Why Are Practical Skills Important in Management Programs?

Every functional team working in the organisation is directly responsible for the achievement of the objectives laid down by the organisation. Managers today are expected to work in cohesive teams to fulfil the varied requirements of the project they are involved in. Managerial skills are thus crucial for any organization to succeed and achieve its goals and objectives. Managers endowed with practical skills are mainly able to steer ahead of the organisation towards the achievement of business goals, apart from technical skills which might be industry-specific, skills which are non-industry-specific help an employee to perform his managerial tasks more efficiently than his peer who does not possess such skills. A few of such practical skills which take priority status include digital literacy, problem-solving, speed reading, oral, and written communication skills among others. Nonetheless, India is coming under the grip of the 5th industrial revolution making digitalisation an absolute necessity for India Inc. to adopt to steer ahead their business operations. This makes digital literacy a priority practical skill that managers have to become adept with. Digital literacy essentially means having the ability to use with ease IT and digital technology to evaluate, analyse and communicate information for a purpose. Certain skills that management students can aim for to become digitally literate include having knowledge of current technologies, understanding their applicability in the business environment and being able to effectively communicate in the online environment. This could involve learning how to set up a meeting over video conferencing or webinar using applications like Zoom, Google meets, Webex, etc., and being able to use their various features for different purposes. Other communication skills related to digital literacy include being able to write an email and exhibit email etiquette.

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Other skills like speed reading and problem-solving help develop logical reasoning along with quick skimming through vastly available information to solve business problems in no time thus keeping ahead in the competitive business environment. These combined with good communication skills help organisations keep themselves ahead in this fastly paced highly competitive business environment. 

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Though these are general skills applicable to all areas of management, certain functional area-specific skills that management students can aim for depending upon the specialisations chosen by them may include skills like being proficient in accounting methods, corporate valuation, mergers and acquisitions, technical and fundamental analysis, financial modelling, inferential and predictive analysis, auditing, taxation etc for finance students; product management, basics of branding and advertising, copywriting, logistics management,  channel management, export procedures, etc., for marketing and; compensation management, training and development, creating cohesive teams, succession planning, handling legal issues etc become relevant for those opting for HR specialisation. Management students today have a plethora of options in the form of MOOC courses and live projects apart from conventional courses to become digitally literate and acquire skills related to the domain specialisation areas.  

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About the author

This article has been written by Dr Sonia Dhir, Faculty at JIMS Rohini. 

Note: The views expressed in this article are solely author’s own and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha.