301 Principles of Management and Leadership

Unit Overview

301 Principles of Management and Leadership is a unit within the CMI Level 3 module that focuses on improving the leadership capabilities and abilities of leaders. Leaders must have an understanding of different principles that are applicable in exercising leadership capabilities and activities. This involves being able to effectively handle the leadership duties and leading the individuals within the workplace to achieve the desired goals and objectives. Understanding the principles of management and leadership helps leaders to develop the desired standards and styles of leadership and management, which contribute to meeting the needs of the organisation and motivating the employees to achieve optimum performance. Leaders must develop the desired skills in terms of problem-solving, conflict resolution, critical thinking, team building, and performance management through coaching and mentoring. As such, it becomes critical to pursue learning and development activities that are aligned with these learning goals and objectives. It helps to improve their understanding of their roles in achieving organisational goals and objectives.

301 Principles of Management and Leadership is a unit that is designed to provide learners with the required quality of training. The unit focuses on improving the ability of the learners to acquire leading skills and knowledge, which is a requirement of aspiring or practising managers within the organisation. The unit contributes to building the ability of the leaders to focus on achieving the set organisational goals and objectives by impacting the teams. This unit is taught in 33 hours of guided learning and contributes 7 credit values towards the completion of the CMI Level 3 module.

Suitability of the Unit

 301 Principles of Management and Leadership is a unit that provides learners with the relevant training that prepares them for leadership. This unit is designed to provide the learners with training on the relevant approaches to improving their skills in terms of capabilities and skills. It involves preparing the leaders for management and leadership of people and resources within the workplace. The unit is suitable for all leaders within the workplace as it focuses on improving their ability to develop the desired leadership and management styles. These styles present principles and skills that are applicable in promoting the desired levels of performance within the workplace. The learners are supplied with the training and skills to improve their managerial practice and performance within their areas of responsibility.

The unit is designed to meet the learning knees of the first-line managers and supervisors within the workplace. These are individuals responsible for coordinating the activities of several teams within the workplace. The unit provides them with the opportunity to build the skills and knowledge applicable in various areas and contexts of leadership within the workplace. The unit is also suitable for other stakeholders within the workplace. The unit can be used to provide the senior and middle managers with skills to improve their leadership capabilities. It is also applicable to employees and team members who are seeking future leadership responsibilities within the workplace.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the unit, the learners should be able to:

• Understand the governance of different types and forms of organisations.

• understand factors that influence the organisation’s culture

• Show knowledge of organisational mission, vision, and values statements, as well as the role of organisational strategies

• Understand the role of the manager in communicating organisational strategy to individuals and teams within the organisation

• Explain the concept of accountability and authority in the management role and practice

• Show understanding of the legal and organisational frameworks which are applicable in managerial practice within the workplace

• Show an understanding of the differences between management and leadership

• Summarise established management and leadership modules and show knowledge of situations where these modules are applied within the workplace

• Show an understanding of the skills and knowledge required for effective managers

• Understand the behaviours required for an effective manager and the impact of these behaviours on the other stakeholders within the workplace.

Key Learning Areas

301 Principles of Management and Leadership is a unit that focuses on improving the understanding of the different approaches and principles of leadership. The unit, therefore, provides learners with information that helps them to understand leadership and management functions. Some of the main areas of learning include:

Operations in Organisations

This area of learning introduces the learners to different forms of business units, which include sole proprietorship, partnerships, limited liability, and other forms of organisations. They are also guided to understand the role of corporate governance within each form of the unit and how this impacts the performance of individuals and others within the workplace. The area of learning also helps the learners to understand the concept of organisational culture. It covers the organisation’s mission, vision, and values and how these may impact managerial activities and practices.

Management Role

This area of learning helps to prepare the learners for fulfilling their managerial obligations within the workplace. The area of learning focuses on creating opportunities for the learners to understand their legal and ethical responsibilities to the workplace. This involves understanding their role in exercising authority within the workplace to improve efficiency as well as contributing to high levels of performance within the workplace.

Application of Management and Leadership Approaches

This area of learning focuses on ensuring that the learner understands the different theoretical modules that are applicable to leadership and management within the workplace. The learner is also guided to understand the contexts where each module is applicable hence building their ability to develop effective leadership styles.

Competences for Effective Managers

This area of learning focuses on providing the learners with an understanding of principles that can be used in improving the skills of leaders. In this area of learning, the learners are guided to understand skills such as motor skills, interpersonal skills, communication skills, critical thinking, conflict resolution, and other skills that they should develop for effective leadership. They are also guided to understand appropriate behaviours for leaders and the impact of these elements on others within the workplace.

Evaluation

Om completing the unit, the learners are required to master critical theoretical and practical information. The assessment of the accomplishment of organisational goals and objectives is based on a written assessment. Supervised practice and simulated exercises could also be implemented in evaluating the practical skills of the learners.