of prediction (Balzac, 2011). I may use regression when forecasting the company’s revenue and expenses because it takes care of unforeseen circumstances such as inflation and decrease in demand. I also have the opportunity learning and training workers to use techniques that help in determining the time that employees require completing tasks, for example, the Critical Path Method (Balzac, 2011). This method will help workers to manage the time that they take to complete tasks efficiently. I also have an opportunity of understanding workers independently so that I can understand their capabilities. This will help me to expect various results from different workers. Threats The threats that I may face in my aim of improving my personal skills include lack of the ability to understand the how to use complex techniques such as CPM and regression analysis (Taylor, 2012). The lack of understanding of these methods may hinder me from achieving my time and perfection targets. Employees may also fail to cooperate with one another in the organization. This lack of cooperation may prevent me from achieving my objectives in the company. Workers may also fail to understand how to use these complex techniques that help in increasing perfection. This may mean that I continue being frustrated whenever do not perfect my work in the company. Career and Personal Development Needs Personal and career development needs are the objectives that I aim at achieving in future after having considered my current skills. I need to develop my interpersonal and communication skills more so that I can be able to relate with individuals who have a higher social and professional status. This means that I need to socialize with individuals such as Chief Executive Officers, business partners, and government authorities (Williams, 2009). I admire to socialize with these stakeholders successfully because this will help me to obtain new ideas and acquire techniques of solving problems in an organization. Efficient communication skills will help me to represent the company successfully in hefty events such as international shows and exhibitions. I would also like to become an entrepreneur because this will help me to manage and own my business. I believe that I have the right skills that will enable me to manage my own business successfully. I have this interest because I am a risk taker and I would like to earn my own sales and profits (McGrath, 2012). I like earning my profits because this is the only business technique that pays individuals according to their effort. I would also like to become a technology adviser in the hospitality industry because in the modern world, technology has become the backbone of every business organization. By becoming a technologist, I will be able to help my company and those of others to conduct their businesses using the most efficient and modern techniques. Current Performance and Future Expectations Currently, I am the financial manager of Sweet Waters hotel and restaurant. I supervise the financial activities of the company, for example, developing budgets and releasing funds to other departments. I have the interpersonal skills of relating with employees, customers, departmental managers, and suppliers of the organization. I develop long lasting relationships with these stakeholders and this helps the organization to achieve numerous networks that increase sales and profits (Taylor, 2012). I am saving some funds to use as capital for my business while I am developing a plan for the business. I am also familiarizing with various technologies that the company uses and others that are developing in the industry. I would like to achieve this career target by the end of the next five years because I need to find sufficient capital to start my business. I am currently saving funds from my employment to use to start my business in my scheduled time. I would also like to become a technologist in the next two years while I am still a manager at Sweet Waters Company. Personal and Career Development Plan I have used the SMART technique to develop my personal and career development plan that is below. The SMART technique is the one that specific, time-bound, measurable, relevant, attainable, and realistic (McGrath, 2012). This technique has enabled me to develop a career goal that is to become an entrepreneur in the next five years because I am saving capital to invest in the business. Self-assessment Summary The self-assessment summary is the section that indicates my personal strengths and areas that I need to improve. The assessment is divided into six milestones that include personal values, work values, personal skills, work skills, and functional limitations. Milestone 1: Personal Skills My personal skills include accountability, attentiveness, determination, motivation, management, teamwork, and understanding. Milestone 2: Work Values and Skills I have work values that include adaptability, employment ethics, integrity, dependability, problem-solving skills, motivation, finance, loyalty, and professionalism. Personal Values I have personal values that include kindness, respect, commitment, and acceptance. Milestone 3: Functional Limitations My major functional limitations include strictness on time and perfection. Long-term Professional Goals I want to become a chief technologist in the hospitality industry and I would also like to become an entrepreneur. I am aiming at starting my own business in the next five years. This time frame is realistic because it is giving me an opportunity to save capital to start my business (Williams, 2009). I have already started saving for the business and I expect that the funds will be enough to start up in the next five years. I also believe that I will have acquired all the necessary entrepreneurial skills by this time. Short-term Professional Goals I am aiming at becoming the technologist of the organization that I cork for currently. This is because the company is a medium-enterprise and it is growing at a high rate. I expect to become the technology adviser of the company by next year while I am still the finance manager. I expect to carry out the two roles simultaneously because they are not hectic and I have plenty of free work time in my current position. I also hope to take the two positions because currently, I advice the managers of the firm about the technologies to adopt so as to increase the efficiency of services and products. Obstacles to my Goals While pursuing my goals, I may face numerous challenges such as lack of sufficient funds to start my business because of downturns in the business economic cycle. These downturns may cause unfavourable circumstances such as inflation, which increases the cost of living. The increase in the cost of living will then reduce the money that I save for my startup (Balzac, 2011). I will overcome this challenge by seeking assistance from banks. I will take a loan that will help me to start my business at the scheduled time from my local bank. The executives of Sweet Waters may also employ new workers who may become my competitors in the company. For example, the organization may employ an engineer who may be in charge of the technologies that the company adopts. I will solve this problem by liaising with the new employees so that I can acquire new ideas from them and even if the company promotes them, I will be still be interested in learning new things from these workers. I would also like to gain higher interpersonal skills that will enable me to socialize with numerous high status stakeholders such as the board of governors, investors, partners, and government representatives. This skill will help me to start my own business without experiencing networking problems. Development Activities and Experiences I need to attend numerous training sessions that educate individuals about how to become successful entrepreneurs. I will attend the training sessions that Sweet Waters organizes and I will also research about other trainings that I can attend individually. I also need to learn how the activities of all the departments in the company are carried out so that I can start a successful enterprise. I will do this by asking the executives of the company to give me numerous responsibilities. I will also research and consult with the existing managers about how they run their departments successfully. In order for me to become a technologist, I need to research about the technologies that have been developed currently. I will investigate how these technologies help organizations to increase efficiency so that I can advise Sweet Waters and other firms to acquire these developments. I also need to keep in touch with technology developers by connecting with them on social media so that I can know when they develop new technologies in the market. Resources Needed I require resources such as the internet to help me in conducting research and funds to start my business. The internet will also help me to get in touch with technology developers so that I can familiarize with their products immediately they develop them (McGrath, 2012). Activities in my Current job that will help me to achieve my Long-term Goals The carrying out of all finance activities in the company is a crucial activity that will help me to pursue my long term objective of becoming an entrepreneur. This is because entrepreneurship involves managing finances without being controlled and this means that one can easily mismanage the funds of the company. Additional Skills that I require to achieve my Goals I need to have additional skills such as efficient interpersonal skills, software knowledge, supervision, and patience. Progress Checkpoints I will check my development after every year to ascertain the level to which I will have acquired the additional skills and whether I will have achieved my short and long term goals. For example, by the end of next year, I will evaluate my career development and determine whether I will have become the technology adviser of the company. I will also compare my current responsibilities in the organization with those that I will be having by that time to check whether they will have increased. At the end of five years, I will also evaluate myself to check whether I will have started my own business. If I will not have achieved these goals, I will find out the reasons for the delay and improvise techniques of helping me to accomplish my targets. Conclusion Management involves guiding individuals on the right things that they need to do at the workplace. I am a manager at Sweet Waters and I use my management skills such as efficient communication, team and financial management, and delegation to guide workers in the organization. My main strength as a manager is fluent communication that enables m to network with numerous stakeholders. I am also an accountable individual who takes responsibility of my actions and decisions. I have a weakness of perfecting my work, but I will correct this by using efficient planning techniques such as regression. I am aiming at becoming a technologist in the next two years, and an entrepreneur in the next five years. I will achieve these goals by perfecting my managerial strengths and improving on my weakness besides finding capital to start my own business. References Balzac, S., 2011. The McGraw-Hill 36-hour course Organizational development. New York: McGraw-Hill. McGrath, E. H., 2012. Basic managerial skills for all. New Delhi: PHI Learning. Taylor, F. W., 2012. The Principles of Scientific Management. Auckland: The Floating Press. Williams, C., 2009. Principles of management. Mason, OH: South-Western Cengage Learning. Read More