8 Staff Management Skills
Every Leader Should Have

1. Timesheet Application Skills

Part of a leadership role comes with administrative tasks, such as timesheet management, personal and annual leave approval, scheduling rosters and ensuring you have enough staff on-site to manage your team's assigned jobs. Thankfully, these days these tasks are so much easier due to the development of business software, digital productivity tools and even a timesheet app for managers.

These web or software applications make rostering your team easy and can also feed into your company's payroll systems to ensure a seamless salary solution. Using these systems will make it easier for your company to pay your team accurately and on time. Furthermore, these apps can also manage staff absences, and your team can input their leave and holiday entitlements. This frees up time for you to focus on other essential tasks.

2. Performance Management Skills

Unfortunately, sometimes someone on your team may not be performing in line with the company's expectations. They may not hit their monthly KPIs, or maybe they spend too much time scrolling on their phone or taking personal calls while on the clock.

A good leader will have performance management skills, so you can assist these team members in realising their full potential and address any performance issues that ultimately impact your organisation's bottom line. As a leader, you need to be able to effectively and calmly address any poor performance issues to improve your team's overall team attitude and performance.

To do this, you must also be able to provide regular feedback and then schedule regular performance reporting meetings to keep on top of your team members' progress. You can also use non-threatening techniques such as coaching and mentoring to develop struggling employees who are not reaching the performance levels you expect. Not sure if you have the necessary management skills to succeed? You can gauge effectiveness in leadership and management by evaluating your performance in the following areas: communication, planning, execution, supervision, and continuous improvement.

3. Advocacy and Diplomacy Skills

Another set of skills you need in a leadership role is advocacy skills. There will be times when upper management has unrealistic expectations of your team, or your staff will want to push back on a request. For instance, maybe the C-suite has placed an unrealistic deadline on your team, and everyone is freaking out.

When this occurs, you need to be ready to go to bat for your team. However, this requires diplomacy and a delicate approach, as you must also keep executive management on side. Being able to advocate for your team is a leadership skill worth developing.

4. Conflict Management and Mediation Skills

Teams are made up of human beings who can experience conflict in social settings occasionally. And work, while task-oriented, is still a social setting. At times, you may find that some team members have a disagreement or a dispute. In this case, you need to be able to manage conflict between your team.

You may find you need to facilitate mediations, where each person can bring their grievances to the table. It is then up to you to assist your team members in finding the middle ground and come to an agreement so everyone can get on with the job.

5. Integrity and Accountability

As a leader, you need to develop a sense of integrity and accountability. By this, we mean that you need to walk your talk. Don't look for a way to back out if you commit to something. If you say you'll get back to someone within a timeframe, ensure you stick to it. Don't cancel meetings at the last minute because you mismanaged your time or act to make life harder for your team and your supervisor. Integrity and accountability are essential skills to develop in management roles.

6. Well-Rounded Management Skills

Another key skill to develop to be a great leader is your ability to be well-rounded. This means you need to be able to trust other people in your team, and you need them to trust you also. There will be times when you are out of the office for meetings or training, and this is where other team members can step up when needed.

By having well-rounded management skills, your team will feel more confident in the decisions that they make on your behalf.

7. Be An Active Listener

It's a crummy feeling when your boss doesn't listen to you or value your time. A leader should have impeccable active listening skills, so when your team approaches you with an issue or an idea, they have your full attention. So, don't get out the phone and have a cheeky scroll during someone's presentation, and ensure that you pay full attention during discussions.

8. Change Management

If there's one thing that is certain in business, it is change. Change can occur due to various factors, such as a change in ownership of the company, a new strategic direction, staff turnover and more.

Your job as a leader is to manage change and support your team during times of change. Change management is also a valuable professional skill to add to your CV. So, when change happens at work, you will be able to manage your team during their transition and ensure a smooth transition for your team.

The ability to lead a team is one of the most valued skills in leadership roles. It is through developing these six staff management skills that you can manage your team and become an effective leader in the process.

In Conclusion

In this article, we've shared eight staff management skills that every workplace leader should develop. From using timesheet applications to change management, this is an excellent summary of skills that can take your leadership abilities to the next level. If you think you're lacking in a particular area, aim to improve and develop that skill to become a truly inspiring leader.

About the Author

Gene Rhodes is a freelance writer with a passion for information. He likes to know and understand things, and to help his readers to further their knowledge too. He loves to write about interior design, families, kids and travel. He lives in Melbourne with his wife and daughter. In his spare time, he can be found reading, watching movies and TV, and making electronic music.

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8 Staff Management Skills Every Leader Should Have