SMTD Module 1 Foundation Assignment

Workplace Assignment - Module 1 Foundation – SMTD

2. Leadership and Management

2.1 – There are several aspects of my job that I would regard as supervisory or management duties. One example of this was when I delegated tasks to other work peers. This basically means that work I have to have completed by the end of the day for arguments sake, I would delegate and pass on to others. Such as welding that needs to be completed, I would pass this onto a welder and explain what needs doing. He would then go and carry out this task for me. This is very much part of my supervisory role as it is done on a daily basis, mainly at the beginning of the day before work commences. Once I have delegated work, I can then move onto another aspect of my management duties which is general supervising and overlooking of the work that I have just delegated out. This is carried out by doing a general walk round of the area that I have men working in. They will be carrying out tasks that I have previously delegated to them and so I just need to check that they are completing the work given to the standard of quality I require and more importantly, safely. However, this is only to be done every so often as you don’t want to be stood watching over their every move – this could intimidate them and put them off doing their work correctly. The final aspect of my job that holds supervisory qualities is being approachable so that people can come to you with any issues and problems they may have. This happens on a daily basis. Any problems that the men may have, they come to me and I deal with the issue. In order that they feel they can do this, you have to have an approachable manner so that they feel comfortable confiding in you and can trust your confidentiality if it is a private matter.

2.2 – Within my job at Doosan Power Systems, there are many aspects that require leadership qualities. One example of this is being competent at your job and knowing what you are doing. If you are carrying out a job, as a supervisor, you need to show leadership qualities and this means setting an example to others around you to do the job correctly and safely. If you set an example as a manager, then others below you will tend to follow your ways and copy. This is very much a role in which I have to carry out on a daily basis. Another leadership aspect of my job is conducting and leading meetings. This is where I hold a meeting and am in charge of the outcomes and action points that come from it. Whilst I am conducting the meeting I must ensure that everyone gets a say and points that needed to be delivered are done so effectively and efficiently. The final aspect of my job that I will be describing as having leadership qualities is organisation. This is done in a number of ways from organising the order of jobs that need to be completed in priority order to being generally organised with diaries and paperwork. This is very important in my job as without this aspect, you wouldn’t be able to do your day to day tasks easily or efficiently.

2.3 – Skills that need to be applied in the supervisory and management aspect of my job are being generally able to physically supervise a work force and manage what they do. I also need to have the knowledge to be able to do the jobs as you need to know what you are doing and talking about. As a supervisor, you also need to be able to listen to others. This is very important as you should take on board what others say especially those carrying out the job as they have an active part in the overall project. You should also hold the skill of being confident and competent. You need to be confident in what you are doing and comfortably happy with the work. If you aren’t confident and not every good at what you do, then this will affect the work force as bad management can lead to poor work and it also doesn’t set a very good example to others that look up to you as a manager. You need to be able to be approached by your working team with any issues that they may have or queries on the job they are carrying out. They need to be comfortable in confiding in you and so you must have an attitude that allows them to do this. You need to hold the skill of being authoritative but not in a way that will make the workers feel intimidate or pressured as this will show in the standard of their work. You need to show that they have a manager watching over them and that they are responsible to you and must report to you. Getting the balance right can be difficult but this is one of the most important skills required when you are a supervisor. An effective leader must hold a variety of skills. One of these skills is being motivational. If you are a motivated person then you will set an example to others and also encourage and motivate them to more work, a higher standard of work and take pride in the work they do. I must also be inspirational to influence others to achieve the same as me if not more. I must also apply a skill of being confident and competent. As a leader, you need to show others you know what you are doing and are confident that the work you are doing is right. The final skill that you must apply is being able to make speeches or be a spokesperson for the group. This can be difficult for some people as they are not comfortable in speaking in front of large groups of people. This skill can be developed over time and the more comfortable I get in my working environment, the more confident I will get at speaking in front of large numbers of people or delivering presentations etc.

2.4 – A skill weakness that I have is being competent. As I am new to this industry and my job role, I don’t fully understand all areas of my role. I am in training at the minute so I am not expected to be competent at everything I do. There are some areas that I am slightly more competent than others such as in planning. I can use planning software confidently and competently however when it comes to roles such as estimating, I haven’t done this before and so I would be very amateur if I was left to do this unsupervised. I plan to strengthen this weakness by continuously learning new things. Each day I become slightly more competent at each different thing I do as I am learning new things. Another way I plan to strengthen this is by hard work and dedication. If I stick at what I am doing then although it will take a long time, I will slowly get to overcome this weakness in a lot of different areas. Finally, I plan to carry on training and gain more qualifications so that I understand my job role more and can prove the work I do on a daily basis with qualifications and certificates from training courses I have been on and exams that I have sat.

3. Motivation

3.1 – There are several aspects of team motivation that are under my control. One example of this is when I conduct team briefings. This is done every morning before work starts. Work is delegated out and a general motivational talk is given about completing work to the best of your ability and taking pride in your work. Another time when this is done is when I hold toolbox talks every Thursday morning. A talk is given on something that is relevant to that site on that particular week. For example if there has been an incident with fire then a toolbox talk will be given to make people aware of what to do in that particular situation. Improvement observation cards are given out and people are encouraged to fill these in with any suggestions for improvements. The team are then told to take care of their work and work safely. Another aspect of team motivation under my control is to ensure they are on time. They are motivated to be on time otherwise they will get money deducted from their wages. It is my job to encourage them to be on time and motivate them with the incentive of money. They are given bonuses when jobs are completed on time and efficiently so they are also motivated under my control to do the job quickly but to a high standard without taking shortcuts.

3.2 – To achieve effective motivation in the areas that are under my control described in 3.1, I need to be motivated myself. If I am motivated, then it will set the trend for others to be motivated themselves. If I can’t be bothered to do my work or get stuck in then its send a message work force that they can’t be bothered either. It is like a ‘if you can’t be bothered then neither can I’ attitude. When Im delivering toolbox talks to motivate them, I have to be open and honest. I also have to be confident when I speak and make sure that I speak clearly and get straight to the point. If I talk for too long then people will become bored and not listen therefore I wouldn’t be motivating them. Another way I achieve effective motivation is by doing team briefs with an attitude that is acceptable. If I deliver a brief with a bad attitude or if im in a bad mood then it will reflect on the workforce so I must ensure that I am enthusiastic when I speak.

3.3 – To improve motivation there are several methods, one of these being praising good work. If you compliment people and praise them when they have done something well then it will encourage them do further good work as they will feel good about themselves. It is important not to over praise them as you don’t want them to be too confident as this can have a reverse effect. I only need to praise them when they do something well as obviously praising them when they have done something wrong wouldn’t be right. If they do something wrong then I have to give them constructive criticism in order that they get motivated to put it right. It is no good me just having a go at them as they may take it the wrong way and then they will be even more de-motivated. Another way I can go about improving motivation is by encouragement. If I encourage them to do the work correctly and in a timely manner then they will feel more motivated to do it. If you give people incentives such as time off work and bonuses then this is also another way to improve motivation. If they are given incentives then they will want to complete their work better and more efficiently in order that they may get to leave work early or they may get a bonus that month.

5. Personal Organisation

5.1 – 1 example of a very urgent and very important job within the last 4-6 weeks was when I had to email Doosan Babcock Tipton for a quote for some machining. It was very important as it was part of a tender to the client for a job on some new pipe work that needed installing, it was also urgent as it was Thursday and we needed the quote by Monday morning. I dealt with this by emailing Tipton for a quote immediately. They didn’t respond straight away and so I sent another email explaining the important of the quote coming back to me quickly. The quote was then sent to me on Monday morning.

5.2 – 1 example of an urgent but not very important job I have had to carry out within the last 4-6 weeks was when I had to complete an employment screening pack for each guy on site. This wasn’t important to us but was urgent as we only had a week to complete it and passports etc had to be brought in. I dealt with this by completing as much of the paperwork as I could myself before handing each pack over to the men to complete. As each one was brought in I checked it was all there before sending them off. I was able to complete other jobs at the same time as this however once I pack was handed to me; I put aside other work for half hour to check each pack was complete.

5.3 – An example of a job that I have had to carry out within the last 4-6 weeks that was important but not urgent was completing my workbooks. These are important because they form part of my NVQ and must be completed by the end of the year. However, they aren’t urgent at the moment as I have quite a large time period in which to complete them. I dealt with this by putting them to one side whilst I was busy so that I could carry out other jobs that were more of an urgent matter. When I was not busy, I completed some more of my workbooks.

5.4 - A non-urgent job that I have had to carry out in the past 4-6 weeks that was also not very important was some scanning that needed to be done and sent to the Selby office. This wasn’t important and it also wasn’t urgent. I set aside doing this when I had completed other tasks that were more urgent and important. I did this when I had time I n between jobs.