How to Become a Mini Manager: The Foundational Skills of Management 

By Megan Fritche, LIS 240 Fall 2022

Best friend: I am so glad you’re done with class this semester, so we have more time to hang out! What even was that management class you were in like? What did you learn about, like how to manage things?

Me: Yeah, kind of, “managing things” incorporates a lot, though. We created a strategic plan and learned about what makes a corporation successful and what makes them fail. We also had to work with peers in the class and learn about collaboration and creating deadlines and expectations. We also did this test at the beginning of the semester that told us our strengths.

Best friend: That’s actually pretty cool. Can you explain what the strategic plan is and how did the group project go? I know you usually don’t like them.

Me: Yeah, so a strategic plan is creating goals that your corporation wants to achieve and creating a step-by-step process to reach those goals. It takes into consideration things like funding and staffing. When we made our strategic plan, we based it on Genovia from Princess Diaries, so we really had to get creative and start from the ground up when creating our corporation and the goals we wanted to achieve. I actually loved working with my group members, it was a really good opportunity to get involved with teamwork, and we learned a lot about team management. 

Best friend: Do you think you could be a manager after taking this class?

Me: I know there is a lot more to learn about managing, but I do think I know the foundational skills of managing an organization, and if I needed to, I would know what to do!