5 Skills You Need for a Career in Business Management

Professionals in all sectors need a certain set of skills if they want to be promoted into managerial positions. Business managers, for example, need to be able to empower, coach and lead their teams on a daily basis. This requires them to master a number of skills if they wish to be successful in their business management careers.

Here are 5 essential skills you will need for a successful career in business management:

1. Organisational skills: A business manager is responsible for managing a team of people, and for making sure that their tasks and activities are carried out according to a well-planned schedule. To fulfil this responsibility, you need sound organisational skills, as you will need to be able to:

• Assess what needs to be done.
• Assign tasks based on the skills and capacities of your team members (while keeping in mind that the workload needs to be distributed fairly).
• Determine priorities, and communicate them to your team.
• Make sure that all tasks and activities are completed on time, and that they contribute to achieving the organisation’s objectives.

Good organisational skills will help you make sure that all employees are on the same page and working toward the same goal.

2. Effective communication skills:  Communication is the key to building and maintaining good, healthy relationships. Effective communication incorporates not only speaking, but also writing and listening.

As a manager, you want your employees to be able to voice their opinions and concerns to you openly and professionally. Each employee needs to feel comfortable in their working environment, so that they can perform to the best of their ability.

Being approachable, and keeping an open channel of communication with your staff, will help you maintain good working relationships, not only within your own department, but also within your organisation.

3. Time Management Skills: The way you spend your time, and the activities you spend your time on, is very important when you occupy a managerial position. Most business managers are required to complete their work within very strict deadlines and if they miss their deadlines, they could have a negative impact on the organisation’s activities as a whole.

Therefore, if you want to succeed as a business manager, you will need to be able to manage your own time, as well as your team’s time, in a highly efficient manner.

4. Problem Solving Skills: Life isn’t perfect, and mistakes are bound to happen in the workplace, which means that having strong problem solving skills can make a huge difference to your career as a business manager.

Whether the situation requires you to think logically or creatively, you should be able to think on your feet and solve a problem as it occurs. You also need to make sure that you are confident in your decision-making, so that your co-workers can trust you to take the lead and solve problems efficiently, effectively, and professionally.

5. Strategic thinking skills: In order to achieve business goals, the business manager must put certain strategies in place. Professional business management requires you to be able to think ahead and to keep the end result in sight.

Bonus tip: One of the most important aspects of successful business management is to remember that not every manager is the same. Every manager has a different way of leading and managing a team, and as long as they can ensure that everyone contributes effectively to achieving the greater goals of the organisation as a whole, they can be successful.

To find out how you can prepare for a successful career in business management, click here.