Introduction
An IDP (Individual Development Plan) is a tool that is essential for personal growth. As Abraham Maslow puts personal development is a desire to turn out to be more and more of yourself, to become everything that your potential can achieve. As such, a personal development plan helps an individual to scheme a plan to reach full potential. In that connection, this plan will outline a route path to being a competent manager of all times.
Management is a dynamic practice that requires skills and abilities that are also dynamic. This is due to various emerging organizational trends and issues, as well as the ever-changing behavior of human resources. In addition, with the changing world, roles and situations change prompting a need to concentrate on certain areas, and to draw a plan that provides direction for further training and advice.
The plan, should, therefore, not act as a sense of security in the management career path but it should be subjected to gradual review and updates. This will facilitate the incorporation of newly acquired skills and areas of weakness that need to be enhanced.
As a future manager, there are certain areas that require development. Some of the areas include; communicating, decision making, leadership, prioritizing, valuing and supporting others, motivating, analyzing, delegating and reporting.
On the other hand, areas that require skills like planning, monitoring, information management, problem solving, evaluating, consulting, reviewing, thinking strategically and presenting information represents the strengths that are evident in the development process of being a future manager. The plan will discuss these weaknesses and strengths in details later.
For a development management plan to be successful, it must stipulate the set career objective of the individual. In light of this, my career objectives are highlighted as. below.
Career objective
My primary career objective is to be part of a workforce dedicated to the achievement of organizational goals and objectives while providing an opportunity for skill enhancement and of ensuring that scarce resources within an organization are fully utilized and its management done appropriately.
The other secondary objectives include; to improve the body of knowledge and skills on areas that are critical in carrying out the roles and functions as a manager.
This will be in line with conducting research so as to establish the gap in skills and abilities that exist in the management arena. Furthermore, my other core objective is to be the leading manager nationally as well as globally in terms of management of human resources, innovation and creativity.
Management Strengths
My strengths in management are visible in areas that require skills like planning, monitoring, information management, problem solving, evaluating, consulting, reviewing, thinking strategically and presenting information. Planning is a major function in management. In light of this, I have skills and abilities in goal and objective setting. Goal and objective setting is a vital ingredient in any planning function.
This is coupled by the knowledge that I have in the planning process steps that involve; creating mission statement, assessing the current situation, stating goals, evaluating the gap between current position in goals, specifying assumptions about the future, creating the plan, implementing the plan, and eventually, evaluating the results.
Moreover, this is strengthen by the understanding of factors that influence planning such as technological development, market development, economic factors, financial resources and personnel resources (Rughani 91).
Monitoring and evaluation skills are necessary in any management function. As such, the skills that I have acquired in monitoring and evaluating of organizational performance indicate my ability and capability. The skills have been acquired both in class and through workshops and seminars that I have attended.
The other skills and abilities that I possess is the ability to solve problem. A considerable number of individuals spend a lot of energy and time in going around problems and less time in trying to solve the problem. As such, good problem solving abilities and skills empower managers both in their personal and professional lives. It is rare for problem solving skills to come naturally; rather they are nurtured and learnt.
Through the knowledge that I have acquired and my ability to deliberate with issues pointed out in the exercises, it gives me confidence to handle and solve any problem that may arise in an organization.
This I can achieve through developing innovative and creative solutions, developing practical solutions, applying a variety of strategies in solving problems, showing initiative and independence in problem identification and solving. To me every problem provides an opportunity for development, thus I should be keen in seeking solutions to the problems.
Strategically thinking is a crucial element in strategy formulation and execution. The process of strategy formulation entails looking at the organization’s grave issues as well as establishing how the strength and skills of the organization will aid in addressing the grave issues.
This will be coupled by brainstorming that will necessitate investigation and evaluation of the possible strategies. In that connection, it makes it necessary for me to employ the skills that I have in strategically thinking in strategy formulation, as well as its execution.
Information management is one of the strengths. Recent times have witnessed an increase in the utilization of modern technology in the provision of services in various sectors. One of the areas in which such technology has been useful is in human resource department.
The skills that I have in relation to technology and human resource computerized information system will be of immense help in maintaining human resource records of an organization.
Consultation together with reviewing existing policies and procedures are among the key skills and abilities of a manager. A manager needs to consult widely in relation to matters and issues of an organization.
This coupled with routine review of existing policies and procedures. In line with these noble skills, I can consult properly and carry out reviews with minimal difficulties or challenges. This forms part of my management strength that I foresee.
Likewise, in terms of information presentation I have a wealth of skills that can aid me conduct a good presentation of the company performance and future plans. This is strengthened by my speech eloquence and attractive voice.
My presentation is clear and audible, and by extension it is augmented by good report writing skills and research paper writing. The knowledge that I have gained in relation to research writing and format will be helpful in my presentations.
Management Weaknesses
Managers require nearly all the skills in order to perform their duties efficiently and in an effective way. However, a time they lack on some of the perquisite skills, as such as a manager to be, I have identified some of my weak points. According to me one of the weaknesses that I have is poor listening skills. This is evident by my often lack to ask clarity in issues I come across.
In light of this, research indicates that it is essential for managers to ask clarity questions to draw the ideas and opinions of employees. Most of the conversations that occur in an organization are an iterative process. This is a weakness that I find it difficult to admit, but most people argue that indeed I am a poor listener.
The other weakness is my continual demand for perfection. In everything, I do, I insist for perfection. As such, the demand for excellence is a bad thing in management since workers cannot do their work in perfection. The need for thorough job may ruin the morale of workers and damage relationships in the workplace.
This has creating an atmosphere of discomfort I have managed to it through using courteous language and apologizing. However, I am aware of the weakness I have found it difficult to tame it. To curb this problem I should develop requiring and relating skills, thus I will help workers to grow professionally, and at the same time deliver great results and performances.
Insights Gained from Management Exercises
Management is a function of an organization that is universal, purposeful, multidisciplinary, and a continuous process. With the changing global environment, the way management is done has also changed.
The exercises have enabled me to get an insight on certain actions such as; development of a marketing framework, that is, as a manager it is essential to identify customers for your products, as well as know how to market the services and products being produced in the organization. Management entails also the management of product and services.
More so, the other insight that I have gained is the need for a policy that covers the health and safety of the workers. When an organization has got an efficient and effective health and safety policy it stands to benefit from good health of workers. This is because the policy will help the organization curb against injuries, and at the same time strengthen the reputation of the organization among its suppliers and customers.
In addition, the exercises have helped me point out the need for having additional finances in the organization, as well as the selection of a number of finance sources and finance providers who will assist the organization in funding the proposed activities. Finance is a source of livelihood for the organization, and ensures smooth running of the business operations.
Moreover, there is also the need to encourage and nurture technological processes in the business. This means that the business should get the necessary technology and make sure that it utilizes it in a more profitable manner. Therefore, technology is a requisite for today business success, and as such, every manager including me should embrace new technologies.
The other insight I gained is how to manage a budget. It is necessary to prepare a budget and as such, it should be reconciled with the actual outcome of the operation. It is therefore, essential to capture unforeseen circumstances in the budget to gather for any inconveniences.
Areas that Need Development
As a future manager, there are certain areas that require development. Some of the areas include; communicating, decision making, leadership, prioritizing, valuing and supporting others, motivating, analyzing, delegating and reporting.
The areas that I have identified need some improvement to polish up the necessary skills and abilities. As such, I should focus more on developing them through learning and undertaking personal actions. These areas indicate the abilities and skills that are deficient and need to be improved.
As a future manager, it is essential to identify such areas as earlier as possible so that before the actual time, I will be well equipped to face the challenges and difficulties that accompany these management operations.
The deficiencies do not imply a point of weakness, but a point that need to be strengthened and enhanced. The development of these skills should be put in an order of preference, and in line with inter-linkages that are present in them.
Most of the managers who register poor results do not address their areas of need, and as such, they blame their employees for poor performance. It is essential to point out these areas so as plan for a training program that will address the deficiency, and at the same time learn new ways and methods of performing those tasks. It is, therefore, necessary for me to register for further training on these areas.
Personal Actions
From the areas identified above that need to be developed further, I need get some advice and brush up on certain skills that will enable me perform these tasks with excellence. These are some of the personal actions that I will take to improve skills and abilities.
The first action is to encourage innovation in the organization. In case of excellent performance in this, I will be able to make certain that an innovation strategy that is well communicated and align with the overall objective of the organization exist.
Motivate individuals within the organization to come up with viable ideas for new services and product development; ensure availability of resources such as time for idea generation, idea development and idea testing.
Moreover, evaluate business plans and cases as well as approving those, which are viable and at the same time monitor their progress. In that light, I should ensure that developers and originators of any ideas are recognized for their achievement (Daft 67).
In order to improve further, there is need to seek advice on how to design a business strategy, techniques for identifying and implementing opportunities. There is also the need to identify and manage risks and how to give a constructive feedback concerning ideas to individuals and teams.
It’s important also to establish how to evaluate development plans, as well as business cases, and finally, how to put in place systems necessary for reporting and measuring to relevant parties.
The second action is to plan change. This will result in excellent performance that will equip me with skills such as the ability to assess the gap present in the current and anticipated state of procedures, structures, systems and roles.
Other actions includes the ability to assess the benefits and risks associated with plans and strategies as well as come up with contingency arrangements, ability to ensure that plans comprise of short-run wins and long-run deliverables.
The the ability to develop systems that are useful in monitoring and evaluating progress is also another one including the ability to build up a communication strategy that facilitate proper feedback; and the ability to identify support and training needs and at the same time plan how to accomplish those needs.
In order to record improvement, it may be necessary to seek advice concerning; the main methods and models that can be used to manage change effectively; effective techniques for planning; theory as well as application of performance curve or change; and how to understand teams behavior and team building techniques.
The third line of action is to lead change.
A proper accomplishment of this task will lead to the attainment of skills and abilities such as being able to communicate my future vision, the need for the change and at the same time the benefits associated with the change; ensure that planners and implementers of change identify with their responsibilities; set and organize in order of priority the objectives for change; identifying and communicating properly the strategies that will be utilized in achieving change; communicate progress and at the same time celebrate achievement; and identify and provide solutions to impediments of change.
For an improvement in this area, it is also prudent to seek advice on the main methods and models that are necessary for an organizational change as well as their weaknesses and strengths. Advice is also required in application and principles of risk assessment, how to employ different behaviors and leadership styles for varying situations and the resource.
Others are bureaucratic and political barriers to change, and the ways to deal with such barriers, how to apply the different forms of communication in dissimilar situations; and the expectations of the shareholders as well as their influence on the process of change.
The fourth action is to manage a program of projects. This action will ensure acquisition of certain abilities and skills such as, being able to ascertain that everyone involved in the program can link the program to the strategic targets.
Considering all important needs and at the same time translate targets into efficient, effective and practical actions and ensuring that every individual is certain of the program’s critical aspects are other actions.
There are also the ways of dealing with contingencies; control and monitor the program in order to achieve the stipulated objectives in terms of time and budget; make recommendations that points out good practice together with areas that need improvement; and finally, inform everyone involved on essential issue and at the same time the outcome of having the program practically.
In order to record improvement, I will seek advice on; the difference between program and project management, as well as the role that a program manager plays; techniques, tools, processes and principles for managing programs; the techniques, methods and basic principles of overall quality management; how to assess, monitor, plan, motivate and manage people; how to evaluate and manage risk; and ways of managing change within programs and projects of an organization.
The firth action is to implement change.
A successful accomplishment of this task will mean that I am able to; create a vision plus all supportive targets and operational plans, as well; communicate regularly by use of all different forms of communication; come up with different leadership styles and utilize them to appropriate people and situations; support and advice community members especially in terms of change and setback; and encourage individuals to pioneer and show willingness in their area of expertise.
In order to improve further, advice can be sought on; how to design a vision which is compelling within a given area of responsibility; how to source for and utilize feedback from people; types of challenges and difficulties that may arise and how to overcome them; and how to create and maintain, as well as the benefits of a culture that boost innovation and creativity.
Summary and Conclusions
This personal development plan is a tool that will smooth the progress of development as a manager. The accomplishment of this plan should be guided by timelines that must be adhered to and followed to the later. The development in skills and abilities should both be learned and nurtured coupled with a sign of willingness.
The weaknesses must be translated to strengths and opportunities that will propel the achievement of business targets and mission. Given the nature of the plan, it should be personalized and internalized in order for it to fetch the required outcome. Personal actions and advice are also necessary for the total achievement of the requisite skills and abilities.
In conclusion, it is of essence for any trainer undertaking management to prepare a guideline that will ensure that he or she develop the necessary skills in the line of responsibility. This will help in developing a career path that is successful because of the knowledge and insights that anyone gain from brainstorming the necessities for a whole round manager.
Works Cited
Daft, Richard L. Management. New York: South-Western, 2011. Print.
Rughani, Amar. The GP’s guide to personal development plans. Abingdon: Radcliffe Publishing, 2001. Print.
Appendix
Exercises Performed and Summary of Results