Management skills
Assess your management skills
Personal development questionnaire
This questionnaire is designed to help you start thinking about your personal development at work. It highlights some of the classic skill areas in managing and leading people.
- Review the list of skills below and decide which of the areas are important to your personal development.
- As the list of skills and competences is not meant to be exhaustive you should add others if you feel they are appropriate.
- At the end of the questionnaire identify the critical areas that you need to develop and consider some plans for developing those skills.
| General management skills and competences | I’m doing OK | I need to do more | I need to do less |
| 1 Thinking before I speak | |||
| 2 Communicating effectively with my team | |||
| 3 Being brief and concise when communicating | |||
| 4 Putting forward my points of view to others | |||
| 5 Making presentations to a group or team | |||
| 6 Developing other people’s contributions | |||
| 7 Reading the organization’s politics | |||
| 8 Being assertive with others | |||
| 9 Listening to other people | |||
| 10 Contributing fully at meetings | |||
| 11 Using effective writing skills | |||
| 12 Understanding team dynamics | |||
| 13 Recognizing and resolving conflicts in my team | |||
| 14 Recognizing who needs support in my team | |||
| 15 Spotting talent and potential in others |
| General management skills and competences | I’m doing OK | I need to do more | I need to do less |
| 16 Being ruthless in dealing with paperwork | |||
| 17 Managing my time effectively | |||
| 18 Planning my day at the beginning | |||
| 19 Being attentive to detail | |||
| 20 Being creative and innovative | |||
| 21 Seeking out more challenges and responsibility | |||
| 22 Focusing on my priorities | |||
| 23 Preventing interruptions to my work plans | |||
| 24 Delegating unimportant tasks | |||
| 25 Finding time to reflect on the ‘big picture’ | |||
| 26 Understanding other people’s role(s) | |||
| 27 Developing strong team spirit | |||
| 28 Showing interest in other people’s needs | |||
| 29 Displaying trust in others | |||
| 30 Motivating others |
| General management skills and competences | I’m doing OK | I need to do more | I need to do less |
| 31 Challenging people’s ideas and assumptions | |||
| 32 Giving positive feedback and recognition | |||
| 33 Coaching, training and developing individuals | |||
| 34 Establishing an atmosphere of trust in my team | |||
| 35 Leading my team in an effective style | |||
| 36 Encouraging team involvement in decision making | |||
| 37 Communicating to others what I want | |||
| 38 Understanding and managing change | |||
| 39 Helping to sell changes | |||
| 40 Recognizing when people are under stress | |||
| 41 Managing others who are under pressure | |||
| 42 Disagreeing openly with others | |||
| 43 Encouraging others to challenge my ideas | |||
| 44 Highlighting problems or challenges in plans or proposals |
| General management skills and competences | I’m doing OK | I need to do more | I need to do less |
| 45 Trusting others to do things | |||
| 46 Being a good coach to my people | |||
| 47 Assessing risk in situations | |||
| 48 Managing stress and being relaxed when under pressure | |||
| 49 Dealing with conflicts | |||
| 50 Resolving differences between others | |||
| 51 Dealing with a lack of cooperation from others | |||
| 52 Facing up to disappointments | |||
| 53 Being comfortable with asking for help when I need it | |||
| 54 Handling difficult clients/customers | |||
| 55 Meeting with customers and clients | |||
| 56 Offering advice on training and career development to my people | |||
| 57 Understanding other people’s values | |||
| 58 Keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in my field of expertise |
| General management skills and competences | I’m doing OK | I need to do more | I need to do less |
| 59 Understanding our management information systems | |||
| 60 Increasing my understanding and use of Information Technology | |||
| 61 Understanding and managing my responsibilities in disciplinary and grievance procedures | |||
| 62 Asking for feedback on my performance | |||
| 63 Asking for ideas/opinions from my peers | |||
| 64 Analyzing problems and their real causes | |||
| 65 Confronting problems in the organization | |||
| 66 Understanding the needs of other units that I have to work with | |||
| 67 Identifying and managing my career options |
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Identify areas for development at work
List here the skills and competences that you think you need to be developing as a priority. What plans can you make to ensure that you will begin to acquire these skills?
Try to be specific and commit to some real actions with timescales.
