The 6 main qualities that make a Manager a good one

Recently, I attended a workshops for Managers.  I learned what qualities are required to be a successful manager. Of course, each industry needs its own domain knowledge but on top of this specific knowledge, the qualities that make someone a good manager are more or less similar. What do you think are the most important skills? What does it take to manage people efficiently and effectively and get the best out of them?

1. Good communication

This is the main and prerequisite skill. Without being able to communicate properly you can forget about the rest. In all kind of management tasks the first and most common thing you do is communicating your needs, expectations and opinions to other people. If you don’t like working with people, you shouldn’t become a manager. Moreover, you should be able to send correct messages to others and ensure that they understand you. It is also very important what kind of power you use to persuade your views. More about the way how to communicate you can find out reading “The 7 ground rules of communication to became a good Manager“.

2. Good organization

This is the second most important skill.You have to be able to schedule, organize and follow your own plan. It also involves understanding the rules and processes in the company and among people, and predicting what will happen and when.

3. Team building

A good manager should keep his team sealed. Competition inside the team is not beneficial for the well being of its members. On the other hand, the competition between teams is very healthy and stimulating. If one team member speeds up without helping the others leaving the rest behind, the whole team is doomed to failure. A professional manager will easily notice these irregularities. He will try to heal the situation by discussing it with his team and, above all,  by listening to them. A healthy and successful team relies on trust to large extent. If a manager systematically builds trust, the team will feel more appreciated and committed.

4. Leadership

Listening to other coworkers’ problems is not sufficient. A good manager has to solve them and prove his commitment to the team goals. It’s also his responsibility to define goals together with his team and assign the responsibility to team members in a clear manner. He has a clear vision in what direction he wants the team to grow. He should ‘infect’ others with this vision and make them follow the same direction.

5. Dealing with changes

There are several managers who exactly know the whole working process. They are doing things almost automatically. The true manager should be flexible and adaptable. He is able to react quickly when facing any obstacles. Stress shouldn’t be a factor to prevent him from taking the right decisions.

6. Domain knowledge

A good manager has to understand what kind of process he is managing. How his team members are working. What kind of tasks they perform. This skill is not as important as the others but without it, in some cases, the team and the manager will never work at full capacity, using the whole potential due to lack of mutual understanding.

How to improve your management skills?

Well, this is the subject for another long separate blog post.  I think that each person has to follow his own path to reach the ultimate goal. We are all different. Some of us communicate very well, but in stressful situations they can lose control. Others are great leaders, they motivate teams but anyhow they fail due to the lack of organizational skills and common sense. The main question probably should be: “Why do you want to be a manager and what type of a manager do you want to be?”
What do you think makes a manager a good one? Share your opinions and experience with us below or meet us on Twitter: @GOYELLO.

Article by Maciej Greń on 18/09/2009

IT guy with head full of ideas, strongly oriented on achieving great goals in life. Currently working for GOYELLO, place where I grow.