If you thought it is just the elite members at top managerial positions who require the management skillset, you might want to re-think. Management skills, in one way or another, are vital for all kinds of employees across all domains and positions. We will discuss the importance of management skills and more in this blog. Keep reading!
What are management skills?
Simply stated,
Any ability that helps you accomplish a task or deal with people efficiently is a management skill.
It is a misconception that only certain management skills are ‘desirable’. It might be true that Leadership and Organizational Ability are core management skills, but so are Effective communication, Network Building, and Teamwork. So, it must be kept in mind that each skill has its own importance, and it is the right combination of such skills that hiring authorities are looking for while shortlisting candidates.
Now, let us have a look at what these management skills are.
Types of management skills
There is no end to the number of management skills that can be enlisted. However, a broad classification of management skills includes:
- Technical skills
- Conceptual skills
- People management skills
An effective combination of all three broad skills is essential in a sought-after manager. Here are some specific skills that come under these broad categories:
1. Strategic thinking
An organization’s survival and growth are based on the creation and implementation of strong and effective business strategies. Naturally, being able to think strategically and aligning the team’s goal with the organization’s goals is an essential quality expected in a manager.
Strategic thinking means considering the current scenario and planning for the future accordingly.
Naturally, for this, an individual must be technically sharp and have business intelligence to anticipate any kind of problems or threats that may come up. Innovation plays a key role too. To be able to look at the bigger picture and come up with new ways to promote future growth is something that comes naturally to a brilliant strategic thinker.
2. Team building and delegation
In an organization, there’s no room for working solo. Teams are the life force behind the working of a company and ensuring that the team is effective falls upon the team lead. Team building is intimately linked with the delegation of tasks and involves multiple aspects including,
- Selecting candidates with complementary skill sets.
- Allotting key members with major roles and training other members for providing support.
- A chain of command in case a team lead or key member is absent.
- Allotment of tasks keeping in mind each team member’s strengths and weaknesses.
- Delegating optimum workload on each member, neither too less nor too much.
- Keeping all members updated and trained regularly.
- Regular reporting and feedback from all members about work progress.
- Keeping a progressive, win-win environment in the team.
3. Leadership
Where there is a team, there is a leader. In order to operate an organization, strong teams providing efficient working are a necessity. For that to happen, employers are always on the lookout for capable leaders to coordinate and take charge of various teams.
Leadership, however, cannot be learned off books alone. It is an ability that sets a person apart from the herd.
Leadership involves building a rapport with the team. A leader is adept at identifying the key skills in his team members and ensuring that the best possible output is provided. Keeping track of team members’ issues and difficulties, providing timely assistance, suggesting improvement in team coordination and functioning, and most importantly, maintaining the team spirit are all part of a leader’s role.
4. Motivation
Bringing together people with diverse skill sets is no easy task. It requires convincing them to work towards a common goal. When the going gets tough in the form of deadlines or increased workload, the performance of the team tends to fall. Motivation works to raise the team spirit in such cases.
Effective motivation includes stimulating the team through various means to ensure that the team works as one with a common focus. The desire for money, recognition, success, and promotion are some of the best motivators. It falls upon the team lead to identify the best factor that can boost the team’s performance.
5. Troubleshooting and decision making
Problems do not come with a warning, and in a complex organization, there’s no shortage of them. An effective manager must be quick-witted and flexible enough to provide accurate solutions to any problems that may crop up without warning.
Troubleshooting is a skill that develops through experience and careful observation. In addition, the manager also needs to be updated about the history of likely problems and known ways to tackle them in the industry.
Along the same lines, to ensure that workflow does not stop due to any unforeseen event, the leader must be sharp enough to think on his/her feet and make quick decisions. The ability of prompt decision making has its roots in deep knowledge, leadership, and a progressive attitude. If the leader possesses troubleshooting and effective decision making, the progress of his/her team is inevitable.
6. Business communication
In an organization, nothing works without communication. Written (especially, email writing ) as well as verbal communication are essential skills to master. Right communication is the key to securing new businesses and in growing established ones.
Communication also needs to be smooth within the team and between teams. The role of a team leader/manager becomes paramount in this case as it falls upon him/her to act as the central channel of communication. The team lead is also expected to provide mentoring and training regarding efficient communication to the entire team. In fields such as sales, marketing, and customer support, the role of communication skills is above all else.
Related: How to improve communication skills
How to improve management skills?
Yes, there are ways to boost your managerial skills! Here are some definite steps you can follow to improve your key skill sets to help you manage work and business effectively.
1. Participate in events, competitions, and sports
Participation in extra-curricular activities develops your soft skills immensely. You can participate in debates and group discussions to boost your communication skills, or actively participate in sports to strengthen your leadership, team skills, and coordination.
With the help of such activities, you get to develop your interpersonal skills, management skills, and team spirit. You also get to experience healthy competition and a tamer version of the actual competition that operates at the corporate level.
2. Be a part of managing committees or organize events
There is a lot to be learned through the event management process. A lot of skills can be honed, including coordination, communication, teamwork, and leadership by being a part of the managing committees. In addition, one also learns to manage finances and meet deadlines. You can even consider organizing events, personal or professional, to hone your organizational and managerial skills.
3. Volunteer
One of the best ways to develop leadership, communication, and organization skills is to engage in voluntary service with non-profit organizations or groups engaged in constructive social activities. Not only do you get access to working at the organizational level, but this also reflects on your resume and adds points to it.
4. Part-time work and internships
You may speed up your professional skill development even while you are studying by enrolling for part-time work. This will give you exposure to professional life in addition to your study. There are also internship opportunities for freshers, wherein you will not only be trained at a job but will also be able to experience the operation and organization in a company.
5. Professional certifications
These days there are many professional soft skill courses and management skill courses that are available on online portals such as Coursera,Udemy, Alison, etc. Having a professional certification not only goes a long way towards improving your performance, but also acts as a highlighting point in your resume.
6. Periodic self-assessment
You might have developed a great skill set, but it is necessary to keep it upgraded and to ensure that you are using your management skills to their maximum advantage. One way to do that is to keep a tab on yourself. For example, you can take out an hour per week to reflect upon your own performance, individually and as part of a team. You must identify your shortcomings as well as strengths and work towards constant improvement.
Smart ways to indicate management skills in a resume
No doubt you would like to enlist 20 or so skills under your resume subtitle of ‘Management Skills’. However, that won’t help you one bit. You know why? Because there are thousands of resumes having a similar listing of skills on them.
What you need to do is,
Ensure that your resume stands out and that your management skill is actually reflected in the resume, instead of just being an entry in it.
For this, you need to represent your management skill set in a particular way. Here are some useful pointers.
1. Mention only a few skills: Select only a chosen few skills to highlight in your resume, rather than putting in all the management skills you know of.
2. Choose the right skills: Write about only those skills which you are really proficient at. If you put in too many skills, you are liable to be instantly rejected since hiring managers are interested in employees with mastery in a particular skill set.
3. Provide examples: Instead of simply stating the skill, for example, ‘Leadership’ or ‘Effective Communication Skills’, it is better to provide examples from your professional life. For example,
- Mention major projects that you have handled
- Any specific troubleshooting that you may have done
- Training that you might have given, etc.
4. Include skill-based certifications: You can also include any specialized training, online course, or certification that you might have done to acquire these skills. For example, a seminar on leadership skills or a course on core soft skills can be added.
5. Write past achievements: Mention achievements to demonstrate your skill. For example, to elaborate on your result-driven mindset and team building, you can state your past record as Under my tenure as {Team Leader}, the total sales of our team rose from {20% to 45% in the past year}. This would sound far more effective to the person shortlisting your resume, and you will be more likely to be selected.
Related: 21 powerful resume keywords
Remember that,
In the end, the hiring managers stress on ‘action rather than words’.
You are sure to be questioned in the job interview regarding the skills that you have put in your resume. So write about only those skills on which you have relevant examples to talk about so that it makes the best impression on the hiring team.
