Top 12 Business Manager Skills to Put on Your Resume

In today's dynamic business landscape, standing out as a business manager requires a blend of distinct skills that demonstrate your capability to lead and drive organizational success. This article explores the top 12 business manager skills you should highlight on your resume to capture the attention of potential employers and pave the way for career advancement.

Business Manager Skills

1. Leadership
2. Negotiation
3. Salesforce
4. Financial Analysis
5. Project Management
6. Strategic Planning
7. Microsoft Excel
8. Risk Management
9. Team Building
10. Market Research
11. SAP ERP
12. Data Analysis

1. Leadership

Leadership, in the context of a Business Manager, is the ability to inspire, guide, and influence a team towards achieving organizational goals effectively and efficiently.

Why It's Important

Leadership is crucial for a Business Manager as it guides teams toward achieving organizational goals, fosters innovation and efficiency, and inspires confidence and motivation among employees, ensuring productivity and success.

How to Improve Leadership Skills

Improving leadership, especially for a Business Manager, involves continuous learning and practical application of leadership principles. Here are concise steps and resources to guide you:

1. Self-Assessment: Regularly evaluate your leadership skills and areas for improvement. Tools like the Leadership Practices Inventory can help identify strengths and weaknesses.

2. Seek Feedback: Engage with peers, subordinates, and superiors to gain insights into your leadership style. The 360-degree feedback process is a structured way to receive comprehensive feedback.

3. Continuous Learning: Stay informed on leadership trends and skills through books, podcasts, and courses. Websites like Harvard Business Review offer valuable resources on leadership and management.

4. Mentorship and Coaching: Seek mentorship from experienced leaders and consider hiring a professional coach. The International Coaching Federation provides resources to find certified coaches.

5. Practical Experience: Apply what you learn in real-world situations. Leadership is developed through practice and reflection on those experiences.

6. Networking: Connect with other leaders through professional networks or LinkedIn to share experiences and learn from each other.

Improving leadership is a continuous process that involves self-reflection, learning, and application. By following these steps and utilizing the provided resources, Business Managers can enhance their leadership capabilities.

How to Display Leadership Skills on Your Resume

2. Negotiation

Negotiation, in the context of a Business Manager, is the strategic process of reaching mutually beneficial agreements between parties with differing needs or viewpoints, aiming to achieve optimal outcomes for their organization.

Why It's Important

Negotiation is crucial for a Business Manager as it enables effective deal-making, conflict resolution, and relationship building, ensuring optimal outcomes and fostering long-term partnerships.

How to Improve Negotiation Skills

Improving negotiation skills, especially for a Business Manager, involves a mix of preparation, effective communication, and strategy. Here are concise steps and resources:

1. Preparation: Understand your goals, limits, and the interests of the other party. Knowledge is power. Harvard Business Review offers insights on negotiation tactics.

2. Active Listening: Pay attention to what is said and what is not said. Listening builds trust and can reveal the other party's underlying interests. MindTools provides techniques for improving listening skills.

3. Effective Communication: Be clear, concise, and articulate your points without ambiguity. Tailoring your message to your audience is key. HelpGuide outlines strategies for effective communication.

4. Emotional Intelligence: Manage your emotions and understand the emotions of others to navigate negotiations smoothly. Psychology Today explores the components of emotional intelligence.

5. Strategic Concessions: Know when to compromise and make concessions that can lead to a win-win outcome. Forbes discusses the importance of compromise in negotiations.

By focusing on these areas and leveraging the resources provided, a Business Manager can significantly improve their negotiation skills.

How to Display Negotiation Skills on Your Resume

3. Salesforce

Salesforce is a cloud-based Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform that enables businesses to manage sales, customer service, marketing, and more, all from a single, integrated platform. It helps in organizing and automating business processes to improve customer relationships and drive sales growth.

Why It's Important

Salesforce is important because it offers a comprehensive customer relationship management (CRM) platform that enables businesses to effectively manage customer interactions, streamline sales processes, and improve customer service, leading to increased sales, better customer satisfaction, and enhanced overall productivity.

How to Improve Salesforce Skills

To improve Salesforce for a Business Manager, focus on these concise strategies:

1. Customize for Your Needs: Tailor Salesforce to fit your business processes by using custom fields, objects, and workflows. Salesforce Customization Guide.

2. Integrate with Other Tools: Use Salesforce integrations to connect with other business tools like email, calendar, marketing automation, and ERP systems for a seamless workflow. Salesforce AppExchange.

3. Use Analytics and Reports: Leverage Salesforce Reports and Dashboards to make data-driven decisions. Customize reports to track key performance indicators relevant to your business. Salesforce Reports and Dashboards.

4. Automate Processes: Implement Salesforce automation tools such as Process Builder, Flow, and Workflow Rules to streamline business processes, saving time and reducing errors. Process Automation.

5. Train Your Team: Ensure your team is fully trained on Salesforce functionalities relevant to their roles. Utilize Salesforce's training platform, Trailhead, for self-paced learning. Trailhead.

6. Adopt Salesforce Mobile: Use the Salesforce Mobile App to access CRM data on the go, ensuring that your team can be productive from anywhere. Salesforce Mobile App.

7. Regularly Review and Clean Data: Maintain data quality by periodically reviewing and cleaning up duplicate or outdated records, ensuring your decisions are based on accurate data. Data Quality Management.

8. Engage with Salesforce Community: Join Salesforce communities and forums to exchange ideas, solutions, and get advice from other Salesforce users and professionals. Salesforce Community.

Focusing on these areas will help optimize Salesforce for your business needs, driving efficiency and growth.

How to Display Salesforce Skills on Your Resume

4. Financial Analysis

Financial analysis is the process of evaluating businesses, projects, budgets, and other finance-related entities to determine their performance and suitability. For a Business Manager, it involves interpreting financial data to make informed decisions regarding the company's financial health, investment opportunities, cost management, and strategic planning.

Why It's Important

Financial analysis is crucial for a Business Manager as it provides insights into the company's financial health, enabling informed decision-making for strategic planning, investment choices, and risk management, thereby guiding towards sustainable growth and profitability.

How to Improve Financial Analysis Skills

To improve financial analysis as a Business Manager, focus on:

1. Enhancing Financial Literacy: Strengthen your understanding of financial principles and accounting practices. Coursera offers courses like Financial Management tailored for managers.

2. Leveraging Financial Software: Utilize advanced financial software for accurate and efficient analysis. Explore tools like QuickBooks for small businesses or SAP for larger enterprises.

3. Data Visualization Skills: Develop skills to present financial data compellingly using tools like Tableau or Microsoft Power BI, making it easier to communicate insights with stakeholders.

4. Continuous Industry Research: Stay updated with industry trends and benchmarks through platforms like IBISWorld and Statista to compare and enhance your business's financial performance.

5. Networking and Mentorship: Engage with finance professionals through platforms like LinkedIn and seek mentorship to gain insights and advice on financial strategies and analysis.

By focusing on these areas, you can significantly enhance the financial analysis capabilities within your business.

How to Display Financial Analysis Skills on Your Resume

5. Project Management

Project Management is the process of planning, executing, and overseeing a project to meet specific goals and deliverables within a defined timeframe and budget, ensuring efficient use of resources and stakeholder satisfaction.

Why It's Important

Project management is critical for business managers as it ensures projects are completed on time, within budget, and to the desired quality, facilitating effective resource allocation, risk mitigation, and achievement of strategic goals.

How to Improve Project Management Skills

Improving project management requires a combination of strategic planning, effective communication, and the utilization of the right tools. Here's a concise guide for a Business Manager:

1. Enhance Planning and Goal Setting: Clearly define your project's objectives, deliverables, and timelines. Utilize SMART goals to ensure your project's targets are Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound.

2. Adopt Agile Methodologies: Implementing agile practices can improve flexibility and responsiveness. Learn more about agile project management from Atlassian's Agile Project Management Guide.

3. Strengthen Team Communication: Effective communication is vital. Use tools like Slack for seamless communication and Trello or Asana for task management.

4. Utilize Project Management Software: Tools like Microsoft Project and Jira offer comprehensive solutions for managing resources, timelines, and budgets efficiently.

5. Continuous Learning and Improvement: Encourage feedback and lessons learned sessions post-project to identify areas for improvement. Consider professional development courses in project management from sources like Project Management Institute (PMI) and Coursera.

6. Risk Management: Anticipate and mitigate risks by developing a risk management plan. MindTools offers a guide on identifying and managing project risks effectively.

7. Delegate and Empower: Trust your team by delegating tasks effectively. Empower them with the responsibility and authority to make decisions within their areas.

By focusing on these areas, you can significantly improve project management within your organization, leading to more successful project outcomes.

How to Display Project Management Skills on Your Resume

6. Strategic Planning

Strategic planning is the process a business manager uses to define the organization's direction, set priorities, allocate resources, and create a roadmap for achieving long-term goals and objectives.

Why It's Important

Strategic planning is crucial for a Business Manager as it provides a clear roadmap for achieving long-term goals, ensures efficient resource allocation, aligns team efforts towards common objectives, and enhances adaptability to market changes, securing a competitive edge.

How to Improve Strategic Planning Skills

Improving strategic planning requires a focused approach that encompasses understanding your business environment, setting clear objectives, and ensuring flexible execution. Here are concise steps to enhance your strategic planning process:

1. Assess the Current Situation: Understand your market, competitors, and internal capabilities through a SWOT analysis.

2. Define Your Vision and Mission: Clearly articulate where you want your business to be in the future and its purpose. This is crucial for direction setting. Harvard Business Review offers insights on balancing agility with your core mission.

3. Set SMART Objectives: Objectives should be Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. The Balance Small Business provides tips for setting effective business goals.

4. Develop Strategies and Plans: Formulate strategies that leverage your strengths to capitalize on opportunities. Forbes discusses developing strategic plans that drive success.

5. Implement and Execute: Effective execution involves aligning resources, defining responsibilities, and setting timelines. ProjectManager.com offers strategies for implementing your plan.

6. Monitor and Review: Regularly review progress against objectives, adapting strategies as necessary. Inc.com outlines how to monitor and review your strategic plan.

By following these steps and constantly adapting to changes, you can enhance your strategic planning process and drive your business towards its goals.

How to Display Strategic Planning Skills on Your Resume

7. Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a spreadsheet software used by business managers for organizing, analyzing, and storing data, enabling efficient data management, financial analysis, and decision-making.

Why It's Important

Microsoft Excel is crucial for a Business Manager as it enables efficient data analysis, budgeting, and forecasting, facilitating informed decision-making and strategic planning.

How to Improve Microsoft Excel Skills

To improve Microsoft Excel skills as a Business Manager, focus on these key strategies:

1. Master Excel Formulas and Functions: Understand crucial formulas (e.g., VLOOKUP, INDEX(MATCH), and SUMIFS) and functions to analyze data efficiently. ExcelJet offers a comprehensive list.

2. Leverage PivotTables and PivotCharts: Learn to summarize, analyze, explore, and present your data using PivotTables and PivotCharts. Microsoft's guide is a great starting point.

3. Understand Data Analysis and Visualization Tools: Enhance decision-making by mastering Excel's data analysis and visualization tools, such as conditional formatting, charts, and slicers. Chandoo.org provides valuable insights.

4. Automate Repetitive Tasks with Macros and VBA: Save time by automating routine tasks. Learn the basics of macros and Visual Basic for Applications (VBA). Excel Easy offers a primer on macros.

5. Stay Updated and Continue Learning: Excel is constantly evolving. Stay updated with new features and improve your skills by utilizing online resources, webinars, and courses. LinkedIn Learning and Udemy have courses tailored for business managers.

By focusing on these areas, you'll significantly enhance your Excel skills, enabling you to analyze and present data more effectively, leading to better business decisions.

How to Display Microsoft Excel Skills on Your Resume

8. Risk Management

Risk management is the process of identifying, assessing, and prioritizing risks to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unforeseen events, ensuring a business can achieve its objectives and sustain growth.

Why It's Important

Risk Management is important for a Business Manager because it helps identify, assess, and prioritize potential risks to minimize, monitor, and control the probability or impact of unfortunate events, ensuring the company's stability, profitability, and long-term success.

How to Improve Risk Management Skills

Improving risk management involves a strategic approach to identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks that could impact your business operations. Here's a concise guide for a Business Manager:

1. Identify Risks: Understand the various types of risks (strategic, compliance, financial, operational) that could affect your business. Tools like SWOT analysis can be helpful.

2. Assess Risks: Evaluate the likelihood and potential impact of identified risks using techniques like risk matrices or software solutions.

3. Prioritize Risks: Focus on risks that could have the most significant impact or are most likely to occur. Risk prioritization is crucial for efficient risk management.

4. Develop Mitigation Strategies: Create plans to avoid, mitigate, transfer, or accept risks. Strategies should be specific, actionable, and include risk response planning.

5. Implement Controls: Use policies, procedures, and technological tools to manage or eliminate risks. Implementing a Risk Management Information System (RMIS) can be effective.

6. Monitor and Review: Regularly review risk management processes and controls to adapt to new threats. Tools like Key Risk Indicators (KRIs) help in monitoring risk levels.

7. Foster a Risk-Aware Culture: Encourage open communication about risks and integrate risk management into decision-making processes. Risk culture is vital for proactive risk management.

8. Continuous Improvement: Use lessons learned and feedback to refine risk management strategies continually. Adopting frameworks like ISO 31000 can guide best practices in risk management.

By following these steps and leveraging appropriate resources, Business Managers can enhance their risk management capabilities and protect their organizations against potential threats.

How to Display Risk Management Skills on Your Resume

9. Team Building

Team building is a management strategy aimed at improving interpersonal relations and collaboration among employees to enhance productivity and achieve organizational goals.

Why It's Important

Team building is crucial for a business manager because it fosters unity, improves communication, enhances productivity, and boosts morale, leading to a more cohesive, efficient, and motivated team.

How to Improve Team Building Skills

Improving team building as a Business Manager involves fostering a culture of collaboration, communication, and trust among team members. Here are concise strategies:

1. Define Clear Goals: Clearly articulate team goals and individual responsibilities. MindTools offers techniques for setting effective team goals.

2. Encourage Open Communication: Facilitate open and honest communication. Harvard Business Review provides insights on building great teams through communication.

3. Promote Trust: Engage in activities that build mutual trust. Forbes discusses ways to build trust within teams.

4. Recognize and Reward: Acknowledge individual and team achievements. Inc.com highlights the importance of recognition in team motivation.

5. Team Building Activities: Regularly engage in team-building exercises. TeamBonding offers a variety of activities to strengthen teams.

6. Continuous Learning: Invest in training and development. LinkedIn Learning provides courses on team management and leadership.

7. Foster Diversity and Inclusion: Appreciate and utilize the diverse backgrounds and perspectives of team members. McKinsey & Company explains the business case for diversity.

Each of these strategies can be tailored to the specific needs and culture of your team, leading to improved collaboration, morale, and productivity.

How to Display Team Building Skills on Your Resume

10. Market Research

Market research is the process of gathering, analyzing, and interpreting information about a market, including information about the target market, customers, competitors, and the industry as a whole, to support decision-making in business strategy and operations.

Why It's Important

Market research is crucial for a Business Manager as it informs strategic decisions, identifies market trends and customer needs, reduces risks, and maximizes ROI by targeting resources effectively.

How to Improve Market Research Skills

Improving market research involves a strategic approach focused on gathering and analyzing accurate data to inform business decisions. For a Business Manager, the key is to leverage a mix of primary and secondary research methods, utilizing both qualitative and quantitative data. Here are concise strategies to enhance market research:

1. Define Clear Objectives: Start by clearly defining what you want to achieve with your market research. This helps in focusing your efforts and choosing the right methods. Harvard Business Review often discusses setting effective business goals.

2. Diversify Data Sources: Use a combination of sources like surveys, interviews, focus groups, and social media analytics for comprehensive insights. Tools like SurveyMonkey for surveys and Google Analytics for web analytics can be very useful.

3. Leverage Technology: Utilize AI and machine learning tools for data collection and analysis to identify patterns and insights quickly. Platforms like IBM Watson offer advanced analytics capabilities.

4. Engage with Your Audience: Directly interacting with your target market through social media or community forums can provide valuable qualitative data. Tools like Hootsuite can manage social media engagement efficiently.

5. Monitor Competitors: Understanding your competition’s strategies and performance can offer insights into market trends and opportunities. SEMrush is a comprehensive tool for competitive analysis.

6. Stay Updated with Market Trends: Regularly follow market reports and industry news to stay ahead of emerging trends. Websites like MarketWatch and TrendWatching are great for keeping up with trends.

7. Analyze and Iterate: Finally, continuously analyze the data collected to draw actionable insights. Use these insights to refine your strategies and research approaches over time.

By implementing these strategies, Business Managers can significantly enhance the effectiveness of their market research, leading to more informed decision-making and strategic planning.

How to Display Market Research Skills on Your Resume

11. SAP ERP

SAP ERP is a comprehensive enterprise resource planning software that integrates key business functions, such as finance, HR, manufacturing, and supply chain, to streamline processes, improve insights and decision-making, and enhance operational efficiency across an organization.

Why It's Important

SAP ERP is crucial as it integrates all core business processes, enhancing efficiency, improving insights and decision-making, and promoting scalability and flexibility to adapt to market changes, thereby driving growth and competitive advantage.

How to Improve SAP ERP Skills

Improving SAP ERP involves several strategies tailored to enhance system performance, user experience, and business value. As a Business Manager, consider the following concise steps:

1. Evaluate and Streamline Processes: Regularly review business processes to identify inefficiencies or redundancies. Streamlining and standardizing operations can significantly boost ERP performance. SAP Process Optimization can guide on automation and process improvement.

2. Regular Training and Support: Ensuring that your team is well-trained and supported can dramatically improve how they use SAP ERP. SAP offers various training options through the SAP Training and Certification program.

3. Data Quality Management: Maintain high data quality by establishing strict data entry standards and regular audits. Clean, accurate data ensures better decision-making and system efficiency. SAP’s Master Data Governance tool can help manage your data quality.

4. Leverage SAP Updates and Innovations: Stay updated with the latest SAP releases and innovations. Upgrading to the latest versions can provide new features that enhance productivity. The SAP Road Map Explorer offers insights into upcoming features and improvements.

5. Customize Wisely: While customization can tailor the ERP to your needs, excessive modification can complicate upgrades and maintenance. Focus on leveraging built-in best practices before opting for customization. SAP Best Practices Explorer provides industry-specific best practices.

6. Invest in Technology Infrastructure: Ensure your hardware and network infrastructure can support your SAP ERP system efficiently. Consider cloud solutions for scalability and flexibility. SAP’s Cloud ERP Solutions offer various options for businesses.

7. Integrate with Other Systems: Seamless integration with other business systems (CRM, BI tools, etc.) can enhance data flow and accessibility, improving decision-making and operational efficiency. The SAP Integration Suite can facilitate this process.

8. Performance Monitoring: Regularly monitor system performance to identify bottlenecks or issues early. Tools like SAP Solution Manager can help in monitoring and managing your SAP landscape effectively.

By focusing on these areas, you can significantly improve the performance and value of your SAP ERP system, ensuring it continues to meet and exceed business needs.

How to Display SAP ERP Skills on Your Resume

12. Data Analysis

Data analysis involves examining, cleaning, transforming, and modeling data to discover useful information, inform conclusions, and support decision-making, thereby enabling businesses to optimize their operations and strategies.

Why It's Important

Data analysis is crucial for a Business Manager as it enables informed decision-making, identifies trends and opportunities for growth, enhances customer understanding and satisfaction, optimizes operations, and mitigates risks, thereby driving profitability and competitive advantage.

How to Improve Data Analysis Skills

To improve data analysis as a Business Manager, focus on these concise steps:

1. Understand the Basics: Ensure a solid understanding of data analysis fundamentals. Harvard Business Review offers a primer on data analysis that's tailored for business leaders.

2. Use the Right Tools: Adopt tools that align with your business needs. For a comparison of top business intelligence tools, check out this Forbes article.

3. Develop Analytical Skills: Invest in training for yourself and your team to enhance analytical skills. Coursera provides a course on Business Analytics for a practical approach.

4. Implement Data-Driven Decision Making: Create a culture that values data-driven decisions. McKinsey offers insights on making data analytics work for you instead of the other way around.

5. Stay Updated: The field of data analysis is ever-evolving. Regularly visit sites like KDnuggets for the latest trends and tools in data science and analytics.

By focusing on these areas, you'll be equipped to leverage data analysis effectively to drive business decisions.

How to Display Data Analysis Skills on Your Resume