Thanks to TRUSS we,
the ESRs, had the opportunity to attend a 4 days management course at
UCD in June. It was held by DCM Learning and it was a course after
which you could obtain a QQI (Quality and Qualifications Ireland)
Level 6 Certificate in Project Management. To get this, however, you
need to do self-directed learning after the course and submit two
assessments (one that is more theoretical and one that is more
practical). But I stop here with the boring stuff :)
I really believe
that everyone should take a course similar to this one. No matter if
you are a CEO or an ordinary employee, this can help you to see your
project(s) from a bit of a distance and to try to understand better the people that you are
working with. Without going into details or start talking about the
scope of the course, just let me share with you some points that I learnt from this course:
1. All leadership
styles (directing, coaching, supporting, delegating) may actually be
appropriate and beneficial in particular situations and the
leadership style that is the best to apply in a given situation
depends greatly on the people you want to apply for. Therefore, it is
inevitable to get to know and understand the style/personality of the
people you are working with. Straightforwardly it is also essential
for a leader/manager to be able to adopt their leadership style to
different people and situations.
2. The composition
of a team is just as important (if not more) than the skills of the
individuals in that team. With other words, if you would like to
evaluate somehow the value of a team you cannot just add up the
individual values/skills. The atmosphere, the communication, the
ability to motivate each other, the diversity in the team are things
that can significantly affect the productivity and efficiency of a
team.
3. Even if you may
feel that the time you spend on initiating and planning your project
is just wasted, it is totally not. It is essential to understand the
reasons why the project has to be done, why you are capable of doing
it and so what your main objectives are. This may take much more time
that seems to be reasonable to you at the first glance, but if these
questions are well discussed and answered, your life will be much
easier afterwards...
+1. It was just
incredibly refreshing to learn and think about things that are not
technical stuff. I think it should be obligatory to take a course out
of your field, let's say, once in a year at least. Especially when
you are doing a PhD, and in most of your time you are focusing on one
topic, one objective, one goal, one project. Of course you can just
take up a new hobby, and you will have much more fun probably than
doing a course of anything but the key here is more the combination
of learning something new, focusing 100 % on something different
than your usual work, working on widening your perspectives in
work/life and rediscovering your creativity, curiosity and skills
that you do not actually need in your present work (and so you may have actually forgotten about having them...). Thinking about
this latter, it may also be a good chance to boost your self-confidence and recover your motivation.
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