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Management is what creates and sustains an organisation. Without good management any business will struggle. The trouble is that there is much to learn. While continued learning is essential there are 10 skills that every manager needs if they are to succeed.
1. Planning
Without a plan, nothing is achieved. As a manager you need to be competent in business planning, project planning, workload planning and contingency planning.
2. Communication
Communication covers writing, speaking and listening. You must be competent in all 3 areas. Many managers excel when it comes to speaking or writing. I wonder how many managers you know who have mastered listening.
3. Decision Making
You might get a good view sitting on the fence. Your job as a manager is to get results. If you procrastinate and avoid taking decisions, nothing moves forward. Be willing to take decisions and recognise that you will get a fair share of them wrong.
4. Delegation
We all love doing certain things. Unfortunately as managers it is all too easy to hold on to tasks that they know they should no longer be doing. We like things that we know how to do and there is little risk of problems. If you don't start to delegate, you are likely to end up failing as a manager.
5. Problem Solving
You and your team will encounter problems. Others will look to you as the manager to come up with solutions. Mastering problem solving will differentiate you from the team and show your boss that you can sort things out.
6. Interviewing
Recruitment of staff is probably one of the single biggest financial investments that any business makes. Yet many managers have never been trained in interviewing potential hires. Take the time to ensure that you develop these skills. Interviewing with someone very experienced and competent at the start is a great way of developing your skills as you have back up and can get feedback.
7. Appraisal
Staff appraisal done well is a source of motivation. Make sure that you understand your organisation's process, are thoroughly prepared and conduct appraisal meetings professionally.
8. Poor Performance Management
Sooner or later you will have an employee who is not performing. Many managers choose to ignore the warning signals. By doing so they are building up future problems. Deal with it early on, stating clearly the standards expected, where the employee is falling short and the improvements required. Make sure everything is written down and agreed with the employee. In tricky or complex cases seek advice from the Human Resources Department.
9. Motivating
You are responsible for getting results through others. Keeping the team motivated, even when things are tough is essential. Simple things like saying thank you, praising and being positive can make a huge difference.
10. Finance
While many managers wish that the Finance Department will take care of everything, this is not reality. As a manager you spend lots of company money and may generate some of it. Start by thinking about how your actions and decisions impact on the finances of the business and you will be a step ahead of most.
There are a host of skills to master as a manager. These, in my experience are 10 that you must have to prosper and realise your true potential.
Duncan Brodie helps accountants and professionals to be great leaders and realise their career and earnings potential. Sign up for his free monthly newsletter at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk Duncan Brodie may be contacted at http://www.goalsandachievements.co.uk
How frustrated do executives become when they do research on important subjects and other crucial data or news we see on the Web?
Everyday senior ambitious entrepreneurs invest their precious time looking for crumbs of regional or business data concerning the impacts of professional trends to help them operate and run their businesses and guide their employees.
While the Internet's search engines, directories and meta crawlers efficiently deliver thousands of documents to researchers, today's leaders are compelled to consume their intellectual focus wading through the volumes of raw hot data dished up by these spider-based indexing systems.
There simply is no other option - executives, knowledge workers and entrepreneurs have to know these facts if they hope to effectively steer around the sand-traps for their enterprises through the ocean of complexities and disruptions occurring in our global economy.
Far too many profitable opportunities slip away because of unfocused search goals which are usually coupled with a lack of clear research priorities. This article describes the strategic imperatives of data business managers need to find, evaluate and know.
Reveal Your Realities!
Jet pilots will warn you to look out your windshield, check your instruments and then consider the cloud formations before you do anything else to help you find out what's happening right now and guess what is could happen later on.
Of course, you must always remember to keep up-to-date on items like customer preferences, the general climate by frequently scanning news reports, information about economic forecasts or studies, political upheavals or legislative policies, industry standards or market prices, strategic alliances, transfers of key executives and competitor forays into new lines of business as well as a number of similar subjects.
You will want to devote two to four hours every 7-10 calendar days to researching the root causes, future implications and prevailing winds and thoughts and points of view lurking within the forum communities and hiding out at the sea-floor of the Internet's many websites.
Geckos Not Wanted, Chameleons Preferred!
Organizational leaders and start-up entrepreneurs have one challenge they share - each must prepare, sharpen and enhance their assets to meet the challenges of tomorrow.
Every non profit organization has to adjust or adapt itself through a maze of ever changing environmental conditions by:
=> aligning its new purpose with the right corporate strategy
=> positioning its resources via alternative arrangements or tactical evolutions
=> identifying and implementing best practices or sensible work-flow
=> deploying and evaluating new and different marketing schemes or campaigns
=> designing and adopting more efficient processes
=> recognizing or rewarding positive work habits
=> establishing specific, measurable, realistic action plans,
=> building and strengthening your personal partnerships and social networks.
The information you discover through your newly prioritized web research time linked with your results-driven search strategies will empower you in so many ways:
- You will competently setup world-class benchmarks for performance improvements or process efficiencies,
- You would learn a variety of dependable approaches for communicating with your customers while serving their growth needs,
- Pragmatic data can inspire you or your team to strive for and attain higher plateaus
- Your team might find more resourceful avenues for innovative products and services,
- The know-how you acquire can be used to make a appreciable leap in your organization's growth or results.
Copyright 2007, Mustard Seed Investments Inc, All rights reserved.
Bill Thomas develops your innovative leadership skills by showing you how to design and implement effective models for success in the Imagination Age - his books, manuals, Executive Briefings, software, speeches and training programs define sustainable innovation processes and empower leaders produce measurably powerful results! Learn how to use our action-oriented, results-driven tutoring support, coaching follow-ups & progress tracking programs to apply, practice and master new, more effective and innovative leadership concepts in your 'real-world' situations and challenges! Learn How Awesome Leaders Are Created! Bill Thomas may be contacted at http://www.leadership-toolkit.com
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