So, you want to be a manager? The following is a list of traits and skills required in a candidate to take full advantage of PGDM program and become an effective manager. Go through the list and attempt the questions after that and see how well can you fit into the shoes of a manager.
Time Management
Supervisory positions can be very stressful and overwhelming when specific deadlines need to be met. Leaders need to be able to handle tasks and assignments in a timely manner. Time is similar to finances and both need to be budgeted wisely.
Effective managers avoid being trapped by trivia. They struggle against perfectionist tendencies that can draw them into expending time on unimportant matters. They can distinguish between tasks that are truly important to getting the job done and those that are merely urgent. They organize their work so that they are not constantly putting out fires, but concentrate on achieving the most important mission goals. The key to effective prioritizing is the ability to organize and establishing priorities for the day is the universally accepted practice of the best managers.
Communication skills
Communication is fundamental in a any aspect of life, especially for management teams and among employees relations. Supervisors need to be capable of communicating clearly with fellow managers, employees, other businesses, and customers. Confidence and personality plays a major role in a manager’s ability to communicate. Managers should be experienced with speaking both to groups and individuals.
Many people think that managers are completely type-A personalities with analytical mindsets. However, Managers also need the type-B traits that help them work well with people, especially in regards to communication. The job of a Manager involves translating complicated ideas and instructions to teams of people, investors, and other department heads. Since the Manager may interact with a wide variety of people from different backgrounds, this can be a very daunting task! While looking at the technical aspects of a job, the Manager will never forget about the human element and forget that people are the backbone of a company.
These are often the most talked about when it comes to leading or managing. It’s essential for a manager to have good communication skills, both written and verbal, to be able to manage effectively. In every aspect of being a good manager, communication plays a major role.
Listening skills are yes, a part of communication. Whatever knowledge a manager possesses or the domain expertise he has, to put his knowledge into practice, it needs to be shared. And that again demands communication skills. A good manager possesses an optimistic attitude and has motivating abilities. Listening skills and concern for his people are among the other important traits.
Conflict Resolution
Conflict occurs just about every day in personal and career based environments. Managers need to be able to listen, identify an issue, agree on the issue, discuss solutions, agree on the solution, and follow up. He will be the liaison between the lower-level and upper-level employees. He will also serve as the mediator for disputes between lower-level employees. In order to be able to do this position well, the manager that you hire is going to have to be capable of handling conflicts in the office place. He needs to be someone who can spot problems as they form and nip them in bud as well as someone who can deal with bigger conflicts when they do arise.
Personal Traits
Managers are often valued for their creativity in coming up with new ideas and problem solving. However, this creativity always lies on a basis of common sense. The Manager will be able to look at all aspects of the company with objection and calculate whether plans are actually feasible or not. Anyone with experience in the field will agree that it isn’t enough to have knowledge-one must also have the basic sense to put that knowledge into practice. In the event of a problem, the Manager needs to have the cool mindset to quickly troubleshoot the problem. A calm manager will keep the entire office calm which will lead to increased productivity and a better workplace overall. This will ultimately grow your business.
managers must be able to quickly adjust, understanding the implications of the changes and adjusting goals and strategies accordingly. An adaptable manager sets an example to his/her employees and leads the way in demonstrating new ways of working and/or behaving.
To be a good and effective manager, one must be able to maintain his temperamental balance at all times.Anyone can obtain the organization chart, but what is more useful for any manager is to understand the real network within the business. Who are the key people that can make things happen? It’s about understanding who affect the decisions you make today and in the future, and ensuring you have a good relationship with them.
Goal setting
Goal setting goes hand-in-hand with time management. Managers need to manage their time wisely and focus on specific goals. Managers also need to be able to assign certain tasks to employees by giving them a goal as well.
Objective Views
Managers need to remain objective towards their employees, fellow managers, customers, and their own personal work. A manager should not be bias towards a certain group or person. He/she should always remain non-judgmental and give everyone a chance to prove themselves, Having a ‘’favorite’’ employee should not happen because it’s not fair to other employees. Managers should also be able to remember that you should view staff members and customers in a professional manager rather than as a close personal friend.
Self-Motivation
The person that you hire for the job has to be capable of doing the job without needing you to look over her shoulder all of the time. This individual needs to be capable of understanding the basic goals of the business and developing her own strategies for achieving those goals. She needs to be committed to putting her all into the job every day without the close supervision of a boss.
Great Customer Service Skills
No matter what type of business you are in, you can benefit from having a manager who is excellent in dealing with customers and clients. Ultimately this may not be a large percentage of the manager’s job since tha daily tasks of customer service will fall to other employees. However, when problems arise with customers, the manager is the one who has the potential to diffuse the situation or to exacerbate it. You want to hire a manager who is going to be capable of making even the most difficult customers happy so that you can retain customers and the business can grow.
Being a Team Player
The manager has to be someone who is committed to working with a team of people for the improvement of the whole business. This means that the manager isn’t in the business solely for the selfish reasons of ‘’getting ahead’’ instead, he is interested in growing the business because it is going to be to his benefit as well as to the benefit of the other people working with him in the company. A manager is a middle-man who has to work with both the upper-level bosses and the lower-level employees so it’s highly important that this person is really a team player.
The ability to do it now
At least 80% of the things coming over the desks of most managers can and should be handled immediately. Effective managers toss it into the round file if it’s not useful, delegate it if appropriate, or do it themselves, as soon as possible, if necessary. Indecision and unwillingness to take calculated risks and fast, reasoned action are traits sure to block the career advancement of managers, and a tendency to procrastinate can be a managers career advancement death knell. Indecision and procrastination are the biggest thieves of time and among the most serious impediments to successful functioning.
The ability to delegate effectively
This is not easy for most managers, who want to do what they can do well. Many managers, especially early in their managerial careers, are more comfortable doing than they are managing especially since they were usually promoted up through the ranks because they were competent at their jobs. The effective manager sees that he/she has qualified people and selects an appropriate one for a given responsibility, delegates with clarity to ensure understanding, and follows up with regular progress reports, to make sure the intended results are achieved. Delegation must not be seen by employees as simply having an undesirable task dumped on them. The best managers use delegation both as a way to save his/her own time for other uses and as an invaluable tool for upgrading the skills of employees.
Intelligentsia
The very uncommon common sense is something that a manager should possess. A manager needs to have complete knowledge of his field and feel confident about what he knows. Thorough knowledge of one’s position and responsibilities is the trait of an effective manager. Intelligence is another characteristic of good managers. Having a witty sense of humor is an added advantage. They have it or they develop it, but once it’s there, it’s of great help in tackling difficult situations. A manager is needs to think out of the box! That’s what innovation is. A manager always aims at bringing reforms to his work patterns, adapt to change, experiment with his working style, come up with new schemes for business growth; Emotional intelligence is another important trait of a manager. It translates into understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of his team and a concern for their problems.
Willingness to expend time and effort on encouraging employees
Supporting subordinates is at the heart of managerial effectiveness. Yet, many managers find themselves too busy. Successful and effective managers know that they can only succeed when their employees succeed and that their own performance rating will be based on how well his/her work unit performs so a well, trained highly motivated set of employees is the requisite for success as a manager.
Acceptance of limitations on relationships with employees
Effective managers recognize the need for a kind of formality in relation to employees and the impossibility of being buddies with them. They accept the increased loneliness inherent in a manager’s position. They know that even having the appearance of being closer to one employee than to others, e.g. by socializing with them outside of business hours, or having lunch with the same employee every day, brings incrimination. The suspicion of having a pet is a morale buster. Group disintegration is a real possibility when there develops an in-group of people the boss spends time with and an out-group whose members feel they are being neglected.
Strict adherence to policies of fairness
in reviewing and assessing employees’ performance, in considering the assignment of tasks, in administering discipline and in all other matters, the effective manager bases his/her judgment on objective observation and is totally impartial and scrupulously fair. In order to achieve such fairness the manager must be capable of objectively assessing performance and that means having objective, quantifiable data about each employee’s performance.
Integrity
Integrity fosters trust, which in turn builds. A manager with loyal staff has the capability to be very effective. They have staff that they know they can rely on and, in turn, their staff is confident in their abilities to deliver knowing they have the support of their manager.
Role Model
An effective manager sets an example, to all staff, of appropriate behavior and performance standards. It may seem obvious, but it is extremely difficult to expect others to behave in a particular way, if you yourself do not set such an example.
Value people above all else
A job well done is not about systems or processes or figures; it’s about people. An effective manager recognizes the importance of people in business, and shows everyone respects regardless of the role that they play. An effective manager listens to people; is fair and understanding. This doesn’t mean they can always keep everyone happy; because as a manager this simply isn’t the case, however if a decision is reached though a fair process people understand how the outcome was reached even if they don’t necessarily agree with result.