Understanding Key to Self-Management - Term Paper Example

Understanding key to self-management Name Name of the student 17 September 2015 Table of Contents Introduction In the life of a person, one of the most appropriate skill is self-management. As such, self-management involves the process of setting personal objectives, managing and as well as controlling personal time. Furthermore, effective self-management will assist a person to live a life with no stress and enhance attaining of opportunities. Therefore, in clear terms, the understanding key to self-management will enhance a person to have what is called personal regulation. This means that it is through the key understanding of self-management that a person id able to direct, monitor and control the aspects of personal life. In this aspect, an individual is required to adopt the key strategies for self-management. Such, tactics may include evaluating once strength and as well as reinforcing the case of weaknesses. In addition, time management is also, a key component in enhancing successful self-management. Still in this context of self-management, it is essential for a person to understand his/her attitude. As such, thing like confident plays contributes a key role in enhancing self-management. Also, concentrating on efforts, self-communication among others plays a key role in a person life in the case of understanding self-management. Basically, self-management is all about to do the personal understanding of one’s life problems and to recognize the ways to prevent or mitigate the effect of poor personal understanding. Nevertheless, regarding personal understanding, one can judge himself/herself in accordance with the several background. Such background includes the way people judge a person as a leader, the organization structure that a person prefers to work at, personal attitude toward working as a group and as well as an individual personality. As such, the prime objective of this report is to provide an analysis of self-assessment based on different situations. Section one Findings Question one; present a brief review of your self-assessment findings Leadership Essential objectives of a good leader Being reliable to the people they are leading In addition, to be honest to the people example, employees To lead people in the right way and not to mislead them. A good leader maintain and keep his/her saying. Also, it is the objective of a leader not to manipulate other people. Leaders are supposed to set up good role models and make use of workable rules regulation. In the context of leading people, trust is essential to both the leader and the people being lead. In the case of workplace, a person cannot be an excessive leader without trust. Moreover, it is believed that successful leaders, always persuade for trust from the people they seek to lead. Therefore, in the case of understanding self-management leadership can be seen as one of the key components (Yoder &Wise, & Kowalski 2010). In the research I carried out regarding self-assessment, it was found that; If chosen as a leader I can be a leader who is reliable, honest, respecting my word, and a leader that does not deceive others. All that a leader should do is carry out their own activities in a different way (Yoder &Wise, & Kowalski, 2010). People prefer leaders who should always think differently with honesty and keeping their word. Therefore, for a leader to be successful he/she should combine the social and career life so as to keep on his/her performance. Organization structure In the world of business, organizations are structured in different ways. In this case, people may have a different perception when it come to the case of organizations one prefer. Therefore, in choosing the type of organization one should work on, various factors are considered. Mostly, people chose to work in the place where they are comfortable. In fact, people prefer organizations that use unique environment so that they can be comfortable with the structure of an organization. In the description of the organizational structure, organizations prioritize on the need of finding good people to work with. Therefore, organizations insist on treating all employees in the right way by offering comfortable working environment. Objectives of an organization structure. Define the goals of the organization. Usually done by the management. Give clarity of work description Implement decisions Promote and recognize workers Establish the boundaries of authority and powers Enhance low level of turnover During self-assessment research, it was found that many people will prefer to work in an organization with comfortable working structure (Self-management.com, 2015). The findings identified that, many people would prefer to work in an organization where each structure has identified its prime goal. Moreover, the verdicts stated that people will consider working in an organization structure that have clearly indicated the working description (Self-management.com, 2015). Also, the result of the study that was learned indicated that people’s to work in a given organization will be influenced by the top management decisions. Moreover, the findings clarified that people will prefer to work in a structure whereby there are pay rise and minimized level of work. More answers from the self-assessment study were that people prefers to work as a group. Furthermore, the study showed that people prefers to work in organization structure whereby the turnover is low. In this case, working as a team will strengthen the decision made in the organization. More so, the verdicts indicated that people prefers to work in organization structure whereby, they accept the authorities of a leader in an organization. Still in the case of organization structure, the studied that was conducted regarding self-assessment, found that people prefers to work on the organization with the structure that allow the employees to advance their career. Basically, this can be achieved in the case whereby people are offered a chance of advancing their careers. Moreover, the case of the study regarding the kind of organization people prefers to work on found that, people prefers to work on the organization where they are given an opportunity to specialize in one line of duty. Understanding groups and groups In today’s world, most of the organizations tend to operate in groups as well as in teams. It is in rare situations that employees work on their own without being a part of a group or a team. The trend has been invented due to the endless advantages associated with the group and team work. As such, it is quite important for every individual willing to work in any organization to have quality characters that will enable him work efficiently with other people. This follows a research done on the group and team work that shows the better the attitude one has in working as a group the higher the chance an organization stands in performing well. However, members who has negative attitudes towards group work leads to low performance of the organization. Some of the factors leading to poor performance in an organization with people with negative attitudes is due the increased interpersonal conflict within the team members as well as harming the cohesiveness and team processes. In turn, the team morale together with the satisfaction of the members are lowered leading to a reduced performance of the organization. As such it is crucial for the management to know the characters of every employee towards the teamwork so as to be informed whether the individual will play a positive or a negative role to the company (Psychology Today, 2015). This calls for an evaluation test of an individual to know their feeling towards working as groups or teams. Qualities of a Good group and team member i. Should be honesty and straightforward. ii. Should participate in sharing the load of work. iii. Should be reliable. iv. Should always be fair. v. Should possess strong communication skills. vi. Should complement other group member’s skills. vii. Should always have a strong positive attitude. Basic Personality It is quite important to understand the trait of every individual. The difference and temporally stability nature of the trait makes it interesting to study the basic personality of an individual. As such, psychologists discovered an approach that is essential in discovering the actual personality of an individual. The most popularly used approach in the studying of an individual’s character trait is the five-factor model (FFM). Five-factor model is used due to the fact that it accounts for the altered traits in a person without overlapping. It also cuts across the participants of different ages as well as cultures. The five-factor models takes into account various characteristics of an individual that are used to rate a person’s characteristic. The first factor of FFM includes the openness to experience. This factor accounts for the extent of intellectual creativity, curiosity, together with the originality and variety that an individual has. The next factor the FFM accounts for is the conscientiousness (Cobb, Clark. & Schurer, 2012). The general implication of this factor is the tendency of being organized and dependable while having a desire to achieve the set objectives. Another factor taken into consideration in the five-factor model is the agreeableness. The factors cuts across the ability of an individual to be compassionate and cooperative when dealing with other people. Additionally, this factor is used in measuring the how helpful someone is or whether they are trustworthy. Extraversion is another factor of FFM that refers to the energy, surgency, sociability, and positive emotions that one has. An individual with a high extraversion character is referred to as a domineering and an attention seeker. On the other hand, individuals with a low extraversion are considered to have a reflective and a reserved personality. Lastly, neuroticism is a FFM factor (Cobb, Clark, & Schurer, 2012). This factor refers to the tendency to experience hostile emotions such as anxiety, anger, vulnerability and depression at ease. The factor also describes the degree at which an individual has emotional stability. Section two Critical analysis of the findings Question two; present a critical analysis of the findings Do Others See Me as Trustworthy? Analysis In reviewing various existing finding in this report regarding self-assessment, then one can identify promising result. Therefore, the study can be interpreted as follows. In analyzing the results, one will be able to present the facts and the evidence regarding the study carried. In presenting an analysis of this report, a comparison will be identified and definitely the result of the verdicts. In this context, the findings state that a good leader is the one who can be trusted by the people. In the research that was carried in regard to the kind of the leader that people may prefer, it can be analyzed that a trustworthy leader is the one is who is reliable, honest to the people he/she leading and a person who always keep his/her word. In interpreting the outcomes, it can be declared that from the study that was conducted, the person who was involved can be a trustworthy leader with an average score of 41 marks. What Type of Organization Structure Do I Prefer? Analysis Consequentially, in this case the results of the study can be analyzed that, many have not found a clear preference for the kind of the organization they need to work on. This is indicated by the mark that the person who was being assessed managed to score. In the research, the outcomes showed that may be the person who was being assessed has in recent time worked both scenarios of an organic organization structure and as well as in a mechanistic organization structure. What’s My Basic Personality? Analysis From the self-test that I conducted concerning my attitude in working as a group and team member, I found that I enjoy working in groups. This was after a score of 38 marks out of 45. According to the given analysis and interpretation of the test given. The analysis indicates that after the test and an individual scores either 36 or above it implies that they enjoy working in groups. Also, the same score implies that I am a good team player. As a good team player one must be able to abide with various rules or necessities that one as a team player must possess (Edwards, & Gustafsson, 2008). In this case, therefore, one must be availing himself in all the meetings and practices that a group carries. For this to happen, one must be enjoying while working as a group and be able to support their fellow group or team workers. Additionally, a good team player must be preferring to work as a team rather than a single individual. Finally, for one to be a good team player, they must be good in socializing as well as respect the group decisions. However, there are other individuals who are not good team players. They fail in playing their roles in within the group exposing the organization to poor performance. Nevertheless, these individuals can improve in the ways they conduct themselves thus improving their attitude towards group and team works. In such a case therefore, an individual must be willing to be a part of the group as well as respecting any of the group rules. Additionally, they must possess strong communication skills that will allow them to socialize well with other individuals within the group. Despite the outstanding advantages that are associated with the group or team work, various drawbacks are associated with the team work. Some of these shortcomings include outperforming of the members in situations requiring multiple skills together with the experience. Groups or teams take quite a long time to make decisions leading to the delayed performance of the organization. However, a good team player needs to have patient so as to overcome some of the disadvantages encountered in a group. What’s My Attitude toward Working in Groups? Analysis To clearly understand my personality, I carried out a self-assessment test using the five-factor model (Sessa, & London, 2008). The test was made up of a list of 15 adjective pairs so that I can obtain a precise picture of who I am. Afterwards, I evaluated my personality using the given analysis and interpretation. From the acquired values, every factor of the FFM was clearly noted with its associated explanation. To start with, I scored 7 marks in the test of extraversion and according to the analysis I am an extravert. The score for the agreeableness was 11 out of 15. According to the analysis, this score was high and it implies that I value harmony. The conscientious score according to the test is 13 out of 15. Going with the given interpretation, this is a high score that gives an implication that I pursue fewer goals in a purposeful way. On the other hand, it is the emotional stability score that was 8 out 15. The implication of this score as indicated in the analysis and interpretation is that I have a positive emotional stability. Lastly, after conducting the test the score for the openness to experience was 5 out of 15 which falls under a low score. The score means that I am more conventional and usually finds comfort in the family. Section three Question three; reflecting on the result of your analysis, discuss your strength and weaknesses as a manager. Strengths and weaknesses of a manager In the case, of self-management, weaknesses keep a person to be in a situation whereby he/she is defensive. Also, weaknesses can make a manager make the working environment appear negative hence ruin the target of an organization. Therefore, while reflecting self-assessment managers need to enhance personal strength and maintain improving these strengths. More so, to be in a safer a positive side managers are required to have a special strength. Therefore, in reflecting the analysis from the report, managers should possess the following strength; a) Managers should have self-determination In order for an organization to attain its goal, the managers should lead by example. As such, managers need to be self-motivated which will enhance personal determination. When managers work with self-determination, it will be quite possible for lazy employees to improve and succeed the organization. b) Another strength that a manager should is the strength of being a team player. In today’s world of business, managers need a group of dedicated staffs to succeed with. Therefore, when a manger is classified as a team player, it is an essential strength in succeeding a company. c) Also, as a form of strength managers should be hardworking. In reflecting to the findings, managers should be hardworking. In most business, hard work contributes a key component in the organizations. Let’s an example, of the finding in the case whereby people prefer to work in some organization. In this example, the hard work of a manager either by being specialize will influence a person preference to join a certain organization. d) Also, a manager needs to possess the strength of being confidence. Basing the argument according to the findings, it can be stated that, people with adequate knowledge are able to run a team in a proper manner. Therefore, managers need to have the strength of being confidence in the line of their duty. On the other hand, reflecting on the findings, and the analysis of the report, it can clearly be identified that managers may encounter some weaknesses in the workplace. Such weakness may include; a) Lack of essential skills to lead people In any organization, one the major weakness that managers have been the lack of adequate skills to lead a team. As such, not all managers have necessary skills for the job to enhance people are properly lead. b) Another weakness that a manager may have is being a debater In some organizations, some managers are may become political in the cases of implementing change. With such activities, some employees may decide to leave the company and others prefer not to join such organizations. Question four; based on these findings outline an action plan that will help you develop as a manager. Action plan of how one can develop to be a manager from the findings From the finding of both the group and team work, leadership, the kind of organization structure, and as well as the basic personality, an action plan can be develop that will lead one to becoming a manager. The following are the factors that an individual need to possess in order to be a manager (Edwards, & Gustafsson, 2008). 1. One should be willing to work as a team. 2. One should learn the benefits of group or a team work. 3. One should also have a positive attitude towards the groups and teams within the organization. 4. Besides, an individual should be preferring to work as a group rather than as an individual. 5. One should be creative and organized are key to high quality management. 6. An individual should cooperate with others and be compassionate about their well-being. Conclusion In conclusion, therefore, understanding the reasons for self-management can be one of the essential things in an individual’s life. More so, self-management can be related to personal support. As such, the two can be viewed as something that is commonly available to those who need it and as well as to those who have already established it. Self-management is commonly recognized so as to help people to learn the way that they can use to govern their lives and to reach their full capabilities. Furthermore, self-management enhance a person to develop ways that are helpful in the case solving a problem. One key principle of self-management is providing solutions to personal problems. With better self-management, one will definitely have better techniques to provide solutions to a personal problem. Bibliography Bush, T., Bell, L., Bolam, J., Glatter, R. and Ribbins, P. (1999). Educational Management. SAGE Publications Ltd. Self-management.com, (2015). Self-Management Group - Your Partners in Talent Management. [Online] Available at: http://www.self-management.com [Accessed 17 Sep. 2015]. Anon, (2015). [Online] Available at: http://www. Strength -and-weaknesses.managers.com [Accessed 17 Sep. 2015]. Yoder-Wise, P. and Kowalski, K. (2010). Leadership. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders. Friedman, H. and Schustack, M. (2001). Readings in personality. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Sessa, V. and London, M. (2008). Work group learning. New York: L. Erlbaum Associates. Cobb-Clark, D. and Schurer, S. (2012). The stability of big-five personality traits. Economics Letters, 115(1), pp.11-15. Edwards, J. and Gustafsson, I. (2008). The Five Aspects Meal Model. Journal of Foodservice, 19(1), pp.4-12. Haynie, J. (2011). Core-Self Evaluations and Team Performance: The Role of Team-Member Exchange. Small Group Research, 43(3), pp.315-329. Psychology Today, (2015). Characteristics of Good Work Team Members. [Online] Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cutting-edge-leadership/201301/characteristics-good-work-team-members [Accessed 17 Sep. 2015]. Read More