subject: Management Skills - The Path To Achievement [print this page] Long gone are the days when managing businesses was considered an easy task, the requirements to run a business were low, the expectations weren't as high, there was hardly any competition and most importantly the customers were less demanding. However, things are much more complicated in today's world. The rapidly changing environment calls for constant upkeep to stay in business or one loses market position. At such times the question that comes to mind is how? With the complications raised due to the fast paced world, which is now more of a global village, one has to deal with a diversified customer base. In such circumstances, management is key. A business must have good management in order to direct its employees to results. Managers that are lacking basic skills lead to a disaster of the overall productivity level of the company due to mismanagement.
It is a common practice for managers to be highly controlling and demanding, thinking that this control would help attain higher profits, what they must understand is that the secret to success not dictatorship but good leadership. The first most important skill needed to be a manager is to be a good leader. Leading people, explaining the vision and directing employees in the right direction not only helps in achieving targets but also gains respect for the manager. Empowering the employees, having confidence in what they do, while providing guidance when needed makes the manager a highly-regarded individual. Management is the art of planning, organizing, leading and controlling an organization to reach goals. In order to carry on the proper functions of management, a manager must possess the following skills:
Technical skills
Personal time management skills
Presentation skills
Human related skills
Communication skills
Organizational skills
Technical skills:
The manager must be proficient in the specialized field. A good knowledge base of what needs to be done and how it's carried out is vital. The range of techniques that are considered essential for the job to be performed professionally should be mastered before joining a management position.
Time management skills:
It is said that time is money, and when it's wasted, one not only wastes precious hours that could have been put to work but also leads to wastage of resources. Rushes to meet last minute deadlines, unproductive work hours, and useless meetings are all examples of bad personal time management. The fundamental principle of personal time management is to achieve deadlines in an efficient and effective manner. This can be done by eliminating wastage, pre-planning for meetings, monitoring projects, allocating time appropriately according to task's importance and planning things well ahead in time to guarantee target achievement.
Presentation skills:
Management is the skill of achieving completion of work assigned to the employees. The best way to communicate objectives is via presentations, which furnish a good platform to be together to examine the plan of action. It's important to identify what needs to be communicated through the presentation; formulating the objectives and constructing the structure of the speech are skills that are looked-for in a manager. While presenting, the manager must get a hold of the employee's attention, have proper use of visual aids and form a good impression.
Human related skills:
One of the most crucial skills needed to be a successful manager are skills related to managing people. Whenever people work together, there are bound to be issues that need to be resolved. Some of these issues are influenced by managers and it's very important that they are influenced positively. For a manager to be liked by his/her employees, the manager must bestow adequate motivation, recognition and responsibility to the employees. The employees should be given reasonable rewards when they achieve a goal or reach targets.
Communication skills:
As a manager, one has to constantly communicate with the employees, conduct meetings, convey their messages resourcefully and provide direction. A manager must ensure that his/her messages are understood, are received on time and there is a two-way communication flowing within the organization. As a supervisor one must not only deliver one's point of view but also acknowledge what others are saying and pay attention to it.
Organizational skills:
If a person is not organized, no matter how smart the person is, he/she will in good time lose their job due to lack of organizational skills. Being organized not only saves precious time but also helps plan and execute them more promptly. Managers are usually bombarded with paperwork and have too much to do. The best way to deal with this is by becoming more organized. Plan ahead, schedule properly, have an effective filing system, maintain a diary, keep the calendar updated and concentrate on details pre-hand.
Being a manager brings about a lot of responsibility on one's shoulder like handling matters suitably, progress business, perform work accurately, administer individuals competently and elevate the pace of work. Mastering the basic skills mentioned in this article makes work trouble-free and makes the manager more effectual proceeding to better management.
