Provide an outline of each skill set and distinguish among the three sets of skills. How do the enabling skills support the two management skills?
Skill sets for effective work in the telecommunication management sphere generally include all the skills and knowledge necessary for planning, acquiring, operating, and evaluating the potential and real capabilities of the telecommunication systems. The TC manager has to evaluate correctly the structure and environment of the telecommunication industry, able to perform strategic planning and perform financial management of the telecommunication system. At the first sight, the telecommunication manager needs to have a wide range of skills in order to be a good manager. However, it is impossible to know everything. Consequently, the TC manager may be either a good IT specialist or a good manager. There is also another variant – to be an average IT specialist and average manager. IT specialist is much better aware of the technical side of the sphere, while manager better copes with the financial, HR, marketing spheres. Originally, it is rather difficult to combine these two skill sets, so, the optimal variant is the third skill set – a specialist good at technical and managerial issues.
The enabling skills that support the two management skills are regarded to be the joining link of these two skill sets. These enablers are the intermediate knowledge that adds to the managing and technical skills and often relate to the optimization means and tools.
Describe the skill sets of the first two people that you hire to help you launch this project. Provide a full justification for the selection of each of these skill sets.
The skill sets that are necessary to arrange and fix the DSL net would include both IT and management skills. However, it is necessary to emphasize that the people who would arrange the net should have well-developed communication skills that would help to set up contacts with future users of the net. Originally, good communication helps not only arrange the net but also manage it after being arranged. Moreover, communicative workers would promote the creation of a solid and professional team. According to Margerison (p. 128), communication is the basis for solving any problem.
Let alone the technical skills that are essential for both types of employees, they will need to be initiative (in order to improve the managing and technical support means), stress-resistant (a common requirement for all workers in any company), able to plan and responsive (in order to arrange his/ her own work, and complete the planned assignments), and analytic (if one is applied for a managing post).
Describe the team management and organization strategy that you will use to build this new telecommunications system. What will the chain of command be? Why?
Team management and organization strategy that will be used in the newly created company will be built on the authoritative ground. Such a form of managing a team will help to create productive and reliable relations among employers and employees. However, the principle of preferences should be prevailing (this principle is described by C.J. Margerison and D.J. McCann (1995), and it tells that people succeed more in issues they prefer to perform).
As for the technical matters of the problem, it is necessary to highlight that in order to keep the system working it should be properly managed and supported. It signifies the team will have to work day and night. Night shifts will have to be paid higher (in order to encourage people to work the night shifts).
Team management strategy will include a bonus-fine system. Schoening (2004, p, 38) points out that the bonus-fine system is a great motivator for a team. Moreover, it might help to save money that may be spent on infrastructure development.
The chain of command will include all the necessary steps for improving the initial work of the team and the DSL net. Thus, the first step will be to create a web page with a guest book and a possibility to fill in the form required for getting support. The feedback must be extensive. The second step is the arrangement of the request-response system, as the filled forms must not stay un-replied.
The following command is the elaboration of the advertisement strategy. It requires the definition of the target audience, and the geographical location (including the technical potential, its enlargement, and restrictions). After launching the advertisement campaign all the forces should be given for performing the declared possibilities and promises given in the advertisement.
The last, but not the least step is the team-building process. If all the employees, including the top manager, are working as a single team, and maintain good relations with each other, the productivity of such a team will be the highest. All the team managers, who succeeded in team building, point out that a properly created team also decreases the turnover that helps to work more effectively.
References
Charles Margerison, Dick McCann. Team Management. Publisher: Management Books 1995.
Schoening, Heinrich M. Business Management of Telecommunications. Prentice Hall. 2004