Managing
Managing is about organizing and executing necessary tasks and functions that will make a group of people successful. An effective manager is a selfless person that posses strong interpersonal skills and is focused on achieving realistic outcomes that have the team’s best interest in mind.
My Experience:
I currently work on the Product Strategy and Communications team for Texas A&M Information Technology alongside two other student workers and ten full-time employees. This year I was the student worker project lead for our cyber security awareness month campaign, which is our largest project of the year. As project lead, it was my responsibility to delegate tasks to the other student workers and remind the other team members of upcoming deadlines. This role was initially quite challenging, as I was essentially responsible for reminding my bosses and other full-time employees to finish their work on time and ask my student co-workers to put off their projects and help with the security campaign since it was higher priority.
However, by holding this project lead/project manager position, I learned the importance of respect: People will respect you if you respect them. The team was more than happy to contribute and do their part, as long as I asked in a considerate, non-demanding manner. This concept was exceptionally important when I communicated with my bosses. Since they have numerous responsibilities, they genuinely appreciated the emails and reminders I sent them about upcoming deadlines, as long as I was polite and not too demanding. I also learned the importance of time management among myself and in regards to other people when delegating tasks. As team manager, I had to set aside time each day to accomplish my own tasks and track the progress of the rest of the team. The other student workers were more than happy to provide additional assistance, as long as it was within a reasonable time frame. Therefore, I allocated the responsibilities based on time availability and knowledge, skills, and experience.
What I Learned:
By managing this security project, I learned the importance of understanding co-workers and their current situation. I also learned how to respect others and communicate in an effective manner when delegating specific tasks duties. Being an effective manager is not only crucial in a team or job setting, but also in my everyday life such as managing my time and managing personal relationships with friends and family. Overall, I believe the key aspect in managing is to focus on reaching your goal by effectively utilizing your resources and communicating effectively.