UNIT 3. ON-THE-JOB LEARNING
15ADV. UNIT 3. ON-THE-JOB LEARNING
1. IDENTIFYING KEY COMPETENCIES
1) KEY COMPETENCIES
Strategic orientation - ability to make decisions about the company's future direction
Good managers have strong strategic orientation.
Go beyond single projects or products to understand the bigger business picture, and use this understanding to inform all ideas and decisions.
Communication skills
Communication skills are key for any manager.
Develop and maintain effective channels of both intra- and inter-team communication, facilitating discussion between team members and departments.
Leadership qualities - processing the skills and experience to lead a team
The director has shown great leadership qualities.
Set an example through the quality of your work, take responsibility for your decisions and their results, and identify strengths and weaknesses in team members, being proactive in helping them improve.
Domain knowledge - detailed understanding of a specific area
Domain knowledge can be passed on via training.
Have a solid understanding of sales and marketing principles and approaches, and demonstrate a clear and detailed insight into key markets and customers.
a detailed insight - the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing
a detailed insight - the capacity to gain an accurate and deep intuitive understanding of a person or thing
Product expertise - in-depth knowledge of what the company makes or sells
Everyone on the team must gain product expertise.
Have a thorough knowledge of the company's product lines, target demographics and competitors, and update this knowledge on an ongoing basis.
a thorough knowledge - complete with regard to every detail
a thorough knowledge - complete with regard to every detail
Data-driven mindset - using data and facts to inform decisions
A data-driven mindset enables better decisions.
Use data, rather than intuition or feeling, to help you understand situations, their identifying causes, and to help inform your decisions.
Successful sales managers often share a common set of competencies. They have strong strategic orientation and always align themselves with their company's priorities. They have solid domain knowledge accumulated through years of working in the field, which helps them quickly adapt, even in an entirely new industry. They are also quick learners, able to acquire product expertise after taking over a new product or product line. At the same time, good sales managers don't rely too much on their intuition, but take a data-driven approach to making informed decisions. Leadership qualities , shown in the management of their team or department, are also key aspects of their success.
2) STATING LEVELS OF CONFIDENCE
| Levels of confidence | ||||||||||||||||||
| Here are some phrases to describe different levels of awareness and confidence in a specific area. | ||||||||||||||||||
| For what you know very well, you can say: I know the company's products inside out.
You can use comfortable in or comfortable with to describe a high level of confidence in something. I'm pretty comfortable with being in charge of projects.
When you have some knowledge in an area but not enough, you can say:
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If I'm not wrong, I'll plan the sales strategies.
If I understand correctly, we run weekly meetings?
Where do I come in during this process?
I'm a little bit uncertain as to my role here.
2. ESTABLISHING A SUPPORT NETWORK
1) MAKING INDIRECT REQUESTS
| Making indirect requests | |||||||||
| You probably know that you can use continuous forms with verbs like think and consider to make your intention sound less forceful. Notice how past continuous sounds slightly softer than present continuous. I'm considering running training for you guys on sales techniques. I was thinking about raising our sales target. I was thinking I could join in a mingle activity or something. I was thinking about joining some training. You can also use this structure to make indirect requests.
I was wanting to establish a support network in the office. I was wanting to make more friends in the company.
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2) TAG QUESTIONS FOR CONFIRMING
| Tag questions for confirming | |
| Tag questions are useful for confirming information. Generally, the rule is to follow a positive statement with a negative tag, and vice versa. There is an IT department, isn't there? I don't need to do the training myself, do I? We'll be informed if there is a change of training schedule, won't we? I can't take more than one hour for the lunch break, can I? We have IT support staff, don't we? I don't need to use a key card to enter the office, do I? In everyday speech, it's quite common to hear people use tag questions that don't follow the 'standard' structure. Notice in these examples that both the initial verb and the tag are positive: So I'll need to talk to Elaine if I want to get my personal locker, will I? So I can just message him when I've got tech issues, can I? We have regular office outings, do we? We should report any broken equipment to the office manager, should we? There are office socializing events where I can meet new people, are there? There are regular office happy hours, are there? I should talk to Jane about my locker, should I? I can get my business card printed, can I? |
3) SUMMARIZING POSSIBLE ACTIONS
| Summarizing what you should do | |
| When you receive a lot of information at once, it's a good idea to summarize it and confirm what your next actions should be. Notice you can use the modal verb would to talk about possible actions and results. You're saying the best person to talk to about getting a locker would be Elaine. You were saying that I shouldn't spend too much time in the staffroom? You were saying the one to talk to would be Jo? You were saying that the best thing to do would be to join a sports club? You've also mentioned that Kitty from HR is the organizer of the happy hour? You've mentioned that I might want to stay away from Jake? You've mentioned that Kate from HR organizes it. In other words, the best thing to do would be to message Cleveland directly? In other words, I should try to get my locker so I can keep my stuff safe? In other words, the best time to get their help would be in the afternoon? In other words, everyone needs to walk past reception? What I should do is just go downstairs and ask her if I can help out. What I should do is go to the reception and ask. So if I want to meet people, what I should do is hang out at the cafeteria? By talking to Elaine, I would also get information about upcoming office events? By finding them in the morning, I'd get my computer fixed sooner? By speaking to Ben, I'd learn about all the teams? So by talking to Jake, I would know where to get my entry card? The best time to meet people would be lunchtime? |
3. PUTTING YOURSELF FORWARD
1) OFFERING YOUR IDEAS
A: Well, that's what we're here to figure out.
B: Uh, something that came to mind when I saw the figures was that the new design may not match our target market.
A: Hmm. Interesting thought. Could you go into it in a bit more detail?
B: Well, one thing that struck me was that these new projectors, while smaller than our previous models, are still kind of bulky and heavy because of their material. They don't really fit our target market. For example, the young professionals we're aiming for may need to travel with the projector.
| Offering ideas | |
| One way to offer your ideas is to start with something that or one thing that, to get the other participants' attention. | |
| Notice the phrasal verbs here that describe the emergence of an idea: come to mind, strike me and come up. Something that came to mind was that it might not match our customer base. An idea that came to mind was to adjust the price One thing that struck me was how bulky and heavy it was. One thing that struck me in my review was cost One idea that came up was whether we should reconsider our sales strategy. Something that came up was the changed market. One way to increase the impact of your idea is to add background information about how you came up with it. Something that came to mind when I was reviewing the design was that it might not match our customer base. One thing that struck me as I looked at the new product was how bulky and heavy it was. It came to mind when I was reviewing the design. |
2) ASKING ABOUT PREVIOUS ACTIONS
| Asking about previous actions | |
| It's best not to be too direct when you ask about what your colleagues have previously done. For example, you can use a passive structure instead of referring to people directly: Has any research been done on the African market? Has any research been done on the new market? Has any market research been done on the growing young professional population? It's always safer if you include additional hedging or softening language, as in the following examples: It doesn't seem like any project has been run to collect our customers' experience using the new projector, is that right? It doesn't seem any project's been run to improve the soft skills of our staff, is that right? It doesn't seem any project's been run, has it? I'm wondering what's been done up till now about improving our brand image. I'm wondering what studies on younger users' behavior have been done so far. I'm curious to know if any research has been done in this area. I'm curious to know if user interviews were done. I'm curious to know if any user interview has been done to determine our product feature. |
3) EXPRESSING WILLINGNESS
| Expressing willingness | ||
| Here are a few effective phrases to convey your willingness to take on a task. I'd be really keen to lead the project. I'd be really keen on interviewing our users. My team would love the chance to investigate the root cause of this problem. My team would love the chance to do this I'd be more than willing to take on the user research. I'd like to put myself and my team forward for solving this problem. You can use the phrase a good fit to emphasize that you're a suitable choice. I think I'd be a good fit for this project. I think we'd be a good fit for this task. Here are ways to downplay your willingness for tasks you don't want to take on or you think you can't handle. I could give it a shot if it's considered really urgent.
I'd be really keen on gaining more understanding on how our customers perceive value in our products, and I'm more than willing to conduct face-to-face interviews or talk on the phone with our users. I think my team is a good fit for this project, as they are all data-driven people and prefer to trust first-hand information. That's why I'd love to push myself and the team forward for this task. As for the new product brainstorming, I feel that would be less productive without more knowledge about our users. I mean , our team could participate if itis considered high priority , but our capacity would be affected.
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4. REFLECTING ON PERFORMANCE
1) REFLECTING IN A JOURNAL
Week 3, Wednesday
Met with Julia and Virginia about the poor sales figures for the new projector. Looked at possible reasons – its weight and size could be one cause, and it seems there haven't been many user studies previously done. Julia suggested looking at various customer bases that matched the new product. I think I'm a good fit for this research project, so I managed to get it assigned to my team.
So, I finally managed to push myself and my team forward, which wasn't as easy as I'd imagined. And I showed some leadership qualities by standing up for myself and getting this opportunity. Hopefully they'll recognize my domain knowledge after this project.
I've found it surprisingly difficult to get the senior managers to trust my ability. I didn't think of it at the time, but what I should have done was to share my ideas more often with them, just casually, so they'd know where I'm at.
| Reflecting in a journal | |
| Every day, different things happen in your work and study. Keeping a journal of key events can provide a valuable record of your performance and progress. It also allows you to look at what you've done from a different, more objective, perspective. | |
| When you're reflecting on your day, it's helpful to guide yourself through a series of questions. Here are a few examples: | |
| What happened today? What was the cause? What was the outcome? | |
| What were today's highlights? What were the setbacks? | |
| What did I do well? What did I not do so well? | |
| What would I do differently next time? What can I practice doing better right now? | |
| As you continue to update your journal, you can add to or remove these guiding questions, depending on which you find useful. Remember to return to previous entries and reflect on whether the suggestions you made at that time are working for you now. What can I practice now? - I can ask Jenny to help me role-play the conversation. What happened today? - There was an important sales meeting. What can I do differently next time? - I'll state my comments earlier to help people focus. What highlights did I have? - My manager said my update email was very professional. What was the cause? - They didn't understand. Maybe I didn't explain myself well. I think I explained the benefits well, and Robert seemed to have got my points. I tried to convince Robert that we should understand what other team are doing. He seemed open to the idea but said time is the main issue. I didn't think of it then, but what I should have done before talking to Robert was to think about how to gain knowledge about the other teams more efficiently. | |
2) DESCRIBING HOW YOU'RE ADAPTING
| Describing adaption | |
| Adaption, or getting used to a new environment, can be challenging. It's helpful to let others know how you're getting on. If you found something easy to learn, a nice way to say that is: I got the hang of all of our product lines quite easily. When the adaption has taken some effort, you can use phrases like these: It's taken me a while to understand the concept of strategic orientation. It's taken me a while to understand the strategy. I've finally managed to push our team forward in meetings. You may have over- or underestimated the effort it would take to get used to something: I've found it surprisingly difficult to engage in a discussion with people from different time zones. I've found it surprisingly hard to run meetings. I've finally managed to push our team forward in meetings, which wasn't as easy as I'd imagined. I got the hang of all of our product lines quite easily, which came as a big surprise. It's rather simple, which came as a big surprise. I had never done anything like it, so it was hard at first, which was expected. I got the hang of the company's strategies quite easily, which came as a big surprise. I thought it would have taken much more time. I found it surprisingly easy to communicate with senior managers. I thought it'd take me a while to get used to talking to them. I've finally managed to understand the company structure, which wasn't as easy as I expected. I think I've finally managed to prove my domain knowledge to my colleagues, which wasn't as easy as I'd imagined . It'd actuallytaken me a while to find the opportunity to push myself forward. On the other hand, I got the hang of our current market status quite easily, which came as a big surprise. But it's surprisingly hard to find someone who wants to have sushi for lunch with me! |
3) PLANNING IMPROVEMENTS
| Describing ways to improve | |
| After reflecting on your performance, you might come up with some ways to improve it. You can describe things you would have done differently in the past: I didn't think of it then, but what I should have done was create an online shared space. I didn't think of it then, but I should have left. You can look to the future: So, one thing I need to do is reassess how I approach people with more experience than me, so I can improve my communication. Next time, when I'm having a meeting, I should also be keeping in mind that I represent my whole team. Next time, I should be planning ahead. So one thing I need to do is reassess my skills. If you're not sure your idea will work, you can express yourself more tentatively: I don't know if it's going to be any faster, but next time I might just book a meeting with someone who's got the knowledge. I'm not sure it'll be any better, but I might try. |
I wasn't able to convince the director today that we need to spend some time understanding what other teams are doing. I didn't think of it then, but what I should have done before that meeting was look at how we have interacted with other teams before and why it did or didn't work out. So, one thing I need to do is reassess how I make my arguments so I can get more buy-in from others. Next time, before I talk to someone,I should be thinking about how my idea would benefit this person. And I don't know if it's going to help much, but I might also need to record myself and see if I use language that may sound pushy to others
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