To provide candidates with an awareness of the need to continually develop their own management skills and knowledge to build up productive working relationships and manage time and other resources in order to meet objectives.

Self development to improve one’s own performance;setting objectives; planning; management of time and other resources; delegating; taking decisions; developing the trust and support of others in the organisation; minimising conflict.

Candidates should already be capable of fulfilling the Assessment Criteria for Unit S4.

The candidate should know and understand how to:

1. Identify the support required to implement an action plan for self development and how and where that support may be obtained (either in defining or fulfilling needs).
2. Describe why work is delegated, how to delegate and how to monitor performance.
3. Identify the sources of information and processes by which information necessary to make an effective decision can be identified and validated.
4. Describe one formal and one informal way in which decisions are made in an organisation.
5. Keep team members well informed to prevent negative behaviour, recognise and minimise such behaviour.
6. Identify how managerial behaviour can serve to both encourage and discourage feelings of trust among team members.
7. Draw up an organisation chart for an area with which they are familiar, illustrating the management structure and lines of accountability.
8. Define the key responsibilities and accountabilities of one of those to whom they report.
9. Identify a process or procedure which would help to reduce conflict within a team, and be able to illustrate how changing a procedure might assist the process.

Candidates should be fully conversant with the content of Institute Unit S4.

Organisational context

1. Current and future requirements for the job role and how they correspond with current level of skills and knowledge; identifying appropriate people who can provide feedback.
2. Organisational plans and activities, emerging threats and opportunities and informing colleagues and own manager accordingly.
3. Management structures and lines of accountability and control; organisational decision-making processes; consulting with own manager about organisational policies and ways of working.
4. Organisational requirements for handling conflicts, who needs to be informed, and when.

Management skills

5. Key skills required for effective managerial performance; types of interpersonal skills necessary for effective team work and minimising conflict.
6. Decision-making processes; how to delegate to others and monitor progress.
7. Setting effective objectives; planning activities and estimating the time required; contingencies and how to plan for them; importance of regular monitoring of activities and rescheduling of work to meet objectives.
8. Importance of effective time management; identifying and eliminating unhelpful interruptions.

Communication

9. Importance of effective communication, principles and methods.
10. Importance of obtaining feedback on own performance and how to encourage, enable and use it.
11. Consulting with colleagues and team members; importance of discussing evaluations of output and behaviour at work promptly and directly.
12. Keeping own manager informed about progress, plans and results, developing and presenting proposals positively; handling disagreements constructively.
13. Recommending improvements in the way that conflict is handled.

Information handling

14. Assessing the information required for effective decision making, methods for collecting and validating the information.
15. Confidentiality of information concerning colleagues and procedures to follow.
16. Maintaining accurate records of conflict; information on conflicts and confidentiality.

Training and development

17. Importance of continuing self-development; assessing levels of competence; personal action planning for learning, monitoring progress and updating the plan; types of development activities, their advantages and disadvantages.
18. Identifying the need for support; types of support available from others; selecting an appropriate source; obtaining the required help.

Working relationships and providing support

19. How people work in groups; strategies and styles of working with colleagues, team members and own manager.
20. The importance of honouring commitments to and showing respect for colleagues; keeping people regularly informed of expected standards of work and behaviour; importance of providing opportunities for people to discuss problems affecting work and how to do this; providing support to colleagues to assist them in meeting objectives; providing constructive feedback to others.
21. Types of conflict, causes of conflicts and how to minimise them, identifying potential conflict between individuals.