How to Learn Business Skills
Whether you’re new to the business world or are looking to broaden your skillset, there are specific business skills that can greatly benefit your career. While there are hundreds of business skills that you could spend time mastering, there are five in particular that apply to any career and any employee level.
No matter if you’re just starting out in business, or are a senior manager, make sure that you understand and practice the following skills!
#1: Communication Skills
Not only do most companies look for candidates with great communication skills, but strong communication abilities will help you climb the corporate ladder and expand your career. It doesn’t matter if you’re speaking with clients, coworkers, or management, being clear and concise will always ensure you can effectively get your point across.
Although having good communication skills sounds easy enough, it’s actually one of the most difficult talents to master. Start by developing your speaking skills, such as public speaking, team communication, and presenting your projects and work. To build these skills, you can join or set up a Toastmasters club in your area or at your work.
These clubs are an excellent resource for practicing and honing communication skills. And once you’ve mastered the art of effectively speaking, it will be much easier to transfer these skills to written communications so that your emails, memos, and presentations are clear and to the point.
#2: Teamwork Skills
Like communication, teamwork is another business skill that’s essential to success. However, being a good team member isn’t something you can actually master. Rather, it’s a skill you should continually use and improve upon.
The best way to be a team player is to start listening. There is an art to learning when to listen and when to speak, and once you understand how to do both, your team will move quicker and be more nimble.
The hardest part of teamwork is navigating personalities that are different from your own. Take the time to understand everyone’s strengths and weaknesses, including your own, so that you’re able to divide work appropriately.
The easiest way to understand your team member’s personalities is by spending time with them—ideally in a setting that isn’t work-focused.
#3: Marketing Skills
Now we’ve reached a business skill that most people don’t understand—and admittedly so—marketing. It doesn’t matter what industry or profession you’re in, at the end of the day, your job is reliant on the success of your business’ understanding of the customer.
Knowledge of marketing allows you to understand why your customers make the decisions that they do, and it allows you to appropriately respond. Even if your position isn’t remotely related to marketing, having at least a basic knowledge of common marketing techniques will make climbing the corporate ladder easier, as you will understand the inner workings of the company you work for and the customer you’re serving.
To learn more about marketing, you can take an introductory course. Many online or e-learning platforms offer entry-level marketing courses for free or at a very low cost. Some of our favorites are Udemy, Digital Marketer, or General Assembly. If you prefer in-person classes, you can check out your local community college since many have continuing education available for working professionals.
#4: Finance Skills
Financial knowledge—even the basics—will help you learn how to speak the language of business. The value of time, company stocks, and investing strategies are all important aspects of a business that a successful employee should understand.
Another benefit of understanding finances is that you will be able to monitor your business’ cash flow and sales, as well as its profits and losses; this can be incredibly valuable even if you’re an employee of the business as opposed to an owner—either way you’re job is dependent on your company’s financials.
If you don’t know where to start when it comes to financial business skills, start with your personal finances. Work with your accounts to understand budgeting, investments, loans, and stocks. Then, you’ll have a better understanding of how things work and the vocabulary, which will translate over to business finances.
#5: Leadership Skills
While many people assume you only need leadership skills once you get into management, that’s simply not true. Leadership skills are important to your success even if you’re the lowest person on the totem pole. Every time you and your colleagues get together, your leadership skills will ensure you’re able to quickly and efficiently complete projects—a win for everyone involved.
If you are a manager or are looking to become a manager, you will be a leader in title as well as with your actions. This means you will have to learn how to mentor and coach your employees and motivate them to improve their productivity. The best way to learn these skills is through appropriate training and refresher courses.
Another option for learning leadership skills is to find a mentor. A mentor can be someone you work with directly, such as your supervisor or a senior-level coworker, or it can be someone from another organization you belong to. Your mentor can share the skills they’ve learned throughout their career and give you guidance and advice when you encounter challenges.
Where to Get Business Skills Training?
While you certainly will learn skills on the job, continual education will sharpen those skills, and help you learn new ones. Our Business Skills Training Courses offer something for everyone! From beginners to advanced learners, from onboarding to project management, 360Training has the course for you—sign up today!
