What skills do Operations Managers need? | FAQs

If you’re interested in a career in operations management, there are very specific skills that prospective employers will look for in a job interview. In order to make yourself as attractive as possible to potential employers, you’ll need to brush up on your Operations Manager skills.

In this short video Lerisa Roberts, Head Tutor for the UCT Operations Management online short course, outlines the most important characteristics and skills of a good operations manager.

Operations managers are required to have a large set of skills in order to be effective in the multitude of situations they might find themselves in. To be as effective as possible, operations managers will need to have a combination of soft skills and technical skills.

The soft skills necessary for successful operations management are:

• Strong communication skills
• Good motivational skills
• Strong negotiation skills
• Exceptional organisational skills
• Awareness of internal and external customer needs

In order to put these soft skills to best use, an operations manager can improve their skill set with supporting hard skills like budget management, logistics, production management, project management and human resources management.

Operations managers need to be adaptable to any scenario, and need the skills to support them throughout. With the correct balance of both soft and technical operations manager skills you’ll be able to fulfill the demanding expectations of your role, no matter the situation.

Give yourself the skills needed to make the most of your operations management career.

Study the UCT Operations Management online short course today.

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Transcription

Operations managers need to be strong communicators as their jobs entail communicating with people at different levels. They should also possess strong motivational skills in order to effectively motivate their teams. Strong negotiation skills, organisational skills coupled with a sound awareness of internal and external customer needs are equally important.