Managing my career
SWOT Analysis table
| Strengths | Weaknesses | Opportunities | Threats
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| Self-management
This is the act of being able to coordinate oneself in the workplace, getting to work place in time and control the things which affect me professionally. In the workplace, I am able to work even when under stress since my main goal is to achieve. Self-management means that i can do what I am supposed to do without supervision since I have an interest in the field I am working. This earns me respect from my colleagues, as a manager to myself I am able to know what is required of me; I can set the goals I want to achieve and work towards success. The ability to manage myself at work means that I can work professionally and achieve the best. I can drive myself and persevere whatever it takes to achieve the goals. Team work Team work is comfortably working with within a group. In a team, one is always free to contribute their own ideas; he or she should be an active member and should always be ready to learn from others. Working in a team helps us in achieving the best. When we come together as members, we are able to contribute more ideas, which lead to effective results. Working as a team has contributed to achieving goals faster than expected. The team members share the work available each engaging where he or she is specialized. This fastens speed of work. Good relationships are developed in the workplace. There are minimal conflicts since we understand each other better as we work together. Team work can be noticed by observing on the communication among the members, coordination and the overall achievement. I can work together with other members of our team and maintain good relationships. As a team member, I am always ready listen to others considering their ideas and not arguing at every point they give. I learnt to listen first and talk last. I have to be flexible to accommodate new ideas, adapt to the changing situations and not get stressed due to the introduction of a new thing. We are all committed to the teams work and put effort in the work. Team work greatly help in problem solving since we come together as a team and each gave out the possible solution which fastens the solving. Business and customer awareness, For an effective business, I should be able to identify the customer and know how to treat them. I have to build a good relationship with customers and maintain them for long term profits (Black & Lynch, 2001: 340). I have to understand them, communicate well to them and always stay calm even in difficult situations. I am required to know what the customer likes and what he does not like. Problem solving People who live together often have conflicts among them, as an employee I should possess the skills of solving the possible conflicts among the workers, supervisors and workers, and among the supervisors. Conflicts between customers and employees are also possible and should i be able to solve them. The conflicts between employees and supervisors are often caused by employees who work under pressure; they may be paid low wages or even work for long hours. The way to solving problems is procedural. I start by identifying the problem and evaluating it, defining it by gathering information, breaking the problem into parts, examining on the possible options, deciding a plan towards solving the problem and later considering the consequences. Communication and literacy Every employee should have good communication skills and should always know who they are communicating to, thereby doing it with the required formality (Mayer, 1992). Communication has greatly helped me have productive and pleasant associations with my colleagues and customers. For effective communication one should learn to listen and understand, speak clearly, consider the needs of audience whenever writing, understand the need of all customers and be assertive (McAdam, 1999: 230). For literacy, one should know how to use different types of information, recording information and presenting the different types of communication. Application of numeracy The main aim of a business is to make profits, as an employee I have numeric knowledge, which involve financial awareness and its application, that will include exchange rates and stock market, I am able to calculate statistics on forms of media, number manipulation and general understanding of mathematics and numbers. These skills are developed in schools and starts when one is in pre unit. Application of information technology This involves the general use of office machines. The computers are nowadays mostly used in office and all employees working in office should have the appropriate skills to run the machine (Manz, 1990: 280). Positive attitude This is a very vital skill when it comes to employment. One should be interested in the position he or she is working. Positive attitude highly contributes to the overall performance of an individual. With a positive attitude towards my colleagues and employers, I show interest in my area and end up getting excellent results. (Belbin, 2012). |
Sometimes i fail to manage myself in the workplace, which greatly affects me professionally. I lose interest in my job and develop negative attitude towards the colleagues and the supervisors. I feel like I am working under too much pressure and I cannot manage. Another weakness which leads to poor performance is poor communication with my colleagues. I have to work towards improving my personal relationships with them. Sometimes I find difficulties in combating with teamwork, coping with the changes and solving conflicts that rise among us due to the differences among us. To solve that, i should always be prepared for change and I should learn he characters of each team member. In business and customer awareness, It sometimes becomes difficult to maintain a customer due to the high competition and failure to know the strategies which my competitors use to attract customers; I also fail to understand the customers taste and preference. I am supposed to know the likes of different customers and use better strategies than my competitors so as to keep customers. My weakness in problem solving is handling different people, which is very tricky. It is also sometimes difficult to solve complex problems. I should learn to solve my problems first and how to handle different people with different problems. My emotions are my weakness at times and can hinder good communication preventing good relationships among us due to personal differences. I have to learn different communication styles and how to communicate to different people not forgetting to control my emotions. These skills will help me in future keep a good relationship with my colleagues and supervisors (Bruce, 1999: 40). When dealing with numbers in the office, accounting is sometimes very complex and gives me a bit of headache. However I can try to always follow the procedures required and work step by step. There are certain to things i also need to learn about machines. Example is I should always save data when typing to avoid loss, which has been currently a problem. (Chang, Choi & Kim, 2008) ). | Whenever we are motivated at work place, I believe I can grow positive attitude and I can also be motivated more and peruse professionally. We can be added salaries, be paid In time and hold parties whenever we achieve a certain goal. Whenever the supervisors interact freely with us, I believe that can make us successful since they can check our work and whenever we are wrong they can correct us. Business and customer awareness, problem solving and communication skills can be improved if we are given the opportunities to attend seminars which are related to the topic. Technology and application of numeracy can be catered for if the administration offers training opportunities in the work place. | Lack of interest in my job which can be brought about by my poor relations with colleagues can hinder me from accepting motivation. Relatives may be a source of stress in the work place preventing one from managing him/herself. Hatred and jealousy can hinder good relationships among us. Lack of enough money can hinder one from getting the training which the administration may offer. | |
| Points arising | Time management
Self-control Goal setting Being disciplined Self-motivation Being flexible Fitting in a team and working together. Good communication skills Identifying competitors and their strategies Learning to live with different types of people Positive attitude
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Negative attitude
Lack of self-motivation Poor relations with other people Lack of flexibility Lack of knowledge Poor time management |
Motivation
Training opportunities Opportunities to attend seminars Good relations with the supervisors
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Personal stress
Insufficient funds hatred and jealousy. |
| List | Time management. Drawing a time table and avoiding time wastage
Self-control. Managing my stress Goal setting. Having always in mind what I want to achieve Being disciplined. Working even without supervision Self-motivation always encouraging myself when down Being flexible. Being ready to accept change. Good communication skills-knowing the manner of communicating with everyone. Knowing my competitors-ensuring that I am better than my competitors |
Negative attitude-always avoiding conflicts with people to maintain positive attitude.
Lack of self-motivation-I should create motivation from within. Poor relations with other people- I should always learn to maintain good relationships with all people at all time. Lack of flexibility- I should be ready for change any time Lack of knowledge- I should ensure that I have acquired enough knowledge in my field of work Poor time management- avoiding time wastage |
Motivation-the employers should facilitate good work by adding salaries and other motivation skills.
Training-the employers should provide training opportunities especially in new technologies. Opportunities to attend seminars- these will help us as workers gain more knowledge on how our fields Good relations with the supervisors will make work more effective
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Personal stress- it greatly affects my work and I should learn to control them
Insufficient funds- budgeting is all am required to do and do thing according to my ability hatred and jealousy- these are bad values and i need to love all people and be happy for them |
| Obligation | Drawing a time table | Seeking counseling | Attending seminars | Drawing a budget |
| Time | Before beginning my day | When I can’t manage my stress | Twice per year | Before is start spending |
References
Belbin, RMM 2012, Team roles at work, Routledge, New York.
Black, SE & Lynch, LM 2001, ‘How to compete: the impact of workplace practices and information technology on productivity,’ Review of Economics and statistics, vol. 83 iss. 3, pp. 434-445.
Bruce, CS 1999, ‘Workplace experiences of information literacy,’ International journal of information management, vol. 19 iss. 1, pp. 33-47
Chang, JY, Choi, JN & Kim, MU 2008, ‘Turnover of highly educated R&D professionals: The role of pre‐entry cognitive style, work values and career orientation,’ Journal of occupational and organizational psychology, vol. 81 iss 2, pp. 299-317.
Holmes, J & Stubbe, M 2003, Power and politeness in the workplace: A sociolinguistic analysis of talk at work, Pearson, New York.
Hoyles, C, Wolf, A, Molyneux-Hodgson, S & Kent, P 2002, Mathematical skills in the workplace, Web, Accessed 29 November, 2013. <www. ioe ac./technomaths/skills2002>.
Luthans, F 2002, ‘The need for and meaning of positive organizational behavior,’ Journal of Organizational Behavior, vol. 23 iss. 6, pp. 695-706.
Manz, CC 1990, ‘Beyond self-managing work teams: Toward self-leading teams in the workplace,’ Research in organizational change and development, vol. 4, pp. 273-299.
Mayer, RE 1992, Thinking, problem solving, cognition, WH Freeman/Times Books/Henry Holt & Co.
McAdam, R 1999, ‘Life after ISO 9000: an analysis of the impact of ISO 9000 and total quality management on small businesses in Northern Ireland,’ Total Quality Management, vol. 10 iss. 2, pp. 229-241.
