An Outline of the Different Types of Soft Skills and Management Training

Interpersonal skills are the essential asset in order to further your career in any organisation, whether in the public sector, commerce or other. Companies whether large or small, need this fundamental skill in order to meet their targets and be successful. They often offer soft skills training courses either in the work place or sign up staff on these courses offered by training companies. Courses offered to all staff can focus mainly on team working. A sales representative will need to know how to entice, negotiate and make that sale to a wide range of personalities; they need to make efficient use of their time with the potential customer and also handle rejection. This training is not only geared for the sales people but also invaluable to the manager, PA, secretary, administrator, waiters in fact all walks of life. These specialist roles with unique skill sets are beneficial to all. Team working and leadership skills are the most popular courses sought after. Leadership and management skills are generally more advantageous to management.

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Management courses often include leadership theories of X and Y management styles, that is Maslow and Herzberg theories. This will include how to build appropriate relationships with staff in order for them to have job satisfaction, motivate them, empathise and meet their needs. The focal point is mainly on developing working relationships and how to get the most out of these relationships.

The other main areas of Management Courses are where the focus is on how to lead and act on your own initiative. This is an important part as it ensures that the candidate observes and focuses on the target and is then able to succeed in achieving these objectives.

Evolution of Management Training Courses

Management and leadership training courses have changed dramatically over the years. The earlier management courses focused on having two distinct types of staff:

1. Those who need to be told what to do and are disciplined; this led to staff not being able to think for themselves and be creative.
2. The other type is for staff who needs to be given the opportunity to develop.

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The general theme was oppressive. This led to a more independent school of thought developing in the 80s and later. Here there was more importance on consulting with employees and brainstorming, in order to give them a degree of self worth and involvement with the staff. This type of management theory is the dominant theme in most management training. 

Managerial personality is a noteworthy determinant. It may vary with companies as the atmosphere can be either democratic or autocratic. Finally, certain types of job will require a suitable approach and as a result specific industries may have different cultures.

What is Management Training and why is it needed to succeed?

Soft skills are very important to any successful professional, especially as you get more senior. The more senior that you become, the more people you will encounter and in different types of relationships. You will have direct reports that you will need to manage, coach and delegate effectively to, whilst managing relationships with clients, other managers and more senior management. Your success will often be measured on the strength of your personal relationships, so it is important that you have good interpersonal skills.

The importance of soft skills and management training is so great that most large corporations will deliver a series of management training courses to their staff. Some use in-house trainers and others use private specialists.

All staff should be aware of the importance of this type of training. Anyone who wants to progress will need to develop this skills sets o don’t think that it does not apply to you if you aren’t yet management. Non-managerial staff should focus on the team-working aspects, influencing others, negotiating and more. The coaching of direct reports and delegation skills may not be so relevant.

 

Management Theories

In the 60s and 70s, management training courses started to become more popular, as companies became more aware of people skills rather than just technical skills. Managers were taught traditional theories such as; Theory X and Y, Maslow and Herzberg. These schools of thought were very top down and more autocratic. However, over the years the theories have developed.

More democratic schools of thought overtook the autocratic approach. The emphasis shifted to consulting with employees and developing their sense of self worth and inclusion.

This shift meant that the method of training changed from formal classroom training in theories, which was very traditional. The shift was towards interactive and experiential classes, where participants would use practical exercises to increase their learning and there was little classroom learning at all.

 

 

What is good training?

Management Training Courses need to be highly interactive and practical in order to consolidate and new skills with real-life scenarios. Ideally, the course should feel like a memorable experience, where participants can leave the class clearly identifying any new skills that they have learned. Classes that are not engaging are unlikely to have a lasting effect.

Management Training Course