10 Management Skills You Need to Lead Your Team
‘Just because you are a manager doesn’t mean you’re a leader as well’, stated this Forbes article. What about those who aim to effectively manage people by demonstrating excellent leadership skills? Does this mean effective management and strong leadership is impossible to cultivate?
It’s not impossible but is certainly hard. Although, in today’s scenario, managers do all sort of things, sadly effective leadership is nowhere on the list. However, if you want to be a kickass project manager who is proficient in leading his team the right way, we have made a list of management skills that can help you lead your team in the right direction:
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1. Vision
The very essence of leadership is that you have to have a vision. If you are leading a team without a vision, your team is no less than a pack of sheeps being led by shepherds who doesn’t know where to lead the pack. Take a moment to review your company goals and then think about your team members. Ask yourself how to harmonize your team with your company goals?
How to get it: Assess your weekly, monthly, quarterly, and yearly goals and communicate the goals to team members. It will not only give them a vision but will also make them reconsider their priorities as well.
2. Industry expertise
It can be slightly disheartening and at times, frustrating for team members to work under a project manager who either lacks certain qualities or is less qualified than the team members. He must be well-qualified, well-experienced, and well-deserving to be chosen for the position. Team members don’t mind being led by a project manager who is well-informed about the nitty-gritties of project management.
How to get it: No matter how well-qualified a manager is, an effective project manager is constantly reading books, articles and online blogs to get a better hold of their niche or industry.
3. Ability to lead
The very crux of leadership is to be able to lead others effortlessly. They share a vision with their team members and this vision of leadership permeates the workplace and gets manifested in the form of goals and actions. It’s also about motivating team members when things don’t go as scheduled and providing an alternative to help the team to bounce back on track.
How to get it: To be able to lead from the front, you should first develop a mindset like that of a leader. Once it is done, you can opt for leadership training programs to hone your skills.
4. Powerful communication skills
Either you are a leader or a manager, you need to be a master of communication for both the roles. No one can deny that effective communication is the keystone of effective leadership. They not only have to be regular communicators but shrewd as well. More precisely, they use correct information which is well-aimed, understandable, and concise.
How to get it: To develop strong communication skills, try putting things in writing. Also learn how to be skillful with words and realise what to say when and when to filter and manipulate things.
5. Organizational skills
Can you be a good leader if you’re disorganized?. We doubt so. No matter, how qualified or skilled you are but if you can’t give structure to a process, you’ll surely have a hard time at team leadership. Organizational skills is not just about a proper workspace but gets extended to deciding project timelines and assigning roles and allocating work to the team members.
How to get it: If you are struggling to keep things organized, seek assistance from someone who is organized. Thankfully, there are project management tools like ProofHub available to help you manage your projects, teams, and clients at one place.
6. Strategic thinking
Strategic thinking is the core of any business and this also applies to modern leadership. However, it can be frustrating if a leader is making team members work without any solid plan or strategy. Thinking strategically not only means to create ambitious goals but to gauge potential risks and have always have a plan B if things go unexpected.
How to get it: Being strategic means to plan ahead everything in advance. The rule is to reflect first and then strategize. Start playing Chess and other amazing cognitive brain games such as Lumosity and Elevate.
7. Confidence
The best leaders wear confidence on their sleeves. They know their strengths and how to leverage them because if you ‘know your stuff’ you’ll automatically feel confident about yourself and your expertise will positively influence your team. Along with trusting yourself as a leader, show the same confidence in your team members and see the difference.
How to get it: You can only feel confident if you know thyself well. Take a personality test such as Myers-Briggs and DISC assessments. These will help you understand your strengths and weaknesses. Also, start pushing your comfort zone and do something unpredictable every once in a while.
8. Trustworthiness
The most trusted leaders in any industry are known to display virtues like integrity, honesty, and respect for a janitor or a senior. If you are have the reputation of being trustworthy, team members are sure that their efforts will be noticed and appreciated which, in turn, motivate them to commit to their goals and give their best efforts. It can also increase the effectiveness of the communication process as team members won’t have to think twice to come up to your share problems that are hampering their work.
How to get it: Communicate more with your team members and get to know about their expectations.
9. Time-management
Time-management is often seen as an important skill for employees, and even more important for leaders. Why? Because they not only have to manage and schedule their own time but also the entire company’s time. It’s not just a skill but an art to know where and how to spend your minutes and how to prioritize them keeping the deliverables and constraints in mind.
How to get it: It’s difficult to keep up with the pace of something that never stops i.e Time. However, to become a master of your minutes, monitor the amount of time you spend on each task and how much you waste on unproductive things. You can use time-tracking software like ProofHub to keep a track on every minute of your time.
10. Adaptability
As project management is changing with new trends emerging every day, thus, you to adapt as a leader. When the going gets tough, the team members looks for their leader. As change is the only constant in the life, true leaders embrace change and take action to make to favorable.
How to get it: Whenever you find yourself in an unpredictable solution, be optimistic and sit with your team members to get out of the situation by making the most of it.
Last few words..
Inculcating the ten factors will make you become a well-rounded and highly effective leader. Consider each of these qualities as you move forward to become the best leader you can be. What do you think are some of the must-have qualities of a management leader. In case, if you think, we have missed out some important traits, let us know in the comments section.
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Sandeep Kashyap is the Founder of ProofHub — a leading project management and collaboration software. A passionate leader, Sandeep is always on the lookout for innovative ideas about filling the communication gap between groups, teams and companies. He is also a featured writer on LinkedIn and a contributing author at YourStory. You can connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.
Also follow our company page @ProofHub to get the recent updates about our tool, published articles, motivational quotes & presentations.
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