Possessing good management skills is something every organization wants for its employees. Management and leadership can encompass many traits from team-building, communication, problem-solving, time management, and more.
In this article, we are going to share the needed management skills required in the workplace and how workers can develop them.
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What Are Management Skills?
Management skills are the leadership abilities that allow you to effectively manage people well. This can include communication, decision-making, crisis management, problem-solving and more.
Having management skills is a valuable asset and these skills are great for all workers to have, regardless of position.
Management skills can be acquired through personal experience and training.
You’ll often face situations in the workplace where you’re working with others and troubleshooting problems. This is an opportunity to use your skills to overcome those challenges.
Once you have management skills, you’ll understand how to work with and lead people better, you’ll be a strong communicator and have a foundation to be a strong leader.
Why Are Management Skills Important?
Management skills are important because with these skills, they create the basis for a strong leader. Leaders are needed in organizations to lead and direct people.
You’ll be able to influence, motivate, inspire, and keep workers engaged. This can offer a wealth of benefits to an organization, like:
- Better performance
- Happier, more engaged employees
- Less turnover
Understanding how the team works and inspiring them to perform to their best abilities is tough. A good manager understands the language of their team, they can work with people one-on-one and in team settings, goal-planning and setting the example they want others to follow.
Did you know that 75% of companies struggle with overwhelmed employees?
Overwhelm can lead to increased stress and burnout. Good managers can spot this and take action to support the team so “workaholics” aren’t created.
At the end of the day, the organization wants a well-performing team with workers that are happy, engaged and have low stress. Top managers can help cultivate this kind of work environment. These 9 management skills are essential for top managers to have.
9 Of The Essential Management Skills
These are the most essential management skills to possess as a manager in the workplace.
1. Communication
Communication is one of the top interpersonal skills essential for good managers to have. You’ll use communication in your job everyday.
Mastering this skill means that you’re an active listener, you have emotional intelligence, you can provide and receive feedback well, you say what you mean and you’re direct and clear in your communication.
Communication is a big part of working with people. It’s a major building block for talking and working with your team, ensuring your message is clear and understood.
If you already have communication skills, you may be wondering how to list them on your resume. Learn more in our guide on communication skills.
2. Time Management
Time management skills ensure you have the ability to allocate time to activities to ensure you reach your goals and meet deadlines.
It’s about planning, organization, and delegation.
You can see the big picture, allocate resources, people and time to business activities to ensure the work is done effectively, efficiently, and with good results.
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3. Decision-Making
Decision-making skills are vital for managers. On a daily basis, you’ll be faced with decisions that you’ll have to make a choice on.
Making good decisions has an immediate and direct positive outcome on the organization.
Good decisions lead to success and top performance.
These skills are developed over time and they are about using judgment to make the right choice then, being accountable for the decision you make.
4. Delegation
Delegation means that you know how to allocate people, time, and resources effectively to produce the best results for the organization.
You’ll be able to look at the entire project and assign tasks to people to balance the workload, which produces benefits like:
- Effective time management
- Less employee stress and burnout
- Best use of resources
- Optimized productivity
5. Problem-solving
Problems arise in the workplace, sometimes more often than you think. These are things that are just going to happen and good managers are able to face problems head on and come up with solutions.
With problem-solving skills, you will be able to look at the issue from multiple angles and come up with the best way to handle the problem.
6. Coaching
Coaching marries several skills like mentoring, motivation, and communication. Good managers are able to motivate and inspire their team to perform their best work.
You’ll be a good communicator and be able to work well with people. You have the ability to build up your team and you have the skills to coach employees to produce their best output.
7. Crisis Management
Things don’t always go as planned and when a crisis arises, having the ability to manage that and resolve conflicts is crucial.
Crises that come about could be a negative shift in workplace culture, a shortage of materials, a decline in production, a conflict between two or more workers, etc.
If you have crisis management skills, you’ll be able to identify the conflict that exists and use critical thinking and problem-solving skills to come up with a solution.
Having these skills is about being a confident manager, facing challenges head on, and having the ability to see the issue from multiple perspectives.
8. Flexibility
Change happens and it can happen frequently with a company, from shifts in top leadership, work layoffs, expansion of the company, and more.
Having flexibility is about being able to adapt to change well and respond appropriately.
When disruptions happen, they can be challenging. Flexible managers can see this as an opportunity to help their team adapt and lead them into a clear path for the future.
9. Motivation
Motivation is a critical skill to have. This is the ability to get a desired response from others.
For example, workers can be motivated by a bonus, to produce 2X their normal output during a period.
There’s extrinsic and intrinsic motivation.
Extrinsic motivation use outside factors to motivate people, like:
- Money
- Discounts
- Rewards
Intrinsic motivation is the personal satisfaction and joy you get from doing something, like being intrinsically motivated to read a book because you enjoy the subject matter.
There are many approaches you can take toward motivating your team. The right approach will consider your team’s structure, personality, and other factors.
Whatever means you pursue, if you have the ability to motivate others, this influence is top management skill to possess.
How To Develop Or Improve Your Management Skills
Improving your management skills can be accomplished through personal experience and leadership training.
You’ll learn a lot from your day-to-day experience as you come across situations that will test each of these skills. Practice can help you develop your management skills and work toward being a top manager in your workplace.
Leadership training is a great way to develop your management skills. Experts will teach you tactics and strategies to be a better manager including offering opportunities to gain additional experience through role playing, practice scenarios, and other teaching tools.
The Bottom Line
Half the battle is identifying the management skills you already possess and having a desire to further develop your skills to be the best manager possible.
It can be an ongoing work in process but, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
It’s great to continuously try to improve and develop your management and leadership skills. As you build on and acquire new skills, you can add these skills to your resume. If you need help adding to your resume, consider using a resume writing services.
Then, if you find yourself ready to broaden your reach and look for a career with a new company, you can start your job search with ZipRecruiter!
