INDIVIDUAL LEARNING JOURNAL
JOURNAL ON SECTION ONE OF THE MODULE – PROFESSIONAL SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
Every business organization has established goals and objectives that guide its existence and individual efforts of members. Employees are encouraged to have motivation, direction, commitment and the right attitude in order to make these objectives come to fruition. Plans and strategies are conceptualized, implemented, and continuous evaluation is usually done to determine success or areas of improvement. Organizational resources are manipulated to support the human efforts in accomplishing the objectives. Moreover, members are influenced to work towards effective performance and excellence. The responsibilities of designing the organizational goals, crafting strategies for meeting them, manipulating the organizational resources, and guiding the personnel effort towards the fulfillment of the goals are what form the core of management. Management can be basically defined as both the process and official task of handling the functions of planning, organizing, staffing, directing and controlling the various aspects of the business organization ( 1999).
The first section of the module focuses on the ways to develop professional skills to help someone become an effective employee and future leader of the organization. The section is based on the notion that management is a crucial element of a business and people from within an organization can be a good source of competent managers. They need preparation and skills development in order to enhance whatever competence they have as well as give them the opportunity to acquire new expertise that they would use towards success of the organization. Management is the “brain” of the business organization that oversees and directs everything below so that they would function in a concerted manner towards the fulfillment of one ultimate purpose.
The management function entails specific competence and skills. Organizational success heavily depends on competent managers and leaders within the organization. The competence and skills required of managers encompass a range of characteristics – both emotional and cognitive that are also applicable to daily living and interactions with people. The module cites twelve management competencies from the United Kingdom Management Charter Initiative: showing concern for excellence; setting and prioritizing objectives; monitoring/responding to actual – against planned activities; relating to others; obtaining the commitment of others; presenting yourself positively to others; showing self-confidence and personal drive; managing personal emotions and stress; managing personal learning and development; collecting and organizing information; identifying and applying concepts; and taking decisions. All the twelve competencies encompass the cognitive, psychological and emotional aspects of one person.
A manager or even an employee needs to have an innate drive for excellence in order to become an efficient worker. This is very important since the organization exists for an important purpose to fulfill. Concern for excellence is an attitude that gives an individual the motivation to perform tasks with his best despite any difficulty and obstacles. This competence is closely related to what (2004) termed as “strong work ethic”. Work ethic refers to the motivation, commitment, and dedication of an employee to get the job done no matter what the conditions and circumstances are. It is delivering the best kind of work conscientiously. Personally, I am aware of the importance of responsibility. I know that I have to perform any tasks assigned to me using all the skills that I have. I never run away from any responsibility. I do my best whenever I have something to accomplish. I make it a point that I deliver an output at the deadline set for its completion. I am hardworking and I love the challenge of performing tasks while learning from them. I think that concern for excellence is also applicable to daily life.
When someone shows commitment to perform their best, he or she would not run out of things to do. He would be able to sort out solutions in the midst of any difficulty. He would be living an easygoing life. The first management competence poses no difficulty for me as I already have the innate drive for excellence. Next, management is about setting and prioritizing objectives, and monitoring/responding to actual against planned activities. It is a fact that all organizations have their formal objectives that provide their direction. These objectives are backed up by specific activities and strategies in order to ensure fulfillment. An effective manager can successfully establish objectives and determine the order of their importance. The manager should be able to define what the organization would like to accomplish, how it can be accomplished, the persons responsible for its accomplishment, and what the costs are to the organization. Once these requirements are set and the plans are in motion, the manager has to monitor every undertaking and evaluate the impact of every activity on the accomplishment or non-accomplishment of the objectives (2006).
Having a purpose and plans to accomplish that purpose is crucial in every organization and personal life for that matter. For the organization, a purpose determines its reason for existence and gives the organization its identity. For a person, a purpose in life gives direction to his motivations and everyday effort to survive. Personally, my major purpose in life is to be fulfilled. Fulfillment for me includes having a satisfying job, a great family, and having sufficient means for my needs and luxuries in life. I can say that my goals comprise both professional and personal fulfillment. However, I am still not very skilled in setting priorities. I can set goals but I often find difficulty determining the important steps to accomplish those goals. I am not comfortable looking further to the future. My attitude is to take each moment as they come. I think that I still fall short for the management requirement of setting and prioritizing objectives since a manager has to have a long-term view, has to foresee the eventual impacts of various plans, and has to effectively select the best plan for implementation (2006).
I still have a lot of development to undergo and I need to become more future-oriented to suffice the second and third management competencies. Also, management requires the ability to relate with others as well as encourage the commitment of others. Since the manager handles a vital position in an organization, he or she has to have excellent interpersonal skills. He has to value communication, be a good listener, and be a team player ( 2004). Communication is essential in every relationship. Its absence hinders the transfer of knowledge and skills between the people in the organization.
According to (2005) communication also entails getting to know all the staff as people. Managers should find time in his daily routines to talk with his staff to know their motivations, aspirations, strengths, weaknesses, and interests. A manager who knows his staff would find it easier to talk to them since he has knowledge on their level of understanding and interests. The manager should also be a good listener. He should listen to what his staff has to say and even ask clarifications to show that he is interested in their ideas. Good listening skills define a harmonious relationship between managers and subordinates (p. 44). Also, being a team player is critical for effective management. Managers have to consider that they are part of a larger body of people who are the employees. They should be able to cooperate and lead when appropriate (Lorenz 2004). Bossiness and domination would not pay because these attitudes would create among the staff feelings of fear or antagonism for the manager. Fear and antagonism would lessen the motivation of the staff to perform at their best and would affect the accomplishment of the organizational objectives.
Personally, I am very people-oriented. I value people and I am interested in forming relationships with them. I love talking to people about different topics. I believe that persons are a rich source of knowledge. This is due to the fact that people have unique characteristics and experiences and having relationships with them would provide me a chance to glimpse into their distinct personhood. Management and professionalism also require self-confidence, personal drive and positive presentation to others. These three attributes go hand in hand. Managers who strongly believe that they are competent to handle the responsibilities expected of them and that they can drive the staff towards the accomplishment of the goals would do every possible thing to perform in remarkable ways and would be able to display a sense of commitment that can motivate the staff to do their best as well.
Presently, I still lack self-confidence. I think that I still have much to learn about life. I still need lots of experiences with the outside world in order for me to fully establish my personal sense of expertise in various aspects of living. I am not rushing and I am willing to learn as a simple employee first. That is why I love reading books. I think that this habit helps me to enhance my ideas and knowledge about numerous topics and concepts. I am also fond of observing people – especially successful people in school and at work. I observe their daily attitudes as they perform their everyday obligations. I also make it a point to delineate their strengths from their weak spots so that I would be able to adopt the essential skills only. I know that my simple means of accumulating knowledge will go a long way as I continue to work and fulfill my dreams.
Furthermore, competent managers are good in managing personal emotions and stress, and managing personal learning and development. These two attributes fall under the “emotional intelligence” requirement for every manager and professional. (2003) cited that emotional intelligence is the ability of a person to monitor his personal feelings and emotions and the feelings and emotions of people around him, to analyze the consequences of these emotions, and to utilize the information obtained from the analysis in action and thinking (). Managers and employees must be able to balance all their responsibilities to ensure smooth flow of performance and organizational operation and avoid the possibility of being overcome by stress. Hence, stress management at the personal and group level is a crucial management skill. According to the Northern Territory Government in Australia (2000) “stress is a pressure exerted on something that forces that thing to respond”. Stress is sometimes healthy as it helps people achieve personal and professional goals. However, unbearable stress can cause emotional and psychological risks and make the accomplishment of goals more difficult. Common stressors in the office include unsafe working conditions, possibility of dismissal, organizational changes, poor relationships with supervisors or colleagues, harassment, discrimination, deadlines, new goals, performance feedback, management styles, poor workplace communication, lack of recognition for an employee’s achievements, lack of training, and personal factors ().
Stress is an undeniable factor in the workplace. The tight deadlines, the organizational culture and the kind of atmosphere affect the ability of the staff and supervisors to prevent their emotions from interfering with job performance. However, I think that stress should be managed at the individual level first before tackling the group issue of stress. Individual stress can be handled through muscle relaxation, deep breathing, visualization and other relaxation activities that would take the person’s mind away from the things causing him stress. There is a need to take a break even if it is only for a few minutes. This would give the person a chance to stretch out and maintain normal breathing. Every organization should encourage its employees to have breaks between works in order to regain their strength. Continuous work would deplete the energy of the staff and would lessen their productivity. Also, employees who perceive that their supervisors do not show any empathy or recognition of stressors in the office would think that they are being exploited.
Personally, I never let stress consume me. I am a systematic person. I plan my activities so that I would not have to rush or cram at the last minute. Cramming is stressful and not knowing what to do because of lack of planning is more stressful. I always make it a point that I plan my tasks and allocate time for each activity so that I can still find time to relax and regain my energy.
Finally, managers handle organizational information and concepts and make decisions based on these. The manager has access to information and materials that the staff needs in the performance of their tasks. The manager has the power to use this information in selecting the strategies and in the implementation of plans (2006). As the bearer of information the manager can influence the accomplishment of things. Thus, a competent manager should be able to effectively use organizational information in formulating potent strategies and plans for the accomplishment of the objectives. He should share to the staff the necessary information so that everyone can work out ways of fulfilling the organizational goals. I think that managers should not use the information that they have for their own interest. I believe in integrity. I always play by the rules because I do not want to waste time doing things that deviate from the norm and then end up being a failure. I perform my tasks based on the established procedures. Managers and subordinates alike should practice integrity in their job by having a personalized code of conduct that would teach them the necessary attitudes and behavior in their daily efforts in the workplace.
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