Top Skills For Managers

Even though every industry has its own set and desired skills for managers, there are skills that every manager should possess regardless of the industry. In order to perform their duties to their level best, the managers should have certain attributes. Possession of these skills aids the mangers in performing their executive duties, solve problems within the organization, and manage crisis and conflicts.

As a manager, one is involved in organizing, controlling, leading, and planning and in order to perform such tasks then they need several skills. One can acquire management skills through experience as they work as managers and through learning.

Managers should regularly take part in learning new skills. This can be through both long term and short-term training courses. For instance, a manager may be efficient in his or her job but unable to manage change within the organization. In such scenarios one should take part in a short term training on change management.

According to Robert Katz, management skills fall into three major categories that is conceptual skills, technical skills, and interpersonal or human management skills.

1.Conceptual Skills

Conceptual skills are the aptitudes that enable a person to more fully comprehend complicated situations and produce original answers. These abilities are beneficial from a management standpoint because persons who possess them can tackle challenging work situations in a variety of different ways.

Your business will face issues that call for inventive and creative methods of thinking regardless of the industry in which it works. Conceptual abilities are most advantageous to the organization in these circumstances. A conceptual leader is able to process ideas and turn ideas into solutions that are action-driven.

Because they can strategize about prospective scenarios and how to resolve them, strategic leaders are viewed as having conceptual talents.

2.Technical Skills

A lack of technical expertise will provide poor outcomes when it comes to finishing your day activities while simultaneously managing your team, despite the fact that it may not appear relevant to others in management.

Technical skills incorporate basic things like being able to use technology in your role effectively, work effectively with the many software packages needed in your specific setting, and handle other situations that can be related to your job function.

Lower-level managers in particular need to have these abilities because they frequently have to provide training to their teammates.

Below are some of technical skills that a manager should possess:

• Office Skills
• Computer and Digital Literacy
• Technical Writing
• Information Technology
• Project Management
• Data Management and Analytics
• Financial and Accounting Skills

3.Interpersonal or Human Management Skills

Interpersonal management skills are associated with the management of critical social processes within the organization. The human management skills demonstrate a manager's knowledge and ability to collaborate with others.

Working with people is one of the most important management tasks. These abilities will contribute to better performance and motivate employees to achieve greater success. They will also assist them in making better utilization of human creativity in the organization. They are necessary skills for managers at all levels of any organization’s hierarchy.              

Communication skills as well effective public speaking skills are some of the major interpersonal skills that a manager should possess. Strong interpersonal skills are the foundation of success for every major as they enable one to have good communication with the colleagues, customers and others.

The following are some of the interpersonal skills for managers;

Communication skills:

Both verbal and non-verbal communication skills are vital. How we say, what we say. For non-verbal communication what do we communicate without words, what’s your body language, hand gestures, and the tone of your voice. A manager should have excellent communication skills. To learn and improve more on communication skills check our Communication Skills Training.

Listening skills are also part of the communication skills necessary for a manager. Effective listening can rid off any form of misinterpretation, mistakes, and have great influence on the communication process. Take your time to listen to the suggestions, explanations, to answer questions and to comment.

Conflict Resolution

Conflicts within the organization should always be resolved in a timely and efficient manner. People have different ideas and therefore, within a work set up there’s bound to be conflicts and this helps in coming up with great ideas. However, as a manager, you should have the ability to solve conflicts, learn not to overlook or oversee some people over the others

Excellent conflict resolution skills ensures that everyone is satisfied and they all work towards achieving the common goals of the organization.

The following are some of the conflict resolution skills necessary for human management

• Constructive criticism
• Empathy
• Team building
• Teamwork
• Emotional Intelligence: understanding and managing ones and everyone else' emotions
• Negotiation skills: collaborating with others to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome. Although this is a subset of communication, it is frequently regarded as separate.