good manager skills essay

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7 Strategies for Improving Your Management Skills

• 09 Jan 2020

Developing managerial skills is important for all professionals. According to the World Economic Forum , people management is one of the top 10 skills needed to thrive in today’s workforce. Additionally, research by Gallup shows companies with talented managers experience greater profitability, increased levels of productivity, and higher employee engagement scores—highlighting how vital management is to an organization’s culture and success.

Whether you’re an aspiring or seasoned manager, there are actions you can take to improve how you oversee and guide people, products, and projects. Here are seven ways to become a better manager and advance your career.

Access your free e-book today.

How to Improve Your Management Skills

1. strengthen your decision-making.

Sound decision-making is a crucial skill for managers. From overseeing a team to leading a critical meeting , being an effective manager requires knowing how to analyze complex business problems and implement a plan for moving forward.

In the online course Management Essentials , the following components—referred to as the “three C’s”—are presented as essential building blocks for a successful decision-making process:

• Constructive conflict: This involves engaging team members in the decision-making process. It invites diverse perspectives and debate and stimulates creative problem-solving.
• Consideration: All stakeholders involved in a decision should feel their viewpoints were fairly considered before a solution is determined. Without this sense of acknowledgment, they may be less inclined to commit to and implement the solution.
• Closure: This is a function that ensures stakeholders are aligned before proceeding. It requires defining what constitutes a project or initiative as “done” within a set period, determining if anything remains to be accomplished, and ensuring everyone agrees as to whether the outcome was a success.

By ensuring your decision-making process encompasses these qualities, you can become a key contributor at your organization and influence the context in which decisions get made.

2. Cultivate Self-Awareness

A high level of self-awareness is critical for managers, and it’s what separates high-performers from their peers in the workplace.

This core tenet of emotional intelligence requires introspection and an honest evaluation of your strengths and weaknesses. Through engaging in self-assessment and turning to trusted colleagues to gain insight into your managerial tendencies, you can chart a path for your professional development that hones in on areas where you need to improve, enabling you to bring out the best in yourself and others.

Related: Emotional Intelligence Skills: What They Are & How to Develop Them

3. Build Trust

Trust reaps numerous benefits in the workplace. According to research outlined in the Harvard Business Review , employees at high-trust companies report:

• Less stress
• More energy at work
• Higher productivity
• Greater engagement

Forge deeper connections with your colleagues by engaging in small talk before meetings and learning more about their lives outside the scope of their work. In addition, encourage inclusive dialogue about personal and professional differences, and be open to diverse viewpoints in discussions.

Doing so can cultivate empathy among your team , leading to a greater sense of camaraderie, belonging, and motivation.

Related: 6 Tips for Managing Global Teams

4. Be a Better Communicator

Strong communication skills are a hallmark of any successful manager. Being in a managerial role involves tackling complex business situations and ensuring your team has the information and tools required to succeed.

When facing challenges like navigating organizational change , be transparent about tasks at hand and instill your team with a shared vision of how your company can benefit from the impending transition. Continually provide updates and reiterate the plan for moving forward to ensure your employees are aligned and understand how their work factors into larger corporate objectives. By developing communication and other interpersonal skills, you’ll set your team up for success.

5. Establish Regular Check-ins

Make it a habit to regularly check in with your employees outside of their annual performance reviews. According to research by Gallup , team members whose managers provide weekly feedback are over:

• Five times more likely to strongly agree they receive meaningful feedback
• Three times more likely to strongly agree they’re motivated to do outstanding work
• Two times more likely to be engaged at work

Keep the conversation informal when delivering feedback , and focus on the person’s progress toward organizational goals rather than their personality. In addition, help them chart a plan for moving forward, and affirm your role as a trusted advisor as they tackle next steps.

6. Carve Out Time for Reflection

Beyond regular check-ins, set a consistent cadence for reflecting on and reviewing your team’s work. In one study by Harvard Business School professors Francesca Gino and Gary Pisano, it was found that call center employees who spent 15 minutes reflecting at the end of the workday performed 23 percent better after 10 days than those who did not.

In a video interview for Management Essentials , HBS Professor Amy Edmondson says reflection is crucial to learning.

“If we don’t have the time and space to reflect on what we’re doing and how we’re doing it, we can’t learn,” Edmondson says. “In so many organizations today, people just feel overly busy. They’re going 24/7 and think, ‘I don’t have time to reflect.’ That’s a huge mistake, because if you don’t have time to reflect, you don’t have time to learn. You’re going to quickly be obsolete. People need the self-discipline and the collective discipline to make time to reflect.”

Schedule reflection sessions shortly after the completion of an initiative or project and invite all members of your team to participate, encouraging candor and debate. Hone in on problems and issues that can be fixed, and plot a corrective action plan so that you don’t encounter the same pitfalls in your upcoming undertakings.

7. Complete Management Training

Beyond your daily work, furthering your education can be an effective way to bolster your management skills.

Through additional training , such as an online management course , you can learn new techniques and tools that enable you to shape organizational processes to your advantage. You can also gain exposure to a network of peers with various backgrounds and perspectives who inform your managerial approach and help you grow professionally.

For Raymond Porch , a manager of diversity programs at Boston Public Schools who took Management Essentials , engaging with fellow learners was the highlight of his HBS Online experience .

“My favorite part of the program was interacting with my cohort members,” Porch says. “I received valuable shared experiences and feedback and was able to be a thought partner around strategies and best practices in varying scenarios.”

Related: 5 Key Benefits of Enrolling in a Management Training Course

How Managers Become Great Leaders

While the terms “management” and “leadership” are often used interchangeably, they encompass different skill sets and goals . Yet, some of the most effective managers also exhibit essential leadership characteristics.

Characteristics of a great leader include:

• Exemplary leadership: Strong leaders often consider themselves as part of the team they manage. They’re concerned with the greater good of their organization and use delegation skills to effectively assign tasks to the appropriate team members. Just as they must provide feedback to their team, great leaders must accept others’ constructive feedback to improve their leadership style.
• Goal-oriented: It’s crucial for leaders to deeply understand their organization’s business goals. Knowing its overall mission allows them to strategically prioritize initiatives and align their team with a common vision.
• Self-motivated: It’s vital that leaders are self-motivated and use time management skills to reach their goals. They must accomplish difficult tasks while inspiring their team to follow suit.

By bolstering your leadership skills , you can strengthen your relationship with your team and empower them to do their best work, ultimately complementing your managerial skills.

Elevating Your Management Skills

Managing people and implementing projects on time and on budget is a business skill that all professionals should strive to master. Through sharpening your soft skills, building self-awareness, and continuing your education, you can gain the skills needed to excel as a manager and lead both your team and organization to success.

Do you want to become a more effective leader and manager? Explore our online leadership and management courses to learn how you can take charge of your professional development and accelerate your career. To find the right course for you, download the free flowchart .

This post was updated on September 2, 2022. It was originally published on January 9, 2020.

About the Author

How to be a good manager and leader

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist, Valamis

February 24, 2022 · updated April 3, 2024

15 minute read

We’ve all had the pleasure of working with a good manager, and we’ve all had to put up with a bad one. Learning how to be a good leader is not an easy task.

In this piece, we will discuss:

• What makes a good manager?

The importance of good management

The downsides of poor management.

• The qualities and traits of a good manager and leader

How to develop good managers and leaders

What makes a good manager and leader.

Being a good manager and leader requires an entirely different skill set compared to excelling at other jobs. Many positions are insular; they need the employee to focus on their own work to the best of their ability.

One of the most important qualities of a good manager is the ability to make other people better at their job.

Managers are responsible for motivating, encouraging, and organizing other people, and this is often more about soft skills than hard ones.

Quantifying a manager’s skill set is not a simple task. They utilize considerable interpersonal skills and knowledge developed through experience that is harder to define.

Good managers understand what is unique about their employees and find ways to maximize their potential. This means strategically building upon a team’s strengths and overcoming weaknesses to produce the best possible outcome.

Part of this is creating an inclusive work environment and promoting a positive work culture. But part of it is also continuously tracking how their employees operate and how team dynamics evolve with time and turnover.

It is important to remember that there isn’t a single approach to being a good manager. Instead, a range of different management styles can be effective depending on how they are applied and the workforce they are applied to.

How to conduct a skills gap analysis and what to do next

Start building your foundation for strategic workforce development.

Good management is fundamental to the success of a business. When you look at an effective and efficient company, the outcomes they achieve can usually be tied back to excellent managers organizing and motivating employees while instilling a positive workplace culture.

Studies by Gallup show managers have a massive effect on employee performance and are responsible for at least 70% of the variance in team engagement . That is a staggering statistic, showing just how much difference good management can make and how significant a small number of employees are to overall company performance.

There is a direct correlation between employee engagement and organizational performance. More engaged employees lead to greater commitment and productivity, improved services, talent retention, and customer satisfaction while also reducing employee absenteeism.

In the HBR survey of staff (predominantly senior-level executives) at organizations with 500 employees or more, they found “ strong executive leadership ” and “ high level of employee engagement ” to be two of the top-ranking factors (71%) most likely to bring success .

Source: hbr.org

Good managers are vital because their actions are far-reaching and long-lasting. How a manager performs their job affects a large number of employees at every stage of their employee life cycle.

Consider a poorly performing employee. While frustrating, their incompetency or inefficiency is limited to the specific tasks they have, and the staff members directly involved in the outcome of their work. Now consider a manager overseeing many employees. The importance of their job performance is magnified, affecting many more employees, spreading much further throughout the organization, and having a significant impact on the business.

In 2017, Harvard Business Review published an extensive survey into the effect of management practices in the US manufacturing sector. With data from over 35,000 manufacturing plants, they found facilities that emphasize management practices, implementing an incentives-based approach and rigorous monitoring processes, were far more productive, innovative, and profitable .

• A 10% increase in the plant management index resulted in a 14% increase in labor productivity.
• Analyzing the top 10% and bottom 10% of plants in terms of performance showed management techniques (18%) had a larger impact on the difference compared to R&D (17%), employee skill (11%), and IT spending (8%).

Given the relative cost of improving management practices compared to overhauling R&D or IT operations, the importance of good management cannot be understated. Hiring or training a small number of managers has a massive impact on the business’s success, far outweighing its cost.

The importance of management and the increased impact it has on an organization means there are significant consequences when performed poorly.

Bad managers waste considerable time and money due to poor decision-making and unmotivated, disengaged employees with poor morale.

A Gallup survey measuring employee engagement asked 1,003 US employees which of the following statement they agree with:

• “My supervisor focuses on my strengths or positive characteristics.”
• “My supervisor focuses on my weaknesses or negative characteristics.”

The third category of “ignored” employees encompassed respondents who disagreed with both statements.

Source: Gallup

The results show that 25% of respondents fit the “ignored” category, of which only 2% feel engaged in their work, 57% are not engaged, and a shocking 40% are actively disengaged.

Gallup found that ignoring your employees is almost twice as likely to produce active disengagement compared to focusing on weaknesses.

Besides disengaged employees, another significant downside of poor management is increased employee turnover. There is a saying in business that “people don’t leave jobs, they leave managers,” and data backs it up. One in two employees say they have left a job to get away from a manager during their career.

Employees are much more likely to seek new opportunities if they:

• Have a poor relationship with their manager
• Feel unsupported in their work and professional development
• Are unable to have honest and constructive communication with their manager

Qualities and traits of a good manager and leader

Finding employees with the required qualities could be a challenging task.

Research by Gallup shows only one in ten people possess all the talents required to be successful , with another two in ten people exhibiting some of the traits of a good manager.

A list of qualities and traits of a good manager is described below:

Managers must care for and consider the well-being of their employees . This means exhibiting empathy and emotional intelligence to ensure that staff are not susceptible to burnout, a lack of motivation, anxiety, or depression.

A manager who can put themselves in someone else’s shoes and tell when something is wrong maintains employee engagement and productivity while reducing employee turnover.

Reacting with the proper support can help staff overcome the challenges they face and ensure that they have structures in place to succeed in their job.

Empathetic managers also protect their team from unjust criticism or unacceptable demands. This could mean protecting employees when blame is misplaced or arguing the team’s point of view to management when unrealistic deadlines for work are set.

2. Work ethic

Management requires a strong work ethic and the willingness to go the extra mile for the team.

Overseeing multiple employees and projects often leads to significant workloads and long hours. However, good managers don’t shy away from doing the work required . Instead, they dedicate themselves to the job, setting a good example for their employees.

Employees with hard-working managers that don’t just coast off their work are more likely to be loyal and dedicated to their job.

3. Honest and fair

Employees respect managers who are honest, fair, and transparent in all their dealings with them.

They want truthful feedback and to be kept informed about their current and future work situation in a matter-of-fact way. Patronizing or withholding crucial information from staff backfires, creating mistrust moving forward.

When employees no longer trust or have confidence in their manager, the relationship deteriorates considerably and becomes untenable in the worst-case scenarios.

4. Reliable

Similarly, demonstrating reliability and trustworthiness is the starting point to building a good relationship with staff members and fundamental to leadership.

Managers that keep their word are the most successful.

Staff must be able to rely on their manager and know they aren’t saying one thing and doing another.

5. Communication skills

Good communication skills are a prerequisite to being a good manager. So much of a manager’s day-to-day job is rooted in communication with both the employees beneath them and the leadership team above them.

Tracking team performance, getting feedback, and staying on top of potential issues requires continual contact with key personnel.

While managers must be able to clearly delegate tasks and concisely explain essential details, they also need to be great listeners. Communication is a two-way process . Managers who don’t take on board feedback or understand employee concerns struggle to build an effective workforce and adapt to new circumstances.

Nowadays, for many managers, written communication and communicating across video calls are perhaps more important than face-to-face situations. With technology further integrating into business and remote working not going anywhere, good managers have learned how to overcome these challenges and find the best way to oversee a team while physically separated.

6. Motivational

As we mentioned, one of the primary goals of management is to get the best performance possible out of their employees. This often stems from motivation and empowering staff to succeed.

However, each employee is different, and motivating them all is a difficult needle to thread. What works for some staff can have the opposite effect for others. Some staff react well to loud and boisterous encouragement; some prefer private recognition or incentive-based approaches offering tangible benefits in exchange for reaching specific goals.

Read: 9 Types of Motivation for the Workplace with Examples

The best managers can relate to a range of different employees and tailor their motivational techniques, so they all reach their potential.

7. Decision making

Decision-making is a huge part of management. Understanding the relevant information and making the best decision available is a fundamental skill all managers have to learn.

While the employees do the bulk of the work, the manager ultimately controls the team’s direction and how work is performed.

• When issues occur during a project, how should the team respond?
• During recruitment, who makes the final decision regarding new hires?
• Planning learning and development activities, what should the team’s focus be?

These are just a few examples, but what makes a good manager is understanding the best option available to meet the team’s needs and reach the desired goals.

Many common mistakes rookie managers make can be traced back to poor decision-making. This could be the inability to make a decision at all for fear of the consequences, the inability to say no, or knowing when and how to take risks.

8. Adaptable

Managers who refuse to adapt hold their teams back in the fast-moving business world. Whether it is enhancing the positive to quickly seize new opportunities or mitigating the negative and changing to the new realities, adaptability is a must.

This could translate to how a manager motivates staff, incorporates new technology, pivots to a new strategy, or redesigns work plans and scheduling.

The best managers react to change quickly and effectively to ensure their team’s output remains competitive and up-to-date.

9. Supportive and trusting

Good managers support their staff and trust in their abilities. They stand up for their team and defend them to senior leadership.

They delegate tasks with confidence and never micromanage. They know putting faith in capable employees empowers them to further their ability and professional development.

10. Time management

Managers have many demands on their time and competing priorities to deal with.

• HR needs to confirm payroll details
• Leadership wants an update
• A purchasing order requires authorization
• A new problem requires a workaround
• And much more

To keep track of everything and ensure the team is operating effectively requires impressive time management skills and the ability to delegate successfully. This means understanding the skill set of each team member and what they are capable of.

Managers can’t be everywhere at once. Instead, they have to understand what the best use of their time is and what can be handed off to others.

11. Focus on progress as well as results

Managers are responsible for reaching the goals set by leadership.

While this can produce a fixation on results and nothing else, the best managers understand the value of focusing on progress along the way.

12. Ability to cover day-to-day tasks

A manager who isn’t afraid to get their hands dirty and do the same work they ask others to do engenders respect from their employees.

It shows they are one of the team and don’t consider themselves above their staff. Whether it is to cover staff absences, give the final push before a deadline, or just to help out when things aren’t going well, the ability to cover day-to-day tasks is a great asset for managers to have.

13. Develops staff

The collective workforce is made up of individuals who each have their own personal goals. Building a workforce into an effective team means understanding these individual goals and tailoring an approach to satisfy as many staff as possible while working towards the collective outcome.

This requires significant staff development plans to ensure team members that want to progress and learn new skills are satisfied. Good managers understand the strengths and weaknesses of their employees, developing programs that produce better, more well-rounded workers. Rather than worry about staff outgrowing their role, successful managers know creating the best employees’ possible benefits all involved.

Career development plan template

This template helps employees and bosses plan together for career growth: set goals, assess skills, and make a plan.

14. Resilient

When things go wrong, mistakes occur, or external forces create challenging conditions, the best managers don’t scream, shout, or lose patience. Instead, they come straight back with new ideas and plans to get through them.

Resilient managers remain calm and productive through difficulties, and this mindset translates to their employees. However, resilience doesn’t mean being unaware of overwork effects. Knowing when to take a break or introduce activities to help the team relax is vital to getting through challenging periods.

15. Strategic thinking

Leading employees and being responsible for the direction of a team emphasizes the manager’s vision and strategic thinking. They require significant business knowledge and unique insights in order to find the best strategy for a given situation.

This means having a clear understanding of the task at hand, applying strong analytical skills based on the relevant information, and predicting the possible outcomes for various approaches to determine the optimum choice.

16. Receives feedback well

Nobody is perfect, and no manager makes the right decision 100% of the time. However, to grow and improve, a manager must be able to receive feedback well from both leadership and their employees.

Good managers foster creative work cultures where employees are free to push boundaries. This requires staff to be able to speak openly and honestly with their superiors without fear of repercussions.

As long as it is delivered appropriately, managers should be able to understand and act on the feedback they receive successfully.

17. Conflict management skills

Conflicts are a natural part of teamwork. Competing ideas, personality conflicts, and different workstyles coexisting all produce disagreement, and it is the manager’s job to overcome them through practical and proactive conflict management skills.

Managers must be quick to identify and act on potential conflicts, confronting them head-on and not allowing them to escalate.

18. Employee recognition

Recognizing outstanding work leads to employees reproducing excellent work. Employee recognition is a key tool at the manager’s disposal when chasing the results the company needs.

A paycheque is great, but employees often need additional personal recognition when they have gone above and beyond in their work.

Employee recognition boosts staff morale and is an essential generator of employee engagement. By showing how much they mean to the company through financial or public recognition, managers can align crucial and highly productive personnel with their objectives.

As you can see, there are many traits to develop when learning how to be a good manager. While new managers require innate abilities and natural talent for the role, many of these qualities can be strengthened via proper training and development.

With this in mind, companies need extensive leadership development plans to identify employees with the right skill set to become managers in the future.

Specific schemes for helping develop good managers could be:

• Mentoring or coaching from individuals with leadership experience
• Support schemes for first-time managers
• Collaboration and communication channels between new managers (facilitate discussion such that staff can learn from one another)
• Internal training programs
• External training or education (investing in employees through management courses or degrees)

L&D strategy framework

You will receive a list of questions along with a spreadsheet template to help you analyse your L&D strategy.

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Eight qualities of a good manager

A manager can make or break an employee’s experience, and successful ones can boost employee engagement.

When 58 percent of people trust a stranger more than they trust their manager, there’s certainly room for improvement in the workplace. We all know that people make the job, but more than anything, a manager can make or break the employee experience . In fact, the Harvard Business Review , in partnership with Facebook, found that the number-one reason employees quit was that they felt underused and stagnant in their careers. That means that a manager’s greatest responsibility is to give their employees opportunities to grow.

In enterprise and midlevel companies, successful managers double employee engagement, which results, according to Gallup polls, in an average 147 percent increase in earnings per share. The connection to the bottom line is clear, but defining the qualities of a good manager is a bit more complicated.

What makes a good manager?

There are dozens of factors that promote effective leadership , but some characteristics—clear communication and work-life balance, for example—set great managers apart from good ones. Here are eight common qualities effective leaders share. When put together, these factors contribute to the team’s trust in management and its performance overall.

1. Brings ample experience and pertinent knowledge 

First and foremost, you can’t manage what you don’t know. The movies about babysitters becoming editors-in-chief are fun, but they don’t reflect reality.

Experience is one way to gain the knowledge needed to be a great manager, but a decades-long resume in your field isn’t the only solution: A record of skillfully managing stellar and difficult employees shows you have solid experience. Successfully navigating a team through a stressful situation or era is also evidence that someone has the knowledge needed to be a strong manager.

2. Communicates clearly and candidly

This quality of a good manager is so important, you could (almost) forget everything else. Clear, honest communication is key in building trust in management and increasing team engagement.

Team-wide and individual goals are part of any good manager’s aims, but they don’t matter unless they’re clearly communicated to employees. As an employee, knowing what’s expected and doing your best to get there is half the battle.

3. Stays connected and always listens 

Especially when it comes to managing big teams across satellite offices , a good manager will always be there—on the phone, over chat, or in person. That can sound like a good manager is always on, but that isn’t necessary (another quality of a good manager, time management, is the flip side of this coin).  Scheduling regular one-on-ones is just as important as answering ad-hoc questions. 

A manager who listens well and creates a space for questions in one-on-ones is less likely to encounter a barrage of questions later, and employees who feel heard are happier and more productive. Holding regular office hours, where anyone can ask questions in person, over the phone, or through videoconferencing, is another effective way to stay connected across time zones and build time to listen. 

4. Delegates tasks and manages time effectively

Strategically planning listening sessions is just one way a good manager carefully balances time. Delegating is also a strength of a great manager and a crucial part of managing time well. Rather than just assigning a task and asking an employee to do it for you , empowering an employee to complete work for the team, or for themselves, is a fantastic management skill. 

In many ways, a delegator is the opposite of a micromanager. A sixth sense for when to intervene in a project or give encouragement is the difference between a collaborator and a great manager , and makes everyone’s job easier. 

5. Emphasizes team-building, support, and career development

Speaking of saving time, learning to recognize the strengths of employees and therefore avoid micromanagement is a great example of trust building even more trust. When employees are empowered to have ownership of their work , they feel confident and supported in getting that work done. 

Empowering employees is about understanding their strengths, but it’s also about building an atmosphere where career development and team-building is celebrated. 

6. Displays reliability to promote a stable work environment

A mercurial boss is a nightmare; we’ve all had one. Good managers create stability. They reliably follow through on their promises, and when changes come from above, they explain why. A great manager can’t just be there when the going is good—they must be a leader when the going gets tough, too.

7. Values flexibility and work-life balance

It might seem like the opposite of reliability, but flexibility —in terms of agility in the face of rapidly changing business demands and offering flexible working situations to your employees —is one quality of an effective manager. Being open to new ideas and approaches keeps work fresh for everyone, and a manager who weathers changes with a positive, flexible attitude is much easier to work for. 

More than this, a leader who values—and even models— work-life balance is more likely to instill confidence and win trust from their team. When employees feel there’s space for other projects and hobbies in their lives, their level of engagement at the office also increases and their risk of burnout is reduced.

8. Demonstrates grace and assurance—especially under pressure 

Change happens, and so does conflict. The ability to answer questions, provide support, and be a beacon of stability is important on easy days, but it’s even more important during inevitable times of upheaval. Answering questions during a crisis with grace and confidence is what makes the difference. 

There are countless characteristics of a good manager, but these eight elements are a solid start. Anyone who already has, or aims to improve on these qualities, is in a wonderful position to level up from a good manager to a great one.

How to hire a good manager

Whether you’re looking to hire from the outside or promote someone within the company, finding the right person to manage a team can feel daunting. Here are four strategies to consider next time you need to hire a new manager.

Hire and promote from within

There’s an advantage to promoting from within. You know the employee’s track record at the company, how well they work with others, and their impact on company culture. Plus, you can train rising stars to adapt a management style that fits the company. This practice creates a positive work environment and creates opportunities for employees, which helps with attracting and retaining talent. Investing in talent is always a smart move. 

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Look for referrals

Promoting from within is a long-term strategy, but what if you need someone fast and no current employees fit the role? When it comes to outside hires , one of the best strategies for finding promising applicants is to ask for referrals from employees and your network. This is good advice for hiring anyone, but especially managers. Getting the inside scoop on what a person is like to work with can be incredibly valuable. 

Focus on people skills

Don’t just look for managers who understand the job, look for those who understand people. This can be tricky to identify, especially in an interview. Pay attention to how they talk about past coworkers and subordinates. Do they discuss these people with compassion and empathy? Look for individuals who genuinely care about other people’s successes and who understand the challenges they face. With the many stresses that employees face today, empathy is more important than ever . 

Build an enticing company culture

A strong company culture will attract quality talent. It’s difficult to hire a good manager if no one wants to work for you. Companies with good reputations are often flooded with hundreds of quality applicants for every open position. Invest in talent with competitive pay, attractive benefits , and attainable growth opportunities. Weed out toxic managers and develop a strong set of company values that will inspire your workforce. Build a company people want to work for and good managers will be lining up at your door.

This article was originally published on September 12, 2019, and has been updated throughout by the editors.

For more insight into team management, check out Ideas by We .

Rachel Miller is a writer based in New York. She specializes in both editorial and UX copy, and her work has appeared in Brooklyn Magazine , the Guardian , the Awl, and more.

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How to Be a Good Manager

Table of Contents

There’s a difference between a manager and a leader. A manager’s responsibilities might include task delegation and approving timecards, but a leader focuses on the growth and well-being of your team members. The best managers know how to do both and can strategically incorporate the strengths of each employee to build a successful organization. Below, you’ll find what you need to do to be a good leader and how best to manage the most common types of employees.

How to be a good manager

Being a good manager means more than just completing administrative tasks; it’s also about how you support your team and get the most out of them. According to Deborah Sweeney, president and GM of online acquisitions at MyCorporation, good managers use emotional intelligence and soft skills to achieve this.

“Traditionally, we have been taught to believe that the person with the highest IQ in the room is the smartest,” Sweeney said. “However, science is increasingly proving that individuals with emotional intelligence and its four core skills – which include self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and relationship management – are actually the top performers within any company.”

1. Work with your team, not above them.

You might be accustomed to fully controlling your workload, but becoming a boss will force you to give up that control and delegate some responsibilities, said Ora Shtull, an executive coach and founder of Ora Coaching.

“If you don’t break the addiction to doing it all, you won’t have the capacity to step up and do more senior stuff,” she said. “Letting go involves delegating. But it’s important to note that delegating doesn’t mean deserting the team or sacrificing accountability.”

As a manager, you have a different set of responsibilities from your entry-level team members, but you should still get your hands dirty. Additionally, you should include your team in decision-making processes. [Read related article: If You Listen Up, Your Employees Will Step Up ]

2. Get to know your employees.

Every employee has different strengths, weaknesses and ways of learning. As a manager, it’s your duty to really understand each person’s characteristics to effectively lead them, and to create a positive boss-employee relationship. This can be done by merely observing the work they produce, but asking simple questions periodically also provides details.

Consider questions like “What was the best day you’ve had at work in the last three months?” to get your employees thinking about the tasks and assignments they enjoy doing. According to their answers, you can then tailor how you delegate tasks to this employee to obtain the best possible outcome. 

You could also ask the opposite: “What was the worst day you’ve had at work in the last three months?” Having conversations from questions like these help you to understand what is not working so that you can remedy the situation.

3. Create a positive and inclusive work environment.

The example you set for your office can greatly impact the success of your organization. It is important to create a positive, fun work environment that makes team members feel included and respected. A happy employee is a more productive employee. You can create a diverse and inclusive work culture by exemplifying good behavior on a daily basis, as well as implementing occasional team bonding activities.

You should frequently provide recognition for team successes (even small ones). Great leaders recognize their employees and express their gratitude whenever possible. Employees want to feel appreciated and have their work noticed. When you credit them for a job well done, it motivates them to keep working hard.

“Simply put, great bosses pause frequently to praise others and promote the positive, rather than harping on shortcomings and mistakes,” Shtull said.

Offering praise can boost team morale and build a positive work culture. If you fail to give positive feedback and recognition, employees may think their work is going unnoticed and start to care less. In addition to daily recognition, Leah de Souza, leadership communication coach and managing director of Trainmar Consulting, recommends motivating people through team bonding and celebration.

4. Communicate goals, expectations and feedback.

One of the most important parts of being an effective manager is successfully creating goals and communicating expectations to team members. Managers should focus on creating SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) goals for their teams. De Souza said the objectives that are set at an organizational level should also be translated into departmental and individual goals.

“There must be a transparent link between all goals set throughout the organization,” she said. “Goals must be set in agreement with team members.”

After setting goals, good managers are transparent with team members about their expectations. De Souza recommends reviewing goals on a structured basis. You can regularly check in with team members to ensure they are happy and feel challenged in their roles. Communication is not one-sided, though; you must listen as much as you talk.

“Leaders who don’t listen will eventually be surrounded by people who have nothing to say, nothing to add,” Shtull said. “In addition to giving up control of all the work, as a boss, you’ll also have to break the addiction to being right all of the time. Don’t always promote your own view. If your own ideas sound set in stone, your team members won’t want to offer theirs.”

Xan Raskin, founder and CEO of Artixan Consulting Group LLC, added that great leaders don’t just listen; they listen to understand. “Making sure your employees know you not only heard them but you understand – even if you disagree – goes a long way to building a long-term rapport with employees.”

5. Coach your team members.

To create a valuable, dedicated team, you’ll have to advocate for them. Like good coaches, bosses should keep employees motivated and passionate about the work they do. This will help your team avoid burnout and enjoy delivering their best work.

“Effective managers coach by asking questions, empowering their team members to think deeply and generate solutions,” Shtull said. “In turn, team members gain confidence and grow, and ultimately become amazing bosses themselves.”

Let employees know you care about their futures and careers. Provide them with the training and knowledge they need to succeed in the workplace. Good managers are not threatened by the growth and success of their employees; instead, they embrace and encourage change.

“I believe a great manager knows how to tap into the strengths of their team members and turn their unique abilities into strong performances,” Sweeney said. “A good manager is not threatened by change in the workplace – whether it’s a change in how certain processes are done or new leadership – and embraces and encourages new ideas and ways of doing things.”

6. Practice self-awareness and grow your leadership skills.

Effective leaders know that managing others doesn’t mean they know everything. Managers should always be learning and growing alongside their team. There are several leadership skills that you can build upon, such as time management and delegation. Raskin said that managers can do this by learning how to conserve their energy for the most important tasks. [Read related article: 3 Elements of Delegation All Managers Should Know ]

“Figuring out exactly how much effort, time and attention an issue needs before moving on to the next is a critical skill to get you through a workday and also make sure you have enough left for your personal life,” she said.  

As the leader of the pack, you should practice self-awareness and understand how you personally relate to people. Be mindful of your behavior and the message it sends to your employees. Raskin said that recognizing both the intentional and unintentional impacts you have on others is a critical part of being a good manager, since you set much of the tone and culture for the organization. 

“It will definitely take time and energy to get it right, even something as simple as how a manager conducts themselves at a meeting,” she said. “Do they pull out their phone during a presentation and start reviewing emails? Knowing the message that it sends to employees is critical – e.g., if the meeting isn’t important to the boss, why should it be important to me? Even these small things carry big meanings.”

Successful management of a team has many moving parts, and it takes consistent self-reflection and change. Learn something new each day to work toward being the best leader you can be.

“It’s OK not to know everything; that’s actually not your job,” de Souza said. “Show your team that you are a normal human being who can mess up sometimes and laugh at a silly joke. Being a manager is not about becoming a faraway figure. Your job is to engage and guide.”

Managing different types of employees

No matter the size of your team, your employees will have all sorts of personalities. As a leader, it’s important that you learn to work with each person individually. You should not employ a one-size-fits-all managerial style, but instead find ways that best support your different employees so they do their best work. Here are some common types of employees and how best to manage them.

High-maintenance employees

Employees may be considered high-maintenance if they take up a majority of a manager’s time. High-maintenance behaviors include constantly seeking affirmation, asking questions incessantly or having a hard time accepting criticism.

To manage an employee who requires a lot of attention, it’s important to create a dialogue to try to address the issue. Use this time to find out which of their needs are not being met. Also use this discussion to address the employee’s specific behaviors that could be improved, and offer ways to mitigate any issues. Above all, make sure you are tailoring your interactions to each individual. 

Self-managing employees

You may feel you’ve hit the holy grail of employees when you hire a self-managing employee – even better when your whole team can be described as independent people who can manage themselves. You do, however, still have to be an effective leader, no matter how little guidance they need to do their jobs.

Your job as a manager is to ensure these employees continuously feel motivated and enthusiastic about their work. Regularly check in to discuss ways you can better support them through feedback, resources and clear communication about your team’s goals. 

Shy and introverted employees

Sometimes you get a shy or introverted employee who exhibits reserved or timid behaviors. They may not engage much with others around the office or speak up during staff meetings, but they still may be a hard worker. Everyone has a different approach to assignments and culture. As a manager, it is your job to understand these behaviors.

To ensure a shy or introverted employee feels safe and supported, give them space to work while letting them know that you’re available to help. You can also have regular one-on-one meetings that offer a more personal environment to comfortably discuss any issues. Find out which methods allow this employee to do their best work and minimize any day-to-day anxiety. 

A team with different motivation levels

No two employees are alike, and you’ll often end up with a team that has varying motivation levels. Some employees consistently go above and beyond with little guidance, while others might need more encouragement when completing their tasks. One size does not fit all in management, and each type of person requires a different kind of leadership style.

For example, high performers may require less attention, but managers should continue to set measurable goals and offer opportunities for these employees to learn and grow in their careers. On the other hand, low performers may require clear instructions, goals and expectations. It’s often not about their motivations, but rather a lack of confidence, so it’s important to highlight “teachable moments” for them to learn from and build up their confidence.

Older employees

It can be intimidating to be a young manager with older employees who report directly to you. While you are qualified, you may feel your employees might not respect your authority when addressing conflicts or delegating tasks. Rather than forcing respect from your employees, it’s important to know and understand their individual strengths. Additionally, these employees may have key institutional knowledge that can add context when changing systems or strategy.

An age gap may also present some resentments, so it’s imperative to be supportive of this employee, showing that you’re invested in their successes and asking for their help. You should also be communicating and providing feedback in a manner that works best for each employee. For example, an older employee may prefer direct, face-to-face communication, while a younger employee may respond better to an IM or email. 

Remote employees

Remote work has become far more common within the last few years due to COVID-19, and there are challenges to effectively managing employees from a distance . Remote workers can often feel less enthusiastic or connected with the rest of their team, and that can have an effect on productivity. Find ways to engage remote workers , like continuing to make them feel heard and understanding them on a personal level.

It is especially important to ensure the employee has the technology and security they need to be productive. Think about the specific technology each employee requires for their respective job. For example, employees who rely on meetings should be outfitted with up-to-date tools for audio and video collaboration. Security should also be a major priority as employees take company laptops to public spaces, such as coffee shops and airports, with shared Wi-Fi connections. These places make it easy for their laptop to be compromised and your company’s sensitive data to be accessed. Invest in robust security measures to protect both your employee and your company.

You may find yourself managing a new team either within your existing company or when joining a new company. Start off right by making a good impression. One way to do this is by scheduling brief one-on-one meetings with your new employees to get to know them on an individual basis. This also allows you to introduce yourself on a more personal level. 

During this time, establish open communication to discover how each employee prefers to give and receive feedback. You’ll want them to feel comfortable enough to voice their concerns or ideas. From there, you can also address any previous or ongoing issues and offer solutions to make their work more manageable. 

Gen Z employees

Generation Z, or those born between 1996 and 2015, are beginning to enter the workforce and, as the most diverse generation, they expect leadership to align with their values in terms of inclusion, the environment and social justice. This group brings distinct characteristics to the workplace, and it’s important to understand this in order to best manage them. For this tech-savvy group, career development is important, as is explicit instruction and goal clarification. Diversity is also a top priority. Generation Z is more likely to question everything, and they care deeply about their mental health.

Leading by example is key to managing and retaining Gen Z employees, so ensure you are adopting the ideals and managerial styles that best appeal to them. Create a supportive yet challenging environment for your young employees, and make sure to listen to their concerns. Learn more about managing Gen Z in the workplace.

Employees respond to leaders who care

At the end of the day, your team are humans with their own personal lives, dreams and problems. As a manager, you need to do more than just get the most out of them at work, but show that you’re receptive to each of their unique experiences and willing to accommodate them when possible. When employees know a manager has their back and can help them reach their goals, that’s true leadership.

Tejas Vemparala and Sammi Caramela contributed to this article. Some source interviews were conducted for a previous version of this article.

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• What makes a good manager? 10 qualities ...

What makes a good manager? 10 qualities to lead successful teams

Good managers are great communicators, active listeners, and amazing supporters. The good news is, these are traits you can learn. From learning to delegate to aligning your team’s work with greater company goals, we’ll show the 10 qualities the best manager’s share, and actionable tips on how to develop them.

Can you name a single successful sports team that thrives without a good coach? Probably not. Even if you have the best player in the league, you need a strong leader to inspire, support, and guide every successful team.

10 qualities of a good manager

Management skills aren’t taught in school. To be a successful manager, you need to hone and develop a new set of qualities. There’s no blueprint to follow—your unique skillset and experiences will help you decide what manager style to develop. But learning these 10 qualities that many of the best managers share is a great place to start.

How to effectively manage your team’s workload

In this free ebook, learn how to prioritize work so your team can make a bigger impact—with fewer resources.

1. Be inclusive

To build a diverse team , you need to create an inclusive and positive organizational culture . When every team member feels respected and valued, you’re naturally going to boost employee engagement and (by default) produce better work. Perhaps more importantly, an engaged team is a happier team. 

So how do you foster an inclusive work environment?

By building your emotional intelligence . Developing your emotional intelligence leads to better collaboration, advanced interpersonal relationships, and improved communication. Here’s how you can build and use it at work:

Have open and honest conversations with your teammates about how they feel at work and with the team.

Implement time for conversations and feedback to create a feeling of safety.

Help your teammates feel empowered by recognizing their ideas and work.

Recognize each team member’s unique qualities and assign work that compliments their specific skill set.

Establish group norms that encourage your whole team to practice inclusivity.

Look for team members who have different career paths to get a variety of people and skills working together.

Pro tip: Remember that creating an inclusive environment is an ongoing process. Part of doing this involves establishing and verbalizing group norms so your team can follow suit, but the ongoing effort is what will keep your team comfortable and honest with one another. If your organization offers trainings on team synergy or conflict resolution , make sure to take part and keep learning!

2. Establish communication norms

More often than not, project mistakes come down to a communication error rather than a performance issue. As a result, effective communication is vital, both for completing tasks as well as boosting team morale . 

To streamline conversations, create a communication plan for your team.A communication plan defines your different communication channels and what each should be used for. This helps team members not only know where to communicate, but how to communicate within each channel.

For example, your communication plan could look like:

Use Slack for synchronous day-to-day updates, quick questions, or team bonding group chats

Use Zoom for one-on-one meetings or presentations. 

Send emails to communicate with external partners or stakeholders.

Use Asana to communicate asynchronously about project management , schedule tasks, and track project progress.

Pro tip: It’s important to understand how your team communicates, both individually and as a whole. To gauge if you’re communicating effectively, ask for feedback . Feedback and performance reviews are great ways to start an open dialogue about how you can become a good leader to your team members.

3. Practice active listening

This key aspect of team management is often overlooked because it seems so simple. But listening is more than just hearing your team, it’s a skill. Becoming a better listener improves communication, boosts collaboration , creates a deeper connection with your teammates, and builds trust. 

There are four types of listening: empathetic, appreciative, comprehensive, and critical. To be a better manager, focus on a type of empathetic listening called active listening. 

Active listening means listening with the intent to fully understand what the other person is saying. As an active listener, try not to be preoccupied with your own thoughts or responses; instead prioritize comprehension in your responses. Ask open-ended questions to gain a deeper understanding of what your teammate is talking about, paraphrase or summarize to make sure you’re fully understanding what’s being said, and avoid distractions or multitasking .

When your teammate brings up the problem they need to solve, reflect back on what they’re saying (‘What I hear you saying is…’). Sometimes just hearing a problem relayed back inspires someone to realize they already know the answer.”

Pro tip: Better active listening can help you become more effective at conflict resolution as well. On top of paraphrasing and summarizing what your teammate is telling you, you can add to the conversation by using “I” statements. Using “I” statements is a great way to center the statement on your own experience. For example, you could say “I felt like my feedback from this morning didn’t resonate with you” rather than “You didn’t listen to me.”

4. Empower your team

A key component to building a strong organizational culture is empowering and putting trust in your team. Good company culture drives motivation and increases employee retention. It’s also good for morale, which boosts productivity and well-being .

To show your team that you trust them, delegate responsibilities and make work processes collaborative. Check in and ask them for feedback—both on your performance, as well as on the success of the project. Knowing that you value their opinion will strengthen their trust in you and help them to feel more confident and empowered in their work. 

Pro tip: Show that you want the best for your team by prioritizing their aspirations when possible, and taking responsibility when you fall short. One way of showing your team that you care about their growth is to support them in creating professional development plans. This document is perfect to define career goals and hold yourself accountable. 

5. Be decisive

As a manager, you are responsible for making decisions that affect the entire team. To avoid conflicts when making important decisions, it’s important to coordinate with your team and communicate properly by: 

Informing your team of your decisions as soon as possible. 

Giving your team time to process and react—especially if your decisions will affect their work or personal lives. 

Offering explanations and context for your decisions. Your team will appreciate the transparency, and it’s crucial to building trust.

Pro tip: Use frameworks and practices to develop better decision-making skills. For example, if you’re deciding which project to prioritize, you can use data-driven decision making models that incorporate all the facts. Or use the ladder of inference when you need to explain why you came to a certain decision. Test out different methods and models to learn what works best for you and your team.

6. Hold yourself accountable

Your team isn't perfect, and neither is their work. But ultimately, the buck stops with you—which means that you need to take responsibility for any missteps that happen. This is called accountability, and it’s one of the harder leadership skills to learn. As a team lead, you need to take responsibility for all the work that’s put out, even if you weren’t the one who actually created it. 

There’s an upside to this. By taking accountability for your team’s mistakes, you have the opportunity to help them learn from their mistakes. It builds trust, which shows your team that it’s safe to experiment and take creative risks. Which, ultimately, is how the best ideas are born. 

Pro tip: Accountability isn’t just about taking the moral high ground, it’s also the quickest way to find a solution. Problem-solving will be one of your key roles as a manager, and you can’t start that process if you don’t acknowledge there’s an issue. After you take responsibility, dive into problem management to ensure that you spot and stop similar mistakes in the future.

7. Be confident

Being a confident manager sets the tone for the team and makes it more likely that they will follow suit. Even if you’re a new manager and lack experience, you can reference the hard work that got you where you are to build confidence in your new role.

To build confidence, identify your strengths and keep a record of your successes. If there are periods of time in which you feel less confident, you can give yourself a boost by looking back on your past successes. It also helps to acknowledge when you’re in a tough situation. When you finally overcome it, congratulate yourself. That tough situation can be used as a confidence boost (and experience) for the future.

Pro tip: You should also find ways to show your confidence in your team’s abilities. Be there to offer guidance if necessary, but show that you have faith in their abilities by trusting them with important tasks. Host recurring 1:1 meetings with individuals to reinforce positive feedback, reminding them of the value they bring to the team.

8. Develop adaptability

Your team relies on you to take control, no matter the situation. As a manager, you’re responsible for both facing changes as they occur and helping your team to adjust. Becoming more adaptable will help you ‌stay calm when issues arise, which allows you to make better decisions even in challenging times. 

Pro Tip: To become more adaptable, learn to embrace change. Practicing mindfulness, keeping an open mind in every situation, and routinely pushing yourself out of your comfort zone are ways to develop adaptability. By learning to be more adaptable when times are good, you’re preparing yourself to manage and lead your team if a crisis does emerge.

9. Know when to push (and when to stop)

The best managers do two things: push their team to grow and support them in slowing down. To produce good work, you have to hit certain goals , KPIs , and OKRs . Plus, keeping your team motivated and engaged can help push them to be more creative in their work. But, research shows that workers are feeling more burnout than ever before. Your role is to manage both aspects of the work, and know your individual employees well enough to spot when they need to push through and when they need a break. 

Pro tip: Clearly outline expectations and deadlines in advance to avoid miscommunication. Then, save everything in one, central source of truth so anyone can reference them at any given time. This helps the team to plan ahead, reducing overwhelm and staying on schedule. And remember to stay flexible. Your project needs might change or someone might need a break. Build extra time into project calendars to ensure that there’s time for both work and rest.

10. Be honest

The last quality on the list might just be the most important: be honest. At the end of the day, your team relies on you. They rely on you to guide, support, and champion them through the ups and downs of their work lives. Transparency builds trust with your team and holds you accountable, which shows everyone that you’re here for them. 

Pro tip: Scheduling regular feedback sessions creates a safe space to share and be honest with one another. Instead of blaming someone for a mistake they made in the moment, you can structure your response to be more constructive during a schedule review. On the flip side, this time gives your employees the opportunity to be honest with you, which is the best way to become a better manager. 

Actionable tips to help your team succeed

Developing core leadership traits doesn’t just happen—you need to take action. These tips will help you put your leadership qualities into practice, and ultimately, guide your team to success.

Align your team’s goals to your organization’s purpose

One of the most impactful things you can do as a manager is provide your team with context for why their work matters. Our research shows that when teams have clarity on how their contributions impact the organization’s objectives, their engagement doubles.

Unfortunately, only 26% of employees have a clear understanding of how their individual work relates to their company’s goals and just 16% feel that their company is effective at setting and communicating these goals. Knowing why certain steps and tasks are important to drive a strategy, create a product, or grow your organization will help your team feel valued.

When a team—a group of people working together toward a common goal—has clarity, everyone has a clear understanding of everything they need to know about the work required to effectively achieve their goal.”

By clarifying your team’s goals and project’s objectives , you allow them to see how their work aligns with broader organizational goals. Sharing this information helps motivate your team members to do their best work because they understand how they are contributing to the bigger picture. 

To help them visualize this connection, use a goal tracking tool that shows how their individual and daily work contributes to long-term goals or a company’s mission. It's one thing to conceptually understand the objectives, but another to actually see that connection come to life.

Micromanaging occurs when you attempt to control every part of a project. It‘s difficult not to try to be everywhere at once when you know you’re responsible for the success of a project. But micromanaging can lead to you and your team members experiencing:

Decreased trust 

Increased annoyance

Lack of faith in their (and your) abilities

A loss in sight of the big picture

The opposite of micromanagement is macromanagement . To become a macro manager, practice delegating responsibility amongst your team members. In order to delegate effectively, ‌you must first understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team. Try to delegate in a way that plays to your team members’ strengths—and their goals. If you can make their interests align with those of the team, they will find it easier to complete their tasks successfully.

If a leader isn’t trusted, none of these things [skills] matter. You can teach people ethics, but not integrity. Additionally, even with the very best teaching, you are likely to make mistakes until you learn how to apply judgment and customize what you’ve learned to the specific context in front of you.”

Although you should not be responsible for overseeing every detail, understand that there are some tasks that cannot be delegated. On those tasks, it’s necessary to step in and take the lead.

Set clear goals and expectations

Setting clear goals is one of the most effective ways to achieve success. It’s your responsibility to clarify the desired outcome for the project your team is working on. The clearer you can be about establishing your expectations, the easier it will be for your team to follow suit. 

SMART goals are a great format to use when setting goals. SMART is an acronym that stands for specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound. These goals are clear and trackable, which makes them easier to measure when they are achieved (or missed). 

To track your team’s progress toward project goals, you also need a central source of truth. Goal setting software allows you to schedule milestones and quickly produce project status reports . These reports provide your team with the context they need to succeed while giving them the chance to asynchronously collaborate and get their tasks done.

Leverage collaboration tools

Collaboration software can be incredibly useful in improving your team’s productivity and performance. Software allows your team to clearly define the plan, the process, and the progress of the work, and enables:

A centralized location for important tasks so every member can stay updated on the progress of the project as a whole 

Visibility across the team, which allows for each member to understand why their task needs to be done a certain way or at a certain time

Time management —by streamlining and centralizing the work, brainstorming turns into fully-formed concepts faster. You can dedicate your energy to figuring out how to boost the quality of work, rather than explaining and delegating tasks on an individual level. 

Collaborative software isn’t a total replacement for all workplace communication. Rather, it’s meant as a supplementary tool to streamline the work process. Aim to still check in with each member of your team, and also check in with everyone as a group.

Make time for team building exercises

Having regular team building exercises doesn’t just make for a fun break, it’s also a great opportunity to create stronger bonds within the team. You can brighten everyone’s day with a quick icebreaker before a call or schedule a full day for team building activities. Whether you put these activities together yourself, hire a professional to get some fresh input, or take your team off-site, team building can increase trust and encourage collaboration among team members.

To get the most out of your team building, schedule activities during work hours—no matter how much your team loves their jobs, even fun work activities shouldn’t interfere with their free time.

Better managers, better work 

Each manager has their own unique management style that shines through in their work and that’s great! But a combination of great communication skills, the ability to delegate, and a willingness to leverage the right collaboration tools will set you apart from the rest.

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108 Management Skills Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

🏆 best management skills topic ideas & essay examples, 🎓 good research topics about management skills, ⭐ simple & easy management skills essay titles, ❓ management skills essay questions.

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• Personal Learning Styles and Management Skills In this journal I will create a link between my learning style and the skill which I have to develop. In my study life and in my work life I realized that the resolving conflict […]
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• HR Management Skills and Organisational Survival & Success A manager’s knowledge of HRM is significant to the attainment of the organisation’s goals and objectives. It is created to promote and pursue the aims and objectives of an organisation.
• Stress Management Skills of Student-Athletes Their responses will then be categorized as “low perceived stress,” “moderate perceived stress,” and “high perceived stress”. The students will then be qualified as possessing superior, above-average, average, or below-average stress management skills.
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• Employability Skills Gained From Studying Management Challenge-solving abilities can help a person stand out from other job prospects and support the future employer to successfully execute activities and accomplish goals more successfully.
• Time Management Among Essential Student Skills It is important to realize that the learning environment is often challenging and may require the application and development of specific skills and competencies in order to experience success.
• Analysis of Management Level Skills Lastly, conceptual skills are necessary for top-level management as they allow the managers to plan activities for the organization. In the lower level management, the managers do not have the authority to change the organization’s […]
• Management Positions: Knowledge, Skills and Duties The main task of a financial manager’s position is to coordinate, plan, and direct the accounting, banking, investing, and other finance-related activities of the company.
• Skills for Efficient Case Management According to the US Department of Health and Human Services, case managers plan and coordinate health and social services to meet the individualized needs of clients.
• Gender Discrimination in the Workplace and Better Management Skills All complexities and worries including gender discrimination and violence at the workplace are the domain of management for which skilled management is an asset par excellent.
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• Developing Management Skills: Self-Awareness If one wants to master themselves, it is important that he or she pays attention to self-awareness as self-management and other skills depend on and are closely linked to it.
• Time Management Skills and Techniques Because of the lack of experience in the arrangement of activities, the experience of managing time is likely to be rather deplorable.
• Project Management Aspects and Needed Skills The absence of the needed skills and inability to predict the evolution of the market might result in the appearance of numerous problems related to the various aspects of the project.
• The Art of Persuasion and Management Skills While working at the recreation center on campus, I once applied the art of persuasion to improve the participation of the other workers in the activities of the center.
• The Importance of Employing Strategic Management Skills Managers should strive to ensure that they identify their employee’s talents and develop them to fit the needs and, requirements of a specific team.
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• Management Skills and Entrepreneurship The assets that the company intends to acquire and own include tools used for the moulding of the metallic jewellery, engraving tools, brushes, cameras, protective clothing, land for setting up the business, and a warehouse […]
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• Assessing Project Management Skills in the UAE Contracting Industry The main aim of this research is to investigate the relationship between the development of the managers’ skills in the construction industry and the economic environment in the UAE.
• Effective and Competent International Management Skills As part of organizational activity, it is the responsibility of management to take care of staffing issues since it is the most important asset in attainment of goals and objectives.
• Essential Management Skills In management, the word planning is used to refer to the process of setting specific goals and objectives that specific groups of an organization have to achieve by putting effort in the process of their […]
• Jordan Events Company: Management Skills and Entrepreneurship The company will have to offer the best services in the region so that it becomes the preferred events management company.
• People and Skills in Risk Management Risk management is defined by several theorists as the assessment and quantification of the various risks that an organization runs and also the prescription of measures to reduce or avoid the risk in question.
• Skills of Management: Organising, Coordinating, and Controlling The journey of a manager is seen as one that begins with the individual having worked in an organization or department that involved the use of a specialised skill.
• Leadership Skills and Management Techniques in the Business World The employers are interested in leaders who have the ability to cater for diversity to combat the increases of demands and competition.
• Strategic Management and Leadership Skills This was also the period of the biggest recall of toys in the history of the company. The Mattel case study: the link between strategic management and leadership Leadership provides a link between strategic management […]
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• Adopting Anger Management Skills That Work: Positive Techniques and Skills
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• Management Skills and Strategies for Personal Improvement
• Primary Management Skills Required of a Security Manager: Technical, Conceptual, and Interpersonal Management Skills
• Leadership and Management Skills to Demonstrate Success
• Time Management Skills for Today’s Workplace Demands: Sorting and Prioritizing
• Developing Good Decision Making and Management Skills
• Conflict Management and Contemporary Management Skills Using for Better Decision Making
• New Technology and Time Management Skills Improving
• Finding Better Ways to Cope: Goals and Stress Management Skills
• People Management Skills, Employee Attrition, and Manager Rewards
• 21ST Century Management Skills and Differences Today From 50 Years Ago
• Personal Management Skills and Competencies: Ability to Work With Others and Conflict Handling
• Developing Leadership and Management Skills in Children
• Critical Management Skills for Identify and Solve Problems: Conceptual and Interpersonal Skills
• Advanced Project Management Skills: Technical, Strategic, Business Management, and Leadership Competencies
• Effective People: Leadership and Management Skills Development
• Goals and Stress Management Skills: Optimally Productivity and Reduce Stress
• Communication and Management Skills: Leadership and Time Management
• Are Management Skills Different Today From 50 Years Ago?
• Why Do Students Need Financial Management Skills?
• How Can Technology Improve Time Management Skills?
• Why Do College Students Have Poor Management Skills?
• Are Project Management Skills Universal or Specific to Different Industries?
• How Do Management Skills Contribute to a Good Business Performance?
• What Is the Best Method to Improve Personal Time Management Skills?
• How Can Time Management Skills Affect Educational Achievement?
• What Affects Teachers’ Classroom Management Skills?
• Are There Strategies to Develop Management Skills?
• What Is the Most Important Management Skill?
• Are Classroom Management Skills Every Teacher Must Have?
• What Is the Difference Between Management Skills and Leadership Skills?
• How Important Is It for Entrepreneurs to Have Project Management Skills?
• Why Are Management Skills So Important Today?
• Is the Current Poor State of the UK Economy Caused by Poor British Management Skills?
• What Is the Best Way to Develop Good Project Management Skills?
• How Is Stress Management Skill Necessary in the Workplace?
• Will Creativity Become the Most Prized Management Skill?
• How Does Having Great Willpower Contribute to Time Management Skills?
• What Are the Important Life Management Skills Which Should Be Taught to Students?
• Do Teachers Underestimate the Importance of Classroom Management Skills in Their Teaching?
• Why Are Management Skills Important for Engineering?
• How Did Hitler Learn Leadership and Management Skills?
• What Is the Effect of Poor Management Skills?
• How Effective Are Time Management Skills?
• Why Is Self-Management Skill Important in the Workplace?
• Is Planning a Time Management Skill?
• How Does Procrastination Affect Time Management Skills?
• Why Is Management Skill Important for a Successful Business?
• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

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Anyone Can Learn to Be a Better Leader

• Monique Valcour

You just have to put in the work.

Occupying a leadership position is not the same thing as leading. To lead, you must be able to connect, motivate, and inspire a sense of ownership of shared objectives. Heightening your capacity to lead others requires being able to see how you think and act, and how your behavior affects others. Leading well requires a continuous journey of personal development. Yet people in leadership roles often eschew the long and challenging work of deepening self-insight in favor of chasing after management “tools”— preferably the “quick ’n’ easy” kind, such as personality type assessments that reduce employees to a few simplistic behavioral tendencies. Tools can be handy aids to good leadership. But none of them can take the place of fearless introspection, feedback seeking, and committed efforts to behavioral change for greater effectiveness and increased positive impact on others.

When you’re an individual contributor, your ability to use your technical expertise to deliver results is paramount. Once you’ve advanced into a leadership role, however, the toolkit that you relied on to deliver individual results rarely equips you to succeed through others. Beware of falling into the logical trap of “if I can do this work well, I should be able to lead a team of people who do this work.” This would be true if leading others were akin to operating a more powerful version of the same machinery you operated previously. But it’s not; machinery doesn’t perform better or worse based on what it thinks about you and how you make it feel, while humans do .

• MV Monique Valcour is an executive coach, keynote speaker, and management professor. She helps clients create and sustain fulfilling and high-performance jobs, careers, workplaces, and lives. moniquevalcour

Partner Center

Vartika Kashyap

What makes a good manager (the ultimate guide of dos and don’ts)

Introduction

As John C. Maxwell has put it, “ Leadership is not about titles, positions, or flowcharts. It is about one life influencing another.”

And, so is the essence of a manager in an organization, who needs not only to play the role of a leader but an influencer too.

“The best boss I ever had was someone who ______ .”

While the answers to the blank may vary, the impact remains for life long.

And I’m sure most of us also remember our past managers for their good and bad managerial qualities. Although, we certainly would remember those great managers who were exceptionally good in their roles and inspired us to be a better version of ourselves, picking out the ones who gave us hard times won’t be that difficult too. Right?? 😂

Just kidding.

But, since you are here, I’m sure you are curious and want to know what makes a good manager. Stay tuned because every question lurking in your mind will be answered if only you read it right till the last word.

So, without further ado, let’s just begin with how to be a good manager.

Achieve Empowered Success!

9 Quality traits of a top-performing manager

“ What are the characteristics of a good manager that separate him/her from the rest of the pack?”

Of course, you need to know that before you become a manager or enhance your management standards even if you are already one.

I know what you must be thinking right now, so without wasting a jiffy, let’s give rest to your thought cycle and jump straight to know what qualities make a high-scoring manager.

1. They align organizational purpose with team goals 

Organizational goals today are dynamic amid massive transformations such as regulatory changes, competition, and regularly updated technological innovations to adjust and adapt to the latest developments. In these uncertain environments, good managers don’t just tell their employees to do tasks; they help employees understand the value of their work and how it’s vital to achieve organizational goals.

Employees who have transparency about the mission of their organization tend to connect their work with the company goals and feel their job is more important and their work holds much significance. When the employees are sure about how their work contributes to the “big picture”, they tend to stick with the company for a long.

2. They bring out the best in their team

Poor managers are biased, but good managers identify and understand the differences that every individual brings, and evaluate performance fairly and transparently, without prejudice. Best managers always recognize good performance and give credit where it’s due. Even when they identify weaknesses or faults, they criticize constructively to make employees realize their mistakes and work hard to correct them.  

“As a leader, it is important to not just see your success but focus on the success of others.” –  Sundar Pichai – CEO of Google & Alphabet Inc.

Good managers make sure they have an effective review process in place to evaluate performance fairly. Thanking employees for their contributions and rewarding them for a job well done are the signs of a good manager that go a long way in improving their employees’ morale. Good managers respect their employees and show them that they are valuable assets to the organization.

So, if you are a manager, make sure to celebrate even the smallest of employees’ achievements. Believe in your team even if no one else does, and you will undoubtedly bring out the best in them.

3. They set clear goals and expectations

Good managers are quite direct and specific about their expectations of employees. They don’t give broad and vague instructions – thereby leaving no space for ambiguity. Whether it’s small daily tasks or a long-term project, good managers have a clear idea of what they expect from every employee, based on their ability and capacity. 

A survey conducted by BetterWorks Employee Sentiment Survey, however, brings out some disappointing statistics about 64% of employees believing the company’s leadership to not be completely transparent when communicating top goals.

Many good managers use the SMART goal method to define expectations. They also validate their expectations with specific reasons as to how these will positively affect you, your organization, and the employees themselves. When employees understand the reasoning behind the task, they’ll be more compliant and eager to take the required steps to meet expectations.

4. They demonstrate empathy with their team

A study by research firm DDI shows that empathy is one of the main drivers of overall performance among managers.  The fact is backed up by another study by the Center for Creative Leadership (CCI) that shows that managers with empathetic behavior toward their team are further viewed as good performers by their bosses.

Being empathic towards employees equips good managers to form personal bonds with employees, watch for signs of burnout, and foster long-term relationships with them. Empathetic managers understand the emotions of their team members and show compassion. They understand how team members are feeling and this quality enables them to communicate effectively and solve problems right in the bud. As a result, their employees trust them more and managers can build rapport, which fuels team success.

5. They leverage the latest technology  

Smart managers know that technology, like project management software or online collaboration tools, is there to simplify the way they handle their teams, and their teams manage their work. Moving forward in sync with the technology is the sign of a quick-witted mind because they are aware of the potential of technology  – right from efficient task management and simplified collaboration to effortless reporting and time tracking.

This is the reason they never hesitate to invest in the latest tools. They are the first ones to look for tech solutions to make life easy for their teams and make them productive. By doing so they cannot only bring the distractions to a minimum, but also bring the best out of every team member, and that’s the reason they get all the admiration from everyone they deserve.

Advance! Progress! Achieve!

6. They make communication a priority

Effective communication is the key to not only maintaining amicable relationships in the workplace but also delivering work successfully. Good managers are the first ones to recognize this, and therefore, invest their time and energy in ensuring a smooth flow of communication throughout the project. This is one of the most intrinsic qualities of a successful manager that you’ll not find hard to spot.

The State of Business Communication report conducted on behalf of Grammarly in 2023 reports, reveals effective communication to be a factor in increasing the team’s productivity by 72% of business leaders.

From navigating team meetings with poise to providing people with the right direction in the project – a great project manager ensures that things never slip through the cracks. They are not afraid to take the help of the available resources like online communication tools for the same.

But keep in mind, no communication tool can ever replace workplace communication, but aids in facilitating better.

Maximize your team’s potential!

7. They set up the team for success

Good managers don’t just inspire their teams to collaborate and work efficiently but prepare them for a voyage to excel. To ensure their team reaches the pinnacle of success, they don’t settle for less and focus on individual performances, while aligning their efforts with the overall team goal.

So, rightly said. It is only by bringing together all the aspects of successful team building like communication, collaboration, clarity, and trust, they make sure that the team knows the purpose of their efforts. They know that success comes only with collaborative efforts, and that’s exactly what they inspire the team to perform.

8. They delegate tasks effectively

Good managers delegate tasks effectively. They demonstrate faith in their employee’s ability to perform delegated tasks and allow them to learn new skills and develop strengths that they might not otherwise know they have. Good managers don’t delegate tasks randomly; they identify potential within their teams and assign work to the right people using the right methods and tools.

Good managers assign tasks and split responsibilities according to the potential and talent within teams. This helps to significantly improve overall organizational efficiency as well as time management. Assigning important tasks also helps team members develop confidence in their abilities, which motivates them further to put in their best efforts.

9. They inspire at every level

Last but not least, a good manager never fails to inspire others. This inspiration comes at many levels; from boosting the morale of the team when things are not going right to talking it out with individuals when they are facing problems in their personal lives.

Good managers know that their role is not limited to only making a productive environment. Rather they have a role to play in building an understanding and empathetic organizational culture so that individuals thrive and continue to strive for betterment at every level. When you are part of a positive work environment , innovation, and creativity come out naturally. And, that’s one of the hallmarks of a great team, led by an equally able manager.

How can managers develop and excel in their leadership skills?

A manager is not given the training to be a good manager. Instead, it is a practice to be honed over time. Bagging the coveted title of a manager without doing the grinning and the groundwork to become the best one won’t pay you well in the long run.

Having a good manager is essential, like breathing. And if we make managers better, it would be like a breath of fresh air. — Michelle Donovan Director of People Operations, Google

So, if you have just earned this opportunity, you better pull your socks up and do comprehensive research on learning to develop and excel in your leadership skills to be a manager.

Trust me, doing so will prepare you for challenging as well as rewarding times ahead.

👉 Add value to your role: When you decide to nurture your leadership skills, the first and foremost thing you can do is to learn and work on the parameter that adds value to not only your role but the organization as a whole. Be one step ahead and surpass the expectations of others to make your mark.

👉 Practice ethical decision-making and integrity: Integrity and ethical choices go side by side. Managers should be honest and truthful towards their team and organization and must adhere to their commitment to strong values. A manager is a reflection of a company’s image, so a motivated and empowered person should be the face of the company.

👉 Enhance emotional fitness: While we talk about employees’ mental fitness and well-being, high-hierarchical management is often blurred out from that vision. A manager who is strong-headed and prepared for any unforeseen circumstances can lead his team skillfully through the raging hurricanes of uncertainty.

👉 Inculcate a growth mindset: As a manager, your role doesn’t confide you to suffice only your managerial needs but rise above them to be a leader. A leader who is consistent, who is learning and always improving. A good manager embraces the growth mindset and inspires others to follow suit to hone their skills.

👉 Rehearse critical and innovative thinking: Good managers keep a sharp eye on potential opportunities and take hold of them in actionable measures to benefit the team. Also, they are open to innovative and better ideas. They admire the out-of-the-box thinkers and stone their thinking blocks in the pathway to success.

Take Control Back!

Practical tips on how to be a good manager

Countless organizations in history have fared and flourished exceptionally well under good managers and leaders. Amazon, one of the largest and most successful e-commerce companies, witnessed spectacular growth under the reign of Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon.

Success doesn’t come easy.

Make no mistake about it, the managerial role is a demanding job with additional responsibilities. You cannot act or perform the same way in a managerial role as you did as a regular employee.

You need to reflect on your uniqueness.

➡️ Lead by example: Operate the way you expect them to act! Choose to lead by example to curate a tone for the organization which is built on the foundation of trust and credibility. If you go beyond the limits of your employees, they will be more likely to return the favor and emulate these traits.

➡️ Add a positive & personal value: One of the characteristics of a good manager is to keep a fine balance between employees’ needs and requirements, their well-being, and aspirations along with business goals. And that can be done when employees see you as empathetic and feel that you care.

➡️ Foster a purpose-driven work culture: Motivating employees to see a broader and more successful vision is the other manager attribute, that lets you not only drive success and growth but build strong, cohesive teams. When employees thrive in a purpose-driven culture, they produce higher levels of productivity and engagement.

➡️ Be a leader, not a manager: Leadership strives to inspire and empower and not just dictate.  They don’t serve everything to their employees on plates. Rather, they develop and fine-tune their skills in a way that they can resolve the trickiest of situations on their own.

➡️ Be human: More often than not, managers have to manage so many things at the same time that they experience constant stress. But accept that you are a human and you can too make mistakes.  Be responsible for the failure of projects , admit mistakes, and ask for help whenever you feel overwhelmed.

5 Mistakes a good manager should avoid (At any cost 😱)

Have you ever spent time figuring out how to be a good manager and what mistakes to avoid?

Amid grueling schedules, I believe, managers can commit some mistakes unknowingly that can have a negative influence on their subordinates.

Here I am mentioning a few horrible mistakes that you as a manager should NEVER make while leading your team:

1. Micromanagement 

A survey of Trinity Solutions published in My Way or the Highway reports that almost 79% of respondents had experienced micromanagement.

Remember how annoyed you used to get when your manager used to peek over your shoulders at work? Now, remember all the nice things (pun intended) that you uttered in your mouth as you were constantly watched over by your managers many times a day. The point here is that

No employee likes to be micromanaged and a good manager must bear this in mind.  

Employees want a certain degree of freedom. However, their intrusive observations, manipulation, and exhaustive communication make employees doubt their capabilities and send a clear signal that they are not backed by their managers. Ultimately, making them feel defeated, paranoid, and unappreciated in the long run.

No employee can develop his/her skills until managers show complete faith in them.

2. Spoon-feeding solutions

Another never to make mistake goes by spoon-feeding solutions. That said, some managers have this tendency to over-providing solutions for their teams. They are quick when it comes to offering solutions that their employees can find themselves with more effort than usual.

Will it in any way help them?

No, not at all.

This habit of serving on the plate without asking prevents employees from doing all the hard work of seeking the best solution themselves. By always helping employees with “the solutions”, managers stop their team members’ clocks and prevent them from putting their thinking caps on. Managers need not act like a school teacher who is always accessible whenever the team encounters problems, instead, allow them to take ownership of the problem at hand.

3. Failing to define goals

Let me be clear here that poor planning and the inability to define goals do not do your team any good. Some managers fail to define goals for their employees which leads them to struggle with their work throughout the day. That way they don’t get any idea why they’re doing work, what their work means for themselves and the organization they’re working for, and why they are unable to meet deadlines.

This leads to nothing but their inability to prioritize work , which means they will complete projects and tasks in random order. Their productivity levels cease to increase when they do not get a particular direction or vision for work.

On the other hand, goal-setting too can backfire if objectives are overly ambitious and unattainable. So, good managers make sure to set attainable goals for employees and reward them for achieving them, because when employees don’t see career growth in their jobs, they tend to switch jobs.

Get More Done Fast!

Try These 21 Task Management Tools for Improved Task Delegation and Efficiency. – Read More

4. Leading with an egoistic mindset

As the American proverb puts it, “ Arrogance is a kingdom without a crown. ”

Hubris has always been one of the main causes of conflict and grief. Arrogant managers think that since they are sitting in a senior position and are in charge of their teams, it’s because they are more skilled and competent than others. Such managers tend to show their supremacy to their subordinates from time to time.

They think they have the best ideas and information and can use their position to manipulate others. Many employees express anguish over arrogant, egoistic managers who are unfit to lead.

An inflated ego narrows our vision.

In other words, we lose our perspective on being arrogant and we only hear and see what we want to. As a result, managers lose touch with their team members, which further widens the gap between both sides.

5. Displaying blatant favoritism

Being seasoned professionals, no matter how much we deny it, we are well aware of office politics and favoritism. It’s disheartening and demoralizing for employees when they already know who’ll be the next person to be promoted to higher positions just because he/she enjoys a close relationship with a manager. Agree?

Managers displaying signs of favoritism at work disrupt the workplace. This unhealthy practice in the workplace sends the wrong signal to employees, except for those who enjoy the manager’s special attention. People are likely to believe that hard, honest work doesn’t bear fruits because to grow within the organization, instead they would have to earn a place in the manager’s good books.

Poor and biased managers are quite good at showing who they favor over others, irrespective of an individual’s abilities and talent. Certainly, this behavior is not what makes a good manager by any stretch of the imagination.

Now that you’ve read about some dreadful mistakes that should be avoided by managers (both experienced and new), we will now discuss some eminent qualities that good managers have, and aspiring managers must have.

Given below are nine key qualities that separate good managers from mediocre and poor managers.

The final thought

In a nutshell, being a manager is all about handling not just your work but your team with great responsibility. You are expected to deliver the goods as well as command the respect of your team. And a good manager knows how to achieve this. They cultivate happiness and motivation at work and encourage every employee to be a better version of themselves.

Good managers positively influence the lives of their team members and help them learn and develop new skills. They groom and prepare them for senior roles in the organization in the future. That said, you can’t become a great manager overnight, but need to actively make efforts to improve and be consistent.

Lastly, while the managerial position does have its benefits in terms of career development, it can also be a thankless role.

So, with this, we are ending here and hope you have got a clear idea of how to be a good manager and what steps are necessary to become a good manager.

Related articles:

• The most essential expectations of a good manager in 2024
• 15 best tools for managers to have complete control of office work

What makes a good manager FAQs

What is the difference between a manager and a leader.

The two terms are often rightly taken to have similar meanings, the difference however lies in the approaches and focuses. Where a manager tends to focus on controlling resources, managing coordination, and optimizing processes by creating a circle of power, a leader forms a circle of influence to empower and inspire people to work towards a common goal and compelling vision.

How important is emotional intelligence for a manager?

Having emotional intelligence in my perspective is more than a critical skill. It is a super powerful manager attribute that allows them to understand and empathize with team members. The morale of employees is raised, and teamwork is improved when they believe their needs, motivation, and emotions are acknowledged and understood.

What are some effective strategies for conflict resolution?

In a diverse-cultured work environment, where people of varied cultures, religions, interests, intellectual backgrounds, and geographical locations thrive, disagreements are bound to happen.

Some proven conflict strategies include –

• Focus on the problem, not the person
• Active Listening
• Promote open communication
• Use a structured problem-solving approach
• Stay calm and objective

what is a good manager?

A good manager is someone who effectively leads, motivates, and supports their team to achieve organizational goals. They excel in problem-solving, communication, and decision-making while fostering a positive work environment.

What are the characteristics of a good manager?

To be a good manager, you have to become a manager. And being one is a feeling that pushes us hard to rise above our peers and take charge of one of the most crucial positions in an organization.

Because the internet is rife with enormous good manager qualities, I have drafted a set of all the qualities that good managers boast as a badge of excellence.

• They align organizational purpose with team goals
• They bring out the best in their team
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Career Tips , Getting a Job

Management Skills Made Easy

Published: May 9, 2024

Good management is a vital resource in all organizations. It is the manager’s role to oversee the performances and behavior of their designated department and ensure that company standards are maintained. There are many different approaches to the position depending on the scope of the position and the personality of the person with the job, but certain high-level managerial skills consistently appear in the best managers. Here is a breakdown of the most important management skills and what factors comprise great leadership .  

What are the 5 Principles of Management? 

Henri Fayol was a French mining engineer and executive whose writings would serve as the basis for classic management theory. In his 1916 book Administration Industrielle et générale, Fayol defined the 5 principles of management as this: 

Fayol’s theory deems this the most difficult of the five functions, but coming up with a suitable schedule and plan of action is a must for any organization.  

A chaotic organization will never reach its full potential. It is management’s job to make sure that all company resources are being used wisely to maximize production.  

Fayol stated that managers must be able to deliver clear instructions to employees so they can fulfill their responsibilities on time.  

Coordinating

Management also must work to create a positive culture that brings the best out of the group.  

Controlling

Fayol’s final management principle opines that managers should have the perspective to evaluate performances and determine if employees are performing up to established performance standards. If not, corrective measures could be implemented.  

What are the 5 Ms of management? 

Another good guide for developing managerial skills is the 5 Ms of management. These are the central factors that impact the scope and success of a business. The 5 Ms are: 

One can’t start or sustain a company without an influx of cash.  

All of the personnel employed by the organization use its resources effectively.  

The raw goods that are used to create the final products the business sells.  

The equipment used to convert or assemble raw materials into finished products.  

These are systems used to keep an organization running efficiently.   

What are Some Top-Level Management Skills? 

Great leadership can be the difference between a thriving workplace and one where talent is far too eager to seek greener pastures . It has been proven countless times that people deliver better work when they enjoy coming to the office (virtual or otherwise), so to ensure that they get the best results, managers should look to embrace these top-level abilities:  

Leadership 

Let’s start with the obvious: good managers need to exude a sense of authority and charisma that can convince a group of people to work towards the same goals. 

Emotional Intelligence 

Recognizing the mental state of yourself and the people around you wasn’t always an important management skill, but a high level of emotional intelligence is now a must in modern times. Leaders should practice healthy self-awareness of their feelings and have the capacity for self-regulation so that they remain calm in all situations. Empathy is also necessary to connect with fellow workers or customers. 

Strategic Thinking/Critical Thinking 

A certain level of foresight is necessary in quality management. Senior leaders must combine their knowledge with decisiveness to put plans in place that best suit both the present and future goals of the organization. It is also imperative that managers are open to constructive criticism and adapt on the fly when circumstances change. 

Expertise 

If you’re in a position of power in an organization, it sure helps to connect with employees if you understand the subject matter.  It’s important to demonstrate that you are well-versed in the specific department you are managing and how it intersects with other sections.   

Active Listening 

Good communication is a two-way street. It’s not enough to articulate your point of view and expect others to follow. You also have to be willing and able to engage with people on the other side of the conversation. Listening to your colleagues or customers isn’t just an act of common courtesy. Hearing other perspectives on the business will help you learn to make better decisions in the future. 

What are the 7 Main Functions of Management? 

The main goal of management is to fulfill the organization’s ambitions while using its resources in the most efficient manner possible. Inspired by Fayol’s writing, Luther Gullick and Lyndall Urwick coined the term POSDCORB, an acronym that serves as the basis for traditional organizational theory, in a 1937 paper. The duo defined the functions of management as Planning, Organizing, Staffing, Directing, Co-Ordinating, Reporting, and Budgeting. Critics deemed POSDCORB to be an oversimplification of the role, hailing other elements as equally important.  

Most of these management functions carry over from Mayol’s writings, but the added elements are: 

Staffing 

Managers must hire the right workers who fully fit the requirements for each position. If any staff member is underperforming, it is on management to train them properly, help them improve, or replace them with another worker. It’s also important to be aware of the workload on existing staff and to create pathways for promotions to reward good performance.  

Directing 

Good management delivers clear information and guidance to others that helps them work to the best of their abilities.  

Motivating 

It’s hard to overstate the importance of finding motivation as a management skill. Everyone wants to hear that they’re doing a good job. The efforts of a department under a person’s leadership reflect management’s influence on the group. There are many tangible and emotional ways to motivate people.  

Companies can offer bonuses or awards as incentives for people to work at a high level consistently. In some cases, sincere acknowledgment of a worker’s labor is enough to stave off burnout. Whatever methods a manager chooses, they must result in a positive reaction.  

Develop Your Management Skills at University of the People

Wherever your professional career takes you, managerial skills that make for good leadership are always valuable. You can learn to harness these skills with the help of our business Administration programs . At UoPeople, we train students to lead with aplomb, solve business problems in the best possible manner, and confidently operate in marketing, economics, accounting, and finance. Our programs are 100 percent remote and tuition-free. Apply now!

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Essay on Time Management

• Updated on  
• Aug 27, 2022

“Time isn’t the main thing, it’s the only thing”- Mile Davis.

Time management is a prestigious topic for budding subconscious minds. It is one of the most crucial skills that you must inculcate from early on. This skill has vital importance when you move into a professional setting. It is extremely important to manage time efficiently as not managing time can create many problems in your day-to-day life. It is also a common essay topic in the school curriculum and various academic and competitive exams like IELTS , TOEFL , SAT , UPSC , etc. This blog brings you samples of essays on time management with tips & tricks on how to write an essay.

Essay on Time Management in 200 words

Time stops for none and is equal for all. Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day but some people make better use of time than others. This is one of the most important reasons some people are experts in what they do. Therefore, time management plays a vital role in both personal as well as professional lives.

Time management is basically an effort made consciously to spend a certain amount of time performing a task efficiently. Furthermore, it is estimated that to have better results, one needs to do productive work. Thus, productivity is the key focus here. Moreover, maintaining a careful balance between professional life, social life, and any other hobbies or activities is a great example of efficient time management.

Time management is also crucial for students from an academic perspective as students require to cover many subjects. Thus, efficiently managing time is an important skill in everyone’s life.  Around the world, there are two views for time management – linear time view and multi-active time view. The linear time view is predominant in America, Germany and England, and it aims at completing one task at a time. Whereas a multi-active view aims at completing a number at once and is predominant in India and Spain. Nevertheless, time management is one of the important traits of a successful individual, students are advised to follow whichever is convenient for them.

Essay on Time Management in 300 Words

Time Management is a key skill for job opportunities as employers recruit candidates who have this efficient skill. Thus, it is advised to initiate inculcating this vital skill as soon as possible. In the academic setting, time management plays a vital role and helps in the accomplishment of tasks efficiently and effectively.

Time management is the process of planning and performing pre-scheduled activities with the aim of increasing productivity, effectiveness and efficiency. Different cultures hold different views on Time Management. However, a multi-active time view and a linear time view are the two predominant views. In a linear time view, the aim is set to complete one particular task at a time whereas, in a multi-active view, the focus is on completing a greater number of tasks at once. Emphasis is given on productivity and effectiveness, but students are free to choose their own view of time management.

Time management is crucial as it is helpful in setting a timeline for achieving a particular goal. Moreover, it also increases the efficiency of the tasks at hand. It becomes necessary for working professionals as they need to balance their personal and professional life. Thus, they do not have time to dwell on each and every detail in every task. In such cases, a multi-active view is one of the helpful methods. Time management works best when a goal or target is set. For instance, a student becomes far more effective at learning when they decide to assign 2 hours for learning a particular concept. This is effectively a method of benchmarking progress. So, every time the activity is performed, one can measure themselves and improve upon various aspects of their tasks.The clear conclusion is that time management is a crucial skill for students and working professionals. Thus, everyone must practise time management to improve productivity and efficiency of tasks.

Tips for Writing an Essay on Time Management

To write an impactful and scoring essay here are some tips on how to manage time and write a good essay:

• The initial step is to write an introduction or background information about the topic
• You are required to use the formal style of writing and avoid using slang language.
• To make an essay more impactful, write dates, quotations, and names to provide a better understanding
• You can use jargon wherever it is necessary as it sometimes makes an essay complicated
• To make an essay more creative you can also add information in bulleted points wherever possible
• Always remember to add a conclusion where you need to summarise crucial points
• Once you are done read through the lines and check spelling and grammar mistakes before submission

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Lastly, we hope this blog has helped you in structuring a terrific essay on time management. Planning to ace your IELTS, get expert tips from coaches at Leverage Live by Leverage Edu .

Sonal is a creative, enthusiastic writer and editor who has worked extensively for the Study Abroad domain. She splits her time between shooting fun insta reels and learning new tools for content marketing. If she is missing from her desk, you can find her with a group of people cracking silly jokes or petting neighbourhood dogs.

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