Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, August 14, 1994 TAG: 9408130005
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: F3 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Camille Wright Miller
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
A: Jim Lee, a partner with Brown Edwards & Co., recommends seminars, classes, books, in-house tutoring and learning your organization's focus as possibilities for mastering the subject.
Seminars on reading financial statements and managing budgets often are presented by companies specializing in one-day seminars.
Mike Byrd, director of business and industrial training at Virginia Western Community College, can custom design classes for businesses. Byrd notes that VWCC offers for-credit classes in accounting and continuing-education courses in their investment series, which starts this fall.
Another resource is Randolph Pohlman's 1990 National Press Publications, Understanding the Bottom Line. This monograph provides examples of financial statements, explains statements in terms easily understood and makes accounting jargon understandable.
Consider asking your immediate supervisor for guidance. Training you in your company's methods is good business; your supervisor should be open to helping you master this important skill.
Finally, Lee recommends looking at how your company organizes information. It ``isn't unusual,'' Lee finds, ``for managers to focus on a meaningful statistic. Many managers measure performance by a summarizing statistic - whether it's units produced or cars sold, the statistic quickly tells the manager how well things are going.''
Talking openly about your company's focus will help you understand which numbers are most important.
Q: I want to position myself for promotion into management. What skills should I be developing?
A: Read as much as possible about the industry you're in - know what your competition is doing, be aware of upcoming changes in the industry and learn as much about your own company as possible.
Let your interest in the company be known. Learn what each department does and how departments interact and support the entire organization.
Develop your personal skills. Are you good with people? Do you have good self- presentation - manners, the way you conduct yourself, the way you dress?
Read books and articles on self-development. Assess yourself honestly and work on improving areas where you don't give yourself high scores.
Look to successful individuals within your organization and talk with them about their career paths. What skills do they have? What qualities do they look for when considering management positions?
If your goal is to move into management, establish which objectives must be met to reach that goal. Develop your objectives as clear, measurable statements and produce a workable time line to keep you on track in meeting objectives.
by CNB