What is operational management?

Many new forms of management have emerged in recent years: remote management, ethical management, horizontal management, strategic management, project management, etc. Training to remain competitive is therefore a necessity nowadays. Operational management is a form of management that is increasingly sought after in companies. What is it about? What are the skills required to become an operational manager? Where and how can you train? We take a look at this comprehensive advice guide.

Operational management training

What is operational management?

Operational management is short-term management. It concerns the management and organisation of the daily activities of a company. Operational management is also called middle management. This form of management is complementary to strategic management, or top management, which is based on a long-term vision. In concrete terms, strategic management makes it possible to define objectives and an action plan. Operational management allows the action plan to be implemented in order to ensure that all the actions required to achieve the set objectives are put in place. The following are the basic principles for implementing an operational management strategy:

• Lead: define the objectives and the means to be used to achieve them, define the working methods and organise their implementation, allocate tasks to the different team members and ensure internal communication to carry out the different missions within the company.
• Mobilise: identify the skills (soft and hard skills) to be deployed to achieve the defined objectives, then organise the management of resources efficiently. Provide teams with all the tools they need to work effectively. Set up meeting times between the various employees to ensure the flow of information, strengthen team cohesion and avoid conflicts.
• Control: Accompany all staff in their daily tasks, discuss any difficulties, and monitor the progress of the project by setting up KPIs and a reporting procedure. Check that the objectives have been achieved.

All positions requiring team management call for operational management skills. These include department managers, team leaders and project managers...

Operational management training

What skills are needed to be a good operational manager?

A good operational manager must possess several qualities. Some of these are acquired through management training, others can be worked on through operational management training. Here are the main skills of operational managers:

• A good capacity to adapt: the manager must be able to adapt to his team and his hierarchy. They may have to adapt their management style depending on the objectives to be achieved and the behaviour of others.
• Good interpersonal skills: leadership, conflict resolution, good communication... The manager must be at ease from a relational point of view. They may have to work with all kinds of profiles on a daily basis.
• Be performance-oriented: the implicit objective of the manager is to enable his team to achieve the objectives set by the company. To do this, they must be able to analyse individual and collective performance using management and monitoring tools.
• Be organised: know how to work independently, organise your days, but also those of your employees...
• Finally, a good manager must be able to make the link between the strategic and the operational to ensure that these two dimensions remain consistent within the company.

Boost your talent as an operational manager

Management Formation

How to train in operational management?

There are several ways to train in operational management.
 

Studying to become an operational manager

Young students planning to become an operational manager generally choose to embark on a training course such as the BTS in commercial operational management, followed by a Bachelor's degree. These training courses, generally taken at a business school, are full-time courses at a business school or alternating courses. They enable students to obtain a bachelor's degree and to specialise during the course of their studies.

BTS operational sales management

Bachelor

Operational management training for adults

 

For adults who are already in work, short and continuous training courses are more attractive than a return to long term study. They do not always have the time or opportunity to go back to school. The training to boost your talent as an operational manager, for example, is a training course to be followed in 9 days, at a distance or in person. It enables managers to develop their skills in order to improve their performance at work. It addresses the crucial elements of operational management: strengthening the role of manager, working with collective intelligence, gaining leadership, adopting an innovative managerial approach, building one's professional project, understanding one's work ecosystem and the new economic models, etc. This short course rewards learners who pass the final tests with a partial RNCP certification and a certificate from IPAG Business School.

Do you wish to follow a management training course and gain professional experience? Learn to better lead a team? Become a player involved in the management of your company's projects? Improve your professional skills? Discover all our training courses: achieving your objectives is within reach!

Boost your talent as an operational manager