Develop Your Management Skills

• for any type of enterprise -public or private; business or non profit
• Good management practice should serve one purpose, wherever it is applied, and that is to “ensure efficient use of resources resulting in appropriate outcomes”. 

Sustainability has become a crucial  and accountable part of management in the 21st century and work practices, procedures and outcomes need to be sustainable without wasting resources.

Compulsory Modules

These modules provide foundation knowledge for the Advanced Certificate in Management.
  Industry Project BIP000
  Financial (Money) Management BBS104
  Management VBS105
  Personnel Management VBS107
  Workplace Health & Safety VBS103
  Project Management BBS201

Elective Modules

In addition to the core modules, students study any 3 of the following modules.
  Bookkeeping Foundations (Bookkeeping I) BBS103
  Business Studies BBS101
  Industrial Psychology BPS103
  Instructional Skills BGN101
  Introduction to Psychology BPS101
  Leadership BBS110
  Legal Terminology BWR108
  Marketing Foundations VBS109
  Research Project I BGN102
  Sales Management BBS102
  Sales Skills VBS108
  Stress Management VPS100
  Supervision VBS104
  Advertising and Promotions BBS202
  Computer Servicing I VIT203
  Computer Servicing II VIT204
  Conservation and Environmental Management BEN201
  Developmental Psychology BPS210
  Relationships & Communication Counselling BPS208
  Research Project II BGN201
  Business Coaching BBS304
  Business Planning BBS302
  Marketing Systems BBS303
  Professional Practice For Consultants BBS301

Course Duration:

900 hours of self-paced study

Learn to Manage Any Business - even industries you don't know

A manager does not necessarily need to be an expert in everything a business does, but they should have sufficient knowledge to either be able to help or know where to refer a staff member to.  If they do not know, they should also be willing to help the staff member and find out.  There is nothing wrong with saying – “Good question, I don’t know the answer to that, but give me a few minutes and I’ll see what I can find out.”  This is far better and shows you are more interested in helping than saying – “Good question, I’m sorry, I can’t help, I don’t know the answer”.
Staff expect managers to be able to help them with their problems.  At the most basic level, most staff will be aware that managers are paid more because they know more, so will expect them to be able to help with problems they cannot solve on their own.

A bad manager will not necessarily bother to help their staff or learn the business. A good manager will always try to help and find out solutions.  If they do not help – 

• Staff will stop asking them for help.
• Staff will start to think of them as a waste of time.
• They will complain about them.
• They will go to other staff or managers instead for help.
• These other staff and managers will become disgruntled that the manager is not helping the staff.
• Morale in the firm could be affected.
• There is also the issue of who is responsible. If a staff member goes to a manager for help and does not get it. Then they try to solve a problem on their own and make a mistake, who is responsible? The staff member for trying or the manager for not helping them? 

So a good manager should always show an interest in what their staff are doing, learn more about their jobs and know who to ask for help. With well-targeted professional development and succession planning many of these problems could be overcome in time by ensuring the middle level manager does fully understand the various roles and activities in the company and that they have the skills and knowledge then to preform much more effectively. This in turn would boost staff morale and productivity overall. 

Disorganisation in Management Roles

Bad management can also come from being disorganised. Disorganisation tends to be contagious. If the boss is disorganised; pretty soon, the subordinates become increasingly disorganised too. Disorganised people lack focus. They do not see things that need doing; but they may well see a lot of other things that do not need doing. They can very easily become busy doing what they do not need to do; so much so that they don’t have time left to do the things that really need to be done.

A disorganised manager can cause confusion in a business.  

Learn to Manage Time Better

When organising a day’s work, it is important to prioritise and plan and STICK to the plan.  It works well to set up a time table for various activities and stick to it, especially when it comes to returning phone calls, even taking phone calls and also sending returning emails.  When others know your regular patterns on these matters they are likely to fit in with your time schedule in responding or expecting responses. An example is how people respond to emails.   

Any Questions?

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Request a copy of our handbook here.