Are You a Self-Manager?
To determine your self-management initiative, rate each of the following items, from 1 (“Never Do This”) to 7 (“Always Do This”).
| Never Do This | Always Do This | |||||||
| Planning | ||||||||
| 1. | I plan out my day before beginning to work. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2. | I try to schedule my work in advance. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 3. | I plan my career carefully. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 4. | I come to work early to plan my day. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 5. | I use lists and agendas to structure my workday. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 6. | I set specific job goals on a regular basis. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 7. | I set daily goals for myself. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 8. | I try to manage my time. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Access management | ||||||||
| 1. | I control the access subordinates have to me in order to get my work done. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2. | I use a special place at work where I can work uninterrupted. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 3. | I hold my telephone calls when I need to get things done. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Catch-up activities | ||||||||
| 1. | I come in early or stay late at work to prevent distractions from interfering with my work. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2. | I take my work home with me to make sure it gets done. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 3. | I come in on my days off to catch up on my work. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Emotions management | ||||||||
| 1. | I have learned to manage my aggressiveness with my subordinates. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 2. | My facial expression and conversational tone are important in dealing with subordinates. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 3. | It’s important for me to maintain a “professional” manager-subordinate relationship. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| 4. | I try to keep my emotions under control. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
Scoring Key:
Higher scores mean a higher degree of self-management. For the overall scale, scores of 100 or higher represent high scores. For each area, the following represent high scores: planning, scores of 48 or higher; access management, scores of 18 or higher; catch-up activities, score of 18 or higher; and emotions management, scores of 24 or higher.
Source: M. Castaneda, T.A. Kolenko, and R.J. Aldag, “Self-Management Perceptions and Practices: A Structual Equations Analysis”, Journal of Organizational Behaviour 20, 1999. Table 4, pp. 114-115. Copyright © John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Reproduced with permission.
