The Skills Offered By An MBA

While the MBA has seen its fair share of turbulence in recent years, experts still argue that the degree provides valuable skills.

But what exactly are those skills?

Experts over at MBA Crystal Ball recently discussed what skills an MBA can provide.

COMMUNICATION

Perhaps the most important and widely-used skill, communication is something that MBAs are trained to be experts.

“Students who participate in the MBA education process are constantly required to express their views in class, network with their peers, faculty, and professionals outside, make effective presentations, organize events or work in teams,” according to MBA Crystal Ball.

INTERPERSONAL SKILLS

The very nature of an MBA program instills a strong sense of interpersonal skills in MBA students.

“The curriculum is typically designed to encourage collaboration and team-building efforts,” according to MBA Crystal Ball. “Students are egged to bounce ideas off each other and make success of their projects through respecting and debating different perspectives.”

Additionally, experts say, the collaborative approach of the MBA mirrors that of the workplace and helps to develop strong leadership.

“Such a broad-minded approach also leads students to appreciate people skills and work relationships – how different people behave in an organization,” according to MBA Crystal Ball. “This spirit of cooperation is an essential component of leadership, in and outside of management roles. MBA alumni place interpersonal skills as the top skill spelling success in any job role, independent of entry, mid, senior or even C-Suite level.”

DECISION MAKING – WHEN IT MATTERS MOST

Perhaps one of the biggest assets of the MBA is that it trains leaders who can make big decisions fast.

Experts say the degree instills a sense of ambition in students eager to excel and develop as future leaders.

“This ambition is armed with stressful routines, assignments, projects, events, workshops, independent research, networking, and the occasional arm stretch,” according to MBA Crystal Ball. “Students learn, very early on, that smart skills can carry them through farther than ill-managed fortitude. They learn to deal with high pressure and manage tasks within a strict deadline – much like handling complex assignments and tests within the relatively condensed format of the program.”

Read the full list of skills here.

Sources: MBA Crystal Ball,  Inside Higher Ed