Effective Management Skills

What are the secrets to effective management skills? What makes a manager an effective manager?
If you have been asking the same questions, then this practical guide to effective management skills is your answer. To be an effective manager, whether corporate or nonprofit, a set of particular skills  is needed. This is true in any leadership position from department supervisors to business and office administrators.

Master the Skill of Time Management 

Effective time management is about doing the right things in the right way. The key to successful time management is focusing your energy and your resources on the right tasks; the tasks that help you achieve your goals. Understanding where your time goes and taking control of it means taking control of your career and your life. There are a lot of tools and techniques available to you in order to help you master this skill to perfection.

TIP: A great time management strategy is delegation!

Master the Skill of Decision Making

Decision making and problem solving skills are crucial for effective management. When faced with making decisions and solving problems there's a coherent sequence you can follow: 

1. Define the issue.
2. Collect information.
3. Develop alternatives/ options.
4. Evaluate alternatives/options.
5. Make the decision(s).
6. Implement the decision(s).
7. Follow up and evaluate

TIP: Use group creative thinking to identify alternatives in making decisions and solving problems. Utilize your team's creativity and experience  Brainstorming is a technique that has been around for quite some time, but it is quick, simple and effective. It creates a wonderful space for idea generation in a judgment-free environment. Invite your staff to use imagination without boundaries, don't shut down ideas that may seem unfeasible, there's still value in them. 

Master the Skill of Communication  

Powerful communication is not a hard skill to master. An effective manager communicates  vision, ideas and expectations with power, transparency and simplicity. Effective communication is the tool that connects you with the people around you and facilitates the buy-in process. Communication builds trust, creates resources of shared knowledge, expertise and power. Communication through words makes up less than 10 percent of communication. Body language, posture, tone and facial expressions are considered important elements of communication. The more you are aware of the importance of communication and its components the clearer the message to your people.

TIP: Listening is an important part of communication. Use both your heart and mind to listen! Be open and non-judgmental to the information given to you.

Master the Skill of Team Building:

One big player in a company’s productivity is team morale. If morale is low the staff will perform their job duties sluggishly with an inferior outcome. Effective mangers will be able to motivate their employees through regular meetings, whereby everyone can have a say or express ideas to improve company policy or procedures. Having an open-door policy also boosts staff morale by providing a means to air out concerns or grievances without fear of backlash or retaliation.
If there is an employee-employee or management-employee conflict that arises, management must possess the skills to effectively deal with it before it gets out of hand. This will avoid potential costly (and counterproductive) lawsuits or strikes. Being able to successfully neutralize disputes by listening and mediating is high on the list of skills needed by managers.

The best way to stay on top of the latest techniques and methods for being an effective manager is education. There are many ways to achieve this. Local college or community center usually offer low cost to free courses/seminars. Another quick and efficient way to stay up to date is the internet. There are many sites that offer information on the latest managerial trends and theories that will keep any leader irreplaceable to their company.