‘Jack of all trades, master of none’ was a phrase no one wanted to associate with in the past. However, with more and more people embracing the startup work culture, this phrase has been modified to – Jack of all trades, master of some. Smaller teams are in demand, and so are all-rounders.
If you are looking for an opportunity to accelerate your career, there are several soft skills that you should acquire, along with the hard skills that you might require for your job. With teams becoming smaller, more and more responsibilities are falling upon one individual. It is imperative that people take up tasks they are comfortable with.
Let us look at ten such one-person tasks that will help your company grow.
1. Presentation
Presentations are an important part of the work-life. They are also a great tool for sharing information. A person with good communication and analytical skills is bound to be good at presenting a dynamic Leadership report.
Good presentations always have a narrative. Furthermore, to engage better with your audience, you can also add a bit of dramatic flair, such as music or animation, to your slideshows. If you are wondering how to make a slideshow with music, you can always check out various slideshow makers online. Most of them allow users to add background music.
2. Pitch
Pitching is necessary for all businesses to gain new customers or clients. An individual with excellent negotiation, communication, and presentation skills is bound to woo clients and have an impactful pitch.
Pitches are all about understanding your customers and showcasing how your product or service will add value to their lives. While there are several types of pitches, it is important to design one that specifically caters to your audience. For example, a law firm marketing plan pitch will be very different from that of a pitch for getting investment.
3. Negotiations
Another important task for any organization, irrespective of its size, is negotiating. There are two types of negotiations in the business world: internal and external negotiations.
Internal negotiations take place when managers negotiate with the entities from inside their businesses. For example, managers negotiate with their employees on salary hikes or vice-versa.
External negotiation takes place when managers negotiate with external entities that are outside the company, such as suppliers, customers, and the community. For example, managers negotiate with clients regarding deliverables.
The better negotiation skills of managers will increase the overall business potential of the company. An individual with a rational mindset and good communication skills usually has good negotiation skills as well.
4. Planning
Planning is essential for organizations. It is vital in all spheres of business, such as operations, marketing, finance, etc. It not only allows the employees to accomplish their everyday tasks, but It also allows them to forecast the issues they might face while undertaking a project.
There are several aspects to planning, such as setting the objective, forecasting, scheduling, budgeting, etc. When employees have a single place where they can view the entire plan for a project, they gain clarity on how to go about their day, allowing them to perform better.
An employee with great organizational skills and an eye for detail will be good at planning.
5. Analysis and Forecasting
An analysis is important for any organization. Be it the analysis of the performance of your marketing campaigns or that of the finances of your organization. Diligent analysis paves the way for the success of any company.
Forecasting is another essential task that provides a picture of how the future will look from a business perspective. If the plan is implemented in the right way, you will have a clear vision for the future of your company.
6. Coaching
In startup culture, there is a lot to learn, not just from the daily tasks but also from colleagues. As there is less segmentation and people with diverse skills work together, learning from peers is a major advantage. Peers with expertise in a particular domain should make time to provide tips to their colleagues.
Employees who coach their peers also create an opportunity to learn new things through a different perspective of their peers. This ensures their development along with that of the entire organization.
7. Motivating Team Members
Motivated employees always go above and beyond for their employers. Be it taking up an extra responsibility or stepping out of their comfort zones to ensure the rapid growth of their organization.
Every employee is different. However, some factors work for all employees. For example, if an employee feels their personal and professional growth could improve, they will automatically be motivated to perform to the best of their abilities. Hence, it is essential to identify and optimize the motivational processes in order to maximize employees’ working performances.
8. Organizing
Apart from planning and motivating, organizing is an essential task that can be handled by one person. An enterprise without some degree of organization will exist in chaos. We all would agree that nothing good has ever come out of chaos.
Organizing does not mean assigning daily responsibilities to peers. However, it means providing a focus to them to ensure that they work as a collective team and not as individuals.
9. Staffing
Staffing is another task that can be handled single-handedly. However, it should only be assigned to an empathetic person with excellent communication skills.
Human resources is the most valuable resource of any organization. Therefore, selecting the right staff for the company is the heart of enabling a successful company’s future operations. A better team will ensure greater success for the enterprise.
10. Conflict Resolution
Conflicts could arise anywhere and between anyone.
While not every conflict would involve an external mediator, there might come a time when unbiased intervention might be necessary.
Although most conflicts between peers result in great ideas and innovative solutions, there are times when conflicts are a direct result of animosity amongst colleagues. To ensure that employee absenteeism does not happen due to unnecessary conflicts, allocating the task to a responsible individual is vital. An individual with good analytical and negotiation skills would be an ideal candidate for such a task.
All in all, it is important for small businesses to identify personnel who can wear many hats within the organization and strategically utilize their talents for the betterment of the company.
