Definitions of Some Related Terms That Often Confuse Many

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

The terms given below are alphabetically arranged.

Ability: An individual's capability either developed or not developed (undiscovered, unrealized and untapped). An accountant may be able to sell but has not done so.

Attitude: An individual's tendency to act in predictable ways. A manager may have humanistic attitude and therefore, he may be compassionate towards people.

Behavior: What an individual performs or does is his behavior and that is observable. It is based on his thinking which is not observable.

Competency: It is the developed ability of an individual. One competency may be a good integration of several allied skills related to the competency. Conducting an effective meeting is a competency that calls for many allied skills like making a meeting agenda, promoting healthy group process, resolving conflicts, managing time etc. Competencies are observable and ratable/measurable.

Knowledge: What an individual knows and comprehends is knowledge. Knowledge may be obtained from formal education, observations, training and experience.

Management: It consists of planning, organizing, staffing, directing (also leading) and controlling.

Potential: It is the predicted future performance of an individual.

Performance: Actual work output/results given by an individual against the expected results or goals/objectives is his performance. It is normally the basis for appraisals and rewards.

Practice: An individual acting as per his or organizational strategies and policies is putting the policies into practice.

Skill: It is the work behavior. In a sense, every verb in a dictionary is a skill. It is micro competency. Allied skills make a competency. In earlier example of conducting meeting, listening is another skill that is essential for conducting effective meetings. Skills are observable and ratable/measurable.

Style: Patterns of behavior is style. A person with humanistic values will have particular sets of behavior towards people and that defines his style.

Traits: They are personal characteristics. For example, an individual can be harsh, arrogant, aggressive or some other person may be polite, just, assertive etc. Many a time, they may not be observable or ratable/measurable.

(You can download eBook "Competencies and Competency Matrix" from http://nbuu.co/cm)

Read "Management Anecdotes" authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/


You may also like to read short articles on "Out of Box Ideas" at: http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Questions to Evaluate Job Applicants on Soft Competencies/Skills

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)
(You will benefit more if you also read all of my previous write-ups on this site and also read about Shyam Bhatawdekar Effectiveness Model- HSoftware at http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/ and about Self-concept at http://self-image-concept.blogspot.com/).
(If you wish to read or listen to the audio of the long article written by me on this subject covering all the posts I published here, please refer URL: Life Management: Competencieshttp://knol.google.com/k/shyam-bhatawdekar/competency-matrix/6txz9nck6g3/4)
Sample Questions

• Tell us about an important assignment you handled. How did you manage it and what were the results?
• How do you set up the priorities for your day-to-day work?
• If any of your projects derails, goes behind schedule, how do you pull it up to bring it back on track?
• What is more important to you; processes or results? What ever is your answer, why do you think it that way?
• Can you give an example of any process improvements you achieved recently and what was its impact on various factors?
• Why do you think reengineering of processes fail many times? Do you think one should not reengineer but go gradual on improvements?
• How do you rate yourself as a result focused person and why?
• Are you a deadline and timeline conscious person and how do you make sure that they are met?
• Do you like to take the challenges involved in fire fighting or would you rather be more cautious and eliminate such emergencies?
• Have you worked on any cross-functional project? What were your experiences on it as compared to a purely internal or departmental project?
• Do you believe in internal customer care concept? Would you still help the next-in-line department if because of your cooperation it is going to steal the show? Do you any such example from your past experience?
• Do you have at the back of your mind somewhere the requirements of you ultimate external customers? Does your approach to work get guided by it? Can you illustrate the point in light of your experience so far?
• How do you rate yourself as a decision maker? Can you describe any decision making situation where you were at cross roads; a dilemma situation, and you came out as a winner?
• Tell us about a situation where you goofed in decision making? How did you handle it then?
• Can you construct your decision making process and share with us? Take your time to think and then tell us.
• Are you the type of person who wishes to have a 100% correct decision and in the process may miss out on time lines or budget limits etc or will you take a chance to meet the other factors? In either case, tell us why?
• Suppose you take a considered decision in a situation where others are shying away from any commitment but it is important to take decision and it backfires. Do you display courage, own it and face the consequences or do you manipulate an apology or play a blame game or play politics and get scotfree?
• Continuing from the earlier question, then, what is right in an hierarchical formal organizational situation where every one's authority areas are earmarked, yet decisions are not forthcoming?
• Can you confidently communicate with your superiors your professional ideas? Do the persons high up in the organization hierarchy intimidate you?
• If you are confident and at ease in dealing with superiors, what have you done to build up this kind of confidence?
• How do you update your knowledge and skills? Do you have any specific approach to it? Can you elaborate it?
• Describe your problem solving process.
• Which do you prefer, attend to the problem and give an immediate short term solution so that things move on or would you wait on solving the problem until you have eliminated it from the grass root level?
• Do you encourage participation of your team members or do you push your decisions through them? Provide some examples to illustrate your style.
• In building consensus on a solution to a complex problem, have you faced any difficulties? What were they? How do you manage?
• Do you see the conflicts in your day-to-day work among the people and of people with you? What is your conflict management style?
• Can you describe your conflict handing process? Give an example.
• Do you lose your cool or get angry or frustrated when you get into a conflict with some one? How do you act?
• Did you ever have significant difference of opinion with your boss? What was it? How did you deal with it?
• Has it ever happened with you when your basic values were put to test in an organizational situation. What did you do?
• In your previous jobs, did you work with great teams? Give an example and why do you consider that to be a great team? What was your role and contribution in making it so?
• What are your proposals for development of people working for you? Have you tried some of them?
• What are your leadership qualities? Do people work for you with enthusiasm by taking initiatives? Then, you must also be delegating lots?
• Sometimes it happens that if you work for perfection or 100% quality, you may lose an opportunity, time is of essence. Would you rather push an imperfect product or solution so as to make the most of the opportunity? What's you take on it?
• Are you a good implementer, an action person? Are you also a good thinker and planner? What is more important for you? Why?
• Can you narrate the problems you faced in implementing any solution that you recently introduced? How did you tackle them?
• Tell us something where you applied your creativity and met with a breakthrough.
• What kind of creativity systems or techniques do you use with your team?
• Do you encourage borrowed or copied creativity or you only appreciate something originally done? Why?
• Can you sell your concept, ideas and solutions to others who matter? Share your experience with us on this.
• How do you rate yourself as a presenter? Are your presentations appreciated by your audience? Can you tell us the kind of feedback you get from them on your presentation?
• Do you have any experience of conducting or coordinating the meetings, either in a room or using teleconferencing facilities? Give one such example and how did the meeting go on various counts?
• You have been assigned a project but you have not been given a clear picture of it; its pretty hazy. Can you still proceed and complete it? Did you do something like this in your earlier jobs?
• In the event when some information is just not available, does the lack of information bother you? Can you work in ambiguous situations? Do you have such an experience to share with us?
• Are you open enough to share your part of information in a team situation or in a cross functional project? Perhaps keeping that information up your sleeve till emergencies arise can be a way to gain importance. Your comments?
• Are you a person who first sees the big picture of things and then go into details or do you do it the other way round? Can you give an example from your work situation.

(You can download eBook "Competencies and Competency Matrix" from http://nbuu.co/cm)

Read "Management Anecdotes" authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

You may also like to read short articles on "Out of Box Ideas" at: http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Overdoing Competencies Is Bad

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

(You will benefit more if you also read all of my previous write-ups on this site and also read about Shyam Bhatawdekar Effectiveness Model- HSoftware at http://humansoftware.blogspot.com/).

(If you wish to read or listen to the audio of the long article written by me on this subject covering all the posts I published here, please refer URL: Life Management: Competencies
http://knol.google.com/k/shyam-bhatawdekar/competency-matrix/6txz9nck6g3/4)

Excess Is Bad

We know that excess of anything or excess of everything is bad. It is not any different with competencies or skills. Whether it is a hard skill or a soft skill, too much indulgence in it or overdoing that competency can prove to be harmful to self and others, particularly your associates. Mastery over skills is OK but obsession with it and therefore, overdoing it can mean difficulties.

This point will become more clear if I give a few examples.

An over organized person or a person who is really great in planning things can be a very competent person till he starts overdoing it. The moment he starts overdoing it, he may lose sight of other things. He may become too rigid and structured and less tolerant to continuous and quick changes or unavoidable chaotic situations many times prevalent in real life situations. He may also be pretty divorced with the human element; he may not be comfortable associating with people who are otherwise good and efficient but little less organized in his opinion. With this lopsided weight on planning and organizing he loses his overall balance and becomes overall less competent.

Another example that comes to my mind is that of an over confident person. Such a person when he starts overdoing or overusing his self confidence, starts behaving as if he is a know-all type. In the process, he stops listening others' views or feedback and thus, deprives himself of good ideas, suggestions and recommendations of others around him. In many cases, he may even hurt other people due to his arrogance resulting out of display of his over confidence. These people, then, may not be comfortable associating with him. Overall he is at disadvantage despite being confident.

Persons having mastery over listening skills or interpersonal skills and in turn, overdoing these competencies may have a tendency to be goody goody all the time. They may use more time than really necessary for people's participation in decision making. Too much listening or even avoiding conflicts or unpleasant situations most of the times in order to maintain great interpersonal relationships may seem to make them look too accommodative and at times, even weak. In emergencies, they may find it difficult to take control of the tough aspects of the situations on their own and the things may slip up.

So, with this discussion, it is easy now to realize that while a good grip and mastery over the skills or competencies are a must, too much indulgence in them or obsession with them or overdoing them may disturb the overall balance between various competencies that are required in order to accomplished various tasks.

Here is the word of caution. While it may not be a good idea to overdo a skill or a competency, it is also important not to compromise or lose integrity in practicing a competency or skill. The two are not the same and should not be confused for one another.

(You can download eBook "Competencies and Competency Matrix" from http://nbuu.co/cm)

Read "Management Anecdotes" authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

You may also like to read short articles on "Out of Box Ideas" at: http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Proficiency Levels of Competencies

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

(You will benefit more if you also read all of my previous write-ups on this site).

(If you wish to read or listen to the audio of the long article written by me on this subject covering all the posts I published here, please refer URL: Life Management: Competencies http://knol.google.com/k/shyam-bhatawdekar/competency-matrix/6txz9nck6g3/4#)

In one of my previous posts here, I mentioned about competencies or skills having four levels of proficiencies. According to the proficiency level, a person can be classified as:

1. Unconsciously incompetent (or ignorant or almost ignorant)
2. Consciously incompetent (or learner)
3. Consciously competent (or conscious practitioner) and
4. Unconsciously competent (or master)

Every professional requires a mix of number of skills or competencies. Some are his core competencies and others are subsidiary competencies. Now he should be at unconsciously competent level of proficiency in his core competencies i.e. he should have mastery over those competencies. However, being less than having mastery in other subsidiary competencies will not make him a lesser professional since those are only subsidiary or supporting competencies. And he is already perfect in core competencies required for his job.

For example, a vocal singer should be really good at singing though he may not be really all that good at playing the musical instruments. He will still be OK with possessing just about some degree of competencies in some musical instruments. That will help. Or he should be just about somewhat good at communicating with the audience though he may not be the best speaker.

Therefore, it will be a good idea to analyze the core competencies and other supporting competencies that you would need for doing your job effectively. Having done that, you must work out the levels of proficiencies you will like to achieve in each of these competencies.

In most of the corporate organizations, you may find that each of the competencies that is required in that organization is divided into say, 4 or 5 proficiency levels. Each organization will decide and design on the number of these levels and define these levels for each competency or skill, for both- the soft skill or hard skill- as per its specific needs. It will be peculiar for each organization. Yet, just to illustrate, in a generic way, the definition of each level for each competency may look like this:

Level 0: Ignorance: no knowledge or skill proficiency in that particular area or type of competency.
Level 1: Some familiarity and some skill proficiency: but cannot function independently or apply it effectively.
Level 2: So so or average working knowledge and so so or average skill proficiency: can function fairly independently and can apply with reasonable effectiveness.
Level 3: Strong working knowledge and strong working skill proficiency: seldom needs to consult or ask others for guidance or advice in this area and can apply very effectively.
Level 4: Expert knowledge and expert skill proficiency: has mastery over the area, has detailed and in depth knowledge and understanding, master craftsman skill proficiency wise, can apply with tremendous effectiveness and is sought after for advice and guidance by others when they are not in a position to solve the problems.

Having done this, then, for each job position, the organization fixes the level of proficiency of that particular competency that the incumbent who would occupy that position should possess. For example, if a job position requires 2 core competencies C1, C2 and 3 supporting competencies S1, S2 and S3, the organization may specify their proficiency levels as, may be, highest level 4 for core competency C1, level 3 for C2 and lower levels like level 2 for supporting competencies S1 and S2 and level 1 for S3. When the organization recruits a person to fill up this particular job position, the interviewers will like to check up whether the interviewee has these 5 required competencies at the required proficiency levels.

(You can download eBook "Competencies and Competency Matrix" from http://nbuu.co/cm)

Read "Management Anecdotes" authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

You may also like to read short articles on "Out of Box Ideas" at: http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/

Soft Skills Are Important though Difficult to Learn and Master

(Refer our High Quality Management Encyclopedia at: http://management-universe.blogspot.com/)

(You will benefit more if you also read all of my previous write-ups on this site).

One can master writing a code in a particular computer language, one can master playing tennis or basket ball or golf, one can master a specific classical dance, one can master singing, one can master acting, one can master cooking a recipe, one can master judo, kung fu or karate, one can master painting, one can master opening and assembling a machine or equipment but mastering soft skills is very very difficult. People work for hours and months and years to acquire, learn, practice and master these hard skills or technical skills or external skills.

However, most people don't even appreciate that there is something to learn and practice and master in soft skills. For most people, the soft skills just happen, you don't have to learn them. They think that some people are good at them because they are gifted with them as if it's out of some genetic or psychic determination. And then they say, "He is naturally good in maintaining great relationships with people, I just can't be doing that; I am just not cut out for it. I generally mess up my relations with many people". "He is a born speaker, I am not that talented". "He has a way to negotiate to resolve conflicts, I create more problems". These expressions are not mere cliches, people say them with all their seriousness and sound a bit pathetic and diffident towards themselves that they can't be so good at these things.The truth is that there is hardly any genetic or psychic determination here. The people good at soft skills have mastered soft skills by working at them for hours and years together.

A child learns to communicate (soft skill) when he is around one year of age and it does not happen to him automatically. The child has tremendous desire to learn speaking and then he puts tremendous efforts in developing his vocabulary of words, phrases and sentences with body language, gestures and grunts. And as the child grows over the years he picks up the right ways of speaking as well as the wrong ways of speaking. When he does with the right kind of things, he speaks well and impresses but if he does with wrong things, he derates. The one who keeps correcting and practices more and more the right ways of speaking becomes a good and effective speaker. The one who does not correct himself and does not learn the right ways of speaking falls behind in the soft skill called "speaking". So soft skill is necessarily an outcome of the desire-knowledge-practice-habit model described earlier.


Read "Management Anecdotes" authored by Shyam Bhatawdekar at: http://management-anecdotes.blogspot.com/

You may also like to read short articles on "Out of Box" ideas at: http://wow-idea.blogspot.com/