Key Takeaways

• Skill building is most effective when learning is integrated into everyday work rather than separated into occasional training events.
• Managers strengthen team capability by coaching, modeling curiosity, and making development part of regular conversations.
• Psychological safety enables people to ask questions, practice new skills, and learn from mistakes without fear.
• Teams grow faster when leaders provide clear expectations, timely feedback, and opportunities to apply learning immediately.
• Sustained skill development requires systems and habits that reward learning, reflection, and continuous improvement.

Priorities and needs are constantly changing in any organization that’s growing or facing new external challenges. In order to keep up and maximize productivity and optimize results, employees need to learn new skills while keeping old ones current. 

One of the primary roles of a manager is to ensure that the team is always learning the skills they need to keep business moving and evolving. Below, 13 members of Forbes Nonprofit Council share the most important things a manager can do to help build and maintain the skills of their team.

1. Ask For Opinions 

To maintain team skills, ask them their opinions on what to keep and where to grow. What are the gaps they are seeing? How would they like to maintain the skills or fill the gaps? – KellyAnn Romanych, Veterans Legal Institute

2. Be Committed To Lifelong Learning

A leader must lead by example, be committed to lifelong learning and be open to feedback from the team. The leader sets the tone of the team. One cannot expect the team to maintain skills, training and development without prioritizing this themselves. Additionally, a foundation where skill development is an expectation, not an option, and SMART goals are established regularly should be set from the start. – Capri Bell, I Will Survive, Inc.

3. Provide Investments Of Time And Training

I think one of the best ways managers can continue building and maintaining the skills of their team is to provide regular investments of time (personal training with their team) and ongoing training through bringing in outside resources to their team. This could be in the form of a book, seminar or hiring a training consultant. – Rob Harter, CCPC

4. Create A Quarterly Book Club

Managers can build and maintain their team’s skill sets by creating a quarterly book club. By providing a space to discuss leadership topics and case studies, teams will begin to learn from each other while challenging themselves. The act of learning is the responsibility of the leaders and the followers. – Charles A. Archer, One Hope United

5. Hold Knowledge Transfer Sessions

Knowledge transfer (KT) sessions every month would not only help in building skills but will also enable individuals in the team to become more versatile. Learning should never be limited. – Patrick Coleman, GiveCentral

6. Keep Them Updated On Current Trends

Keep your team updated on current trends in your organization’s niche. Remind them that the world is constantly changing and new things can always be learned. Whether it’s learning skills in your organization or in your niche, people should always be teachable and willing to learn and grow. You want a team that is always ready to learn in order to thrive as a nonprofit. – Gloria Horsley, Open to Hope

7. Create A Culture Of Learning And Sharing 

To keep your team’s skills current in a rapidly changing world, managers can create a culture of learning and sharing. Managers can feature different units during company-wide meetings, and host training and development events related to emerging skill needs. Managers can also encourage the sharing of relevant resources such as reports, books and articles related to their work or industry trends. – Christopher Washington, Franklin University

8. Invest In A Writing Program

Leaders should consider investing in a writing program. Either enroll your team in an online program or invite a consultant to conduct in-person training. No matter what your mission is, your team needs to be able to convey through writing what is most important about your work and the needs of your organization to its donors, volunteers, staff and the public. – Kristen Jaarda, American Council on Gift Annuities

9. Build An Open Communication Environment

Build an open communication environment where leaders feel invited to share what they are learning. Expect leaders to stay on top of their fields by reading articles, books and gaining current training. Lead the organization to being a learning organization by modeling your learning as well. – Albert L. Reyes, Buckner International

10. Engage Them In Goal-Oriented Processes

One way to drive skill growth within an organization is to start by engaging an employee in a process around their own goal setting. Skill growth and building require motivation from staff to be actively engaged in learning and doing. Only through engaging staff actively in defining their own goals and growth trajectory can you unlock the motivation necessary to sustain learning. – Erin Mote, InnovateEDU

11. Leverage LinkedIn Learning

We offer LinkedIn Learning to our teams, which many employees take advantage of and appreciate. We host training and events with top speakers from our board, as well as corporate and nonprofit experts. We also share articles to help employees stay abreast of trends. Plus, we assess and align employee skills to fiscal year goals and objectives. – Thomas Bognanno, CHC: Creating Healthier Communities

12. Provide Creative Learning Opportunities

Connect your leaders with non-obvious learning opportunities. Focus on offerings that enhance creative thinking and innovation. Let them tell you what kind of exciting programs they would like to be a part of. They may return with approaches that lead to different ways of thinking and engaging people differently in design and execution. – Magdalena Nowicka Mook, ICF (International Coach Federation)

13. Align Intrinsic Motivation With Employee Contribution

I trained directly with Dr. W. Edwards Deming, who instituted the worldwide quality improvement movement that helped to rebuild Japan after WWII. He introduced the concept that people are guided by their own “intrinsic motivation.” Effective leadership recognizes perpetual innovation springs forth from aligning intrinsic motivation with employee contribution. Discover the power of intrinsic motivation. – Jesse Bethke Gomez, Metropolitan Center for Independent Living

*This article originally appeared in Forbes