Self Learninig activities

8/7/2019 Self Learninig activities

1/31

Gol-Goli khao manager ban gao

Area Competency Self Development ActivitiesEveryday opportunity for leadership

Which parts of your work do you need to do yourself?Which parts of your work could someone else do?Who may benefit from the opportunity to carry out the task?

Offer to chair a departmental, or other, meeting.Champion a project which you support passionately

Giving & Receiving feedback

Managerial People Leadership


Talk to your staff; find out what sort of tasks they would like to do andsee if these correspond with any of the tasks you currently undertake.Consider the feasibility of handing over these tasks to the individualsconcerned. Try to avoid simply allocating information gatheringexercises to subordinates.


Make two parallel lists of your current work goals. Head one list "keep"and the other "delegate". Try to make sure that only tasks that it isessential are yours go under keep. Focus on delegating or redelegating tasks to the appropriate individuals. Are you givingpeople the responsibility they are capable of dealing with?


Keep a diary for one week recording every work decision you havemade. Look at this list objectively. Could these decisions have beenhandled by other members of your team? If so, which individuals?

Managerial People LeadershipMake a list of the tasks at work that could be delegated to others.Think through the following points:

Managerial People LeadershipManagerial People LeadershipManagerial People Leadership


How much decision making authority should you give that person?(The person concerned may be more capable to make decisions thanyou may think. Try to give the individual a sense of task ownership).

Managerial People LeadershipGive people increased responsibility and autonomy. For example, letthem stand in for you at meetings.


Focus on a situation at work when you could have delegated a taskrather than increasing your own work load, possibly to the extent thatyou did not complete the task to a satisfactory standard. On reflectionhow could you have handled the situation differently? Who could youhave delegated the task to? How much responsibility would you havegiven that person?

Managerial People LeadershipManagerial People Leadership


Brief your team after attending a training programme or conference, sothat everyone benefits from the learning. Invite others in the team to

do the same.

Managerial People LeadershipSeek opportunities to observe/conduct interviews to enhance your skillsof questioning, listening, observation and judgement.



Ask your team for feedback about how clear they are about their goalsand objectives and what you could do to be more effective at providingthem with a clear sense of direction.


Make a list of all the situations in which you have ever taken the role of team leader. Look at how much you helped to organise the group.


Find a mentor with whom you can discuss your progress as a teamleader. Look for someone who has a reputation for leading others, hasa wide range of skills, knows a lot about the organisation and has awide range of contacts.
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2/31

Using others asa source of learning

Working with your team


Analyse your views of each member of your team. Consider eachindividual and summarise his/her contribution to the team, according to:performance, attitudes, likely potential and relationships with others.


Review with your manager how you handle delegation. Should youdelegate more/less? Do you offer adequate briefings? Do you identifythe appropriate person for the task?


Recognise the difference between asserting your needs with staff andbeing aggressive with delegation, by gaining feedback on your management style and its impact on your staff.


.Ask your staff about their preferred management style what they like anddislike, and look at how it compares with your own. Agree with them thedirection and support you should give them for each project or piece of work.Consider how much you : Give clear direction,

- Coach, -Support - Delegate

- Give Feedback - positive anddevlopmental - Act as a mentor

- Give praise- Stretch people



To identify some key areas for you to work on, ask your direct reports to listthe three strongest and three weakest aspects of your leadership style. Findlearning activities, open learning materials or training courses which areappropriate to these development needs.


Identify the strengths and development needs of your key reports. For example, ask three other managers for feedback on their performance, or ask their customers (internal or external). Discuss the results of this with theindividuals and use it to help them to plan their development.


Build up your own model of effective leadership by :- Analysing your previous managers leadership styles.

Compare the most and least effective and look at the reasons for this. - Looking atoutside examples, e.g., politicians, sportsmen, famous entrepreneursand great historical leaders. -Analysing the behaviour of someone you know, who is a particularlyeffective people managers.


Managerial People LeadershipPrepare a list of all aspects concerning the team which you know coulddo better. What can you do to address each issue?

Managerial People LeadershipEnsure that new team members receive a copy of the mission andvision statements of the department and organisation.


Have regular meetings with your team or department to discussperformance and set goals and objectives for the forthcoming period.


Make sure that you and your team understand the critical successfactors, i.e. what has to be done to achieve your mission and vision.


Identify a difficult problem which has an impact on your staff. Rather than considering the options by yourself, encourage your team togenerate potential solutions, and endeavour to involve them in thewhole process by following through their input by involvement in thedecision making process and implementation of the most appropriatesolution.
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3/31


4/31

Decision Making with others

Everyday opportunities for decision making

Managerial Decision Making

Visit the person responsible for competitor analysis in your companyand discuss with them how they collect and use data, and what are thekey variables that they consider.

Managerial Decision MakingAnalyse your own finances and look for trends and variances (e.g.,keep thorough records, set personal budgets).

Managerial Decision MakingUse quality newspapers and business journals to gain experience of analyzing financial data from other companies.


When faced with a problem, collect data, e.g., conduct a mini survey of involved parties, in order to build an accurate picture of how they seethings and to help you to make the best decision.

Managerial Decision MakingUse PC packages, e.g., graphics or statistical packages, whereavailable, to look at trends in data.



Take a problem at work and involve other people by asking for their opinions. Ask people who you think will see the issue very differentlyfrom you. Draw on their experience of similar problems.


Identify someone in your organisation who is good at making wellthought through decisions. Discuss with them how they go aboutmaking decisions.


Try to work alongside someone who has excellent judgement anddecision making skills and observe how he or she approaches andanalyses problems.


Take a problem that is concerning you at work; find out how this sort of problem is being dealt with by other departments/companies. See if you could use any of these methods to deal with your problems.

Managerial Decision MakingExplain a work problem to a friend or member of your family and askthem to pose questions which will test your understanding.


When making a decision, make a list of every person whom this couldaffect or who may have useful experience or information. Try tocontact as many of these people as possible and listen to what theyhave to say.


Identify someone whom you perceive to be extremely decisive andcommitted in the way they make decisions. Talk to them about howthey go about making decisions.


Following a major departmental or company decision, ask your manager to talk through the decision making process with you, and itsimplications.


Agree with your managers some decision making opportunities thathe/she could delegate to you. Ask them to coach you through thedecision making process to develop your skills.


Find a problem or issue, ask several people how they would approachit and then make your own decision, taking account of the data andviews that you have gathered.



Make a list of five problems that arise at work. For each of these writedown what you will do to minimise the chances of the problemoccurring and what you will do to ensure their earliest possibledetection. Use data to evaluate the impact of your changes.


Write a brief report on a problem or an issue arising at work. Include aclear statement of your objective, a full definition of the problem, anevaluation of a wide list of options, and a clearly argued outcome.


Choose one or two books to read on decision making/problem solvingfrom the reading list overleaf. Get them from a bookshop or library andread them.
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5/31

Reflecting on past decision making

Managerial Decision MakingLearn how to skim documents quickly to abstract the key information(see references to past reading).


Highlight a problem you currently face at work. Make a list of definiteaction points to overcome this situation and carry them through.


Take a decisive approach to your in-tray. Set aside a regular time eachmorning to prioritise its content and endeavour to adhere to the order inwhich you have prioritised tasks as you deal with them.

Managerial Decision MakingHaving brainstormed a problem, decide on one course of action andcarry it out.


Try to take calculated risks - when faced with a situation, ask yourself What is the worst thing that could happen? from either taking or avoiding the risk.


Take on an outside leadership role such as school governor, sportscoach or charity worker. Reflect on the parallels between theseleadership roles and leadership at work.

Managerial Decision MakingVolunteer to be a coach or mentor, or to train others in your areas of expertise.


When you next present a decision, provide the decision makingprocess that you went through, in order to demonstrate that you took arational approach.

Managerial Decision MakingSet clear boundaries of authority and time scales for your decisionmaking. Make these clear to everyone in the team.

Managerial Decision MakingNext time you write a report, propose and justify a clear decision,rather than giving a list of recommendations.


When you make a big personal decision, use business decision makingtechniques e.g. buying a house, decorating your existing one, buying a

major consumer durable, choosing a holiday venue, looking at career options etc.


Choose a decision that you need to make. Set yourself an artificialdeadline ahead of the time when you would normally have to completeit. Make the decision to meet your artificial deadline and use the extratime, once the pressure is off, to reflect on whether you have come tothe right conclusion.


Develop your intuition, where appropriate, by making a decision withoutany information, then gather information, go through the full decisionmaking process and compare the results.



Make a list of all the skills involved in decision making and problemsolving. Discuss with your manager which ones you most need todevelop.


Think about a decision which you made quickly and subsequently hadto change. Try to identify what you could have done differently. Nexttime you have to make a decision, make sure that you consider morethan one alternative and gather as much relevant information aspossible before deciding on one option.


Ask your colleagues for feedback on how you have made a recentdecision or solved a problem. What are you good at and what aspectsdo you need to improve?


Think about solutions and decisions that have not worked out as wellas you expected. Try to analyse why and learn from theseexperiences.

Managerial Decision MakingGet feedback from your colleagues about how much they feel you haveconsulted them when making decisions in the past.
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6/31

Techniques


Talk through in detail with your manager or a colleague, a recentproject for which you have had responsibility. Focus on the decisionsyou made and your commitment to their implementation. How willingwere you to make judgements? How rapidly did you generate actionplans? How could you have been more effective?


Focus on a decision which you avoided taking and now wish you hadmade. What would the advantages and benefits have been of takingthe decision?


Make a list of the main areas for which you have responsibility for making decisions; identify the areas in which you tend to find it mostdifficult to make decisions; talk through with a mentor why it is that youfind these decisions particularly hard to make; take action to addressthese needs.


Talk with a mentor about a difficult decision that you had to make atwork. Review both the outcome of your decision and the process bywhich you arrived at the solution. Think about what you might dodifferently. Consider what you can learn about yourself and how itrelates to your personal strengths and limitations.


Keep a "decision-making" diary for one week, recording how long ittook to make them. Are you pondering too long over fairly minor decisions? Do you revisit decisions made earlier?


Discuss with a mentor a risky decision which you have taken over thelast few months. Evaluate the degree of risk involved and theeffectiveness of your decision. Look at what you could have done tomaximise the success of your risk taking.


Analyse your decision making style take a number of decisions youhave made, and look at :

- The amount and quality of the information you gather - Your attitude to risk

- The speed of decision making- What your

priorities tend to be- How decisive you are

- How your decision making changes under pressure

Managerial Decision MakingAfter reaching a simple decision, look back and review which data,from all the data gathered, you really took into account.

Managerial Decision MakingLook at a situation where you were indecisive. Review the reasons,and look at ways to lessen this in the future.


Identify when you were least rational in your decision making, e.g.,when on holiday; Christmas, birthday or sales shopping; in tense or adversarial situations. Isolate the factors which influenced your approach (emotional bias, nervousness, pressure, lack of normalenvironment, ego etc.). Practise understanding when these factors arebeginning to impact and take corrective action e.g., call an adjournmentin a meeting, hand up the phone and call back.


Take a case study or example of a decision made by someone else or another department, and analyse the decision making process. Lookat what was good, what could be improved and how it could beimproved.



For a particular problem, make a table with a list of your objectivesacross the page and possible solutions down the page. Fill out thetable with your ideas about how each possible solution would meet (or not meet) your objectives. Identify the solution which appears mostlikely to achieve the results that you want.
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7/31

Organising with others


Before you make a decision, stop and think about whether you havesufficient information to make a logical rather than intuitive decision. If someone disagreed with your decision, would you have the informationavailable to justify it?

Managerial Decision MakingDont always go with your first decision - force yourself to think of other alternative options before proceeding.

Managerial Decision MakingMake yourself familiar with effective questioning techniques andpractise them in your day to day working life.


Listen to interviews on the radio and television and watch for differentquestioning techniques, how rapport is built and maintained and howthe interviewer controls and manages the course of the interview.


Use the reverse process to approach decision making when you havereached a decision, ask yourself In how many situations might this solutiongo wrong?

Managerial Resorce Management

Managerial Resorce Management When delegating tasks, clearly identify the goals to be achieved withthose concerned and check that they are clear about these.


When delegating a task, clearly identify the goals to be achieved withthose concerned. Focus on how the individual/group's performancecan be measured to determine their effectiveness and success.


Discuss with well organised colleagues and friends, different ways of keeping diaries and see which of their ideas you can take on board.


Focus on a time when a subordinate lost direction and went off at atangent to their job objectives. How did you deal with them? Couldyou have prevented it occurring? Focus on what you could have donedifferently.


Keep a detailed diary for one week as to how you interact with your staff. Review this critically to see whether you are actually monitoringand regulating their work rather than just reacting to problems thatoccur. Get feedback and suggestions from key colleagues as to howyou could do this more effectively.


Get yourself on to working parties/projects where you have to workalongside managers from other functions. Focus on the proceduresthey use to monitor staff performance and the results obtained by their department. Evaluate these in relation to those in your own function.


Set aside a regular time each week to list all you and your team needto do in the next couple of weeks and establish priorities for theseactivities.


Review with your team how well the progress of tasks is maintained.Discuss possible improvements and think of ways to involve others inmonitoring progress.

Managerial Resorce ManagementSeek an opportunity to join a cross functional project team, to give youbroader opportunities for planning and organizing.


Arrange a meeting with someone who has strong organizational skills(e.g. project engineer, systems designer). Ask about how theyapproach projects and look at how you can apply this to your role.


Ask others what they do with the information you provide. Use thisfeedback to ensure that you provide the most useful informationpossible, and not unnecessary detail.
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8/31

Planning & Monitoring

List your goals at work and outside work. Take three different stages:

six months from nowtwelve months from nowfive years from now

Get involved in work requiring planning and objective setting.


Plan a major non-work event, such as a big party or wedding. Use it asan opportunity to experiment with project management tools andtechniques.


Managerial Resorce ManagementList all the resources you might need to achieve your work goals andtargets. Write against each, the key people who can help you.


Talk through in detail, with your manager or a colleague, a recent

project, for which you have had planning responsibility, to see what youdid well and what you could have done better.


For the next meeting you hold, or you attend, see that there is anagenda well in advance, with indications of what preparation is needed.Ensure that this is regular practice.

Managerial Resorce ManagementManagerial Resorce ManagementManagerial Resorce ManagementManagerial Resorce Management


Make your goals realistic and measurable, set targets which arechallenging yet attainable. The better you know where you are going,the more likely you are to get there.


Create a step-by-step action plan for each of the above goals. Detailexactly what you have to do/develop and the difficulties you will have toovercome to achieve these goals. Aim to implement these plans andreview your progress against them.


Discuss with your management services/IT/computer department howyou could use computers to help with your planning and organising.



Review with your team how well progress of tasks is maintained.Discuss possible improvements and think of ways to involve others inquality checking.


Review the results of your last three team meetings. Were action plansproduced? Were all team members clear about their individual andoverall goals? Plan the next meeting to respond accordingly.


Take part in a voluntary activity which will require you to reach achallenging objective, e.g. raising funds for a project or charity. Planout how you intend to achieve your objective. Review your success bymonitoring how closely you can adhere to this plan.


Create time to monitor the workplace; talk to key people to find outabout progress in areas where problems often arise; follow the principleof Management By Walking About (MBWA).


Review your job objectives. On the basis of these, identify thesituations in which you should be controlling procedures anddetermining success. In which cases have you been effective/lesseffective and why?


Take part in a voluntary activity which will require you to monitor theprogress of a course of action and evaluate the outcome against itsinitial objectives, e.g. raising funds for a project or charity.


When you undertake a new piece of work, ask questions to assess thesize of the task before starting detailed planning. Ask people, as partof this process, what their real needs are, e.g. by what date do theyneed the information. Whilst completing the project, log any problemsto enable you to analyse what went wrong.

Managerial Resorce ManagementContract with your internal customers the level of service you willprovide, and what they need to do to facilitate delivery.
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9/31

Project Tools & Techniques

Time Management

Building knowledge

Managerial Resorce ManagementChallenge people to define their resourcing requirements whenever they take on a new project.

Managerial Resorce ManagementWhen allocating resources, consider how you would spend the money,time etc. if it were your own business.


Identify the 20% of your activities which give you 80% of your results.Find ways to reduce or delegate the less productive activities and giveyourself more time to concentrate on the key tasks.


Identify a major potential in your area. Devise a contingency plan for this problem as an exercise to develop your resource managementskills.



Ask your team for feedback on how you plan projects - what do you dowell and what could you do better with regards to project planning?


Get to know about useful planning and time management techniques,e.g. network planning, critical path analysis. Apply a simple criticalpath analysis to some project you are about to start.


Review a recent project, taking into account resources used, costs, thetime scales and final outcome. Match this to initial forecasts and thinkabout areas for possible improvement.


Discuss with a mentor your strengths and limitations in projectmanagement. Devise an action plan to address your developmentneeds in this area.


Review relevant professional journals. Look for articles concerningproject management issues. Follow up interesting leads and obtainfurther material that could be of value to you.


Get to know about useful planning and time management techniques,e.g. network planning, critical path analysis. Apply a simple criticalpath analysis to some project you are about to start.



For the next assignment you undertake, ensure that there is a clear deadline, with an indication of time allocation necessary for carrying outthe work.


Examine your time management carefully. You may be spending timeon routine, repetitive tasks, that distract you from your main objectives.If so, look to delegate at least two aspects of your non-essential work.

Managerial Resorce ManagementSet aside time at the end of each day to review progress against plansand revise plans if necessary.

Managerial Organisational & Busine

Managerial Organisational & Busine Learn how to skim documents quickly to abstract the main information(see references to fast reading).


Try to take part, either at work or in your leisure, in some research or survey including data collection, analysis and the putting forward of recommendations.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Analyse what number skills are necessary for your present job and pin-point your development needs to be addressed.


Get hold of books on finance for non financial managers (seereferences) to ensure you understand the concepts in accountancy,essential for management planning and decision making.


10/31

Exchanging Information


Make sure you read your company newsletter and internal memos -these can help you find out a lot about key people, projects, issues andchanges within the company.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Make sure you know the mission and vision statements for both your department and your organisation as a whole.


Get to understand your organisations strategic thinking - understandthe plan itself, the philosophy behind it and major policies. Collect and

digest all relevant documents which express these.


Get to know your own business thoroughly its history and how thataffects current practice; its products or services; its market position,competitors, and outlets (customer/clients); its locations and facilities;its organisational structure and allocation of employees; its total assets,turnover, profit in relation to turnover and to assets; its ownership andsources of funding; sources of its raw materials (if manufacturing) andcurrent/future availability/cost; its technology; the current state, futuredevelopments and comparison with competitors; its personnel policy inrelation to recruitment, development and succession planning; and itsgeneral ethos, public image and community relationships. Similarlystudy a competitor and an organisation which affects your own, e.g. asupplier.


Read professional magazines, books and newspaper articles whichdeal with trends that may impinge on your organisation. Consider theimplications for your own department and possible modificationsnecessary in this situation.


Research the company's market and how its profile, e.g. productmix, marketing strategy, public image, geographical spread, differsfrom that of its competitors, by talking to those concerned with business

development.


Prepare a brief report or presentation about the products and strategyof the company's keenest rival. What could your company do to winbusiness from them?


Phone your local college and ask for information on courses andevening classes concerning business and economics. Likewise,contact the Open University and order their prospectus of businesscourses. Calculate the time commitment that you can offer and enrolfor the most suitable option.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Go to a good bookshop or a library and choose one or two books toread on commercial awareness from the reading list overleaf.

Managerial Organisational & Busine In learning about your organisation, what areas and functions do youfeel you need to know more about? Build contacts there.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Read up on relevant journals/periodicals such as:The Economist,Business pages of major daily/Sunday newspapers.


Managerial Organisational & Busine Obtain copies of key financial services legislation and see that you cancommunicate their main import clearly to subordinates.


Seek feedback about how you and your department are seen by other areas of the organisation. Try to address any problems identified.


Ensure that you understand the future long-term plans for your owndepartment/function. Talk to your manager about the goals involvedand how they will be reached. Communicate these to your teamoutlining the course of action the department will take.
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11/31

Learning with others

Consider acquiring a mentor in another functional area.

Try to get involved in cross-functional projects and tasks.


Discuss key current issues affecting your business with colleagues; tryto take a global approach, considering a wide range of factors, e.g.political, economic, etc.



Focus on your company in its present state. Look at it in terms of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats (SWOT analysis).Talk to colleagues about your conclusions and share ideas about howthe market or environment is changing.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Explain a work problem to a friend or member of your family and askthem to pose questions which will test your understanding.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Discuss key current issues affecting your business with colleagues,trying to examine even handedly the pros and cons.


Select any relevant article from a newspaper or business journal anddiscuss its implications with a friend whom you see as having a goodanalytic mind.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Get an accountancy friend to explain the basics of balance sheets toyou.


When reorganisations occur, talk to the people involved. Find out whohas what responsibilities and how you can work together mosteffectively.


Ask someone with experience to act as your mentor. Ask them toexplain to you who the key players are in your organisation and whattheir agendas are, who holds budgets, who makes things happen,who do you need to be careful of etc.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Engage the help of a colleague who has a strong network. Find outhow they build their relationships and find out their information.


Select any relevant article from a newspaper or business journal anddiscuss it with a friend you regard as being a conceptual or strategicthinker. Focus on the way in which they approach the discussion.What sorts of issues/areas do they consider?

Managerial Organisational & Busine Try to contribute to policy documents by responding to any consultativedocument that relates to strategic matters.


Take and read a quality paper daily, underlining specific world eventsthat could have repercussions for your business. Discuss theimplications with management colleagues.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Get a mentor in the finance department with whom you can discussfinance/business matters.


Ask someone in the finance department to give you a short list of basicfinancial concepts/techniques, e.g. balance sheets, depreciation, keyratios, project margins, liquidity, and so on. Use your financedepartment and acquaintances who are finance specialists to help youunderstand the key ideas.


Obtain and read profit and loss statements and company accountsfrom your finance department. Get a colleague to help explain how tointerpret these.


Ask someone with relevant expertise to review and give you feedbackon a report or project you have completed which has commercialimplications.


Visit a section or department that is particularly effective. Identify theingredients of their success and report back to your team on this.




12/31

Learning with your manager

Networking

Understanding optimisation of resources



Select with your manager a company system, product or policy that isin need of evaluation. Find data which will assist you in determining itseffectiveness. Investigate all other options and make well argued recommendations. Give a presentation of your findings and seekfeedback on your analysis.


Collect major figures and statistical tables relating to your organisation.List the inferences you would make from these and check out with your manager the comprehensiveness and depth of your understanding.


Managerial Organisational & Busine Identify key people whom you could go to, to check your understandingof relevant information, e.g. numerate friends.


Think about which areas in your organisation you need to know moreabout. Try to build contacts there. Be strategic in how you build your network. Choose contacts that deal with organisationally significant

issues.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Use the organisation chart to make a list of the departments you knowleast about, and target one or two of these for exploration.


Make a point of visiting, having lunch with, or organising socialfunctions with people in different parts of the organisation or externalcontacts. Find out about changes that are taking place. Use your contacts to learn more about what is going on in other areas of theorganisation.


Regularly contact and meet with people in your network. Do not justcontact them when you need help. Offer help to others in the network.Try to see the network as a two-way thing.


Develop a network of people in the know and keep in regular contact.Encourage them to talk about their work, to discuss their experiencesand share their opinions and knowledge.


Agree with your manager an assignment to build up your knowledge of another team or department that is significant to your work. Set upmeetings and interview people in that team. Present your informationto your manager in writing or presentation.


Draw a power map of your company depicting the lines of informationflow and decision making. Make a point of getting to know thoseareas you are least familiar with.


Offer your services on secondment to a manager in another team who

exercises significant political power.


Get familiar with the key people in your industry. Try to read thingsthey write and get to listen to them speak. Summarise their main ideasand discuss with a mentor the way in which these relate to your organisation and its development.


Get to know people in your sales and marketing functions who canprovide you with information about competitors activities and give youideas about how to generate new business.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Talk to people in other functions about how the work of your team/department affects them and vice versa.



Review a recent piece of work taking account of resources, costs,budgets etc. Do a detailed costing to show cost effectiveness.
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13/31

Communication Techniques


Work out how much an hour of your time costs your organisation. Bemore aware of how you use your time and cost out the value of different activities.


List the six most prominent problems currently facing you at work. For each one try and identify the major causes. Are any of them related?Could taking particular action affect several outcomes? Tackle eachproblem in the context of your organisation as a whole rather than asan isolated issue.


Take an interest in the strategies of organisations outside your industry.Pick out key relations and acquaintances with whom you could discuss

the factors affecting the strategic thinking of employers in other markets, at other stages of development. Pinpoint the differencesbetween winners and losers.


Review a recent piece of work, taking account of resources, costs,budgets, profits etc. Do a detailed costing to evaluate its costeffectiveness.

Managerial Organisational & Busine Find out about how you can use computer software products to help toforecast and monitor budgets.


Stand for the post of treasurer of a club or society that you belong.Devise new ways of raising and allocating funds. Use businessprinciples to process and present financial information so thateffectiveness can be monitored.

Managerial Communication


When producing a report, before writing anything, spend timeidentifying the main issues and the overall aim of the report. Givethought to the best way of structuring the information, i.e. introduction,clearly headed paragraphs or main points, conclusions andrecommendations. Read out aloud the finished article and if possibletape it for a more thorough review and self criticism. Having presentedthe report, seek feedback on how it was received in terms of structure,style and clarity.


When writing a letter or report, try to think about what information thereader needs or wants to know. Review your work to remove irrelevantor inappropriate information and add anything that is missing.

Managerial CommunicationBefore sending out any written communication, read it through to checkit makes sense and conveys the message or information appropriately.


Practise and rehearse important presentations in front of a mirror. If possible, gain access to a video or at least an audio tape recorder, andrecord your presentation. Play it back and make a note of areas thatdidn't come across so well and try again.

Managerial Communication When you are explaining something to someone, regularly check thatthey have understood what you have said, before moving on.

Managerial Communicationcore parts in advance and then amend to suit the individualcircumstances. This will cut down on time and help you to perfectthese common letters.


Use a variety of question types appropriate to the situation (e.g., openquestions, closed questions, reflective questions) and active listeningtechniques, (e.g. non-verbal communication, summarizing and testingunderstanding). See Ian Mackays books in Open Learning Resources.
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14/31

Everyday opportunity for communication

Learning from the Best

Spoken

Managerial CommunicationLearn to use PC packages such as work processors and presentationpackages. Use PC tools such as spell checker, fog index andthesaurus to facilitate your write.

Managerial CommunicationIf you are communicating a technical subject, think about how youwould communicate it to a non-technical audience, e.g. children,

people from another function or organization.Managerial Communication


If you don't already do so, buy a quality newspaper or journal and readthe leading articles. Pay particular attention to the structure, grammar and punctuation. Look for style and clarity and check words of whichyou are unsure in a dictionary.

Managerial Communication Keep a notebook of words and phrases that you have difficulty with andregularly review and update the contents.

Managerial CommunicationImprove your vocabulary by reading, doing word games (crosswords,Scrabble, etc.) or completing exercises published in magazines, e.g.puzzle books, Readers Digest word power.

Managerial Communication In both leisure and group situations, watch others communicating andsee what tips you could use yourself (verbal and non verbal).


Analyse the communication processes within your department e.g.,meetings, minutes, memos, E mail, reports, telephone. Calculate thepercentage of time spent on each method and suggest ways to adjustthe balance to maximize effective communication.

Managerial CommunicationAsk a colleague to give you feedback and suggestions on your writtenor oral communication skills. (how concise you are, how well you adaptyour style to the audience, your clarity etc.)

Managerial CommunicationLook for opportunities to enhance your verbal communication skills byteaching or explaining something about one of your areas of expertise

to other people. These could be at work or outside work.

Managerial CommunicationApproach your HR department for opportunities to become involvedwith interviewing, to practice your questioning and listening skills.


Managerial Communication Get familiar with the key figures in your industry and try to read articlesand letters they have written.

Managerial Communication Join or rejoin the local library and read as widely as possible. Focusspecifically on good quality literature.

Managerial CommunicationHaving given a verbal presentation, identify colleagues who arepresent and who you feel are effective communicators, and ask for

feedback.Managerial Communication Get familiar with the key figures in your industry and try to get to listento them speak.

Managerial CommunicationSelect someone you regard as an excellent communicator, observewhat makes them stand out and try to use that behaviour yourself.

Managerial Communication Read classic examples of communication, e.g., great literature, thequality press and business journals.Managerial Communication


Try to vary the tone, pitch and volume of your voice to emphasise keypoints and keep the audiences attention. Try taping yourself to listen

to how effectively you are doing this. Listen to how good speakersachieve this.


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Working with others to improve communication


When making a formal presentation, prepare well in advance. Identifyyour objectives and what you hope to achieve; anticipate theaudiences objectives and reaction; consider the use of visual aids tomake the presentation more interesting; practise in advance,rehearsing the content and style of delivery, being wary of timemanagement.


After taking part in meetings, go through your own contribution andevaluate the degree to which you effectively communicated. Look atyour behaviour in comparison with that of others present. Were youable to make contributions without being interrupted or interruptingothers inappropriately? Did you speak firmly, clearly andeconomically?


Volunteer to act as spokesperson at meetings to get more practice.Join committees and societies that involve verbal presentations andpublic speaking, e.g. debating societies, community groups, etc.

Managerial Communication Join an evening class or adult institute on public speaking or carry outdistance learning courses on verbal presentation.

Managerial CommunicationSeek opportunities to present, e.g., your findings or recommendationsat the end of a project. Make presentations as often as possible so thatyour skills dont get rusty.


Make presentations in a low risk environment, e.g., start with teammeetings and then vary the scenario to include some situations whichyou might find more threatening, such as larger or more senior audiences.


Practice a presentation in front of a mirror. Video or audio tapeyourself presenting or taking part in a meeting. This will give you aclearer view of how you come across and areas you may want to workon.

Managerial Communication Offer to speak at a conference to practise your presentation skills andgive your exposure to large audiences.

Managerial Communication Work on your clarity of communication by explaining a businessproblem to your family or friends and ask them to question you.


Next time you present an idea, think what the exciting messages arefor the people you are presenting to. Convey your enthusiasm bypackaging it for them :

- Emphasise the points of interest for them - Pitch it at their level

- Askthem what they hope to achieve

- Think about any questions or objections the audience mighthave, and how to deal with them.



Identify some people in your organisation who you feel produce goodwritten reports and review their style and use of grammar. Ask themabout how they put a piece of written work together and see whichtactics you could adopt.


Look back on some of your own reports; how could they be madeclearer, more succinct? Are they jargon free, is the punctuationappropriate? Ask a colleague to critically evaluate your work and giveyou some tips on areas of improvement.


Involve yourself in social bodies or committees. Volunteer to take on

the secretarial role and take minutes. This will give you practice insummarising ideas and conveying the meaning of decisions.

Managerial Communication Get yourself a mentor who can help you experiment with presentationformats and delivery.
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Written

Everyday opportunities for influencing

Managerial CommunicationGive your reports, memos etc. to a colleague to critique. Outline areaswhere you would like feedback, e.g., clarity, layout, structure, style.

Managerial Communication Ask people who work with you what you could do to make your communication more effective.


Shadow a more senior manager :- Attend official duties with them

- Find out what contacts they have withofficials - Ask about their priorities andobjectives - Discuss why theyhave approached a situation in a particular way



Find an article which has relevance to your work in a professionaljournal or newspaper. Read it thoroughly and make notes. Then writea prcis of the article summarising the key points under no more than 6headings. Let your boss or a colleague read the prcis and then getthem to pose questions in writing. At this point, re read the originalarticle and decide what amendments, if any, you need to make it moreclear and understandable.

Managerial Communication Take a report that you have written and read every sentence askingyourself if there are any unnecessary words or jargon.

Managerial Influencing


Get family and friends to give you feedback about your style whenmeeting new people socially. What skills do you use or not use andhow could you develop in this area?


In social situations practise building rapport with new people. Ask themquestions about themselves and their interests and be conscious of looking interested with both your verbal and non verbal behaviour.


If a conflict arises, try to put yourself in the other persons shoes beforedefending your position. Try to look at the conflict as a conflict of ideasor approaches, rather than of people - try to remain neutral.


In your home life, think about how much you listen to and understandthose around you. How do you show them that you are concernedabout them? How do you behave when there is a conflict betweenyour friends or members of your family?

Managerial InfluencingGo to your local library or a good bookshop and get a book on dealingwith people. Make sure you read it.


Before you go to a meeting to present a decision, make sure that youare fully aware of the likely positive outcomes of this decision andbelieve in it yourself. Think about likely opposition and challengespeople may make - try to think of these as opportunities to sell your decision, rather than as threats.

Managerial InfluencingPractise arguing/dealing with difficult or obstructive people, rehearseyour handling of the opposition.


List the differences between assertive, non assertive and aggressivebehaviours; which do you practise most frequently? Look for examplesof assertion in TV programmes, work and family discussions.


Take part in a voluntary activity which will require you to influenceothers, e.g. raising funds for a project or charity. Plan out how youintend to achieve your objective. Review your success against thisplan.
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