I’d like you to take a few minutes out of your day and think about your personal philosophy regarding your work environment.

Are you working as an individual, or as part of a team? Is your team operating independently or in conjunction with all of the other teams your company employs?

As a manager, you need to develop sharp conceptual skills. These allow you to view your organisation as a whole, viewing the abstract workings for a better understanding of how the entire operation works.

No one person can stand alone, nor can one team. Your job is to be capable of viewing each person or team as an individual while maintaining a broader focus on the overall goals that each must work together to achieve. Each person or group feeds into the next until, ultimately, the job is done.

Ask yourself these questions:

* Are you working alone, or do you delegate to your team?
* Do you consult with other managers, or consider them separate because they have different job functions?
* Does each team within your organisation function independently, or do they interact with each other and have a good understanding of the tasks each complete?

If you’re thinking with a limited frame of mind, it may be time to pan out to a wider view. While the small tasks are important, you’ll find that they’re more effective if everyone understands how they contribute to the larger overall picture.

It’s all about being able to think in the abstract.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training Courses

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Moving right along. On Monday we discussed the various skills important to effective management. Each is important as you work on your personal management skills and leadership development.

Today we’ll take a brief look at interpersonal skills and communication skills. At first glance, one might think these two terms mean the same thing, but in reality there are important differences. I do not, however, believe that an individual can use one correctly without having developed the other.

Interpersonal skills refer to the ability of a manager to communicate with and understand his team. Included with this are the abilities to get along with others on a personal level, to maintain a professional level of empathy towards the situations your subordinates may be experiencing, and to simply get along with people on a personal level. Everyone you work with is a person with individual feelings and needs.

Communication skills, on the other hand, involve your ability to take an idea or set of instructions and convey them to your audience in a manner that is comprehensible. These skills will enable you to give clear instructions, communicate ideas to your team, and keep upper management informed of the status of your current projects.

Both communication and interpersonal skills are important, but each is more effective with then other than alone. It doesn’t matter how nice you are (interpersonal) if the instructions you give cause confusion. On the other hand, it doesn’t matter how clear your instructions are (communication) if your team members think you are rude, cold, and cruel.

Take a look at your own management process and style in an effort to determine whether or not you need to strengthen either of these areas. You might find that you, or other members of your team, may benefit from incorporating some communication exercises into your next management training session.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

Today I want to spend a little bit of time discussing the first managerial skill on yesterday’s list: technical skills. While it may not seem important to some, a lack of technical skill will result in ineffective results when it comes to completing your own day to day tasks while at the same time guiding your team. The juggling act will eventually become unbearable!

Technical skills include simple things such as the ability to properly operate a computer, efficiently use the various software programs that are required in your particular environment, and handle other electronic gadgets that may pertain to your job function. These skills are especially important for lower level managers, as they are often responsible for training their subordinates.

Technical skills are essential to effective leadership. Besides, if you don’t know how to effectively complete a task, how can you rightfully judge others when it comes time for review? You’ll have no way of knowing whether or not your team members are completing their jobs properly, opening up the possibility for a future disaster.

A friend of mine approached me recently with a story about the president of the company she works for. He has spend thousands of pounds implementing systems that would allow for front-end scanning and a more efficient work flow, eliminating the need for paper files. The problem? He doesn’t know how to use them himself and is constantly asking his employees to print documents for his review.

In my opinion, this particular business owner has two problems. First, he is setting a horrible example for his employees. “Do as I say and not as I do,” is a terrible business philosophy. His refusal to learn about the systems he has pushed to implement will leave his subordinates questioning his knowledge, skill, and authority.

Second, he is setting himself up for failure. If, at some point, his direct reports become ill or quit, he will have no idea how to even begin accessing all of the valuable information that has been electronically stored within his operating systems. He’ll then have to delegate these tasks to others in order to find information, which will further burden his already struggling team.

In this example, the individual in question is actually a member of upper management. While lower level managers have the most technical responsibility, there is no excuse for middle or upper management to go without proper training as well.

Remember, managers who set positive examples often get the best results!

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Over the next few days we’re going to take a look at seven skills I truly believe any good manager or management trainee should strive to develop. This particular skill set will ensure you have the ability to perform your job functions while at the same time communicating effectively with your team.

Without further delay, please consider:

• Technical skills – will allow you to actually accomplish your job.
• Interpersonal skills –will enable you to communicate with other people.
• Conceptual skills – give you the ability to see the overall picture and goals of your organization.
• Diagnostic skills – give you the ability to assess and react to individual situations.
• Communication skills – relate closely to interpersonal skills and allow you to both relay and receive thoughts and ideas.
• Decision-Making skills – allow you to recognize problems and effectively identify and decide on a plan of action.
• Time-Management skills – allow you to organize, prioritize, and delegate work in the most effective manner possible.

As a manager, it’s often difficult to juggle your individual tasks with your management roles. Each and every day involves a series of interruptions as you are challenged by your scheduled tasks, surprise meetings, unexpected phone calls, staffing concerns, and other unpredictable occurrences.

Each of the skill sets we are going to explore is important in and of itself. An effective manager will be able to mold each of these skill sets together, thus allowing him to not only guide his team, but complete his own day-to-day tasks with as much efficiency and as little stress as possible.

We’ll go into further detail on each throughout the coming week. Stay tuned.

Thanks again,

Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training