4 business administration skills every leader should have

As a leader in your industry, you need to have an array of skills – relationship building, conflict management, negotiation, and adaptability. But there’s one set of skills that are often overlooked by even the most experienced industry leaders – business administration skills.

Having strong business administration skills allows you to juggle multiple projects at once with efficiency, as well as staying abreast of the day-to-day responsibilities of your team.

The Australian Institute of Business (AIB) is a registered higher education provider that focuses on accelerating the careers of people like you. We are the first private provider accredited to offer prestigious research degrees such as the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) – a course designed to take your business and management knowledge to a higher level. And best of all, it takes 30 seconds to check if you’re eligible.

In this blog, we discuss what business administration is, why managers need to have business administration skills and which ones every leader should have. Read on to learn how becoming more knowledgeable about business administration can improve your ability to lead in the workplace.

What is business administration?

Business administration refers to the procedures and regulations of tasks involved in running and maintaining a business. This may include:

• Supervising and managing employees
• Improving business growth and revenue
• Hiring new employees
• Leading department meetings
• Managing and coordinating records
• Communicating with upper management
• Supervising the company’s day-to-day operations

Big or small, almost all organisations rely on business administration professionals to run and manage their companies. And because they deal with the corporation’s short and long-term upkeep tasks, business administrators are also responsible for guiding the business and its employees toward any goals and priorities set by stakeholders.

Why do Ieaders need business administration skills?

Being a leader in a professional setting requires a whole array of skills – compassion, empathy, listening and the ability to lead with respect. However, these talents can only get you so far if you don’t understand how the organisation works. The best leaders have all these attributes, as well as a deep understanding of the day-to-day tasks that maintain the company.

Leading a business often means you’ll need to manage various projects at once – such as setting up websites, arranging fit-outs of premises and creating and implementing several policies and procedures. Business administration skills will help you effectively manage your resources, time, budget and staff to complete your tasks and achieve your company’s goals.

Read What skills will an MBA give you?

4 business administration skills every leader should have

Communication skills

In 2019, LinkedIn released their Global Talent Trends report, stating that 91% of recruiters and HR workers believe that soft skills are the most important aptitudes to have within the workplace. And at the top of the soft skills list? Effective communication.

How many work hours have been wasted due to misunderstandings, mistakes and lack of accountability? Good communication eliminates many of these problems. In fact, effective communication can boost your company’s productivity by 25% – saving not only thousands of dollars in company money but also your employee’s morale.

Being a competent communicator also involves:

• Negotiating
• Active listening
• Public speaking and presenting
• Written communication
• Conflict resolution and mediation
• Emotional intelligence

Read 6 Reasons Effective Communication Should Be a Focus in Your Business

Technology skills

Having the right business administration skills to be an influential leader also means knowing your way around technology. There are plenty of online tools that can help you manage your team and their projects. These tools also increase productivity and take your business administration skills to the next level.

Communication tools

Learn your way around different communication tools, such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams. Zoom has the Zoom Learning Centre, which provides plenty of training resources such as guides, tutorials and other aids. While Mircosoft Teams has a collection of training videos to help you get started.

Project management tools

With a large staff and several projects on the go, it can be difficult to stay on top of things. There are multiple project management tools out there that can help you streamline the entire process.

Monday.com is an open platform where your team can create the tools they need to run every aspect of their work. Slack allows you to update and delegate tasks, as well as share and collaborate on project files. And WorkOtter is simple cloud-based project management software – not to be confused with Otter, a program that records meetings, takes notes in real-time and generates an automated summary to share with everyone.

Time management skills

As a productive leader, you must have robust time management skills to manage your team effectively.

Increase your productivity by time blocking your calendar. Time blocking is a scheduling format that helps increase your productivity by dividing your day into specific blocks of time. Each block represents the time dedicated to completing a particular task.

This will keep you task-focused and also limits the ability of others to infringe on your time.

Research skills

As a senior leader, the choices you make within an organisation affect many people and situations, such as your team members, your clients’ satisfaction and the company’s revenue. In times like this, it’s best to make your decision based on research and careful planning.

A leader with the right business administration skills uses data and information to answer team members’ questions, inspire strategy decisions and create long-term plans. They then carefully consider the entire body of evidence and critically assess the situation to make the best choice possible.

According to the principles of evidence-based practice, there are four sources of evidence you should consider before making your decision:

• Scientific literature
• Internal data
• Professional expertise
• Stakeholder values and concerns

Read What is evidence-based management?

How can I improve my business administration skills?

At AIB, we offer a DBA – a research course created to improve the business administration skills of experienced managers. You can gain a deeper understanding of your business and how to manage it and closely relate what you learn to your workplace needs and practice. At the end of the course, you’ll have a doctoral qualification that is more directly linked to the world of work.

Apply for the DBA here.

AIB can help you increase your business administration skills and accelerate your career. With over 35 years of history, AIB is renowned as one of Australia’s most established private education institutions. Future-focused, fully accessible, and dedicated to continuous improvement, we offer programs that boost your career in business – like our Fast-Track MBA.