MGMT90140 Management Competencies

Frequently asked questions

1)  Can I send the questionnaire to more than two people?

Yes you can. But we strongly advise you build your analysis on two external assessments alongside your own self-assessment. Be mindful of the space constraints.

2)  Can I use other personal assessment surveys in my analysis (e.g. Myer Briggs, VIA character strengths, etc)?

Yes, but make sure to use the provided survey on the LMS as primary and any others as secondary/additional resources in your analysis.

3)  Is there a specific methodology you are expecting us to use to analyse the results

when comparing the self-assessment with the 2 other assessments (other than linking these to the theory) or can we be creative in the way we conduct and present our analysis?

The analysis format is up to you and you can be creative. No technical / statistical analysis is required. We also recommend doing some research on how to analyse and reflect on multi-rater/360 degree assessment results. That may give you some ideas!

4)  Is it necessary to discuss all of the 11 competences?

As suggested by the use of the word “key” in the description of the task, we clearly do not expect you to present a comprehensive competence profile with detailed discussion of where you stand with regard to all competencies - there is no space for that, although it's important self-knowledge (and you may want to keep a record of all the insights gained    from your in-depth analysis of all of your assessment results). Instead, in your essay, we   recommend that you focus on what seem to be your key strengths and areas for improvement. You may choose for example to discuss your 1 or 2 principal areas of strength and 2 areas for improvement that feel particularly relevant to you. As indicated in the rubric, we care about the clarity and richness of the insights you’ve gained through your analytical and reflective work into your strengths and weaknesses.

5)  Do we need to comment on all the differences in assessment?

Similarly, we do not expect you to comment on all gaps between your self-perception and   the feedback you received from others. The differences between your own assessment and the assessments that others have done for you – or gaps in assessments - are part of the key results that you need to focus on. Look for the differences (and similarities) within and  across competency domains and dwell on them to see what key insights you can gain about your strengths and weaknesses and which sub-aspects of particular competencies you think are important for you to develop further and why. The objective is to critically reflect on why the differences exist and gain self-knowledge in the process. If you are particularly surprised by some gaps (positive or negative), you may find it helpful to seek out additional feedback from your assessors to make further sense of the discrepancies, in addition to reflecting on why they may see you in that way based on e.g. past experiences.

6)  Since I got very different results from two assessors, I asked them follow-up questions to make sense of it. Is it OK for me to quote their answers as evidence to support my analysis on weakness and strength?

You may of course use in your essay the additional feedback you solicited to make further sense of the discrepancies and gain insights into your strengths and weaknesses.

7)  For the third part of the assignment, the development plan, are we required to think about two practical ways to improve for each of the two chose competencies or are     we required to follow the immunity to change worksheets, i.e. filling out two specific sheets for each of the competency areas?

Yes please do list two concrete, specific and relevant steps for each of the two competency areas you target (that is, a total of 4 steps). Please remember that the steps can involve passive modes of learning and more active modes of learning. While you are not required to use the immunity to change framework, you may find it a helpful tool to leverage in identifying robust development steps. You may include such worksheets as appendices.

8)  Also regarding the TWO steps of development plan, does it mean the two steps should be listed in order (eg. firstly do a. and secondly do b. and there is an order between a. and b.) or it is just two different way to develop yourself (a. and b. is not necessarily relevant)?

The two steps for each of the two competency areas do not necessarily have to build on each other.

9)  Is there a minimum number of references expected for this assignment?

As you can tell from the marking guidelines, we pay attention to your efforts to integrate concepts and theories from class (this includes seminars, and required readings) in your assignment, in particular the quality/effectiveness of those efforts. You may feel compelled to engage in independent research as you realise the importance of learning/increasing your knowledge base for effective competence development. If done well, integration of independently sourced materials typically translates into better critical analysis and more solid/well-informed competence development plans. You may want to think about how additional readings might support the quality of your analysis and plans and thus may improve your marks on those criteria (and more importantly your chance at more effective competence development). The key is how effectively you use those resources to support  your analysis and development planning, not the number of resources used. The same holds for concepts and theories from class materials.

10) To what extent do we need to reference? For example, if we mention the Johari window in the discussions, do we need to cite the original source of this theory or just the lecture materials?

When you are referring to specific insights gained from the readings (or other media) from the course (or external resources), please do cite and reference the source in your submission. When you use concepts from the lectures, make sure you name/label the concepts/frameworks explicitly in the text of your essay

11) If I take up competencies (e.g.: Communication and Creativity) that have not been  discussed in the weeks covered so far, can I use theories from external articles? or should I make connections to the theories we have discussed so far?

We encourage everyone to draw on the theories from the first two weeks, given the nature of the assignment. The first two weeks of content (and readings) may prove helpful when   you engage with the results from the questionnaires and when you articulate your development steps for the communication and creative problem-solving competencies (or the competencies of your choice). Substantive use (and referencing) of that material will likely strengthen your analysis and planning.

Any references to sources that relate directly to the areas you have targeted as your development focus for the semester are a plus. And yes, you are absolutely welcome to conduct some independent research to inform your self-reflection and development plan in the competency areas we have yet to cover. We generally recommend that students consult some of the required and suggested readings and/or viewings (already available under Modules/Subject Materials for the later sessions/competency domains as well) as it may help with the discussion of your strengths and weaknesses and give you some ideas for concrete improvement steps.

12)      Can I choose self-awareness or self-improvement as one of the two competency areas to focus on?

While you are not constrained in terms of which competency domains from class to reflect on and focus your development plan around, we usually do not encourage students to pick  self-awareness or self-improvement as a target area. The risk with choosing self-awareness or self-improvement as a focus is to not be concrete enough and thus to end up with a self-   development project that may not be very effective. One exception to that tends to be when students choose to focus on the following self-improvement sub-skills: time/attention management or stress management. Overall, keep in mind that self-awareness and self-improvement are muscles/skills you can/will practice in the context of a self-improvement project that targets other competency areas. Part of what we're trying to do with assignment one (and assignment 3) is in fact to help you build up your meta-competency of self-management, hence the recommendation to keep in mind the theories and concepts from week 1 and 2 to guide your analysis, choice of focus and the development of your plan.

13) Are there any specifications about font, size, margins and line spacing to be used as mandatory for writing our assignment?

There are no mandatory specifics re font size, margins and line spacing. However, when making decisions about the format and presentation of the document, always keep the   reader in mind and what would facilitate readability of your document.

14) Does professional formatting of the report mean the report should have a structure with a summary, introduction, body part, conclusion, references?

We reward clarity and logical organisation of thoughts. You do not need a summary, nor an elaborate conclusion. A reference list (APA style referencing) is needed for the resources you leverage and cite in your essay.