All posts by Kimberly Brown

03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team, team dynamics, work plans

Making the Move into a Management Position

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I just read an article that discusses the issue of wanting to transition into a management role, but needing management experience in order to qualify. How do you gain experience if you need experience to get the position. This is a tricky situation that many people face as they try to climb the corporate ladder.

The article suggests some ideas for making yourself more visible at your firm and forming the opinions of your superiors so that they see you as someone with management potential. The author states that your focus should be doing your current job very well. Nobody will consider you for a management position if you cannot perform your current job well. Presumably this is because a management role will have much more responsibilities than your current role as you will now also be responsible for other people.
He then lists 4 steps you should take:
1) Do your homework. He suggests observing managers at your firm and what they do. Another great suggestion that he made was to read books on leadership. These books can give you a great insight into skills that you may need to develop. One book that he suggested that I plan to read is ‘The One Minute Manager’ by Kenneth H. Blanchard and Spencer Johnson.
2) Develop people skills. This may seem as a given, but people skills are truly important to be an effective manager. You need to be able to relate, speak to and influence people. You also need to realize that the same techniques may not work for different people. I think that one good way to enhance your people skills is through group work that you may do at work and school. Pay particular attention to how you handle group dynamics. Pay attention to how you handle situations of disagreement and conflict. These are opportunities for you to learn and grow.
3) Show initiative. Volunteer to do things that may not be specifically required of you. Showing that you are willing to go above and beyond what is required of you puts you in a favorable light with your superiors. Volunteer for planning committees. Again, this shows that you are willing to go above and beyond, but it is also a great opportunity to showcase your planning and people skills. Both of which are very important skills for a manager to possess.
4) Ask. The author suggests asking for a management position if this is what you want. This is something that I find particularly difficult as you do not want to come across as aggressive, especially for a female. However, my career has taught me that you cannot wait for anything to be handed to you. There will be other people willing to stand up and ask for what they want and they will be seen and heard more than the person who quietly sits back, working away. Voicing what I want is out of my comfort zone, but I have some to realize that it is necessary to achieve what you want.
I believe that these simple suggestions could produce a meaningful difference in your career. As someone who wants to move into a management position, these are steps that I can easily implement in my every day work life.

http://management.about.com/cs/begintomanage/a/FirstMgtJob.htm
03-Planning the work of a team, 04-Managing a project team

Ways for Improving Management Skills

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The attached link contains an article that not only assesses your current management skills but offers suggestions as to how to strengthen them.

I find this particularly useful as I am currently a Senior Analyst and do not have the opportunity to manage anyone. This is a challenge that I face as I attempt to gain management experience and strengthen my management skills. This article offers ways for non-managers to improve their management skills.

Some suggestions that I plan to implement are:

– taking a leadership role in facilitating meetings. This improves your  communication and plannings skills. Both of which are listed as key skills for managers to possess.

– training and/or mentoring new employees. This is something that I actually already do as the most senior analyst in my group, but I never considered it as a vehicle for gaining managerial experience. Again, this strengthens your communication skills, your ability to motivate people and your ability to understand and encourage good relationships.

Anybody who has set out to improve their management/leadership skills through MP this summer should definitely read this article and take the assessment to determine areas that they should concentrate on. I found this article especially helpful and will be implementing some of the suggestions in my every day work life.

http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_28.htm