Managerial Roles

PETITION #1

COURSE PREFIX, NUMBER, TITLE: MGMT 3351 - MANAGERIAL ROLES

COURSE DESCRIPTION:

Introduction to the role of a manager with emphasis on (1) interaction with superiors and subordinates, (2) theories of leading, organizing, planning, and controlling, and (3) skills in communicating, coordinating, and directing.

METHOD OF EVALUATION:

Resume, Annotated Bibliography page D-1a, Documentation pages D-1, D-2, D-3, D-4, D-5

EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING ANALYSIS

INTERACTION WITH SUPERIORS AND SUBORDINATES

Concrete Experience:

In 1997 to 1998 I was the manager over the wedding/party department at Arrow Rents. My responsibilities included assisting customers with their planning needs, ensuring orders were prepared prior to scheduled pick up, ensuring deliveries were made on time, and ensuring employees were doing a quality job therefore providing a quality product. Since it was a small company I worked closely with all employees and the owner.

Learning Outcome:

This was my first management position so I was learning as I went along. I learned first hand that interaction with peers is not always easy, but it is the relationships that you build with each person that makes the difference. It was important to have trust amongst my superior and subordinates. I also found out that juggling the relationships between superiors and subordinates was a very delicate one. Subordinates wanted to feel of equal importance, but yet that line still had to be there for times when direction had to be given.

In addition to my normal duties I would sometimes run the cash register, help stock items, and prepare and deliver party items. I saw that because I was willing to help out with the work load that gained me respect amongst other employees.

Concrete Experience:

In 2006 I took a company offered course called, "Creating a Positive and Profitable Work Environment." The course focused on: finding the most effective way to interact with others, show others that you respect and value the unique qualities that make them different, work more collaboratively and productively with people who have a variety of styles, abilities, and motivations, and draw upon the differences of each of your peers and co-workers to achieve better results.

Learning Outcome:

I have learned that every person in an interaction has personal needs and they want to feel valued and respected. In order to have successful communications you have to meet both the personal and the practical needs of the people involved. The personal needs are feeling you are being treated with dignity and respect, being listened to and understood, that you are trusted and valued, and supported. The practical needs of the conversation are usually, sharing information, resolving differences, solving a problem, discussing performance, and gaining commitment to a an action. I have found that in everyday interaction with people this rings very true from a business and personal perspective. From a personal perspective I have learned that if talking to my children about their grades I want to express my concern, but make sure not to damage their self esteem, so I must address their personal needs as well as ensure they understand the problem must be resolved.

I learned that there is value in differences. Each person has a unique set of experiences, perspective, skills, and ideas that they bring to the table. The guidebook for the course refers to this as your:

Styles

Abilities

Motivations

Understanding your SAM's can provide help to capitalize on people's differences and help discover how they can benefit the group.

THEORIES OF LEADING, ORGANIZING, PLANNING, AND CONTROLLING

Concrete Experience:

In 2006 I took part in a Leadership Development Forum offered by upper management within the company, AT&T. We met once a month to discuss different theories of leadership and organizations as a whole. We of course primarily focused on AT&T, but looked at many different leaders and organizations. We reviewed several books among them were A Force for Change: How Leadership Differs from Management by John P. Kotter and Beyond Generation X by Claire Raines. I found that this was also a great networking tool because there were so many diverse backgrounds within the group and all from different departments within the company.

Learning Outcome:

In a Force for Change:How Leadership Differes from Management, Kotter describes a leader as being able to develop a vision of the the future and the strategies necessary to produce the changes needed to achieve the vision, also being able to align the right people for the job, and to keep people moving in the right direction by untapping their needs, values, and emotions. According to Kotter, a manager can produce expected results, be on time and on budget consistently, and is usually very predictable. This was a very important learning experience for me because I had never thought about there being a difference between a leader and a manager, I thought they were one in the same. I also realized that most leaders are probably good managers, but a manager is not always great at leading. I learned that I am a really good manager, but as with most managers need to perfect my leadership skills.

After reviewing Beyond Generation X in the Leadership Forum, I learned that some generational differences are impacting managers and employees of differering generations. For example, Traditionalists born before 1940 have a practical outlook, while Generation X, born between 1960 to 1980, are more skeptical. Baby Boomers born between 1940 to 1960 have a love/hate view of authority and Net Generations, born between 1980 to 2000, have a polite view of authority. I learned that if the differences between these generations are not understood or acknowledged it can lead to tension in the work place. I learned that there are a few things to remember when dealing with generational issues:

Be Aware-Understand