How to Develop Skills As a Manager
Management is one of the best-compensated fields in business but also the most challenging and dependent on experience. Success as a manager is also highly dependent on personal psychology and on relationships with employees and superiors. Many companies will place a higher value on management experience within that corporate structure than on experience elsewhere. The many differences in management strategy across the economy also can make some experience nontransferable across companies. But there are many skills that are universal that can be applied across multiple companies.
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Instructions
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Keep your expressions of emotion appropriate to the situation that you're in. There are few things that can make employees less productive than a boss who fires up into a rage over a minor error or someone who pouts and withdraws when they're not listened to. If it's a serious problem, you might consider taking a class or seeing a therapist until you can keep your expressions appropriate to the business setting. That doesn't mean becoming cold and repressed -- just that you don't allow emotional reactions to impede your work.
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Take an active approach toward learning about the jobs that your employees do. Many effective managers were originally employees, but it's not necessary to have experience doing the work of those you're responsible for to understand what they do. Read books about the field, "shadow" employees by following them throughout their work day, and ask many questions if you are confused about something. The more that you understand the work and the company, the better you will be able to resolve problems.
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Provide honest feedback to your employees about their work and solicit feedback about your management in turn. Express criticism clearly but in a sensitive way. The way to do this is to criticize the work that someone does without making it into something about the person. For example, you can say, "This report is insufficiently detailed. Can you include a bar graph?" rather than, "You're an idiot. I can't use this report." The former is constructive. The latter just damages the employee's sense of self and indicates that you doubt he can improve.
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Network with other managers within your company and with those outside of your company to learn new skills. You can do this through online networking or visiting people in person. Running a blog on your management can be a fantastic way to connect with others to solicit advice and communication. Conferences and other events also can be productive.
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Read broadly on topics of business and psychology without restricting it to management alone. Although management books can teach important skills, business literature is subject to transitory fads that might not provide you with lasting skills. Read from multiple fields to broaden your understanding of the human condition as it relates to business and other knowledge areas.
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Tips & Warnings
Higher education can also be a valuable source of knowledge. A master's in business administration (MBA) might not be the right degree for everyone, but for managers on certain career tracks, it can teach invaluable skills and lead to more rapid promotions.
Cross-education in other fields of knowledge such as accounting can make you a more versatile manager.
References
Resources
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