Business Management Development

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Like all the skills in your professional toolbox, management skills require time and effort in development and practice in order to stay sharp and excel in today’s business market. Just as you consider the ongoing training and improvement of your staff and their skillsets, it is important not to neglect your own path. Make sure you’re continuing to hone your own qualities and flex your management muscles.

Take the time and energy needed to make sure you’ve got the following steps covered in your own development plan:

Identify Critical Management Qualities for Success

Where are your key skills? What are you good at? What areas would you like to develop to improve your management? Consider the following and make your own list.

Network in your Company and your Industry

Put in the effort to see and be seen both internally and externally to your company. Exposure to others, both for their management styles and their professional expertise and industry contacts is critical to your own management development.

• Network outside your company in order to maintain contacts with people in your industry. This could involve local professional associations, industry conferences, and events in which you share ideas, information, support, and referrals.
• Network within your company and increase your visibility by staying in contact with different divisions and departments so you can be a source of information, someone who can add value and coordinate activities.

Hone Your Communication Skills

Communication is critical in successful management. Development could be needed in your style, or in your manner of address. Think about your qualities just as you would one of your employees, and consider where you need to spend more time. Are you:

• Able to communicate clearly and effectively?
• Prepared to communicate in difficult situations?
• Skilled in persuasive and motivational communication?

Learn to Delegate

Management is as much about learning what not to do as learning what to do – take stock of the tasks you’re doing, and ask yourself:

• Do I like doing this?
• Am I good at this task?
• Do I bring unique skills to this task?
• Would the organization be better served by me overseeing this instead of doing it myself?
• What else could I be doing if I weren’t doing this task?

Determine how you can best add value and adjust your management accordingly.

Take on Problem Personnel Issues Head On

Difficult situations with coworkers can be some of the most challenging to master in management. Consider where you might need more development:

• Dealing effectively with problem coworkers (e.g., gossiping, harassment, backstabbing, and power plays).
• Communicating and listening without judgment.
• Establishing common ground and treating your coworkers as equals.
• Discovering ways to connect with your team by understanding who they are, what they think and feel, and why they behave the way they do.

Sound daunting? Don’t know where to start? Consider management coaching to help you create a management development game plan.

What’s worked for you in honing your management skills? Where did you start with your development plan?