The Management Development Questionnaire (MDQ) is a tool for assessing the skills and competencies of managers and professional staff. It is based upon extensive research exploring the skills required to be a successful manager in today’s economy and business climate. Because of its unique feedback report, it is especially suited for coaching and training executives and managers.

One major use of the MDQ is for staff development because it is designed to help managers better understand their strengths and weaknesses and identify areas for self-improvement. The MDQ can also be used to assess the self-perceptions of job candidates by providing feedback on those skills necessary for successful managerial performance.

The MDQ is comprised of 160 short behavioral statements that the test taker rates on a five-point agree-disagree scale.

What the MDQ Measures

The MDQ competence model measures five global management competencies. Each competency can be broken down into four constituent components:

	Managing Change Initiative Risk Taking Innovation Flexibility and Adaptability		Planning and Organizing Analytical Thinking Decision Making Planning Quality Focus
	Interpersonal Skills Oral Communication Sensitivity Relationships Teamwork		Results Orientation Achievement Customer Focus Business Awareness Learning
	Leadership Authority and Presence Motivating Others Developing People Resilience

MDQ Report

A test taker's assessment on each of the 20 competency scales is presented as a sten score. A report is generated explaining their meaning and the implications they have for a manager's functioning. Each report is comprised of the following sections:

	Introduction & Summary The first section of the report describes the purpose and format of the report and gives a summary of the candidate’s profile based upon the candidate’s scores on each of the meta-competencies.
	Competence Profile This consists of narrative descriptions of each of the meta-competencies and then describes the pattern of competence dimension scores.
	Belbin Team Roles The section of the report provides a description of the candidate’s profile on each of Belbin’s well-known team roles presented in order of strength.
	Learning and Development The final section of the report is designed to help candidates identify their own strengths and weakness.

The MDQ is a solid evaluation tool for managers and professionals in supervisory or leadership roles, and its flexibility allows it to be deployed in both selection and development settings.