Essential Business Skills Taught in an MBA Program
The business skills you will acquire in an MBA program prepare you for success, giving you a well-rounded education in financial management, strategic thinking, decision-making, marketing, operations, and assembling and managing teams. Critical thinking, problem-solving, and effective communication are additional MBA skills you will master. From learning how to deal with complex business challenges to advancing corporate growth, you’ll be ready to lead an organization or start a business.
10 Business Skills You’ll Learn in an MBA Program
So, what does an MBA program teach you? Here are 10 of the most essential skills you’ll hone.
Effective Communication
Business communications is a broad MBA skill area. You must align and inspire people around goals, provide information to investors and regulators, and master persuasive communications around marketing and public relations. And you will also navigate tough conversations that may involve letting people go or handling a crisis.
Project and Time Management
Planning work steps, human resources, and budget requirements to achieve goals, all while managing key deadlines, are valued business skills. You will likely manage multiple interdependent projects at the same time. Time management and project management are two vital skills you’ll learn in an MBA program.
Delegation
You can’t do it all yourself. Aside from inviting rapid burnout, it’s natural to excel at some business skills and have less aptitude at others. Finding top talent and delegating work and authority are the best ways to create a successful organization. You’ll need to learn how to find, lead, and manage talent that meshes into a successful culture that supports achieving objectives.
Problem-Solving and Decision-Making
Among the top skills for MBA students is learning how to solve problems and make decisions—often with incomplete information. In changing markets, you’ll face a variety of challenges and must make decisions regardless of what can be known. The right answer won’t always be obvious. You will learn how to analyze situations and make the best choices.
Interpersonal Skills
Learning how to interact with people and developing your emotional intelligence are vital when building and running high-performing organizations. Listening, empathy, and communicating all play a part in the diverse and dynamic environments of business today.
Strategic Planning
Change is a given whether you’re working at a startup or an established company. Business skills such as analyzing the business environment, identifying threats and opportunities, and developing plans are key skills for MBA students to learn.
Negotiation
Resolving issues where parties are not aligned or in conflict requires skills in strategic discussions. While both sides make concessions, you’ll want skills that get you what you need the most.
Team Building
While delegating is a necessity, achieving objectives usually takes the combined talents of several people. Team building begins with selecting the right people, aligning them around the goal, and then giving them what they need to succeed. As a leader, you set the culture and inspire performance.
Managing a CRM
Relationships are the heart of business. Technology in the form of customer relationship management software helps you capture valuable information and manage interactions that are essential to a thriving organization. Effectively managing your CRM is a critical skill.
Leadership
Each of the above business skills culminate in bringing people together, inspiring them in a shared direction, and facilitating cooperation through change and challenges to achieve your goals. Acquiring the skills and experience for effective leadership ultimately is what an MBA can do for you.
Build Your Business Skills with an MBA from Excelsior
The MBA programs at Excelsior offer options that fit into your lifestyle and career stage. The online MBA program is 100% remote and requires no experience, offering flexibility for working professionals. If you have five or more years of professional experience, including management of staff and projects, you may prefer the Executive MBA program, an enriching hybrid learning experience you can complete in 12 months.
Each of the Excelsior’s MBA programs can give you the essential business skills that can take you to the next level, no matter where you are in your career.
