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7 Skills You Need to Effectively Manage Teams

• 07 Jan 2020

To effectively manage a team, you need several key characteristics and skills. Without them, it can be difficult to rally your employees to work toward common goals and perform at their best—which can be disastrous for both your organization and career.

Whether you're an aspiring manager, newly appointed leader without a lot of experience, or seasoned executive who's had difficulty overseeing your team, developing these critical skills will prove crucial to your success.

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Team Management Skills All Professionals Need

1. clear, effective communication.

As a manager, your goal is to help the members of your team complete tasks in a manner that is efficient, consistent, and aligns with the company’s overarching strategic goals. To accomplish this, you must clearly articulate what those strategic goals are—while also detailing the specific work and processes that will be required of your team to reach them.

By becoming a more effective communicator , you'll remove confusion among your team and ensure everyone is aligned and working toward the same goals.

2. Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence refers to an individual’s ability to manage their emotions, as well as those of others.

A highly developed level of emotional intelligence is a hallmark of strong managers and leaders. Someone with a keen sense of self-awareness, empathy, and other social skills is someone who can motivate and influence others —an important quality for managers to exhibit.

3. Organization

You may be responsible for overseeing budgets and project timelines in addition to the daily tasks that members of your team perform. Juggling so many moving pieces and making necessary adjustments along the way requires a high degree of organization.

4. Ability to Delegate

However tempting it might be for you to micromanage members of your team, doing so can be detrimental to progress.

A good manager knows how to delegate work to others. This involves understanding who's best suited to complete a particular task. It also requires ensuring an employee has the required resources to be successful and feels empowered to make their own decisions.

5. Openness

Openness goes hand in hand with both emotional intelligence and effective communication.

It’s important that the members of your team feel comfortable approaching you when they have questions or concerns, or when they need clarification on what's expected of them. If your employees don't believe they can reach out to you, there’s a risk that problems or concerns will go unaddressed before it's too late to correct them.

6. Problem-Solving

No matter how well prepared, organized, or established a project or process is, every manager runs into problems. This could be in the form of a missed deadline or milestone. It could be budgetary in nature. It could involve an unforeseen breakdown in the supply chain.

Whatever the case, managers must be skilled problem-solvers. The ability to evaluate a challenge, think critically about potential solutions, and formulate a response are essential to anyone who's tasked with leading a team.

7. Decision-Making

Over the course of a day, managers might be responsible for making a number of decisions that impact their team or the project they're overseeing. Prioritizing tasks, allocating resources, delegating duties—each of these is a decision that falls to the manager.

Sometimes, a manager will need to make an authoritative decision to resolve an issue. Other times, decision-making might involve consensus building, wherein members of the team are invited to participate in the discussion and help guide the process. Ultimately, the manager is responsible for the outcome of the decision and, as such, must be comfortable with ensuing results.

How You Can Develop Your Team Management Skills

If you want to take your team management skills to the next level, there are several steps you can take to improve them. These include:

• Taking stock of your current skills. To chart a path for your professional development, you first need to understand where your management skills currently stand . What are your strengths? What are your weaknesses? Where are your greatest opportunities to turn development into career success? These insights will help you create a plan that's right for you.
• Setting goals for improvement and development. Once you have a sense of your current skills, you need to set goals for your development efforts. Which skills do you need to improve? How will you measure success? What is your timeframe? By setting specific and attainable goals, you give yourself something to work toward and increase your chances of success.
• Inviting feedback from your team. If you're unsure about your current abilities or where you should prioritize growth, consider turning to co-workers for feedback. This can be invaluable in helping you identify your strengths and weaknesses.
• Practicing your skills. Practice your skills both in and out of the office. If you find that a project has suffered setbacks due to poor communication, for example, identify the point of confusion and make a mental note to avoid this in the future. Or, if a project has become bogged down due to micromanaging, find methods to help you manage from a perch instead of down in the trenches.
• Pursuing professional development. Professional development can be a valuable asset in helping you reach your managerial potential. Signing up for a management training course can help you quickly develop your management skills, while pursuing mentorship opportunities can aid you throughout the trajectory of your career.

In Management Essentials , students are given the tools and opportunities they will need to improve their management skills and become more effective managers within their organization. Is Management Essentials the right HBS Online leadership and management course for you? Download the free flowchart to find out.

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How to develop the 12 management skills you need most

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What are management skills?

Types of management skills, what are the top managerial skills to develop, 12 fundamental management skills, how to develop your management skills.

Management has always been a demanding and evolving profession. And developing the right management skills is key to a thriving professional ecosystem – not to mention the makings of a great manager.

Whether you’re new to a management position, looking to brush up your skills, or wanting to invest in your team –– this guide can help. We’ll look at practical manager skills and different ways managers can develop in these areas.

In short, management skills are competencies that help managers better lead, motivate, organize, schedule, plan, budget, and problem-solve. Whether setting team goals that ladder into organizational goals or making a case for a new hire, managers leverage a handful of essential skills to accomplish each aspect of their job.

You can apply management skills to a wide range of careers and industries outside of people management . So many of the skills needed are transferable between these various roles. From middle management to entrepreneurs, management skills are a valuable asset to most professionals

Though there are many essential skills that managers should develop, they tend to fall into three primary categories:

Technical skills : Technical skills are the hard skills needed to meet their objectives. As well as understanding relevant tools and software, technical skills also include techniques and strategies required to complete projects and meet their goals.

Conceptual skills : This big-picture thinking is critical for managers to understand their tasks and build an effective action plan. Managers should be able to develop ideas and problem-solving initiatives that support their department.

People management skills : People are often the primary drivers of goal-oriented action. Managers should have strong interpersonal skills to help motivate, lead, and work well with others.

As you may have gathered, there’s a lengthy list of beneficial hard and soft skills for top managers to embrace. When it comes to adding the most value, however, we can bucket these into four distinct categories: 

Interpersonal skills : learning and growth, teamwork, establishing trust , and cognitive agility

Problem-solving and decision-making skills : financial planning, business acumen , and customer focus

Team management and professional development skills : influence , motivation, communication, team building, and coaching

Organizational skills : strategic thinking, time management skills , sensemaking, or trends and pattern recognition

Communication and leadership skills : motivating, updating, and collaborating

In addition to these traditional skills, it’s good to remember that managers should constantly learn new skill sets in this rapidly evolving world. These skills include technology savviness, agile management , data-driven decision-making, and purpose-driven leadership.

The most common management skills that you will want to develop fall under 12 essential functions of management:

Coordination

Giving direction, organization, clear communication, accountability and ownership, time management, collaboration, active listening, problem-solving.

One key role of managers is to develop functional, cohesive teams. Ideally, these teams work independently, and the manager ensures that they have the resources and skills needed to achieve their goals.

If a team isn’t aware of a resource they need, or another department they should collaborate with, for example, they could struggle to complete their projects.

Directing is likely where most people’s minds go when they think of managers. And it is a vital part of a managerial role. Directing can be in the form of delegating or reviewing work, acting as a form of quality control, or managing timelines.

Good communication is at the core of directing, and emotional intelligence helps develop trust throughout the process.

Not all managers are natural leaders , so it’s important for managers to work on their leadership abilities. Influential leaders inspire and motivate others through their behavior. They set the tone for the team, reach out for feedback, acknowledge their team’s efforts, and delegate strategically.

These actions are all vital for influential people and project management.

As we mentioned, being a manager is a challenging role. Managers are often overseeing multiple projects with varied timelines and deadlines. So having stellar organizational skills helps managers stay efficient, meet deadlines, and reduce stress.

One significant responsibility of a managerial role is to meet objectives. These can be for a company or at the individual level. Some managers are part of the objective-planning process, and some are not. Either way, a manager must develop a plan to meet these goals. Seeing the bigger picture and how different elements funnel into one another is a helpful skill for managers to hone while planning.

Knowing how to clearly communicate thoughts , plans, feedback, and strategies is an important skill for any management role. Your employees can thrive when they know what is expected of them and how it ties back to overall objectives.

Just as direct reports and individual contributors are held accountable for their work, so are managers. Seeing yourself as an owner of your work and your team’s contributions will go a long way in building trust and integrity across your team .

Coaching is a great way to share your knowledge and support your team’s growth. Whether you are coaching them on more technical hard skills, or interpersonal skills, your input builds confidence and intellectual capital .

It goes without saying that good managers and great leaders know how to manage their time and their energy effectively. It becomes even more important when you couple it with other skills such as giving direction and owning your work. If you understand your limitations and make conscious commitments when taking on more work, your team will thank you for it. You will have a clear head during 1:1 check-ins, be an active participant in meetings, and complete you work more comfortably.

Teamwork and collaboration are the backbone of many organizations . Companies tend to function better when departments step outside of their silos and individuals work together. The same can be said for leaders. It is a leader’s responsibility to facilitate collaborative working environments and to be strong collaborators themselves.

To better develop your communication skills and empathy toward others, be an active listener. “Seek first to understand before being understood.” Active listening means being engaged and acting on what you listen to, not just hearing others. Active listening also creates empathy .

Most individuals in a leadership role will have to tackle some form of problem-solving. A successful manager can tactfully look at an issue from all sites, garner feedback, and prioritize based on the information they receive. They leverage effective communication skills to learn from their teams and make informed decisions.

Though there are many ways to develop your skills as a manager, the key is participation. Whether you sign up for a public speaking course or volunteer to lead a new initiative, participating is the first step in improving these essential skills.

Here are some ideas for how to get started and where to put your energy:

Take time to reflect

Before taking a single step forward, pause to consider where you are. You can talk to a friend or family member outside of work, write down your thoughts or simply keep them to yourself. Regardless of your method, reflect on what you’ve accomplished, where you want to go next, and what you see as your biggest hurdles to being a better manager and leader.

Seek out feedback

Once you know where you see yourself and what your long and short-term goals are, you can seek out external feedback . Talk to your manager about your goals and get their input on the skills you can improve upon first as well as what you’re really good at. You may not realize that you are already making strides as a strong communicator, for example. So getting this outside perspective can provide perspective.

Your manager can also help devise a plan of action and help you find ways to work on these management skills. They can also suggest management training if your company offers it .

Volunteer to lead an initiative or project

If you see an opportunity to make an impact, raise your hand and put your ideas forward. Or if you see a chance to improve a process, let your manager or your team know. Showing that you have initiative and are willing to share your ideas is often appreciated. Taking it a step further and practicing your leadership skills by spearheading a project can also be a strong move to show you’re committed to developing these skills.

Find opportunities to coach your peers

This could get tricky, so talk to your manager about the best way to start peer-to-peer coaching within your team. When done well, this is a great way to develop interpersonal skills and flex your technical skills. Perhaps there’s an opportunity for a peer or direct report to support in an area they already have an interest in. You can help them explore a new area while also developing your coaching skills .

Celebrate your peers’ wins

Did a team member go out of their way to contribute to the team’s goals? Or did a coworker pitch in to help your wrap up a project on time? Showing your appreciation for others’ accomplishments and hard work is a great way to develop your management skills. 

Tune in and participate in meetings

If you’re in endless hours of meetings, it can be challenging to engage in every one. But try to remain present, listen actively, and pose thoughtful questions when they come up. Staying in the room, so to speak is a stand-out skill –– especially during meeting-heavy days.

Look to mentors and leaders you admire

Think about the leaders, managers, and mentors that motivate and inspire you. Consider their strengths and the ways they present themselves. How do they communicate and share their ideas? What strategies do they use to offer feedback and pushback? Taking note of these things will give you something to aspire to as you develop your management skills.

Developing management skills for future-ready leaders

Management is a challenging job with ever-increasing demands in a fluid and unpredictable environment. To be a good manager today, you need to develop various skill sets. But it is probably wise to concentrate on mastering a few essential skills that would serve you as a solid base platform to grow from. If you’d like more personalized guidance for how to develop your leadership skills, BetterUp can help. We offer leadership coaching to help you inspire and influence your team in a way that resonates.

Lead with confidence and authenticity

Develop your leadership and strategic management skills with the help of an expert Coach.

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What does the future of management look like?

Essential remote management skills and tips for success, 7 management skills to guide teams through turbulent times, why soft management skills are necessary for any leader, unlock your team’s superpowers with effective team management, how new manager coaching sets you up for success in your next role, leader vs. manager: what's the difference, can’t we all just get along a guide to conflict management styles, leadership versus management: how they benefit teams, similar articles, 9 soft skills for leadership and employees to hone, want to thrive at work learn these essential teamwork skills, emotional stress symptoms and how to cope, what is people management, 10+ interpersonal skills at work and ways to develop them, 7 types of meetings (and how to get them right), stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Share this article, download a pdf version., subscribe to our newsletter, how to measure management skills (and why you should).

Downloaded on: April 22, 2024

• February 16, 2022

Organizations need good leaders who understand their management role and act accordingly, to ensure high team performance and business goal achievement. However, based on Proaction International’s data, 62% of managers have little or very little knowledge of what their responsibilities involve and how they can leverage their role to create value for their team and company .

This means tremendous gains – in terms of both engagement and productivity – can be made simply by improving managers’ understanding of their role and leadership abilities.

Improving your leaders’ management skills means empowering your organization to reach its full potential.  Jean-Philippe Raîche, Partner, Strategy and Development, Proaction International

But how can you measure managerial skills to create leadership development plans that drive organizational performance?

Key takeaways:

• Organizations can use various KPIs, including operational , financial, and knowledge indicators , to evaluate their performance and improve their potential.
• Measuring managerial competency is crucial for assessing management skills . Key Behavioral Indicators (KBIs) are used to measure managerial behaviors that contribute to organizational performance and growth.
• Calculating the value of managers is complex but essential . Managers add value by bridging the gap between their team's current performance and its potential state. Understanding their own value can have an exponential impact on their team.
• Performance evaluations, questionnaires, peer reviews, and one-on-one meetings are some tools used to assess key management skills. Integrating performance review processes into the HR management system can help structure the approach and recommend action plans.
• Assessing managers' knowledge of their roles and responsibilities is critical . The Management Skills Index and Active Supervision Index help measure knowledge, while the Management Effectiveness Index evaluates managerial maturity. Improving management skills drives business performance and growth in various areas.

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The different types of key performance indicators

Organizations can use a wide range of key performance indicators (KPIs) , including operational, financial, and knowledge indicators, to evaluate their performance and level up to their optimal potential.

However, measuring managerial competency might not be as straightforward as measuring churns or profits, for instance. That’s why we have developed a measurement technique that uses key behavioral indicators (KBIs) .

Effective managers understand their role and responsibilities, and are better able to take ownership of best management practices and implement them within their teams. Their skill set includes great operational rigor, problem-solving capabilities, a coaching management style, and great communication skills . KBIs measure such managerial behaviors that contribute to organizations' performance and growth.

But before jumping into key behavioral indicators and how to use them to measure management skills, let’s examine the role of the manager as a creator of value for their team and organization, as well as common tools to evaluate manager performance.

The importance of defining the value of managers

Calculating an employee’s added value is usually straightforward. You compare the time spent working on “billable” activities to an attainable expected standard of speed and quality, thus obtaining an added value rate.

However, calculating the added value of managers is much more complex.

In their new management position, the employee moves from creating direct value through technical skills to creating indirect value through other people's skills (and value). This is probably the most extreme transformation in one’s career.

Managers add value by moving their team’s performance from its current state to the potential state, reducing the gaps in-between.

When managers understand their own value for the organization, the impact on their team can be exponential.

Tools and processes to evaluate managerial skills

Employee performance evaluations, or performance reviews, are a human resources management activity that assesses individual goal achievement. They are also used for raises in salary and internal promotions.

Managers, too, should be subject to these evaluations as it is also important to assess key management skills and build action plans for them to adopt the best managerial behaviors. This ensures that leaders have the competencies required to drive team performance.

Tools to assess key management skills typically include questionnaires, peer reviews, and one-on-one meetings.

However, few companies integrate performance review processes into their human resources management system. A consulting firm specializing in management skill and behavior analysis can help:

• Structure the approach.
• Gather information.
• Analyze the results.
• Recommend appropriate action plans and support their implementation.

How to measure managerial knowledge

Managers’ knowledge of their leadership role and responsibilities is often overlooked when promotions are given in an organization. Yet it is a key indicator of a manager’s decision-making ability and the quality of the leadership they provide to their team.

Management Skills Index

Here are 5 management skills you need to observe when assessing managers' knowledge of their roles and responsibilities:

• Planning skills
• Interpersonal skills (communication)
• Execution skills
• Supervision skills
• Continuous improvement skills

By assessing the level of knowledge and understanding of more than 16,000 managers, Proaction International has come to the following conclusion:

Proaction International has a team dedicated to actively monitoring management best practices, and over 15 years of experience in developing executives’ skills across North America and Europe, all industries combined (heavy industry, distribution, logistics, tertiary, construction, etc.).

On average, 38% of frontline managers have very low knowledge and understanding of management best practices. 24% have a weak grasp of it.

Only 7% of frontline managers, in all industries, say they have an excellent understanding of their management role and responsibilities.

However, this does not mean that 2 out of 3 managers do not belong in their position or have no potential. They simply need to develop their leadership skill set.

The point is that frontline managers are – most of the time – excellent field employees. For example, many companies promote their best assembly line operator or sales department representative, without training and coaching them on their managerial role and behavior.

As a result, these managers might not feel confident in their position and able to guide their team, which can lead to decreased productivity and engagement, lack of communication and trust, and costly production errors.

Measuring managerial knowledge can reveal gaps – sometimes significant – between management levels and even between members of the same supervisory team.

But the data shown above and the individual progress made at customers’ sites help us develop, implement, and adjust training and coaching plans to improve management skills for the long term.

Measuring managerial knowledge to encourage positive transformation

The data from the Management Skills Index only illustrate an initial state. Monitoring how the results evolve over time will help identify gaps in management skills and guide decision-making.

Implementing efficient training and coaching strategies allows for significant improvements in management skills. It also helps uncover high-potential managers who may not stand out.

Knowledge of management best practices is critical to management skills. However, a successful manager requires more. That’s why managers' know-how or quality of management should also be measured.

How to measure quality of management

Another key behavioral indicator is know-how on the field, i.e., the quality of daily management of frontline teams.

This management skill can be assessed from two angles:

• The amount of active supervision.
• Management effectiveness.

Active Supervision Index

Managers have to pack many tasks and priorities into limited time. They are often required to do manual work to help their staff, on top of time-consuming administrative tasks, email management, meetings, team planning, etc.

Calculating the Active Supervision Index involves recording all activities performed in a typical day and classifying them into 5 categories:

• Active supervision
• Training and coaching
• Administrative tasks
• Manual work
• Passive supervision

Calculating the percentage of time allocated to each category provides the proportion of time actually spent on active supervision .

Proaction International found that managers generally spend most of their day on administrative tasks, meetings, and emergency management. This reduces the time they can devote to value-added activities such as:

• Fostering team engagement.
• Planning and coordinating activities (active supervision).
• Developing individual skills (training and coaching).

If managers spend 30 minutes a day on active supervision, they don’t have time to go beyond basic management to invest in continuous improvement .

So measuring the quality of the manager's interventions on the field will clarify the value they create for their team and organization.

Management Effectiveness Index or Management Maturity

We have said before that the role of the manager is to capture performance gaps to guide their team in reaching its full potential.

There are all kinds of performance gaps: human, methodological, technical, organizational, etc. So we need to measure the management behaviors that enable managers to capture those gaps and create efficiency gains to improve performance.

At Proaction International, years of analysis and coaching of managers from various industries allowed us to identify 5 main managerial maturity stages. The Management Effectiveness Index assesses the level of managerial maturity which helps define the appropriate skill development plan:

• Task assignment
• Task management
• Measuring performance
• Resolving variances
• Proactive management

Level 1: Task assignment

Perhaps the first management skill a new manager learns is to assign tasks to their team to ensure everyone knows what to do. This can sound simple, but not all managers can master it without proper training and coaching (think of some roadworks sites…).

Level 2: Task management

Once managers have mastered task assignment, they need to ensure customer expectations are met. A good managerial reflex is to believe that: “We exist because of our customers, so I’ll make sure we deliver what they need on time and that they are satisfied.”

At this level, managers ensure all team members are in the right place at the right time and deliver the expected product or service on schedule, thus achieving great performance results.

Level 3: Measuring performance

Here, managers feel responsible for improving performance and ensuring the organization benefits from delivering customer value. They understand the performance criteria or objectives that make up for a “good day,” communicate them to their team, and follow up on them.

Level 4: Resolving variances

With a clear definition of what “performance” means, managers can move on to capturing discrepancies hindering operations' full potential and causing performance losses. They seek to identify what prevents teams from generating better results by capturing these variances in method, flow, velocity, etc., and find ways to rectify the situation.

This is where a manager truly starts to create added value and drive performance improvement to help the company achieve better results.

Level 5: Proactive management

The fifth and final stage that managers can reach in their career is proactive management. Not only do they notice recurring variances over time, but they strive to achieve long-term resolution by eliminating the root cause.

At this point, they have become a managerial leader . This is the leadership style of high-performing managers who fully understand their role and responsibilities, drive team engagement, and generate organizational performance day after day.

The Management Effectiveness Index is the ultimate behavioral indicator as it focuses on improving business performance.

Improving performance involves capturing the gaps between potential and reality. Managers bring reality closer to the ideal by reducing non-value-added activities in the organization.

As the managerial effectiveness or maturity  improves – from task assignment to proactive management – so does the organization's performance. This transformation can lead to tremendous gains not only financially, but also on human and strategic levels.

Here are some of the benefits related to better management skills:

• Labor cost savings
• Improved health and safety
• Better material yield
• Increased team engagement

Improving key management skills to drive performance

Using key behavioral indicators (KBIs) such as the Management Skills Index, the Management Effectiveness Index, and the Active Supervision Index allows for a more tangible assessment of leadership skills.

This is the first step towards better business performance and growth. Improving management competencies such as planning skills, interpersonal skills, problem-solving skills, and communication skills has a huge, positive impact on all areas of the business. It increases productivity as well as engagement, health and safety, and the quality of products and services.

FAQ on management skills 

What are the key factors to consider when evaluating management skills.

When assessing management skills, consider factors such as leadership style, communication abilities, decision-making proficiency, adaptability, and team-building expertise. These elements play a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of a manager.

How can I gauge the adaptability of a manager's skill set?

To evaluate a manager's adaptability, assess their response to change, ability to navigate challenges, and openness to new ideas. A flexible and adaptive manager can effectively lead teams through dynamic environments and evolving business landscapes.

Why is communication essential in evaluating management skills?

Effective communication is a cornerstone of successful management. Assess a manager's ability to convey ideas, provide feedback, and foster a transparent dialogue. Strong communicators enhance team cohesion and overall organizational performance.

What role does decision-making play in evaluating management skills?

Decision-making is a critical aspect of management skills evaluation. Evaluate a manager's ability to make timely and well-informed decisions, considering factors like problem-solving, risk assessment, and the impact of decisions on the team and organization.

How can I evaluate a manager's impact on team dynamics?

Assess a manager's impact on team dynamics by examining their ability to motivate, delegate tasks effectively, and create a positive work environment. Strong team-building skills contribute to increased productivity and employee satisfaction.

Drive organizational performance with stronger leadership skills

Proaction International's experts can help your teams develop their management skills to boost team and organizational performance, starting with an assessment of their management behaviors.

Proaction International

Proaction International relies on people, equipped with appropriate technology, as the driving force behind the performance and competitiveness of organizations. Proaction International's experts offer support based on coaching and training of teams, optimization of tools and processes, and digitalization of management via the UTrakk DMeS application, which promotes good management behavior.

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Self-Assessment • 15 min read

How Good Are Your Management Skills?

By the Mind Tools Content Team

In business, we often seem to focus less on good management, and more on the glamorous and exciting work of leadership.

However, managers are responsible for making sure that things are done properly. And while leaders may bring us vision, inspiration and challenge, these things count for nothing without the efficient implementation brought about by good management.

To be a great manager, you must have an extensive set of skills – from planning and delegation to communication and motivation. Because the skill set is so wide, it's tempting to build skills in the areas of management that you're already comfortable with. But, for your long-term success, it's wise to analyze your skills in all areas of management – and then to challenge yourself to improve in all of these areas.

This quiz helps you to quickly identify your areas of strength and weakness, so that you can capitalize on the former and manage the latter. We then direct you to resources that you can use to develop your skills further.

To learn more about leadership and to assess your leadership skills, complete our quiz, How Good Are Your Leadership Skills?

Instructions

For each statement, click the button in the column that best describes you. Please answer questions as you actually are (rather than how you think you should be), and don't worry if some questions seem to score in the "wrong direction." When you are finished, please click the "Calculate My Total" button at the bottom of the test.

Effective management requires a wide range of skills, and each of these skills complements the others. Your goal should be to develop and maintain all of these skills, so that you can help your team accomplish its objectives efficiently and effectively. Read on for ideas and resources that you can use to do this.

A Model of Effective Management

Our quiz is based on eight essential skill areas where managers should focus their efforts. By covering these basics, you'll enjoy more success as a team manager:

• Understanding team dynamics and encouraging good relationships.
• Selecting and developing the right people.
• Delegating effectively.
• Motivating people.
• Managing discipline and dealing with conflict.
• Communicating.
• Planning, making decisions, and problem solving.
• Avoiding common managerial mistakes.

We'll explore each of these in more detail.

Understanding Team Dynamics and Encouraging Good Relationships (Questions 5, 15, 17)

Good management means understanding how teams operate. It's worth remembering that teams usually follow a certain pattern of development: forming, norming, storming, and performing . It's important to encourage and support people through this process, so that you can help your team become fully effective as quickly as possible.

When forming teams, managers must create a balance so that there's a diverse set of skills, personalities, and perspectives. You may think it's easier to manage a group of people who are likely to get along, but truly effective teams invite many viewpoints and use their differences to be creative and innovative.

Here, your task is to develop the skills needed to steer those differences in a positive direction. This is why introducing a team charter and knowing how to resolve team conflict are so useful for managing your team effectively.

Selecting and Developing The Right People (Questions 11, 17)

Finding great new team members, and developing the skills needed for your team's success is another important part of team formation.

You can improve your recruiting skills with our Recruiting Skills Skillbook, and with out articles on Hiring People: Questions to Ask , Inbox Assessments , Using Recruitment Tests , and Aptitude Testing .

And you can develop people's skills with our articles on, among others, Successful Inductions , Understanding Developmental Needs , Training Needs Assessment , and the GROW Model . You'll also find our Skillbook on Mentoring Skills useful.

Delegating Effectively (Questions 2, 18)

Having the right people with the right skills isn't sufficient for a team's success. Managers must also know how to get the job done efficiently. Delegation is the key to this. Some managers, especially those who earned their positions based on their technical expertise, try to do most of the work themselves. They think that, because they're responsible for the work, they should do it themselves to make sure it's done right.

Effective managers recognize that by assigning work to the right people (not just those with the most time available), and clearly outlining expectations, teams can accomplish much more. But it's often difficult to trust others to do the job. As a manager, remember that when your team members have the right skills, training and motivation, you can usually trust them to get the work done right.

Find out your strengths and weaknesses related to delegation by taking our quiz, How Well Do You Delegate?

Motivating People (Questions 13, 19)

Another necessary management skill is motivating others. It's one thing to motivate yourself, but it's quite another to motivate someone else. The key thing to remember is that motivation is personal. We're all motivated by different things, and we all have different levels of personal motivation. So, getting to know your team members on a personal level allows you to motivate your people better. Providing feedback on a regular basis is a very powerful strategy to help you stay informed about what's happening with individual team members. You can test your motivation skills with our quiz, and use your answers to develop your skills further.

Managing Discipline and Dealing With Conflict (Questions 3, 6, 12)

Sometimes, despite your best efforts, there are problems with individual performance. As a manager, you have to deal with these promptly. If you don't discipline, you risk negative impacts on the rest of the team as well as your customers, as poor performance typically impacts customer service, and it hurts the team and everything that the team has accomplished. It's very demotivating to work beside someone who consistently fails to meet expectations, so if you tolerate it, the rest of the team will likely suffer. In our article on team management skills , we explore this issue in further detail and give you some examples.

Team performance will also suffer when differences between individual team members turn into outright conflict, and it's your job as team manager to facilitate a resolution. Read our article on Resolving Team Conflict for a three-step process for doing this. However, conflict can be positive when it highlights underlying structural problems – make sure that you recognize conflict and deal with its causes, rather than just suppressing its symptoms or avoiding it.

Communicating (Questions 8, 9, 16, 20)

An element that's common to all of these management skills is effective communication. This is critical to any position you hold, but as a manager, it's especially important (you can test your communication skills with our quiz, How Good Are Your Communication Skills? ). You need to let your team know what's happening and keep them informed as much as possible. Team briefing is a specific communication skill that managers should improve. Also, develop the ability to facilitate effectively, so that you can guide your team to a better understanding and serve as a moderator when necessary.

Planning, Problem Solving and Decision Making (Questions 4, 10)

Many managers are very comfortable with planning, problem solving and decision making, given that they're often skilled specialists who've been promoted because of their knowledge and analytical abilities. As such, one of the most important issues that managers experience is that they focus so intensely on these skills when they think about self-development that they fail to develop their people skills and team management skills. Make sure that you don't focus on these skills too much!

However, if you need to develop these skills, see our major sections on Problem Solving, Decision-Making, and Project Management. You'll find many rich skills improvement resources in these areas.

Avoiding Common Managerial Mistakes (Questions 1, 7, 14)

Good communication helps you develop facilitation skills, and it also helps you avoid some of the most common problems for managers. Some of these common mistakes are thinking that you can rely on your technical skills alone, asking your boss to solve your problems, putting your boss in the awkward position of having to defend you, and not keeping your boss informed. Our article on Team Management Skills highlights what to do to avoid these, and other managerial problems that you should be aware of.

Key Points:

You need to develop and improve your managerial skills on an ongoing basis as your career develops and as you meet new managerial challenges.

Whether you manage a department or a project team, it's important to know how to get the work done right. When you're asked to achieve something with the help of others, it's complex – and you spend much of your time managing relationships instead of doing the actual work. So, you must develop not only your technical skills, but your management skills as well.

Delegating, motivating, communicating, and understanding team dynamics are some of the key skills needed. With those skills, along with patience and a strong sense of balance, you can become a very effective manager.

This assessment has not been validated and is intended for illustrative purposes only. It is just one of many that help you evaluate your abilities in a wide range of important career skills.

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Comments (1)

Kimberly Buchanan

doesn't tell me what areas I need to improve. It just gives me an overal score of 84

about 1 year

Diana Castellanos

You have to keep scrolling down and merge some of the questions within their given category in the article breakdown below.

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Want to create or adapt books like this? Learn more about how Pressbooks supports open publishing practices.

Book Title: Principles of Management

Author: [Authors removed at request of original publisher]

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Book Description: Principles of Management teaches management principles to tomorrow’s business leaders by weaving three threads through every chapter: strategy, entrepreneurship and active leadership. For questions about this textbook please contact [email protected]

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Principles of Management is adapted from a work produced by a publisher who has requested that they and the original author not receive attribution. This adapted edition is produced by the University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing through the eLearning Support Initiative. For questions about this textbook please contact [email protected]

Principles of Management Copyright © 2015 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Management Skills Application Exercises

• During this and your other courses, there will likely be products of your and team-based assignments that can illustrate specific competencies such as the ability to prepare a spreadsheet application, write programming code, or show your communication abilities that demonstrate your skills in a video. It is a good practice to catalog and save these artifacts in a portfolio that will be a useful in demonstrating your skills in future job interviews.
• Time management is an important skill that will impact your future as a manager. You can categorize the time that you spend as either required or discretionary. You can assess your time management skills by keeping track of your time using a schedule calendar and breaking down the time devoted to each activity over a week. After a week of logging the activity, note whether each activity was required or discretionary and whether the time was used productively or unproductively using a 10-point scale in which 10 is very productive and 1 is completely unproductive. Now write up a plan on how to manage your time by coming up with a list of what to start doing and stop doing and what you can do to manage your discretionary time more productively.

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Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

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11 Key Project Management Skills

You'll want to have a basic understanding of project management principles to be a good project manager, but workplace skills are just as important.

Project management skills enable you to effectively interact with people, solve problems, and put your organizational talents to use. Project management requires a combination of technical and workplace skills to coordinate both projects and teams. Here are 11 technical and workplace skills you’ll want to have as a project manager .

Start advancing your project management skills today

Explore the project manager career path, or boost your project management skills for any career, with the Google Project Management Professional Certificate . Work toward building all the relevant skills and approaches, like Agile and Scrum, in just six months or less.

Technical project management skills

1. project management approaches and methodologies.

Project management methodologies are the specific rules and procedures that determine how you manage a project. Different project management methodologies are suitable for different situations. Being familiar with the basic differences can help you pick the best one for a project. Although some companies might want you to stick with one approach, knowing about others can give you better context for what you’re doing, and why. 

Some common approaches to project management include Waterfall , a traditional, sequential approach, and Agile , which prioritizes adaptability. Within these approaches, there are several methodologies. For example, Scrum is the most commonly used Agile methodology. Others include Lean, Kanban, and XP (Extreme Programming).

Read more: 7 In-Demand Scrum Master Certifications

Learn these project management methodologies and more with this six-month course:

2. Project initiation

The start of a project—when much of the project is planned—is often critical to its success. And though it might sound simple, there are many moving pieces to think about in the initial phase of a project. Initiating a project includes setting achievable and specific goals, picking a team, determining resources, and holding a kickoff meeting. 

3. Budgeting

Most projects will have budget constraints. Knowing where costs might pile up, and how to prioritize tasks and delegate resources is often an important part of making sure a project doesn’t go over budget.

If you’re working on a large project or for a large company, you might not be the primary person responsible for managing the budget. But it’ll still be good to know what elements can add to a budget, how to decrease costs, and when you need to increase it.

4. Risk management

No project comes without potential risks. As a project manager, you’ll want to be able to identify when and how unexpected events that could derail your project might happen, how to decrease the chances of them happening, and how to respond if they do. How much of a time buffer should you add to unpredictable projects or tasks? If something goes awry, how would you adjust your scope or resources? Having an eye for potential risks and how to mitigate them can ensure smoother project delivery.

5. Project management tools and software

Technology has made sharing findings, schedules, and communications across teams and stakeholders convenient. As a project manager, you’ll often be expected to know how to use collaboration and communication software, and to take the lead in managing them.

Some tools you might be expected to use include:

Collaboration tools like Google Sheets, Google Drive, and Dropbox

Work management tools like Asana, Trello, Jira, and Smartsheet

Scheduling tools like digital calendars and Gantt charts

Communication tools like email, chat, and video conferencing software

Start advancing your skills in Agile in the project management tool Jira:

6. Industry knowledge

Project management professionals can work in many different fields, including IT, health care, and construction. Sometimes hiring managers will prefer candidates who have academic or professional experience in the field. If you’re looking to switch careers to become a project manager, it can be worth looking for opportunities within an industry you have knowledge in.

Read more: Guide to Construction Project Management

Are project managers in demand?

The demand for project managers is expected to grow 33 percent between 2017-2027 [ 1 ]. A report by Project Management Institute (PMI) found that demand for project management professionals will reach 25 million globally by 2030. That translates to roughly 2.3 million new project management positions a year [ 2 ]. 

Workplace skills

7. communication.

Communication is a key skill for project management professionals to have. In fact, insufficient communication is often cited as a reason why projects miss deadlines, go over budget, or otherwise get derailed.

Good communication doesn’t just mean being able to speak well in front of people—though that’s important too. Project managers should know whom to communicate with, when, and how often. This might mean setting up expectations at the beginning of a project about how often communications will happen.

Communication is critical in project management. Advance your skills today:

8. Organization

Organization is crucial for project managers. Coordinating timelines, meetings, and efforts with different teams, contractors, or even other companies means having the discipline to stay on top of communications and tasks. 

9. Flexibility

Even with a perfectly planned project, problems arise. Deadlines might be missed, bad weather can derail construction, people get sick or change jobs. If you’re a person that can deal with unexpected changes, your job as a project manager will go more smoothly.

10. Leadership

Leadership can help make all the disparate parts of a project team come together and work as a unit to get things done. Leadership includes influencing decisions without being overtly authoritative, knowing how to motivate team members, and balancing the needs of your team with the needs of the project.

Leadership and project management go hand in hand. Advance your skills today:

11. People skills

Your role as a project manager is to complete projects successfully. And while sometimes that means staying organized and communicating with the right people, it can also mean motivating your team, fostering a culture of collaboration and openness, and resolving potential conflicts. Understanding that different people have different work styles, motivations, strengths, and growth areas will allow for more effective teams and more successful projects.

Rachel, a project manager at Google, switched careers from bartending to project management—and her people skills were what helped her make the switch. Listen to her story below.

How to build project management skills

Sometimes there’s no better teacher than hands-on experience. You can build project management skills by taking on more managerial tasks in your workplace. You can also look for volunteer opportunities in your community that will allow you to help plan and execute projects.

You might already have project management skills: If you’ve helped to organize any new initiatives professionally or personally, you probably already have some project management skills, even if you didn’t call it that at the time. Be sure to highlight these experiences when you apply for project management jobs.

How to include project management skills in your resume

As you put together your resume, highlight your project management skills by describing the scale of your project, the size of your team, and the positive results of your efforts. For example, you might say: “Led team of four developers to redesign a payment platform with a budget of $2M to complete project on time.”

You can also emphasize project management skills by including them in a “skills” section of your resume. If you haven’t led a project before, list your experiences where you had a hand in planning or implementing a new effort. 

Read more: Resume Keywords: How to Find the Right Words to Beat the ATS

Taking online courses can be a great way to build project management skills that are in demand. Consider one of Coursera's top-rated courses:

For an introductory course, start with the University of Virginia's Fundamentals of Project Planning and Management course. This program takes about nine hours to complete and covers how to initiate a project, manage risks, sequence tasks, monitor progress, and more.

To practice the basics of the Agile methodology, take Atlassian University's Agile With Atlassian Jira course. Inside, you'll learn how to configure the Jira software, create Agile boards, and keep up with project changes. This course is free and takes about twelve hours to complete.

Explore project management more broadly in the Google Project Management: Professional Certificate . In this program, you'll learn the job-ready essentials of project management, like change management, communicating with stakeholders, documenting project developments, and more in about six months.

Article sources

Project Management Institute. " Project Management Job Growth and Talent Gap 2017–2027 , https://www.pmi.org/learning/careers/job-growth." Accessed May 16, 2023.

Project Management Institute. " PMI Talent Gap Report Highlights Persistent Disparity Between Available Talent and the Growing Demand for Project Management Skills , https://www.pmi.org/about/press-media/press-releases/pmi-talent-gap-report-highlights-persistent-disparity." Accessed May 16, 2023.

Keep reading

Coursera staff.

Editorial Team

Coursera’s editorial team is comprised of highly experienced professional editors, writers, and fact...

This content has been made available for informational purposes only. Learners are advised to conduct additional research to ensure that courses and other credentials pursued meet their personal, professional, and financial goals.

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Task Management Tips: How to Improve Your Task Management Skills

June 9, 2022 - 10 min read

Tasks connect our plans to actions. They are the building blocks of every project and how we transform goals into results. Individuals, teams, and managers need proficient task management skills to manage their time and duties effectively. 

Without task management skills, you may lose many productive hours doing busywork and focusing on the wrong things. Managing your tasks helps you organize, prioritize, and coordinate all you have to do, especially when working with a team . 

This article shares ten task management tips to improve your skills. We'll also discuss how task management software can help you become more efficient. 

What are task management skills?

Task management skills are activities and principles that help you organize your work to complete tasks on time and with high standards. They help you bring plans to reality without making mistakes and errors or missing deadlines . 

Things run smoothly when you have good task management skills. They help you pursue your goals and make consistent progress. These skills also help you develop workflows and systems and navigate task management software that enables you to manage your responsibilities and collaborate with others.

Task management skills examples

Managing your tasks may entail managing your team's tasks, especially if you're a project manager or team lead. 

Different task management skills are more important for different positions. A manager, for example, should have effective prioritization, communication, and delegation skills to organize and order tasks and communicate goals, updates, and schedules.

In contrast, team members and individual contributors may use their time-tracking, adaptability, and workload management skills to complete their tasks successfully and prioritize self-learning. 

Are multitasking management skills worth it?

Multitasking management skills are necessary for project managers. They help to deal with the added complexity that comes from managing people. Managers must be comfortable organizing and leading meetings, delegating tasks, communicating with stakeholders, and handling project risks and conflicts. 

It's almost impossible to avoid multitasking when you're a manager. A typical workday may include completing creative tasks while interviewing vendors and emailing stakeholders about a new project. 

You must be able to juggle multiple tasks without dropping the ball and transition from executing your own tasks to managing assets, resources, and changes to meet set goals. 

It's important to note that multitasking for extended periods can be bad for your productivity and mental health . Constant context switching takes a toll on the brain, leading to mistakes and errors and increasing stress and mental health issues like anxiety. It's crucial to have regular breaks and make time for single-tasking (i.e., focusing on one thing at a time) to limit these effects.  

How to improve task management skills

Improve your task management skills by following the ten task management tips below:

1. Start with smaller tasks

When you have a lot to do, starting with the smaller tasks can help you make considerable progress quickly. This helps you clear your plate of less important but necessary tasks and make more room for the big tasks that require time, effort, and resources. 

Smaller tasks may include:

• Responding to emails
• Assigning tasks to team members
• Generating and distributing reports to stakeholders

Starting with these tasks sets the stage for tackling bigger tasks. This happens because the brain releases dopamine when we complete tasks, motivating us to do more. Completing small tasks gives you the mental and emotional energy to handle bigger tasks. 

2. Focus on one at a time

Focusing on one task at a time increases your productivity and output. This helps you keep up with work responsibilities without feeling overwhelmed, forgetting things, or making avoidable mistakes. 

Focusing on one thing, also called single-tasking, means that you work on a task until you complete it, reach a specific milestone , or the dedicated time is up. You then move to the next task or take a break to rest and recharge. 

Single-tasking helps you achieve more in less time with less stress. It minimizes context switching and improves mental health and well-being. When you have big tasks, break them into bits and complete them by single-tasking for dedicated blocks of time. Do tasks that require deep thinking and focus by single-tasking.

3. Create an effective schedule

Scheduling helps you organize your tasks around your time in the most productive manner. When creating your schedule, consider your peak productive and lagging hours, team members' and collaborators' schedules, task priority, and other factors.

List your tasks and schedule them into available time slots on your calendar. Following a daily and weekly schedule helps you make steady progress toward your goals. Improve your schedule and make it more effective by tracking your work hours and productivity. Being intentional about how you spend your time helps you get better at estimating how long it takes to complete tasks . 

4. Get to grips with change management

In many companies, it's not change itself that causes problems but a lack of process for requesting and implementing change . This is why change management is a crucial task management skill. It helps you respond to task changes on time and stay on track with your project plan.

Change management entails developing and implementing contingency plans and communicating with your team so that everyone knows what to do. Monitor the impact of any change on the task and its related tasks, e.g., an overdue deadline for one task may affect the deadlines for its subtasks and subsequent tasks. 

5. Set realistic deadlines

Ensure you set realistic timelines and due dates when creating and scheduling tasks. Use time-tracking software to improve your time estimates and gather accurate data showing how long you actually spend on tasks.

Realistic deadlines enable you and your team to produce your best work and complete projects successfully. They also allow you to refine and improve your work before delivery. 

6. Break tasks up into smaller tasks

Changing your perception of the size and difficulty of a task can help you gather motivation to do it. Break your tasks into smaller pieces to avoid procrastination and stress and gain momentum. 

To break down your tasks, begin with the big picture and write down all its components. List all the tasks involved and identify your priorities and critical path . It's vital to outline the optimal sequence to tackle a big task on schedule and produce your best work without rushing or becoming overwhelmed. 

7. Collaborate whenever possible

Task management includes taking stock of your available resources, assets, and support channels. One of the benefits of working in a company is having team members you can get assistance from and collaborate with to complete tasks faster and better.  

Reach out to team members and like-minded professionals and build relationships so you can ask for help and collaborate when you need to. This increases your capacity to handle tasks and perform better at work.

8. Communicate clearly

Communication is one of the most important task management skills. Effective communication allows you to share ideas, updates, or problems with team members, managers, and stakeholders. 

Effective communication improves your chances of success, whether working with others or by yourself. Practice verbal and written communication to enhance your task management skills. Also, set up processes such as weekly team meetings or sprint reviews to encourage regular communication and updates between team members and collaborators. 

9. Set useful reminders

Set yourself reminders about your upcoming tasks. Task management software like Wrike automates this process and keeps team members updated about shared tasks. 

You want to know what's due each day, week, and month. If you manage a team, set reminders for everyone about upcoming priorities and deadlines and add notifications alerting you when tasks have been completed. 

10. Avoid burnout

Task management involves planning and completing your tasks in a way that limits burnout and fatigue. Consider health needs as you create a schedule for you and your team. 

Offset big tasks with smaller tasks to balance each workday. You can be proactive about taking care of your physical, emotional, and mental health while still managing your tasks and getting things done on time. 

Why use Wrike for efficient task management?

Task management skills help you structure your time and duties to produce the best results. To do this, you need task management software like Wrike to break down big tasks, prioritize and delegate, and collaborate with team members and stakeholders. 

Wrike's task management software provides a highly secure and customizable platform for individual contributors and teams of any size to manage their tasks effectively. The software integrates with other work-critical applications and provides templates that enhance collaboration and reduce time spent on administrative tasks. 

Are you ready to take your task management skills to the next level and improve efficiency and output in your teams and organization? Get started with a two-week free trial of Wrike today and begin implementing these task management tips to improve the way you work.

Kelechi Udoagwu

Kelechi is a freelance writer and founder of Week of Saturdays, a platform for digital freelancers and remote workers living in Africa.

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Twitter can be complex. Similarly, the techniques and methodologies that brands use to implement their Twitter marketing strategy add yet another layer of difficulty. While some marketing project managers prefer to follow Twitter best practices and cross their fingers, others know that putting a strategy down on (virtual) paper ensures growth and success on the platform long-term.  For those who prefer to know what they’re doing on Twitter and why their efforts (and budget) matter, having a strong Twitter marketing strategy is a no-brainer.  In this guide, we’ve answered your most frequently asked questions about Twitter marketing, provided a curated list of essential tips, and listed the exact tools you need to achieve your next benchmarks.  What is a Twitter marketing strategy? A Twitter marketing strategy is an action plan that aligns with your company’s concrete goals for this particular platform. A good Twitter marketing strategy involves creating and publishing content that will attract new followers and improve your brand recognition. Why is Twitter good for marketing? Twitter is not as creative as other platforms like Facebook and Instagram. However, it does have an advertising audience of 353 million and is the first in line for customer service as far as social media apps go.  Not only is Twitter a must-have social media tool, but it’s also effective for engaging individuals, sharing time-sensitive content, and staying up to date with what’s going on in the world as it relates to your business.  How to create a Twitter marketing strategy Despite its fast-paced nature, Twitter still requires a bit of strategic planning and discipline to get the most out of it. Not to mention the fact that it’s important to be prepared for all the unexpected conversations that happen on Twitter. Having a strategy in place will help you respond to any situation that may arise while also building a strong marketing and sales funnel for your brand.  Here’s everything you need to know to successfully implement a Twitter marketing strategy. 1. Evaluate your current strategy You should check your existing social media accounts both on and off Twitter to make sure they're in good standing. This will help identify any issues that need addressing now before you launch the next phase.  2. Define clear goals Having clear goals is the first step to achieving success on any social media platform. You should create goals that are specific, measurable, and time-bound. These should align with your company's greater objectives and be realistic about the resources you have to dedicate to the project.  You’ll also need to get specific about which metrics you’ll use to measure progress and how often you’ll check in with goals. Remember that there are a ton of different metrics available but not all of them will be applicable to your particular goals.  3. Check out the competition By carefully analyzing the accounts of your competitors, you can learn about their weaknesses and develop a stronger strategy. Look for common themes, tweet frequency, and their most popular tweets to better understand what your audiences are looking for. You can also use this information to improve on what they’re already putting out there in your own content. Pro tip: You can also get digital marketing inspiration from original strategy examples found elsewhere that you can make your own on Twitter.  4. Create a Twitter guide Your company’s customized Twitter guide should include a code of conduct and a clear set of style guidelines anyone can replicate. First, follow a clear responsibilities policy to ensure that everyone is on board with how you’ll deal with the variety of scenarios you may find yourself in on Twitter, which can be a well-known hangout for pot stirrers and ‘trolls’. Even something as simple as accidentally having multiple team members answer the same questions can create a lot of confusion and lead to unproductive discussions. Following actionable guidelines will prevent these common roadblocks from happening in the first place. Next, remember that a good social media style guide is also helpful to keep your team's communications on track. This will prevent branding mistakes and minimize miscommunication. Keep in mind that your brand personality should be consistent across all platforms. It should also communicate your company's values and goals. 5. Create your Twitter profile Having a professional Twitter profile can help strengthen your brand and inform your audience. You also want to make sure that your handle is consistent across all platforms. Here are the steps you’ll need to take in order to get started: Create a handle. Your username is the first thing that people will see when they look at your profile. It should include your company's name and other recognizable details. Add a profile photo. Make sure your imagery keeps to the correct dimensions and is high-resolution. Add a header image. Your profile should also feature a clean and prominent header image. It can help provide insight into your company culture or reflect on current campaigns. Write your bio. A well-written and snappy bio is also important to stand out from the crowd. You can also use a tagline or a creative image to highlight your brand personality. Include a link. Send click-throughs to your homepage or a dedicated landing page for Twitter audiences. Choose a location. One of the most important elements of your profile is your location. This is very important for small businesses as they want their customers to be able to find them offline. Add a birthday. Use the date your company was founded or an important launch date.  6. Start a Twitter content calendar A social media content calendar is a great way to align your content across all your channels and identify potential conflicts. It can also help you plan ahead and capitalize on any opportunities that arise. Another benefit of planning out your calendar is that it will help you determine if you're sharing a balanced mix of content. Although you can schedule some tweets to go out ahead of time, the social aspect of social media will still require you to respond to DMs, mentions, and retweets promptly.  7. Schedule some tweets ahead of time Get ahead of the competition by scheduling your tweets to go out on optimal days and times. Doing so will allow you to maximize the engagement and visibility of every post. Unfortunately, you can't always schedule 100% of your tweets or else the platform may flag you as spam. However, it's possible to save time by pre-scheduling content that's already planned in advance. 8. Create a monitoring plan  Once your marketing strategy is in place, it's time to regularly evaluate your progress and set goals against those that you set. Use the same project management platform to evaluate your Twitter data and run reports to keep everything in one accessible place.  9. Use social listening Twitter isn't just about speaking. It's also about listening. Through social listening, you can learn about the opinions of other people about your products and services. It can help you develop a more authentic and loyal customer base.  10. Consider paid ads Paid ads aren’t right for everyone, but they can help your new Twitter marketing strategy gain more traction faster. Twitter Ads are a great way to target specific audiences. They allow you to measure the effectiveness of your campaign and find the right messages for your brand.  Even if someone doesn't follow your brand or hashtags, a promoted tweet can still show up in their timeline. You can also interact with them in the same way as organic content. 11. Include link tracking Just like you link track on your sales pages, email newsletters, and other social media, Twitter offers another way to obtain data on customer buying journeys. Track the link in your bio as well as any company website links you tweet out.  The metrics provided by link tracking tools allow you to monitor how people navigate to your website and measure the effectiveness of your campaign management. They're also useful for analyzing your bottom line as you improve your conversions and traffic over time.  12. Use all of Twitter’s features This one may take some time, but it’s worth noting that the best way to maximize your Twitter marketing strategy is to use every last tool the platform has to offer. For example, did you know Twitter allows users to host live chats? Use a live chat to discuss a topic, ask customers for their opinions, or collaborate with a brand partner on something you're working on. Twitter marketing tips There are countless tips on the internet about how to do Twitter well. The truth is most of your success depends on trial and error plus consistency over time. Here are some of our curated Twitter marketing tips that we’ve either used or seen work firsthand. They serve as a good jumping-off point for any foundational strategy. Start with one, then mix the rest in over time.  Think big-picture. One of the most important factors to consider is how Twitter fits into your overall social media strategy.  Assign daily supervision. Busy accounts may require a team member’s attention to monitor them every day or even every hour. Have a backup team member for every single account in case one is out-of-office.  Plan one month out. A 30-day content plan will help you grow your Twitter following fast. It will also help you track your social media campaigns and analyze what resonates with your audience.  Use lists. Through lists, you can get in touch with the conversations that matter to you most. These feeds are curated by the accounts that are most likely to have influential discussions. Develop your voice. Although you can use images and videos to attract followers, a well-written and compelling voice is very important to have on Twitter. Tweet authentically. Don't send tweets that sound like they're coming from a robot or a script. Instead, communicate clearly and politely. Stand out. Follow a unique and original message whenever you post on social media. Doing so will make your Twitter content more engaging.  Use polls. Twitter polls allow users to pose questions with multiple choice answers. Gather valuable feedback and opinions about your customer preferences and favorite products. Add photos and videos. Visual assets can help you convey a message more effectively. They can also be used to reinforce an important point or highlight a chart or infographic. Use hashtags. Hashtags are a great way to boost your visibility and discoverability on Twitter. This feature is essential for new accounts.  Add branded content. For example, creating a branded hashtag is a great way to organize and promote content about your business. It can also be used to search for user-generated content related to your products.  Track trends. Follow trending topics to get notified about new posts and hop on relevant themes.  Think before posting. Although most Twitter users rely on the mobile app, search engine preview snippets of profiles may show recently deleted tweets. So think through each message before you hit publish — otherwise, it may come up on Google days, weeks, or months from now!  Engage, engage, engage. It's important to create a two-way channel of communication on Twitter to engage your audience. Creating content that encourages your followers to interact with each other is also important. Get verified. A verified profile helps prevent people from being confused with fake and duplicate accounts. Twitter marketing tools to get you started There are three main marketing tools you’ll need to get started, regardless of your goals or strategy.  Data measuring and reporting Asset storage Project management platform Without the help of data measuring and reporting, brands aren’t able to perform well on Twitter. The feedback from key metrics such as retweets helps marketers better understand their audience, grow their following, and reach as many new timelines as possible.  Asset storage is another essential Twitter marketing tool. Between branded links, third-party links, photos, videos, GIFs, and more, having one central location where all of your Twitter content assets are stored is both convenient and strategic.  Last but not least, the most important Twitter marketing tool you can use is a project management platform. Twitter requires you to create content, respond to public and private messages, track data, and keep up with the latest features. A great project management tool will allow you to do all of that in one accessible place so you can stay on top of all the moving parts while focusing on your chosen strategy.  Why use Wrike to build your Twitter marketing campaign Like other social media platforms, finding success on Twitter requires a strategy and an intentional approach. That is why using a marketing project management tool is so important.  Wrike's marketing project management software lets you track and communicate with your team across all your campaigns in one place. Not only does it help break down silos and make communication easier, but it also gives you a 360° view of your Twitter and related social media campaigns, allowing you to see all of them in one place. Wrike's software also helps you track communication with your team across all your campaigns in one place, so you’re always on the same page, even with Twitter’s fast-paced conversations. If last-minute tweets or replies need approval, team members can easily see your feedback and loop approvers into ongoing conversations via @mentions,  which can help cut down on review cycles. For productivity, Wrike's marketing project management software helps you streamline your processes and achieve your goals. Doing so will increase the visibility and efficiency of any strategy you implement. With all of Twitter’s moving parts, having full transparency into your workflows is essential since bottlenecks are that much harder to resolve.  If you run a social media strategy on any other app, you already know that project management for digital marketing is different from other project management disciplines. That is why Wrike developed flexible workflows that make it possible to eliminate the guesswork and get more done in less time. Twitter has many complex moving parts with real-time feedback, so solid data reporting is mission-critical to getting it right. Wrike's marketing project management software features dynamic reports that allow you to visualize and gather business intelligence quickly.  Ready to take action on your new Twitter marketing strategy? Get started today by organizing your social media plan into assigned tasks and timelines using Wrike’s two-week free trial. 

Is the 9-5 Job Dead? The Rise of Flexible Working in the Post-Pandemic Office

In February 2021, just two months before all US adults were to be offered a COVID-19 vaccine, Brent Heyder, the president of Salesforce, declared, “the 9-5 is dead." Even if it soon becomes safe for office-based employees to return to work in their droves, some companies are not entirely sure that the traditional 9 to 5 job is worth returning to.  Instead, companies like Salesforce are giving employees the choice between:  Flexible working (1-3 days in-office for collaboration, meetings, and presentations) Fully remote (for roles that do not require the office or those who live too far from one)  Office-based (for roles that cannot be done from home)  The company argues that ditching regular work week hours will improve employee connection, work-life balance, and equality, ultimately leading to increased innovation and better business outcomes. So, is the 9 to 5 job really dead? There is no doubt that flexible working looks likely to become a standard offering for many employers. With improvements to technology, we have seen trends such as the rise of digital nomadism flourish. Around 70% of employees expect flexible work schedules post-pandemic, and 50% say they would leave a job if it were not offered. However, the idea that “the 9-5 is dead” may be an oversimplification.  According to a report by Inc., regular work week hours have always been a "modern-day illusion," and clocked time has never been a good indicator of progress or productivity. It argues that, by giving employees task ownership instead, they can complete these more efficiently with respect for both their own time and their teammates’. Inc argues that the 9-5 job is not dead because it did not really exist in the first place — most workers struggled to get their work done within the allocated time, even before the COVID-19 pandemic. By allowing flexible working and shifting our focus to outcomes and the benefits of remote working, workers can avoid burnout by using their time more wisely and setting appropriate, achievable timelines for their goals. Why working 9 to 5 hours may not suit younger employees Enabling flexible working will not only future-proof your organization to accommodate employees’ expectations, but it will also be an important move for retaining younger employees. For example, nearly one in two (45%) of millennials will choose flexibility over pay. And when the vast majority of businesses report that it costs $15,000 - $25,000 to replace a millennial employee, it could be an expensive mistake not to hear this preference.  The New York Times echoes this, saying, “it’s not about jumping up titles, but moving into better work environments.” Companies such as Apple and Walmart have also begun to discuss the need to shift the focus from prioritizing shareholders to taking care of employees. An increase in flexible work schedules may also help gender equality. As more fathers and non-parents request it, there is less space for "the flexibility stigma" mothers experience to remain. A survey by Werk also found that older generations are just as likely to want flexible working — they’re just less likely to ask for it. How to move away from regular work week hours So, if flexible working is inevitable, then what is the best way to implement it? A report by Inc. advises to keep these three golden rules: Debunk the 40-hour myth. What was first introduced by Henry Ford in the early 1900s to attract autoworkers who were used to 12-hour shifts has become obsolete. In fact, having fewer hours to complete a task tends to sharpen focus. Adapt to peak-performance styles. Some people thrive by replacing their fifth working day with four 10-hour shifts, while some find that impossible. Offer your employees the opportunity to decide when and how they work best. Offer solutions to the challenges of working from home, including home office setup ideas and appropriate technology. Synchronize schedules. Ensure that teams who do need regular meetings have at least some overlap during their flexible working hours. This may not need to be every day but assess how often your team will need it. Different flexible working options Inc. outlines some of the options available for organizations hoping to move on from the concept of the 9 to 5 job below: Flexitime: Employees can choose from a range of available hours Compressed work week: The work week is compressed into fewer than five days (usually by creating four 10-hour days) Flexiplace: Employees can work virtually from home or any non-office location Job sharing: Two people voluntarily share the duties and responsibilities of one full-time position, with the salary divided according to this share Work sharing: Usually used to avoid layoffs, this introduces reduced hours and salaries for a portion of their workforce in order to maintain all employees Expanded leave: Employees can request extended periods of time away from work without losing their rights as employees – this can be paid or unpaid Phased retirement: Under this arrangement, the employer and employee agree to a schedule of gradual reduction of work commitments over a period of months or years Partial retirement: Employees can continue working on a part-time basis, with no established end date Work and family programs: Employers provide some degree of assistance to employees who have childcare or elder-care responsibilities Benefits of flexible work schedules According to job advertisement site Flexjobs, some of the benefits of leaving a 9 to 5 job behind for employees include: Improved retention: Even pre-pandemic, 80% of workers would choose a job that offered a flexible schedule over those that did not, with 80% saying they would be more loyal to their employer if afforded flexible working. Increased talent: By offering what is known to be one of the most attractive perks, offering flexible work schedules can help your organization recruit top-tier talent. Improved diversity: Not only has inclusion and equality become a non-negotiable for younger workers, building a more diverse workforce creates higher-performing teams, so it’s also smart business. Increased productivity: Even before the pandemic, remote workers worked more hours on average than in-office employees. But more importantly, shifting to a results-oriented culture enables teams to focus on getting the results they want. Improved employee engagement: One of the best ways to drive engagement is to show workers they are respected enough to be trusted with flexible working Decreased costs and environmental impact: Unsurprisingly, fewer overheads and less commuting (or at least less rush-hour traffic) have a hugely beneficial impact on cutting costs and helping climate change. How Wrike helps teams succeed with flexible working Now that the world’s workforce is starting to ditch the 9 to 5 job, we need the right software to keep up. Wrike enables teams who opt for flexible work schedules to gain 360° visibility on progress and productivity with shared dashboards, one-click Gantt charts, and advanced, automated reporting. Get started for free. 

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Course Resources

Assignments.

The assignments in this course are openly licensed, and are available as-is, or can be modified to suit your students’ needs. Selected answer keys are available to faculty who adopt Waymaker, OHM, or Candela courses with paid support from Lumen Learning. This approach helps us protect the academic integrity of these materials by ensuring they are shared only with authorized and institution-affiliated faculty and staff.

If you import this course into your learning management system (Blackboard, Canvas, etc.), the assignments will automatically be loaded into the assignment tool.

Sun City Boards Assignments and Discussions

Half of the written assignments and discussions are based on a case study, whose focus is a fictional high-end surfboard company, Sun City Boards, which is also highlighted in the Why It Matters and Putting it Together in Module 3: Planning and Mission. Many of these assignments take the form of asking students to give Tom, the company’s inexperienced owner, advice about how he can run his business more effectively. The Sun City Boards assignments create a common framework for applying knowledge and skills developed through the course, encouraging students to demonstrate mastery of the content through real-world tasks and work products.

Alternate Assignments and Discussions

The other half of the written assignments and discussions use a variety of approaches, depending on the subject and learning outcome being assessed; many ask students to go beyond course content to form connections between research topics and what they’ve learned in class.

Using Assignments

We recommend assigning one discussion OR one assignment per chapter, rather than all of them. Some instructors prefer to stick with the Sun City Boards theme throughout the course; others like to use some of the alternates along the way. You can view any assignments or discussions below or throughout the course.

You can view them below or throughout the course:

Rubric for Assignments

There is also a sample rubric to assist you in grading. Instructors may modify these guidelines or use their own.

Open Pedagogy Assignments

Open Pedagogy Assignments are assignments in which students use their agency and creativity to create knowledge artifacts that can support their own learning, their classmates’ learning, and the learning of students around the world. (See this  peer-reviewed article  for more details.) All of the assignments can be created with a cell phone camera or any video recording device, Google or Word documents, and your learning management system.

Discussions

The following discussion assignments will also be preloaded (into the discussion-board tool) in your learning management system if you import the course. They can be used as is, modified, or removed. You can view them below or throughout the course.

Rubric for Discussion Posts

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• This discussion invites conversation on race, which might require additional monitoring and involvement from instructors. This blog post from the Choices Program at Brown University contains links to helpful resources to facilitate talking about race in the classroom: "Approaching Race in the Classroom, Actively" ↵
• Assignments. Provided by : Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution
• Pencil Cup. Authored by : IconfactoryTeam. Provided by : Noun Project. Located at : https://thenounproject.com/term/pencil-cup/628840/ . License : CC BY: Attribution