A project manager plays a key role in the implementation of the strategies of an organisation bythe use of entrepreneurial skills and approaches when responding to new the ever-changing needs and opportunities. However, the operational responsibilities of a project manager that is planning and control are in contrast with the characteristics of an entrepreneur (Spellman, 2011 p 65-71). In line with this contradictory view point, it is of great importance to determine whether managers who poses entrepreneurial characteristics are subjected to the projects that are most successful. Enterprising tendencyon a project manager’s part is correlated with projects that are more successful as well as creativity that is one of the variables that is most relevant (Wilson, 2006 p 65).
Being enterprising is very different from having an ambition of being self-employed. However, an entrepreneur is someone characterized by a certain individuality, creativity, as well as leadership mix. These are vital skills that are increasingly being demanded by all the employers and research organizations, both academic and non-academic. Those project managers who are enterprising have a number of skills, attributes, and behavior in common. Enterprise skills in particular are vital to the wider engagement as well as the impact skills which employers are interested in (Allen, 2006 p 77).
Characteristics of an enterprising manager
Entrepreneurial organisations that are fast growing need employees who possess and show entrepreneurial characteristic and work habits as well. The management of the organisation has to diligently work towards identifying, recognizing, and attracting such kind of employees as they recruit them to ensure there is a steady stream of people with the right quality to fuel the venture towards growth(Spellman, 2011 pp 65-71). Some of the characteristic of the employees who poses highly effective right stuff are as discussed below. The organisation must get an employee who has the ability and capability to deal with risk (Noe, 2013 p28). An entrepreneur has to effectively operate in a field that is full of risks that are dynamic in nature. The desired employee by the organisation must be able to deal with all the risks and uncertainties that may arise within the organization (Noe, 2013 p28). The enterprising manager must be capable of making progress towards goals and able to make critical decisions in case he lacks one or a couple of critical dataresources.
The ‘right stuff’ employee must be result oriented and must be capable of taking ownership in getting a task to be done.The employee must always demonstrate common sense while making decisions and taking actions and is able of gettingthrough problems that divert others and resolving them. Such an employee must have a sound business judgment that is guided by experience, recommendations, and other decision precedents (Wilson, 2006 p 65). Supervisors and other staff of the organisation may fail to agree with the ultimate recommendation that they may have made. Therefore an enterprising manager should always be able to defend or rationalize the decisions that they made by presenting to the other managers their decision criteria. At the minimum, the enterprising manager decision criteria should include a due consideration of the pros and cons of all available alternatives. The enterprising manager choice of alternative must appear reasonable in the light of the situation at hand.
The enterprising manager must possess high levels of enthusiasm and energy. They must be able to achieve output that is higher than what is reasonably expected. They must be fully committed to the organisation’s goals and its success. Such an employee must not only desire to contribute to the organisation’s results, but they need to see the impact of their contributions fast and not measured in years. Enterprising managers tend to seek organisation that seeks and considers their input, giving credit where it is due and point out errors and failures. Enterprising mangers love valuable feedback. Enterprising managers are able to perform effectively under minimal supervision as well as motivate themselves and set priorities with little or no guidance (Spellman, 2011 pp 65-71).
Enterprising mangers must have a high growth potential. They must be able of exceeding their current grasp. They must be ready and willing to accept levels of responsibility that are much higher because than is the norm (Noe, 2013 p28). Enterprising managers must be able to act as a role model who is strong enough for the other employees to emulate upon, trains them, and coaches them. An enterprising manager must be ambitious and willing to stretch, and drive performance.
The enterprising manager must be a team player. Who must be able to recognize how their role in the organisation contributes to the ultimate effort and success of the organisation. An enterprising manager must be accountable for their area of specialization and responsibility and expect others to follow suit. They must also be able to recognize the efforts of the other team members sincerely (Grösser and Zeier, 2012 p 98).This means, that they should praise and acknowledge team members for jobs well done, this will make their team members to feel valued and motivated to achieve whatever tasks they may delegate to them.
The enterprising manager must be able to multitask. This is an ability of the enterprising manager to simultaneously run various tasks. They must be flexible enough to accept duties that are new to her responsibility. They must be able to perform more than one role up to the point where the new assigned duties are assigned and distributed to other employees in roles that are newly defined. They must also be able to carry out tasks that will eventually be performed by lower level employees such as filing, and other office administrative tasks (Gamage, 2006 p 132).
The enterprising manager must be improvement oriented. They should be more than willing to constructively challenge the current existing procedures and systems of the organisation, given that enterprising managers view status quo as temporary(Spellman, 2011 pp 65-71).They should always be exploring changes as well as improvements frequently and encourage the other team members to also do the same.
Enterprise attributes to be developed in young managers
There are some attributes that the organisation has to develop in the young managers that it ought to recruit and train. These attributes are the ones that I believe are the most beneficial to the organisation. They are as discussed below. The young managers must believe in their abilities and develop confidence of handling even the most challenging tasks. This is a great attribute that the organisation should develop in its young managers because many new young managers may not feel confident enough to handle demanding tasks. The organisation needs to make them develop this attribute of self-belief so that they can be able to carry out their duties easily and with confidence (Noe, 2013 p28).
The young new managers need to have a strong sense of autonomy. Therefore, the organisation will need to nurture a sense of autonomy in the young managers. The sense of autonomy will make them able to carry out tasks, make decision without doubting themselves. Autonomy is a vital aspect for any manager so that they can carry out their responsibilities and tasks without any influence. This is because they are to their fullest conscience they know they are accountable in case something goes wrong. Therefore, autonomy will always supplement their confidence in dispensing their duties (Stroup and American Society for Training and Development. 2008 p 21).
The organisation will also have to build its own know-how and work relationship with the new managers. This will help develop a good work environment for the new managers. The last attribute that the organisation ought to develop is the sense of ownership. When the managers have a true feeling of the sense of ownership, they will always perform to their best given that they feel they are carrying out their own duties for their own interest and benefit and are not simply executing the tasks mechanically for the sale of a paycheck. When the managers do not have a sense of ownership, they will always carry out their tasks in a detached way (Mumford and Gold, 2004 p 78).
Training and development of managers.
In the development of its management team, it is important that the organisation recognizes the fact that most employees will always need assistance and training to so they may be able to achieve and fulfil the new roles that they are required to undertake. This is more so when they are being promoted from within the same organisation or even department. The organisation should undertake programs of formal training so that the specialist knowledge of the employees is increased. However, the main support will be probably to help them grow and develop into better and new management roles with ease and confidence (Wilson, 2006 p 65).
There exists a broad training options that are currently available, these include formal courses that run externally or in-house. The internal, though less formal sessions of training may as well prove to be useful, and benefit the individuals from part time college courses, distance learning and on-job training (Valerio, 2011 p 102). To add to the training of defined skills, some considerations should be allowed towards the development of team spirit as well as training managers in flexibility and diversity as well. Exercises of team building can play a vital role in helping the management team to effectively communicate and understand one another better (Schwabenland, 2012 p 85).
List of references
Allen, M. E. 2006. How to develop and maintain quality. Delhi: Lotus Press.
Gamage, D. T. 2006. Professional development for leaders and managers of self-governing schools. Dordrecht: Springer.
Grösser, S. N., and Zeier, R. 2012. Systemic management for intelligent organizations: Concepts, models-based approaches and applications. Heidelberg: Springer.
Mumford, A., and Gold, J. 2004. Management Development: Strategies for Action. Wimbledon: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Noe, R. A. 2013. Fundamentals of human resource management. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.
Schwabenland, C. 2012. Metaphor and dialectic in managing diversity. Houndmills, Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Spellman, R. 2011. Managers and leaders who can: How you survive and succeed in the new economy. Chichester: John Wiley & Sons.
Stroup, J., and American Society for Training and Development. 2008. Create a management development program. Alexandria, VA: American Society for Training and Development.
Valerio, A. M. 2011. Developing Women Leaders: A Guide for Men and Women in Organizations. Hoboken: John Wiley & Sons.
Wilson, J. P. 2006. Human resource development: Learning & training for individuals & organizations. London [u.a.: Kogan Page.
