Why soft skills are crucial to your business success, and how a Business Manager utilises them.

In today’s highly competitive market, a well-rounded approach to business operations is necessary to maintain a competitive advantage, and there’s only so far you can progress without having to effectively utilise soft skills. As a Business Manager, soft skills such as effective communication, strong leadership, collaborative teamwork, and problem-solving are not only essential but critical to excelling in our role and providing valuable support to your business.

So how can soft skills help in your business?

1. Effective Communication: Utilising soft skills to communicate effectively is crucial for businesses. If you can nail this then you can probably nail every one of the skills I discuss below. Enhancing transparency and keeping open lines of communication can lead to enhanced team dynamics, clarity of vision and expectations, and a better overall culture which leads to smoother operations and stronger relationships across your organisation. A business manager will foster this in your business, or implement training to help develop these skills within your team.

2. Enhancing leadership skills: to be a great leader you need to be able to motivate and inspire. Using strong communication skills and leaning on emotional intelligence and empathy can be crucial to understanding and supporting your employees and colleagues. A business manager should lead by example, and raise the bar for the organisation. Implementing avenues for open communication, feedback, constructive performance evaluation and a supportive atmosphere where employees feel heard is crucial to success as a leader. There is a great quote from Simon Sinek, “Leadership is not about being in charge. Leadership is about taking care of those in your charge.” There is so often a breakdown of leadership here, which leads to resentment, a breakdown of the team dynamic and a lack of emotional investment in the business. If you support and encourage your employees they will undoubtedly be more likely to perform at a higher level and be more emotionally invested in the success of the business.

3. Conflict resolution - there will always be conflicts in business and the workplace and being able to handle these with diplomacy and empathy is essential to ensure success and smooth running of your business. A skilled business manager can mediate disputes, communicate effectively and help foster and maintain a healthy work environment.

4. Problem solving - a general rule that I advise any employees of and practice myself is that you never go to someone with a problem, unless you have a solution to offer. Using critical and innovate thinking, thinking outside the box and being able to effectively communicate solutions are all key to problem solving. A business manager with strong problem-solving skills who utilises all their soft skills effetively can navigate challenges smoothly and find innovative solutions that benefit the business.

5. Team work and collaboration - soft skills are crucial to fostering good team work and collaboration so that your business can run smoothly and efficiently. Clearly setting expectations, communicating deadlines, sharing ideas and discussing set backs are all essential for keeping a team working together and with the end goal in mind. Soft skills like empathy and active listening, something that people talk a lot about but rarely implement, can take a lot of work but they ensure that trust and respect are built within the team. A business manager can implement training, team-building days and foster real connections with your employees to develop a motivated and cohesive team as well as enhance productivity.

Soft skills such as effective communication, strong leadership, collaborative teamwork, and strategic problem-solving are absolutely essential for achieving any business's long-term success. These invaluable skills significantly improve internal communication, foster meaningful collaboration among team members, and enhance relationships with clients and customers. As a dedicated business manager, integrating these crucial soft skills into your team not only helps to create a positive and supportive work environment but also drives overall productivity and ensures that your business operations run smoothly and efficiently. This holistic approach is key to achieving sustained success in our roles and contributing positively to your business's growth.

What is a Business Manager? And do I need one?

What is a Business Manager?

What is a Business Manager? Honestly, sometimes even I struggle to articulately describe my own job! That’s not a bad thing as the role is really varied and part of our appeal is we can turn our hand to so many things. Even if it’s something I haven’t done before I’ll be able to research it and implement it for you without missing a beat. A Business Manager essentially can take over the organisational side of your business. Fundamentally we are here to help you focus on the big picture and drive your business forward while we run around in the background ensuring everything is running smoothly, efficiently and cost effectively! Some call us their right hand, or wing women and it’s true, we are there for you in a pinch. Generally, we are the most organised people, we love structure and efficiency and getting things done promptly but to an exceptional standard. We’re analytical and problem solvers. Myself, I’m all of those things and a perfectionist to top it off and it seeps into all aspects of my life, but people love it when I bring my perfectionist ways to their business. Sometimes it takes an outsider to see something that isn’t clear to you or you are too busy to be able to manage. Having someone look at processes, policies, procedures and tell you where they can be strengthened is invaluable. Even more invaluable, is having someone set it all up for you so you don’t even have to worry about it. It makes businesses more profitable, and often significantly less stressful. That’s a serious win win.

So next question….Do you need one?

I was talking to a friend the other day who runs his own business, which is only about a year old, but is doing extremely well. When I started to explain what I do, he immediately said, I think that’s what I’m going to need! He’s at that stage of his business where, in his own words, he doesn’t have time to do his job because he’s too busy sorting out all the admin and organisation. Something which is not his forte. He has a vision and an immense skillset, he doesn’t have the time nor the inclination to be the organiser and nor should he. That’s where a Business Manager comes in. We can turn our hands to creating SOP’s, project planning, system automation, financial analysis, people management, budget management and events, honestly the list is fairly endless. I’ve worked in so many different companies and I’ve learnt new skillsets at each one. Part of the appeal is being able to quickly understand the business and analyse where you can help. So if that’s where you are at with your business and you just don’t have the time to make everything happen and happen efficiently, then yes I’d say you need a Business Manager!

If you’ve decided a Business Manager is something you need, or want, the most important thing is you get one who works with you, who understands your business, your needs and your vision. It’s incredibly personal to share your business vision and you need to do it with someone you trust and someone who truly gets the person you are and the way you want to work. That’s why I’ll always offer a free, no obligation call before we decide to work together, because I may not suit you and you may not suit me. But I will say this, once you have one, you’ll never look back.