Module code and title: 7BUSS014W SKILLS OF MANAGER CONSULTANT

MANAGEMENT SKILLS ASSESSMENT BRIEFING

Semester 2 2021 – 22

1st PIECE OF ASSESSMENT – COURSEWORK – WEIGHTED 50%.

Submission date: 14th April, 2022 BEFORE 1PM – lunchtime

Submission: The coursework should be submitted electronically. The link is

available on Blackboard. There will be penalties for work handed in after 1:00pm,

which could include the work being awarded a mark of zero.

Please note that the academic teaching team are not empowered to give

extensions.

Students have two options in the way they are assessed for the management skills part of

this module:

EITHER

A. By interviewing two managers about their career paths into Management and examining the extent to which they follow the model of the Managerial Escalator. A written report of 2,500 words (+/-10%- not including any appendices) should be submitted. Full briefing notes available on the module Blackboard site. If you would like to explore the Managerial Escalator please see the separate briefing note. For all other skills please follow guidelines below

OR

B. By submitting a reflective report of 2,500 words (+/-10%- not including any

appendices) regarding a self-managed learning and/or skills development

plan which they have designed and carried out themselves.

See next page for an explanation of how to go about the skills development.

Management Skills Assessment task

i. Choose a skill from the taught part of the SMC module – or one which you

would like to develop. Discuss your choice of skill with your class tutor to

make sure that is acceptable. See Appendix 1 of this handout for

examples.

ii. Read the recommended reading.

iii. From the reading identify what you understand to be the processes

underlying the skill being developed.

iv. Work out how your skill set matches up with these processes – conduct a

self audit and/or ask a friend or colleague.

v. Explain what processes you used to develop the skill and critique the

effectiveness of this; Ie how effective was the process of developing the

skill you chose?

vi. Choose at least two opportunities to put your use of the skill into action and

summarise the opportunities for using these skills.

vii. What did you do in terms of preparation for putting your use of the skill into

action? What were your intended strategy and objectives? Give a brief

summary of outcomes.

viii. What was the impact of yours and others’ behaviour on the

progress/outcomes of the activities? (v, vi & vii = 40%)

ix. Evaluation of your performance (20%) in terms of the following:

• What you did well?

• What hindered successful outcomes?

• What you will do differently in future?

• What you have learned overall about the skill in question?

x. Write a reflective report of 2,500 words (not including appendices)

summarising the above.

Write up sections (i) – (viii) in report format with an abstract, contents page,

introduction, conclusions, list of reading references. See Supplementary

Reading on the Blackboard Site under Assessment Briefing for more on report

writing, if you are unsure.

Management Skills Coursework: assessment marking criteria

The mark you receive will be influenced by the following:

Criterion

Has the task been carried out as specified above?

Quality of the discussion: is the argument coherent and does it follow a logical structure?

Has the Westminster Harvard referencing system been used correctly?

Use of correct spelling, punctuation and grammar

Title page: Include the word count, the coursework title, the University of Westminster,

the date, your seminar leader name, the module code and title.

Abstract: Include an Abstract, which in practice is the same as an Executive

Summary. It should not be too long but should concentrate on what you found out as

well as what you did and why. It is not the same as an Introduction because an

Abstract should include a brief summary of the findings of the report.

Table of content: Include a table of content at the beginning of your report with page

numbers.

Introduction: A short introduction should introduce the whole report and not just the

topic. i.e. introduce the purpose, the structure of the report (“say what you are going to

say”) and the topic briefly.

Report structure: This can vary from one paper to another. You will need to

include several headings and / or subheadings to cover the outline structure

given in this briefing sheet.

Conclusion: Tie up your arguments in the conclusion – but this is not the place to

include fresh evidence.

Referencing: When you make direct quotes you should put them in inverted comas

and give brief details of the source, including the page number e.g. (Rees and Porter,

2015, p.5). The full reference should appear in the list of references. You can cross

check with examples from Rees and Porter (2015) on how to layout references.

General references to e.g. a book or article do not have to appear in inverted commas.

A bibliography is used for any general works you have used.

Report format: Insert page numbers in your report, use double spacing between the

lines, use a bigger margin on the right, Use font Arial 12 or similar, use formal

language, British English spelling.

Word count: 2,500 words +/- 10% (excluding material in the title page,

abstract, table of content, reference list at the end of the report and

appendices). Word count should appear on front page of the report.

Appendix 1 – Examples of Skills you could develop are listed below.

Please check out your choice of skill with your class tutor.

Disciplinary Handling (Taught on MHR)

Counselling (Taught on MHR)

Delegation and Time Management

Management and Leadership Styles

Skills of Grievance or Appraisal handling.

Chairing and Facilitation Skills