Does This Scenario Feel All Too Familiar?
You sit back down in your chair, having delivered a strong twenty minute presentation that details your department's achievements for the last month. There are some questions that you're able to answer without too much difficulty (and a couple of objections that you deflect comfortably as well). Relieved that the proverbial ‘baton' has been passed to the next presenter on the list, you sit back and listen to what they have to say.
Except they're talking about finance. A subject you know very little – or perhaps even nothing – about.
‘
I'm the Sales Manager,' you whisper to yourself, ‘
I don't need to know about Loss Statements and Balance Sheets.
This isn't my area.'
But as you look around the room you can see that your colleagues are listening intently and nodding – even interrupting the talker occasionally to ask them searching questions.
‘
Why didn't I know that?,' you ask yourself – and then, a moment later: ‘
Did I need to know that?'
Never Feel Lost In A Meeting Again
You'll become more effective as a manager by getting to grips with some of the
basic terminology used by members of your finance team. That's not to say that you need to become an expert in their area, but understanding the main thrust of what they're saying will help you appreciate the direction your company or organization is heading in.
Let's look at an example. You've no doubt heard of the term ‘
Profit and Loss Statement' but haven't had a reason – or, indeed, an inclination – to investigate the topic in more detail. After all, you're a specialist in your area and don't feel the need to clutter your mind with superfluous details.
Then again, a Profit and Loss Statement is a concise summary of your employer's revenue, expenses and costs across a specific period of time. It tells you in one fell swoop whether they're overspending, if profits have increased in the past three months or dropped to an unprecedented low.
Isn't this information you need to know? As a manager, wouldn't you like to be able to go back to your office and write a motivational email to your team that tells them how profits are up – and which thanks them for their contribution to this success?
What If You're Aspiring To Be In Finance?
If you are working within a particular area of a business, but want to learn transferable skills that'll help you become an expert in a different discipline,
Finance For Non Finance Managers won't give you the depth of knowledge you'll need to make this transition successfully. For example, one of our courses is entitled Essential HR For Non HR Managers, and serves to furnish non-experts with the skills they'll need to manage their team successfully (by learning how to draft a job description or conduct a performance review, for example). But it won't give them the knowledge needed to become an HR Manager, which is a specialist position that requires key qualifications to perform successfully.
So if your ambition is to move to finance, please take a look at our
Accounts and Finance courses to help you on your way.
