How Can Training Courses Help You Be a Better Manager

Importance of management skills

Being promoted to a management position, or moving jobs upwards into such a role, is often a great time in your career; you’ve been rewarded for the work you’ve done, and the knowledge and skills that you’ve built. However, being a great manager isn’t something that always comes naturally and it’s not always something that employers expect you to be capable of as soon as you take up the role. Indeed, many people will have been promoted into a managerial position because they’re great at what they do, but it doesn’t necessarily mean they have all of the skills to be a great manager. That’s where training comes in. As you progress in your role you’ll naturally pick up new skills and knowledge, but training is the best way of speeding this up and ensuring that you hit the ground running. Let’s take a look at some of the benefits that can come with management training courses.

Budgeting and Resourcing

Managers are often given budgets and this can be one of the most challenging aspects of the job. Being given responsibility for money often brings stress, and this is certainly the case if it’s not something you’re particularly experienced with. There can be many questions, often concerning when to use up budget, when to save it and what this might mean for next year’s finances. Training courses in budgeting and finance will focus on how best to manage money, both in terms of how to decide how it’s used, but also the technical aspects of financial management, which includes suggestions on processes and the ways in which finances are recorded.

Line Management

Not all managers will have responsibility for people, but for those that do, line management will be a major part of the role and one of the main ways in which performance will be measured. Again, it’s often the case that promotions happen without any prior experience in managing people, so training is hugely valuable. Training courses in this area will focus on a number of aspects of line management. This will include things like the daily organising and treatment of staff, as well as more longer term development plans. Conflict resolution and generally dealing with problems is another tricky aspect of managing people that training will help with.

Project Management

Project management is a skill in itself and indeed is also often its very own job role. However, aspects of project management are common for managers of all kinds. Project management training is designed to help managers understand how they should organise a project, including everything from the assignment of staff, to managing expectations, setting deadlines, and more. Project management can be one of the most useful skills to learn and is also suitable even for those who aren’t managers but are looking for skills that they can take into management.

Compliance

Issues of compliance can be particularly stressful for new managers if they hold any responsibility. There can be legal issues to be aware of, which is why it’s imperative that any good manager takes training on matters of compliance that they might have to think about. There are general courses that will apply to many workplaces, such as those pertaining to health and safety, but if there are additional, industry or role specific compliance considerations such as safeguarding, then managers need to seek these out. Not only do you need to know exactly what you should be doing to stay on the right side of laws and regulations, but those you manage will be following your example.

Find out More

Here at Virtual College, we’re training experts. That’s why we have a host of courses to choose from that will be suitable for managers of all kinds. Our leadership and management courses include subjects we’ve discussed here, including project management, and managing a team.