Duties and responsibilities of managers

Before considering management qualifications, it’s helpful to establish the tasks associated with managerial roles. Working as a leader for a department or team, they typically have the following duties:

• Maintaining a safe, comfortable workplace for employees
• Motivating, coaching and challenging team members to provide quality work and advance their skill set
• Strengthening teamwork through team-building activities
• Overseeing productivity and ensuring employees submit their projects within the deadlines
• Resolving conflicts between team members
• Upholding the mission, vision and values of the company
• Building a departmental budget with the leadership team and managing it each quarter
• Preparing reports of department performance and presenting them to leadership
• Listening to the needs of their employees and providing additional tools or resources for their department
• Relaying goals, initiatives and announcements from leadership to team members
• Delegating tasks and responsibilities to employees based on their skills, experience and preferences
• Completing employee performance appraisal forms and providing feedback to team members
• Maintaining collaboration and communication with remote employees

Skill-related manager qualifications

Having effective skills can help managers lead their teams successfully and fulfill their duties and responsibilities. Common manager qualifications include:

• Leadership skills to motivate and inspire their teams
• Interpersonal skills to build professional relationships with the employees they supervise
• Listening and communication skills to interact with employees and other members of the leadership team
• Problem-solving and decision-making skills to overcome challenges and make decisions that benefit the department and company
• Research skills to stay informed on their industry, company operations and competitors
• Strategic planning skills to create goals for their team and themselves
• Coaching and mentoring skills to evaluate employee performance and help team members meet their career goals
• Team building skills to encourage collaboration and support workplace morale
• Time management skills to assist their teams with meeting deadlines
• Organization and multitasking skills to prioritize and accomplish various tasks daily
• Financial skills to develop and manage budgets
• Computer skills to utilize relevant programs, such as customer relationship database, email, presentation, spreadsheet and word processing software
• Customer service skills to resolve issues that require escalation to management
• Proficiency with communication tools and collaboration platforms, such as Slack, Zoom, Teams or Jira, to support remote workers

Key characteristics for managers

In addition to skills that can be developed over time, certain traits can help managers succeed. Consider adding these characteristics to your management qualifications list:

• Patience to maintain positive relationships with challenging team members
• Empathy to relate to employees and see their perspective
• Flexibility to shift directions and establish new goals as organizational priorities evolve
• Integrity to act honestly and transparently
• Decisiveness to support quick decision-making
• Ability to avoid micromanagement and encourage ownership for remote employees who work autonomously

Managerial experience to look for

Managers often have extensive experience working within the department they lead. Through previous work history, they typically gain knowledge about best practices and solutions to common challenges that they can share with their teams.

Working within a certain department also helps managers understand the tools and resources they need to perform efficiently.

How much experience you expect managers to have may depend on the department and company goals. When determining the amount of experience to include in your list of management qualifications, consider:

• The size of the team, as leading a larger group may require more experience
• The makeup of the team and whether it consists primarily of entry-level, mid-level or senior employees
• The complexity of projects the team is responsible for
• The level of supervision your new manager will have
• How much training and support you can provide for your new hire

Additional qualifications for a manager

Depending on the nature of your open management positions, you may want to establish other qualifications for managers. For example, if you’re team is hybrid or fully remote, you may look for candidates who have experience managing a remote workforce.

Other potential manager qualifications include:

• Training, such as workshops, seminars and education courses
• Professional licensing to work in regulated fields, such as engineering and accounting
• Certification relevant to the position
• Security clearances for positions that involve accessing sensitive data
• Job portfolios for management positions in technical and artistic fields
• Networking connections demonstrated by social media following or personal references

Frequently asked questions about management

How do I establish manager qualifications?

You can establish manager qualifications in your manager job description. Include sections that describe skills and experience requirements in a bulleted list.

What types of roles do managers have in organizations?

Managers can hold various roles, such as project managers or employee managers. Project managers focus on project strategies and goals rather than working directly with employees. They generally delegate tasks and monitor progress to help ensure projects reach completion on time and within budget.

Employee managers typically oversee employee performance and help their team improve their skills. They may serve as general managers or supervise a team in a specific department, such as sales or accounting.

How do I learn if a candidate has managerial qualifications?

A candidate’s resume may demonstrate proven experience in manager roles. However, some candidates may have transferrable skills, such as active listening or collaboration, that don’t require prior experience leading a team.

Asking behavioral interview questions for managers may also help you assess their leadership traits.

Do the skills for managing in-person teams differ from remote leadership?

Virtual communication, including video conferencing or messaging, can make assessing nonverbal communication or context challenging. Because managers of remote teams don’t interact with employees in the office, they need to prioritize open communication, such as consistent check-ins and transparency.

They also typically need to make a consistent effort to create meaningful connections with employees.