Leadership Development: These are 6 Top Soft Skills For Managers

Did you know that the most successful leaders are those who have mastered both technical and soft skills? In recent years, soft skills have gained popularity due to their high demand in the workplace. If you try and look at job ads, you’ll find lines that say “works well with others”, “great communication skills”, or “ability to resolve conflict”. Apparently, soft skills are hard to define, but also hard to find.

If you’re an ambitious manager who is always looking to broaden their skills set, your leadership development agenda should include developing your soft skills. Mastering soft skills like time management and conflict resolution will make you a successful manager whom employees will love and respect.

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Here’s a short guide on the top soft skills every manager should possess and tip on how to work on them.

1. Time Management

If you’re a manager, you’re probably getting tons of information every hour. You need to send a pile of emails, screen applications, and attend a formal event. How do you do all of this in a 24-hour day? With a good time management system.

My experience tells me that if you want to be a successful manager you need to learn how to set deadlines, get organized, delegate tasks, and work on your to-do lists. By learning how to do this, you’ll get the most value from your time. You’ll accomplish all tasks, reduce your stress levels, and have more energy to do more.

Tip:

• Work with a time management app. For many leaders, Evernote, Todoist, Dropbox, and Toggl are their favorite tools.
• Go through your to-do list at the end of every day and prioritize the most important tasks.
• If you’re looking for an all-including project and time management app, you should check out Basecamp, Trello, and Asana.
• Get rid of all distractions to get some quality work done.

2. Communication

According to a report by Burning Glass Technologies, communication soft skills are in demand across nearly every occupation. The ability to communicate with your team, colleagues, superiors and clients is crucial.

Apart from in-person communication, managers must know how to effectively communicate via social media, email, and phone. If you develop your communication soft skills, you’ll have better success throughout your career, work in a friendly environment, and land promotions.

Good communication skills include being an active listener, speaking with clarity and concision, encouraging others to engage in open and honest communication with you, and being confident in your interactions with others.

Tip:

• Pay close attention to what the other person is saying.
• Work on your non-verbal communication like eye-contact and tone of voice.
• Say what you want clearly and directly.
• Be nice and polite in your workplace communications.
• Enter into any conversation with a flexible, open mind.
• Respect other people’s ideas.

3. Teamwork

How do you have an engaged and efficient team that delivers tasks on time? You have a leader with good teamwork soft skills managing the team. Teamwork is one of the most important leadership soft skills that involves knowing how to organize and run a team.

Good teamwork soft skills include identifying your team’s strengths and weaknesses, setting goals, defining objectives, and measuring outcomes. Your role as a  leader will be overseeing progress, offering feedback, and rewarding your employees for a job well done.

Tip:

• As soft skills do not come easy to most people, there are many online leadership training courses that can equip you with the much needed soft skills.
• Set clear and meaningful job responsibilities. discuss the specific responsibilities with each employee, 1-on 1.
• Be aware of the strengths and weaknesses of your employees. This is essential when assigning specific projects and responsibilities.
• Always give your most honest feedback in the best way possible.

4. Conflict Resolution

Did you know that conflict in the workplace can reduce productivity and create a difficult work environment? What’s more, this can lead to increased turnover in staff and reduced morale. For this reason, managers who possess conflict resolution skills are highly appreciated.

Conflict in the workplace typically happens between co-workers due to differences of opinion, style, or approach. Leaders have the obligation to understand the perspective and concerns of the opposing individuals and come up with a smart solution.

Tip:

• Ask questions and listen carefully to determine the nature of a conflict.
• Be empathetic and understand each party’s perspective.
• Hold a brainstorming session with the team to generate a solution.
• Document conflict-initiating behaviors exhibited by a chronic complainer.

5. Empowerment

Have you ever seen a restaurant manager cleaning the wet floor? Although it’s a rare sight, it has happened before. What the manager was trying to do is empower their employees by demonstrating that he’s a reliable and hard-working leader.

According to a study from Zenger Folkman, only 4% of employees are willing to give extra effort when empowerment is low. When empowerment is high, 67% of employees were willing to go the extra mile. Apparently, a feeling of empowerment counts.

Tip:

• Foster open communication with your employees. Let their opinions and observations be known.
• Help your employees set a plan for growth and reward them when they make progress.
• Give your employees a sense of flexibility and independence.
• Create a positive work environment where people feel valued and respected.
• Be open and inviting about new ideas and opinions from your employees.

6. Giving Criticism

Leaders who are overseeing employees must make sure that each one of them is performing at the optimum level. If they notice that an employee is not engaged in their job, giving criticism is highly important.

As a leader, giving criticism can help you maintain high standards and make sure the work that is produced meets those standards. Although it’s not the greatest experience, you’ll have to learn how to deliver constructive criticism in a comfortable manner.

Tip:

• Always give criticism in private.
• Don’t beat around the bush. Be straightforward about what you want to change.
• Ask for your employee’s input and make them a part of the solution.

Final Word

Becoming a great leader requires effort and life-long development. You may be savvy at using software programs, but effective leadership also demands being able to empower employees, resolving conflicts, knowing how to organize a team, and encouraging open communication. Mastering these crucial soft skills for managers is essential for becoming successful in the modern business environment and building long-lasting relationships.