There is a general consensus that the skills required by a manager fall into three main categories:

• Technical skills
• Interpersonal skills
• Conceptual skills.

Technical skills include the accounting skills needed by those in financial management or the engineering proficiency needed by a design manager.  Most management jobs require a set of technical skills. Even general managers must understand finance and marketing.

Interpersonal skills are also important.  Most managers are usually in charge of others and also have to represent their groups to higher management.  They need to understand, motivate and persuade people.  Conceptual skills become more important as the manager rises in the organisational hierarchy where the role becomes more and more future-oriented.  In these positions, the ability to visualise some future situation, analyse its implications for the organisation and imagine ways in which the organisation can be modified becomes critical.

Source: Unit 102 Management Perspectives, Chifley MBA, www.chifley.edu.au

You might be surprised to learn that there is no accepted definition of what a project is. Each organisation that deals with project management, and many authors, have attempted to define a project, but no one has yet created a definition that is universally accepted. The key components of the various descriptions include:

A project is not ongoing — Projects are created to do one thing and then disband when that one thing is done.

A project has a degree of uniqueness — Projects are not production-line-type activities. Each project has some degree of uniqueness to it.

A project has a defined outcome — Projects produce something that is agreed prior to it starting. The objectives of a project might change at some time in the future, but it does not start until it has some defined outcome.

Source: Project Management (Unit 303), Chifley Business School www.chifley.edu.au

A leader is a person who can persuade others to do what they don’t want to do, or do what they’re too lazy to do, and like it. – Harry S. Truman, 33rd president of the USA

When getting extraordinary things done in organisations, leaders engage in these five practices of exemplary leadership:

• Model the way: titles are granted, but it’s your behaviour that wins you respect
• Inspire a shared vision: imagine an exciting, highly attractive future
• Challenge the process: venture out, take nothing for granted
• Enable others to act: foster wide collaboration and make it possible for others to do good work
• Encourage the heart: use simple actions or dramatic gestures to uplift the spirits.

Source: Unit 431 Leaders as Decision Makers, Chifley Business School MBA

Supporting the learning and development of your staff through coaching is a valuable addition to any training program. This is particularly true for competency-based programs where the transfer of learning from the classroom into the workplace is a key measure of success.

Coaching is the practice of supporting an individual through the process of achieving a specific personal or professional result.

A professional Coach will work with the participant to create an environment whereby relevant issues and concerns are addressed. This will allow both parties to identify what is required and work on an appropriate solution(s) to ensure the competencies of the various modules are satisfied.

Throughout the coaching session the elements and performance criteria of the particular module will be analysed and the issues and concerns identified. This will allow the Coach to assist with working through a process in an effective and efficient manner to ensure the participant appreciates and is able to satisfy the assessment requirements of the module.

Specific projects and/or tasks will be discussed and strategies developed to ensure the participant is able to apply the relevant learning from the program in the workplace competently.

Ultimately the Coaches role is one of supplying support to the recipient. In order to do this the Coach must process the appropriate skills, knowledge and capabilities in the area that the recipient requires support.

Author – David Burns | Manager, Organisational Development | Chifley Business School www.chifley.edu.au

Firstly, let me just say that an MBA still remains at the pinnacle of any business qualification, for those looking for a senior management role, and certainly those who are doing the recruiting. However, it’s this status that regularly stops some people from undertaking it in the first place. I hear it everyday, “it will be too hard”, “too high level”  or “I won’t understand anything”. I had this conversation just recently with a potential student at an MBA information evening where despite his management experience, he still feared “being out of his depth” with an MBA.

While for some this may be the case, in my experience it is not always the content of an MBA or the experience of the student, but rather the time they either have or are prepared to put into it. Continue reading →