SKILLS OF COORDINATING

Skills of coordinating include the capacity to organise one’s own work and to link it with the overall workflow. Coordinating includes attending to several activities simultaneously, prioritising and switching priorities as necessary. It includes interweaving your work programme with the work streams of others. And it includes dealing with unexpected crises, obstacles or interruptions, then efficiently getting the work back on track, preventing further crises.

Spotlight identified three forms of coordination:

C1. Sequencing and combining your own activities – capacity to organise your work by prioritising, switching and refocusing attention, and combining and linking activities

C2. Interweaving activities collectively – capacity to follow up tasks, follow through on undertakings and interlink activities with those of colleagues

C3. Maintaining and/or restoring workflow – capacity to maintain, balance or restore workflow, deal with emergencies, overcome obstacles, or help put things back on track

Points to consider when analysing coordinating skills

• Coordinating skills involve managing work flows and longer-term time lines and deadlines.
• Whilst coordinating their own work, job-holders also need to mesh their activities with those of colleagues and also people such as contractors and suppliers.
• Particular skill is required when working with people who have a different approach to time.
• Finally, there are preventative skills used in foreseeing potential obstacles and averting potential crises.