Best practice in business

Management is a key area of business. Management best practice can help ensure management is effective in driving business success.

Examples of management best practice

Management best practice involves:

• communicating a clear mission and strategy
• leadership by example
• setting realistic and achievable targets
• an open and communicative management style
• clear and careful strategic planning

Tools to help achieve management best practice

You can use several business tools to achieve management best practice, including:

• benchmarking
• forecasting
• financial planning
• strategic planning
• performance monitoring

See more on strategic planning for business growth.

Communicating your objectives and strategies to staff is an essential part of management best practice. A good communications policy will ensure that everyone knows where the business is heading, and understands their role in its development.

Measure business performance

Using key performance indicators (KPIs) is an effective way of monitoring your business. You can use KPIs to measure progress in achieving business objectives across a range of activities and identify areas that need attention. You can also use them to measure activities such as sales volumes, profitability, quality and staff turnover.

Tools such as benchmarking, business planning and performance monitoring will help you to measure your performance and compare it with that of your peers and competitors and against your own objectives.

Where necessary, you can introduce new ways of working to improve competitiveness and business efficiency. Having accurate and up-to-date information about your business performance will also help you with any future planning.

Change management best practice

You can apply management practices in change initiatives as well. These can help provide structure and control to planning and implementing change in a business. Learn more about best practices in change management.