as_zeig_views_it: Desirable Management Skills

A COMPREHENSIVE LISTING OF
DESIRABLE MANAGEMENT COMPETENCIES OR SKILLS

What then, specifically, are these "desirable management competencies or skills" that are needed by the aspiring sport and physical education manager? Through a careful analysis of the literature and responses from knowledgeable colleagues, we are now prepared to offer a lengthy, but probably incomplete listing of competencies and skills subdivided into the five areas or category of skills that we have determined. (The competencies or skills are categorized below in relation to understandings developed, skills acquired, assessments carried out, plans devised, experiments undertaken, evaluations made, instruments employed, etc. whereby the development of such competency or skill may be effected to some degree.) The five general areas of competency or skill are (1) personal skills, (2) interpersonal skills, (3) conceptual skills, (4) technical skills, and (5) conjoined skills.

Note: The laboratory exercises recommended (and included)
for each category (e.g., personal competencies) in Parts 2
through 6 in this manual are the lettered ones at the
beginning of each section immediately below. The other
competencies or skills listed are highly desirable for full
competency development, but detailed exercise experiences
are not provided in this present text.

I. The Manager's Personal Competencies/Skills

A. determine one's personal philosophy of
life and/or religion
B. establish priorities in personal values
clarification
C. develop a personal mission statement
D. devise a plan that tentatively maps out
one's future (i.e., goal-setting in
relation to stages of maturity)
E. conduct a personal analysis to assist in the
development of an individual time-management
plan (i.e., planning a work schedule for
the day, week, month, year. etc.)

Additional Personal Competencies/Skills:

- learning self-management
- practicing positive thinking
- learning a second language
- employing the requisite amount of
assertiveness
- improving one's perception
- strengthening one's motivation
- acquiring ability at self-analysis
- avoiding stress through biofeedback
- improving one's reading skills
- evaluating personal communication
skills (e.g., writing and speaking)
- determining one's overall physical fitness
and a "recreational quotient" based on
self-assessment
- learning to think critically (based on
informal logic)
- evaluating one's position on a socio-
political spectrum (i.e., assessment of
opinions about controversial social issues)
- employing a cognitive style instrument to
determine how one thinks about information
received
- learning about useful techniques for the
elimination of encounters and situational
stressors
- self-assessing one's daily work habits
by completion of a checklist
- learning a systems analysis approach to
optimal health achievement through human
ecological interaction
- completing a personal fitness inventory
(including initial assessment of strength,
flexibility, and endurance)
- passing a basic computer "literacy" test
- completing a scale designed to assess one's
creativity and innovation abilities
- testing one's understanding of the meaning of
statistical terms used in everyday life
- determining one's "attitude adjustment
quotient"

II. The Manager's Interpersonal Competencies/Skills

F. develop an understanding of self
(i.e., self-concept) as required for
successful interpersonal competency
G. assess interpersonal communication
skills (e.g., empathetic listening and
responding)
H. execute an interpersonal style inventory
I. evaluate interpersonal management skills
(e.g., selling ideas)
J. learn about one's leadership attributes and
effectiveness; assessing present leadership style

Additional Interpersonal Competencies/Skills:

- assessing one's basic management skills
- carrying out a simulated job interview
(e.g., a "structured " interview)
- completing a debating experience on a
controversial issue
- completing a team development scale
- learning how to negotiate
- developing a leadership style based on a
sound management theory
- role-playing a situation involving the
counseling of staff members (including working
with a disturbed colleague)
- discharging a staff member
- disciplining a staff member
- learning to combat staff mobility
- detecting the managerial or employee "hustler"
- understanding how to relate to minority
personnel
- handling conflicts (i.e., conflict
resolution)
- assessing the organizational climate of an
organization
- taking part in a leaderless group discussion
(including performance assessment)
- chairing a case method discussion as an
example of an approach to managerial
decision-making
- serving as chairperson of a discussion
group to consider qualities that should be
required for admission to a sport management
training program
- knowing about successful strategies employed
to gain organizational power and then being
able to convert it to influence
- developing a supporting rationale for a
proposal to implement an affirmative action
program for the hiring of either women, ethnic
minorities, or handicapped persons

III. The Manager's Conceptual Competencies/Skills

K. understand the development of twentieth century
management thought and theory
L. analyze the general (external) and immediate
(internal) environments
M. plan in the management process (levels and tools)
N. organize in the management process (guidelines
and types of organizational structures)
O. staff in the management process (human resources
management)
P. direct in the management process
(leadership theory and techniques)
Q. control in the management process (including
setting standards, developing an annual budget,
and performance evaluation)
R. relate Mackenzie's Management Process Model
to a systems approach for sport and physical
education management

- executing an assignment designed to improve
conceptual blockbusting
- understanding of a mathematical model that
explains management process in sport and
physical education
- demonstrating an awareness of the historical
development of management thought, theory, and
practice in sport management
- understanding the variety of organizational
concepts
- creating a statement of aims and objectives
for a sport organization
- determining one's own management philosophy
(presumably derived from one's personal life
philosophy determined in Category I above)
- understanding of selected current management
theories and their implications for practice
- explaining (including diagramming of) a systems
approach to theory & research in sport
management
- based on data presented about a sport
management problem presented, executing a
simulated exercise designed to produce a
solution to the situation
- writing a case for subsequent consideration of
those concerned with a sport management problem
- based on careful observation, preparing a
model delineating an organization's structure
- developing a mission statement delineating
long range aims and specific objectives of an
organization with which one has had experience
- formulating one's approach to professional
ethics
- explaining the steps one must follow to
implement a management by objectives approach
(MBO) in an organization
- understanding how to establish work priorities
- distinguishing between managing and doing
- analyzing information that comes to one's
attention

IV. Developing the Manager's Technical
Competencies/Skills

S. learn how to use the meeting as an effective
tool for the work group
T. learn about team-building (i.e., developing
an understanding of how work groups are formed
and maintained)
U. execute an "in-basket analysis" as the manager
approaches a day on the job (including a request
for an assessment of how computer information
technologies & networking might be employed)
V. understand legal liability in relation to
sport management

- acquiring minimum computer skills (i.e.,
word processing, spread sheet, data storage)
- learning everyday office techniques (e.g.,
telephone usage, dictation, interviewing)
- using a computer as an aid to decision-
making
- developing a plan for facility and equipment
maintenance
- learning how to apply for various types of
grants
- acquiring an elementary understanding of
accounting
- learning how to order supplies and equipment
competitively
- knowing what is involved in the preparation of,
and "checking out" of, a personal resume
- discussing the topic of computer technology
and networking knowledgeably
- determining cost-benefit analysis
that compares present condition to two
competing alternatives (using a spreadsheet)
- developing a year-end balance sheet for an
organization
- developing an outline for a manual on
facilities management
- understanding of the concept of "the automated
office" (including networking)
- explaining research methodology available to
sport managers (including so-called action
research) and the research techniques available
to each type of research
- developing an understanding of public relations
and learning how to prepare media releases
- preparing an instrument designed to assess an
organization's marketing status
- executing a fact-finding investigation to
assist with the solving of a specific problem
or issue
- carrying out of an action research project
(e.g., in-house survey)
- developing a format for the implementation
of the following categories of operations
research models: (a) comparison and/or
classification (e.g., statistical sampling),
(b) operational process (e.g., linear
programming), (c) future prediction (e.g.,
break-even & profitability)
- employing an administrator evaluation
instrument in a specific organizational
situation
- analyzing an applicant's resume, including
ways to determine its accuracy and the
applicant's true abilities
- using an evaluative grid, completing a
structured interview to employ a sport manager
- demonstrating competency in chairing a
meeting
- after observing a meeting, appraising its
effectiveness and efficiency
- mapping a program for fund-raising
within the internal environment of an
organization
- writing the following documents effectively:
an inter-office memorandum, a letter, and an
agenda for a meeting
- learning how to develop a successful sport
sponsorship
- developing a plan to obtain a sport
sponsorship
- keeping the necessary criteria in mind,
developing a plan for the organization and
management of a sport tournament
- organizing and developing one's own
resume for possible use in obtaining a
position in sport management
- learning how to implement a management
information system (MIS)

V. The Manager's Conjoined Competencies/Skills

W. develop an outline of a policies and
procedures manual for a special event (e.g.,
a sports tournament)
X. develop an approach to decision-making
in relation to one's personal and professional
philosophy (including ethical decision-making
where applicable)
Y. carry out a strategic market-planning
assessment for a sport- and/or physical
activity-based program
Z. understand how to manage for change

- creating an organizational climate within
which people can accept advice from others
- planning for the implementation of an on-
the-job training program
- learning how to use the informal organization
in the achievement of organizational goals
- using a problem-solving approach with a small
group, development of a change process model
- using a quantitative technique based on an
applied mathematical model, determining the
solution to a sport and physical education
problem (operations research)
- developing an organization's "future
orientation" (e,g, by developing a format
for a standing committee on the topic)
- developing an organizational approach to
ethical decision-making
- assessing the ecological implications of a
physical recreation program
- constructing a mechanism to assess the
cost-effectiveness of competitive sports at
an educational institution
- after selecting a sport management problem for
consideration, roleplaying by a management team
(selected from the group) of a human relations
situation while working toward a solution of
the issue
- understanding how to manage a complex project
(e.g., Critical Path Method )
- allocating designated resources through
case analysis of a specific administrative
situation employing such factors as human
capital, scarcity, effectiveness, efficiency,
optimization, competition, and monopoly
- based on actual case situation, determining
what actions to take (and what not to take)
in regard to a situation where the question of
legal liability arises
- developing a crisis management plan and
adapting it to a specific situation (e.g.,
budgetary shortfall in the middle of a fiscal
year)

This material was taken from the introduction of Management Competency Development in Sport and Physical Education by Earle Zeigler & Gary Bowie. It was published by Stipes Publishing Company, Champaign, IL, USA. For more information, please go to www.earlezeigler.com and on the bottom of the home page click in Stipes.

as_zeig_views_it

Dr.Earle F. Zeigler, Ph.D., LL.D., D.Sc., is a dual citizen of Canada and the United States. After 65 years of professional service, he writes primarily on human values & ethics, education, and physical activity, sport, and recreation.

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