Improving your management skills means building a practical toolkit to navigate daily challenges and changing priorities. Whether you’re new to management or have years of experience, sharpening these skills directly affects how well your team performs and how you handle complex situations.
Having worked closely with managers across various sectors, I’ve seen that those who commit to continual growth earn respect and achieve better results. This article highlights seven strategies that bring real improvements to your management approach.
Why are management skills essential for today’s managers?
Strong management skills lay the foundation for successful teams. They help you set clear directions, align efforts, and keep motivation high during busy or uncertain times.
Managers juggle many demands daily: meeting targets, supporting team members, and handling unexpected issues. How you manage these pressures depends largely on your management skills.
Research from Gallup shows organisations with skilled managers boost employee retention by up to 40% and increase productivity by nearly 25%. Those numbers show why investing in your own development really pays off.
Consider where you face your toughest leadership challenges. Understanding this helps you focus your growth where it counts.
Explore our full range of training courses to find the right programme tailored to your development needs.
What are the biggest challenges in developing management abilites?
Management means balancing complex and sometimes conflicting demands. For example, a high-performing team member needs different support than someone just starting out. Adjusting your style quickly requires awareness and flexibility.
Giving honest feedback remains tough for many managers. Avoiding those conversations only lets problems grow.
Managing remote or hybrid teams adds complexity. Without daily in-person contact, communication gaps and disengagement can sneak in. Although digital tools assist, they don’t replace deliberate relationship-building.
The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) highlights these challenges as common among managers today1. At PTP, we focus on these real-world issues. Our courses give managers practical skills that work no matter the setting. Knowing your main challenges puts you on the path to effective improvement.
How do you manage hybrid teams successfully?
Managing hybrid teams means adopting new approaches to leadership. Keeping both remote and in-office members engaged takes clear communication and trust.
To succeed, you should:
- Hold regular one-to-one meetings with every team member
- Use collaborative digital tools to stay connected
- Set clear expectations and deadlines
- Encourage informal chats to build team spirit
Our training helps managers handle these challenges and keep hybrid teams productive.
How can I improve my communication skills as a manager?
Good communication depends on listening as much as talking. Early in my career, I watched managers lose momentum because their messages weren’t clear or weren’t followed up.
To improve communication:
- Focus on active listening rather than just waiting to speak
- Use simple language that’s easy to understand
- Check that your team really gets the message by asking open questions
- Invite honest feedback and respond quickly
When was the last time you made sure your team fully understood the goals and what was expected of them?
Why is emotional intelligence important for managers?
Emotional intelligence shapes how managers understand and react to their team. Without it, even the best plans can falter because leaders miss signs of low morale or stress.
Daniel Goleman’s research confirms that emotional intelligence is a critical skill for effective leadership. You can build it by:
- Noticing your own emotional triggers
- Watching how your team acts under pressure
- Staying calm when things get tough
- Showing empathy to build trust
Have you noticed how managing your emotions affects your team’s reactions? Being aware makes a big difference in keeping things productive.
How do I manage my time effectively as a manager?
Managing time well means focusing on what really matters. Early on, I learned that micromanaging drains energy and leads to burnout.
Good time management means you:
- Plan your day around key priorities
- Delegate tasks to the right people
- Avoid multitasking that breaks your focus
- Set deadlines you protect
Do you regularly review your tasks to make sure you’re working on the most important things?
What makes a manager’s decision-making effective?
Good decisions come from balancing facts, experience, and team input. Waiting too long or rushing can both cause setbacks.
You can improve your decisions by:
- Gathering the key information you need without overloading yourself
- Thinking about how decisions affect people and projects
- Asking trusted colleagues for different viewpoints
- Looking back on decisions to learn what worked
Think about a recent decision that went well. What made it work? Learning from experience builds confidence.
How can coaching improve my team’s performance?
Helping your team grow their skills drives better results. Managers I’ve worked with who schedule regular coaching see clear improvements.
Good coaching means:
- Setting clear goals together
- Giving feedback focused on what can change
- Encouraging continuous learning through courses or discussions
How often do you have conversations about your team’s development?
What strategies help manage stress and promote wellbeing at work?
Stress quietly hurts performance and morale if you don’t act. Good managers spot warning signs early and step in.
Key steps include:
- Watching for changes in behaviour or energy
- Encouraging balanced workloads and regular breaks
- Supporting flexible work when possible
- Showing how you manage stress healthily yourself
How well do you show your support for wellbeing through your actions?
How do I get honest feedback to improve my management skills?
No manager knows everything. Regularly asking for feedback helps you see where to grow beyond formal reviews.
Try these approaches:
- Ask clear questions about how you manage and lead
- Use anonymous surveys to get honest answers
- Reflect on what you hear and make changes you share openly
When did you last ask your team for honest input about your management?
How PTP helps sharpen your management skills
After training hundreds of managers, I know practical learning leads to real change. PTP’s courses focus on skills grounded in real experience and human psychology.
Whether you want to build your basic or advanced management skills, our small-group face-to-face sessions focus on your real challenges.
Visit our People Management Skills Course to learn how we support your growth.
Don’t just take our word for it! Read our real client success stories to see how managers across industries have transformed their teams and careers through PTP’s training programmes.
Final thoughts
Strong management skills help you meet targets but more importantly training aids you in building teams that work well together. Developing these skills takes ongoing effort, but focusing on communication, emotional intelligence, decision-making, coaching, wellbeing, and feedback makes a big difference. We deliver training at multiple convenient venues across the UK to ensure you can attend sessions close to you. Our locations provide comfortable, professional settings designed to enhance your learning experience.
Improve your management skills with PTP’s practical training and start making an impact today.
FAQs about management skills training
Can management skills be learned or are they innate?
Most strong managers develop their skills over time through practice and feedback.
How long does it take to improve management skills?
Many managers notice improvements within weeks of applying new strategies.
What are the benefits of management training?
Training helps you lead teams better, lowers turnover, and boosts productivity.
Source: Gallup, State of the Global Workplace report, 2022