Qualities of a good maintenance manager

Posted by Amos Fred on December 12th, 2020

All management positions require you to have both technical and social skills. These skills are usually described using the terms hard and soft skills, respectively. Managing a team requires you to handle people with different personalities and ensuring that they remain productive.

Soft skills also enable you to manage stress at work, which helps you advance your professional life. Becoming a master of both soft and hard skills is not easy. It can take years of training and experience working with other people. Most maintenance management jobs require you to have extensive technical skills but if you want to qualify for a management position, below are the main traits employers look for. 

1. Leadership skills

As a maintenance manager, you will be the head of a team. Team members will look up to you for positive reinforcement, motivation, and instructions concerning work projects. You must always lead by example if you want your team to operate with specific standards. Some of the essential skills you should have as a team leader are compassion, optimism, integrity, and organizational skills. You must also be able to follow up with your team members concerning work projects. You have to assess whether tasks have been done correctly and send them back for re-evaluation when needed. 

2. Interpersonal skills

Are you a social person? How do you relate with others? As a manager, you will not only be dealing with your team but also customers and vendors. This means that you will interact with different people from time to time, and you have to maintain a good working relationship with all of them. The truth is that you might not like everyone you meet or have a conversation with, and some people might not like you.

One of the most important interpersonal skills you must learn is active listening. If you are an active listener, everyone you come across in the workplace will feel respected, enhancing your working relationship. 

3. Time management

Maintenance managers get interrupted by various work issues such as machine malfunctions, meetings, phone calls, and much more. Additionally, maintenance managers have to juggle multiple tasks at work, and this can be challenging. Two skills come to mind when talking about time management; prioritizing tasks and delegation. As a team leader, you must know the capabilities of your team members. This way, you know who to give specific tasks to. Additionally, there are deadlines to meet, so if you must know how to plan your work. 

4. Problem-solving skills

Critical and analytical thinking are what come to mind when speaking of problem-solving skills. Many things can happen at work, and you will be required to access situations, make judgment calls, and react quickly depending on the issue.

As a manager, it is also essential to be open-minded and flexible in certain situations. Businesses are changing every day to adjust to the current market needs and new technology. As a maintenance manager, you must stay up-to-date with what is happening, be willing to learn from others, and be open to trying new things in the workplace.