Learning To Thrive: Management Essentials For Business Graduates

Business Management exists at a variety of levels - all contributing to the overall business operations. To cope with the industry-wide demand, business degrees encompass a fairly wide range of courses and programs. While learning during degree programs gives you the academic knowledge, applying theory in real-world problems is a different ball game altogether. Leadership, entrepreneurship, critical thinking, team building doesn’t come easy for young graduates who are just entering the industry.  

Business graduates go on to work in myriad sectors which includes opening up one’s own firm, working for SMEs and startups and scaling these businesses to new heights. In times of crisis, analytical and design thinking helps them to scout through a difficult situation and arrive at a situation. Similarly to thrive in a business setup, there are some essential management skills, one should learn.  

Let us have a look at what are these essentials that every business student should inculcate in themselves: 

1. Interpersonal skills: Management is all about handling workforce and building successful business relationships is integral. Getting to know your team members on a personal and professional level, through social activities helps you to understand their psyche in depth. It is an important skill to depict yourself as a member of the team while also demonstrating your managerial qualities and authority. 

2. Planning and Delegation: This involves the utilization of available resources in a planned manner. In a corporate scenario, you’ll be juggling with different tasks at hand. Overseeing the work done by the team, managing your own responsibilities and tasks within a stipulated deadline. To ease down the burden, and deliver quality within the given timeline, it is important to delegate tasks. This requires proper analysis of the skillsets of employees and assign duties. This also helps to build the team’s confidence and skills. 

3. Problem Solving: Attention to details and working under pressure are two crucial qualities that every business graduate is expected to have. On an everyday basis, you’ll be put under circumstances that will require analytical thinking to arrive at a solution. However, there will also be situations where thinking on your feet will come in handy to meet business objectives. Being able to analyze the pros and cons and making an informed decision is essential. 

4. Mentoring: Business graduates and managers are always expected to play a supportive role. Once you climb up your career ladder and reach a senior position, you have a repertoire of experiences. It is expected that the knowledge and skills that you have gathered should be passed on to subordinates to help them perform better. Training and mentoring other employees is necessary to build their confidence. 

5. Strategic thinking: Forward planning and strategic thinking is an essential skill for business graduates. The business environment being so dynamic, foreseeing the future and innovating is necessary to make a business profitable. This requires prioritizing tasks, aligning personal goals with the company’s overall goals. Gaining insights on workable plans is also a crucial aspect of planning and delivering as per the strategies developed. 

6. Ability to adopt, adapt and accept the change: The only constant thing is “change”. The world has witnessed changes at every step. The past few months are an example of how those businesses which could change their processes in the time of pandemic continued to survive. One must be ready to learn, unlearn and re-learn to be contemporary and be able to contribute. 

These are some of the management essentials that will help you to move an organization forward. This also makes you stand out from the crowd as a business leader. While traditional academic courses will help you to understand concepts and apply theories, you need to be adept at these skills to become industry ready and cope with challenges effectively. 

Dr Adya Sharma

Guest Author The author is Director, SCMS Pune