Ask the Expert: How to learn management without going to school

Q: I have a medium-sized business that is relatively stable. I would like to increase my management skills but I'm not interested in going through a formal qualification or university education at this point in my life.

Are there some simple things I can do to improve my management skills while working within my business?

A: It depends on the type of skills you are trying to develop. Some business owners are skilled at the technical aspects of their product (boat builders may know all about product specifications and engineering requirements, for example) but know less about "business" functions, such as marketing and finance.

If you are wanting to develop greater skills in different areas of business, and you don't want to engage in formal education, then your best bet is to visit your local library for well-written books about the area you are interested in.

If you live near a university or polytechnic, you may find that they offer short courses or continuing education that would help you to apply the reading that you have done to specific situations.

If you are seeking skills of management, including how to manage employees, plan for your business, communicate effectively and manage change, then a slightly different approach might be more appropriate.

Some of these areas are addressed in books and management videos, but you can also use your experiences to learn effectively on the job.

In research on what makes exceptional managers stand out from their counterparts, one of the key findings was that exceptional managers took time out - regularly - to reflect on what was going well or not so well and figure out what was causing that to occur.

Some took one hour a week, others took the last 15 minutes of every business day. That simple step of thinking about what was going on - and learning from it - allowed managers to dramatically improve their performance over time. If you do this in combination with reading about the management topics in which you want to improve your skills, you will be able to apply and think through what you have read as well.

To take this a step further, you might identify someone whose management abilities you admire and ask them to mentor and advise you.

Taking the same time out to reflect on a weekly or monthly basis can now be done in the context of a regular problem-solving meeting with a trusted mentor, who can help you think through new ways of managing your business.

Getting another point of view increases your learning, and helps you to "think aloud" about management problems and possible solutions.