Guided self-development: an innovative approach to management education and development applied to information systems supervisors

Information systems professionals typically possess significant knowledge and experience in the technical aspects of their jobs, rooted both in formal education and on-the-job practice. As these workers make the transition into managerial positions, they may suffer from a lack of needed management knowledge and skills. The usual approaches to management education -- seminars and on-the-job training -- have serious limitations. This article describes an alternative innovative method for delivering management education: guided self-development, which builds upon the strengths and avoids the weaknesses of the usual approaches. In addition, this article suggests a framework for evaluating outcomes from participating in a guided self-development program. The intended outcomes are to positively affect the participant's cognitive and behavioral knowledge and skills as they relate to managing people. Experience with implementing such a guided self-development program as a university course offering for supervisors of information systems professionals is described. Measured outcomes and feedback received from participants suggest that the approach is worthy of further field examination. Suggestions for future research related to the concept of guided self-development and for implementations of the program in university and organizational settings are offered.