Management Skills

What makes a successful manager? Different studies have been done to obtain insight into this question. Is it from formal education and training, being able to build relationships, or is it from "the school of hard knocks" (i.e., experience)? One would guess that the answer depends on who you ask. However, more companies today are requiring their managers to have a college degree, preferably in business. Businesses may also pay for an employee to go to college, since they know that an additional formal business education will help employees better understand the manager's roles and skills within a business.

There are three general classifications of skills a person should possess in order to be a good manager:

• Human skills: These skills relate to communicating with and motivating people. An engineer might be really good at designing or building a bridge but may not have good leadership skills if they cannot convince others about new design ideas.
• Technical skills: That same engineer probably has great technical skills and is very competent in the discipline, but if they cannot communicate with subordinates, they probably will not be an effective manager in the engineering department.
• Conceptual skills: These skills have to do with being able to see that a problem or opportunity exists and then developing steps to correct the problem or take advantage of the opportunity. Upper level managers especially need conceptual skills since they are responsible for vision and long-range planning. This is similar to being able to see the big picture and having the ability to distinguish between cause and effect.