What Are the Key Skills an Effective Manager Needs?

Managers are integral to the workplace. Accordingly, good management skills are imperative for success – arguably now more than ever given the turmoil businesses of all kinds have experienced in the past two years.

In this article, we'll go over some indispensable skills for managers, and some resources and tools on how to develop them.

Providing Feedback Without Criticism‍

It’s important to give your employees feedback on how to improve, as well as praise for their good work. One thing we should avoid in feedback, however, is criticism. In a Medium piece on Dale Carnegie's ‘How to Win Friends & Influence People’, it is mentioned that people are often driven by emotion rather than reason. As a result, we tend to become defensive when attacked or criticized – which incidentally tends to mean that the actual feedback being provided falls on deaf ears. On top of this, doling out criticism won’t get your employees on your side; they’ll work against you rather than with you (even if only subconsciously), which is the last thing any manager needs.‍

Listening Well

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This is a skill that is among the key focal points in Stephen R. Covey’s renowned book, ‘The 7 Habits Of Highly Effective People’. Covey’s book is described by Scribd as one that has helped millions from all walks of life lead successful lives – but it is perhaps most effective for those who are in positions of leadership and management. Regarding listening comprehension, the book’s specific point is that it’s important to develop a habit of understanding before needing to be understood. It is noted that empathy is important, and requires an open mind, as this creates an environment that lends itself to caring and positive problem-solving.

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Persuading‍

Managing dozens or sometimes hundreds of employees is no easy feat. The power of persuasion, however, can help you immensely – especially when we’re talking about things like encouraging self-management among your employees, and introducing new changes in the company. And as explained in our post on ‘Getting Employee Buy-In for Self-Management’, persuasion is best done with transparency. Keep an open mind, listen to your employees’ concerns, and make sure that they understand the why behind any changes or new ideas going around. This transparency and persuasion will go a long way for anyone in a leadership role.

Manage Your Time‍

We know you have deadlines, and we know that they’re sometimes not the easiest to stick to. On this subject, Entrepreneur tells us that the first thing to do is to recognize that time is finite – we can’t make more of it, so we have to use what we have wisely. Set goals and mini-deadlines to help you and your team stay on track. Also, avoid multitasking; it’s better to do one thing well rather than three things poorly (yes, even when managing a whole team tackling numerous tasks!).‍

Supervise‍

This doesn't mean “micro-management." If your employees are pretty self-managed (see the above point about persuasion), then you shouldn’t have much of an issue with supervising your team. However, there may be a situation or a difficult employee that calls for your attention. These types of issues require orientation. Part of a manager’s job is to make sure that employees are aware of what they need to do, how to do it well, and if there’s anything they can improve on.

If you are currently a manager or hope you find yourself in a managerial position in the future Holaspirit is a great tool for your team for effective transparency amongst the organization and colleagues.

3 things as a manager you're able to do with Holaspirit:

• Effective Tactical meetings: Use our platform with our tactical meetings template for efficient online meetings with checklists, agenda, meeting report and much more.
• Align your goals and purpose with the team and organization for bold results: OKRs are an effective way of working to align your purpose and the team's with the overall purpose of the organization. Plan your goals and set them quarterly for greater impact on your yearly results.
• Gain visibility and clarity of who is doing what: With our shared governance module, you're able to bring structure to your organization and add transparency with everyone's roles and tasks.

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