How to get management experience

• Plan

• Organize

• Set goals

• Manage budgets

• Lead people

• Juggle priorities

If you have never managed a project before, start by volunteering to be a part of a project team. These can be small projects that can help you get your bearings until you are comfortable taking on something larger. Once you have established yourself as a dependable team member, you can step up and volunteer to lead a project.

While working on project teams, pay attention to how a good project manager oversees the project. Or, if you have a bad project manager, watch what steps they are taking that seem to be ineffective or unproductive, and learn from their mistakes.

Another step towards gaining management experience is through team development. A manager needs to know how to onboard and train new employees, coach experienced employees, and eventually mentor employees.

To be considered for a role in training other employees, you must first be very good at your job. Make sure that you are a go-to person that the management and upper leadership can count on for work to get done and for it to be done correctly. You need to be someone they can count on for them to trust you with training others.

Beyond being good at your job, it is important to learn the skills of training and coaching. The best way to do this is with practice, so volunteer to develop a training program, mentor underprivileged kids, or coach a sports team. Learn the art of coaching and how to inspire others around you.

One of the most important management skills to learn is conflict resolution. Dealing with these types of issues is challenging and you must learn to resolve them positively and constructively. The book, "Crucial Conversations," is a good starting point for learning how to have these difficult conversations.

Being able to provide specific examples of times when you were able to handle conflict, provide difficult feedback, or address sensitive issues is important for a management role. Demonstrate that you have the willingness and capability to handle the "people" aspect of a management position.