Management Skills

Question 1

Why are management skills needed

Answer 1

These skills are needed, so that managers can organise and motivate staff to work effectively towards objectives.

Question 2

Communication

Answer 2

Communication is the transfer of information from a sender to a receiver. Communication can occur both within and outside the organisation.

Question 3

When might communication be used

Answer 3

Managers use communication skills when explaining a vision, organisational changes, or simply to let staff know what is expected of them. A manager may also need to answer questions from staff when introducing a new policy, or listen to feedback from other stakeholders.

Question 4

Why is good communication needed

Answer 4

Communication is fundamental to almost everything that occurs in an organisation. Effective communication that is clear, articulate and concise helps maintain good relationships.

Question 5

Examples and different types of communication

Answer 5

Communication can be non-verbal (body language, visual) or through the use of words (in written form or orally). Written communication includes letters, memos, emails, reports and text. Oral communication in the business world includes meetings, one-on-one conversations and conferences.

Question 6

Delegation

Answer 6

Delegation occurs when the authority and responsibility to carry out speci c activities is transferred from a manager to an employee. The manager delegating the task remains accountable for the outcome of the delegated work, but allows the employee or employees to make their own decisions.

Question 7

Why is delegation needed

Answer 7

Delegation is an appropriate skill to use in order to manage time effectively and to enable staff to learn new skills. It can lead to fresh ideas and an improvement in employee motivation.

Question 8

Negotiation

Answer 8

Negotiation occurs when two parties enter into discussions that are intended to resolve a dispute or to produce an agreement on a course of action. The outcome should be satisfying to both sides.

Question 9

Examples of negotiation

Answer 9

Managers, for example, use negotiation skills when they meet with customers to finalise a sale or with employees to determine workplace conditions.

Question 10

Team building

Answer 10

Refer to book (Finally on the day of the exam i decide to add a proper definition for team building, albeit a crappy definition)

Putting teams together that work effectively. Teamwork involves groups working together to complete a task. This requires workers to be multi-skilled and also allows for worker empowerment.

Question 11

Problem solving

Answer 11

Problem solving means finding and then implementing a course of action to correct an unworkable situation. Although managers have to deal with many problems in the course of a day, not all problems require such a systematic, formal process. One of the most important skills a manager can develop is the ability to decide to which problem they should give their full attention.

Question 12

Six steps problem solving process

Answer 12

Identify the problem and causes.
Gather relevant information.
Develop alternative solutions.
Analyse the alternatives.
Choose one alternative and implement it.
Evaluate the solution.

Question 13

Technical skills plus example

Answer 13

Technical skills involve the ability to accomplish tasks in a specialised field, such as finance, information technology, marketing or research and development. Frontline and middle managers will make heavy use of technical skills. For example, an operations manager will make use of technical skills when they talk to staff about the technical aspects of operations.

Question 14

Why are technical skills needed

Answer 14

A manager needs to have a sufficient technical understanding of the area they work in to be able to coordinate the efforts of staff in their department.

Question 15

Examples of time management, what it is and why it is needed

Answer 15

Time management includes prioritising tasks and setting deadlines for their completion. Prioritising allows a manager to deal with what is urgent first, leaving other tasks until later. Time management also involves reviewing how certain tasks are progressing.

Question 16

Stress management, causes of stress

Answer 16

Stress management is all about managing the levels of stress that develop in employees while they are working. There are many causes of stress that referred to as ‘stressors’ such as working long hours, dealing with new technology, fear of losing a job and frustration with poor organisational systems and processes.

Question 17

Why it is needed and examples of how it can be implemented

Answer 17

Managers use stress management skills when they introduce strategies to help staff cope with change or stressful work environments. Levels of stress in the workplace can be reduced through better time management or delegation of tasks, and by introducing flexible work arrangements or providing compulsory leave.

Question 18

Emotional intelligence

Answer 18

Emotional intelligence, or emotional intelligence quotient (EQ), refers to the ability to identify, assess and manage the emotions of yourself and others, including groups of people. It is a relatively new management skill, but one which is growing in importance in effectively managing an organisation.

Question 19

Examples of emotional intelligence and what it is used for

Answer 19

A manager using the skill of EQ uses clear communication when working with staff, and is sensitive to their needs, not threatening. Emotional intelligence can be used to inspire and influence staff while overcoming conflict, creating a workplace where people respect each other and work well together.

Question 20

8 management skills

Answer 20

Communication, delegation, negotiation, team building, problem solving, technical skills, time and stress management, emotional intelligence

Question 21

Greg Harlow is the CEO of Farmland, a dairy manufacturing business. The organisation is growing rapidly and new plants are opening all over Australia. Asa result, Mr Harlow has announced that ma, staff members will be asked to relocate to the new plants.

Identify and explain three management skills Mr Harlow could use in this situation to ensure the success of relocating staff.

Answer 21

Communication is the transfer of information from a sender to a receiver. Communication can be verbal or non verbal such as body language. Mr Harlow could use this skill to inform the employees of the relocation process and ensure they know what its reared from them so that they are able to help work effectively towards the expansion and relocation.

Negotiation occurs when two parties enter into discussions that are intended to resolve a dispute or to produce an agreement on a course of action. The outcome should be satisfying to both sides. Mr Harlow could use negotiation with employees who do not want to assist in the relocation process by coming to a middle ground and offering something in return for the employees assistance. This is an example of negotiation.

Problem solving means finding and then implementing a course of action to correct an unworkable situation. It involves comping up with a set of alternatives to solve the problem and implement the one that best helps the organisation achieve its objectives. The opening of new plants and relocating would involve many problems such as employees not wanting to relocate. Management could use this skill to come up with and determine the best course of action for solving this problem.

Question 22

Operations management and human resource management are two core management functions of an organisation.

Explain two management roles performed by an operations managers and or a human resource manger.

Describe two skills that a manager would need in their position when managing their teams.

Discuss how management skills and roles can be applied to ensure the ethical and socially responsible management of these functions.

Answer 22

Planning is the process of defining objectives and coming up with strategies to achieve those objectives. There are 3 different levels of planning, strategic, tactical and operational.

The human resource manager performs planning when they undertake HR planning. This is planning for future and current staffing needs. It involves determining the quality and type of employees that will be required to achieve objectives.

It is also undertaken in operations management. Strategic planning is long term 3-5 year ahed planning for where the organisation is going to be in the future and involves determining what good and services will be sold and in what quantity. Tactical planning is 1-2 year ahead planning and is flexible adaptive planning used to put the strategic plan into place. It involves the sourcing of technology that will be used in the operations system. Operational planning is planning for up to one year ahead and the day to day operations of the business. It involves production schedules.

When planning a business will be able to come up with a range of alternatives and they will then be able to decide which one to implement that is the most ethical and socially responsible. This is usually the more expensive option but it will most likely result in an increase in customers as many consumers chose to only purchase from an ethical and socially responsible supplier.

Controlling is the process of evaluating the performance of the business and taking corrective action to ensure objectives are being met. It involves comping what was intended to happen with what actually happened.

It can be used in human resources as a part of performance management, which involves all the methods undertaken to get the best possible performance levels from employees. When a business conducts a performance appraisal and give feedback to employees they can show them their performance and their intended performance, these statistics can motivate an employee to work better if they didn’t meet their expected performance and increase the morale of staff who did which makes them more encouraged to work productively. To be ethical the business should treat staff with report and understanding even if they didn’t meet expected performance. This increases satisfaction and makes the employee more understanding of their performance and more willing to improve as they can see that they efforts are still valued.

It can also be used in operations. Operations managers can use the indicator of rate of productivity growth. Productivity is a measure of efficiency, it compares the number of outputs produced with the number of inputs used. The rate of thus compares the change from one point in time to the next. A manager can compare the actual productivity with expected productivity and if the business fails to meet the expected productivity they can adjust the operations to be more productive such as the implementation of new technology.

As part of controlling the business might want to create a social report that lists everything they have done to be socially responsible and compare this with everything socially responsible they intended to. If there are negative discrepancies they will realise that they need to take action to become more socially responsible. This is time consuming but it allows them to assess how socially responsible they are.

Communication is the transfer of information between a sender and receiver. It can be two way where both parities send and receive information or one way where there is just one sending and one receiving party. Communication is important as it allows managers to let employees know what is required from them so that they know exactly what they must do to achieve objectives. Utilising two way communication with staff is ethical as it allows staff to give input into how the organisation operates which can be time consuming but it increases staff satisfaction and increases motivation as the employees have greater ownership in the workplace activities. This is abiding by moral standards and doing the right thing in the interests of employees.

Problem solving is utilised when managing teams, It involves coming up with a set of alternatives when placed with a problem and choosing the best one to implement. Business’s encounter a variety of problems and it is important that these problems are handled efficiently and effectively. Using a problem solving process and coming up with a range of alternatives to solve a problem allows the business to implement solutions that are ethical and socially responsible as they can analyse the solutions and see how ethical and SR they are before implementing them. This might limit the suitable choices but it should increase customers and improve morale s all solutions implemented will involves looking out for and giving back to key stakeholders such as customers and employees.