MBA Courses Teach Soft Skills for Successful Managers

Communication

As a manager, it is important to be the communicative chameleon in the team. This means that you should be able to adapt to the style of your employees.

Communication always takes place. Both verbally and non-verbally. Even the tidiness of a desk and the design of an office are part of communication. As is the response time required for emails or missed calls. In order to avoid misinterpretations and false conclusions, it is important to pay attention to non-verbal signals.

In addition to non-verbal communication, the choice of words and personal dialogue play an important role in communication. A good manager recognises which team member wants clear instructions and which members require plenty of creative freedom. When is small talk necessary and how specific should communication be? A good manager develops a feel for this and adapts their communication individually.

The communication style that best suits you is easy to find with like-minded people, but you should also practice and train yourself in styles that you find less appealing, because good communication ensures:

• Seamless project planning
• Transfer of knowledge
• Employee motivation
• Quality improvement

Teamwork

As a team leader and manager, you are faced with the major challenge of leading, and carrying out less actual work (yourself), while still providing noticeable operational support. Sometimes delegation is in the blood of managers. But for a team to see itself as a whole, more is needed. A good manager needs to know the strengths, weaknesses, and personal performance level of all individual members and fill in as many gaps as possible when making new appointments. Everyone's strengths are important in order to avoid overtaxing some and overreaching others. A strong and motivated team will succeed in the following areas:

• Realising company/team or departmental goals
• Retaining employees in the team and the company in the long term
• Delivering high quality work

Employee Management

Leadership and communication are closely linked. As with many things in life, if everything runs smoothly, it's easy. But when conflicts arise, in stressful times or in company crises, the challenging aspects of employee management become apparent. In order to fulfil management tasks such as:

• Delegating work
• Conducting appraisal interviews
• Helping people to develop as well as
• giving constructive feedback on completed tasks and
• integrating new team members,

special knowledge is required.
This includes insights into personality traits, self-reflection techniques and the ability to let go and trust.

Employee management poses a particular challenge if it is not associated with the authority to issue instructions. This is often the case in project management. You are responsible for the project, but not for the employees. It's good to be prepared for any situation with a well-equipped management toolbox. Further training as part of an MBA programme fills your toolbox with the latest techniques and tools to prepare you for this task.

Acquire the foundations for effective leadership through an MBA course at RWTH Business School

Our Master of Business Administration in Digitalization & Industrial Change provides you with the knowledge and tools you need to be a successful manager. You will acquire the knowledge, methods and tools to effectively fulfil management tasks. On top of this, you will deepen your technical expertise and have the opportunity to exchange experiences with fellow students who work internationally.

Our degree programmes with a technology focus can be flexibly adapted to your current circumstances

Find out more about our Master of Business Administration