Many new managers don’t feel supported in their roles, and that leads to feelings of ineffectiveness down the road. Even experienced managers admit to feeling uncomfortable doing basic managerial tasks, such as giving feedback to direct reports. Fortunately, these skills can be taught. With training content on the right areas, organizations can empower their managers and give everyone on the team a leg up.

Essential skills learned in management courses

The role of manager has multiple dimensions — from managing oneself and others, to managing projects and problems. Below, we’ll dive into these dimensions and the skill sets necessary to be effective at each. This list is by no means comprehensive, but serves as a starting point for setting a manager up for success.

Managing oneself

Managers are role models for the attitudes and behaviors they want to inculcate in their direct reports, such as trust and accountability. Therefore, they must be mindful of what their behaviors convey to their team about their character and competence. Influencing direct reports through demonstrated character and competence is far more effective than managing through formal authority.

In addition to an awareness of their behaviors, management courses can teach team leaders to develop an awareness of their thought patterns. Managers who know whether they’re analytic, procedural, relational, or innovative thinkers can seek support from peers who have different perspectives. This can remove blind spots that hinder effective management and result in a more-well rounded leadership style.

Managing your network

Managers need to be able to navigate the political dynamics that typify organizational life, which requires the ability to build relationships and share knowledge. Having a strong network of peers facilitates better problem-solving and collaboration. But building these relationships doesn’t come naturally to everyone.

In management courses, learners can develop their collaborative intelligence — their ability to work effectively with others who think differently. To build collaborative intelligence, managers must learn how to listen with an open mind, consider the ideas of others, and work with them to achieve common goals.

Managing a team

A lot goes into managing a team, but research has shown that employees have a strong desire to feel their work serves an important purpose and their contribution is valued. Managers should communicate the importance of the mission on a regular basis. Storytelling, a technique that can be learned in management courses, is one way to engage the entire team in working toward a common goal.

Managers must also learn the power of praise for motivating direct reports, and when things aren’t going so well — how to give constructive feedback in a positive way. Creating a culture of psychological safety, where direct reports believe their manager is an ally who wants them to be successful, can lay the foundation for the entire team to thrive.

Managing individuals

A common frustration experienced by many employees is being micromanaged by leaders who don’t trust them enough. Autonomy is a key motivator for employees, so it’s particularly important for managers to learn how to give them the space to exercise their own discretion and learn from their mistakes, while remaining accessible to provide guidance when needed.

Autonomy, purpose, appreciation, challenge, and competition are all factors that drive people to do their best. On the other hand, instilling a fear of negative consequences is not a good motivator — at best, it results in coerced compliance. In management courses, learners have the opportunity to assess their own unproductive patterns and replace them with healthier ones.

Managing projects

Managing projects requires the ability to run effective and collaborative meetings. Oftentimes new managers have never learned the appropriate etiquette for leading meetings, such as setting ground rules, enforcing time restrictions, facilitating discussion, and redirecting it, if necessary.

Managers must also learn to keep teams on track by setting aspirational and incremental goals. The SMART framework for goal-setting can be particularly helpful for new managers. It centers around creating specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound goals. In addition, managers can learn how to best support the planning and strategizing that goes into achieving those goals. Management courses can teach all of these skills, and more.

Managing problems

When performance issues arise, inexperienced managers jump to conclusions and let their emotions take over. These leaders must learn how to manage their stress and tap into their curiosity so that they can uncover the behaviors driving performance issues, and determine what is shaping those behaviors. For example, perhaps a team member didn’t have the necessary resources to reach a goal that was set too high.

Sometimes, problems arise because of unhealthy team dynamics, such as repetitive communication breakdowns or divergence, when people are entrenched in different positions and unwilling to learn from one another. Management courses can teach the skills necessary to identify and address these issues.

Getting started

A manager can make or break a team, so they shouldn’t be left to fly blind. The management courses at Big Think+ cover all of the above topics and more, for managers of all experience levels. They’re led by world-renowned experts on organizational management and offered in a microlearning format that’s ideal for busy employees. Request a demo today to learn more.