There is no need for businessmen to go down the path of pursuing an MBA degree for achieving the necessary benefits. Although getting an MBA degree helps you develop your network, improve your job prospects, and build your core skills, what about the costs involved? The modern MBA programs cost you in the excess of $200,000 and they also require you to stay away from work for 2 years. Luckily it is not the only alternative available. There is no disputing the fact that an MBA degree gives you valuable benefits but there are other more cost-effective ways of developing similar skills.
MBA skills you can clone
Let’s look at the skills and benefits you get through an MBA program and the ways around them.
- Leadership skills: Ask the boss about the responsibility of heading a project or a team or ask the HR manager about other management opportunities. Volunteer with NGOs for fundraisers and other events. Find a mentor you can speak to. You can also attend different training programs or boot camps to develop your leadership skills. PMP online certification programs are one where experienced project managers turn to when they want to further develop their leadership skills.
- Innovation and entrepreneurship: Try to monetize a side hustle or consider launching your own business. Try to get a working opportunity at an early-stage startup.
- Global reach and intelligence: Register and attend global conferences for building your network and educating yourself on international issues. Attend startup and other industry events such as brunch work, TED, etc.
- Alumni and networking relationships: Join professional communities and try to host events by including influential members. Devote around five hours every week to developing relationships and friends.
Ways of getting the same benefits as MBA
Here are some tips for experiencing the same benefits at a fraction of the cost.
1. Develop self-reflection as a part of your weekly routine
Keep in mind that it is easy to get lost in the everyday grind. One of the significant advantages of an MBA is that it removes you from your everyday routine to force you on the development. It doesn’t matter whether you will consolidate your education or not you must spend some time every week for self-reflection. Ponder over the challenges you faced during the week and how you handled them. Evaluate the challenges you handled well and the ones you didn’t. What are the skills you require to take the career to another level? Are you asking for constructive feedback and are you in a mental frame of mind to accept it?
2. Sharpen the areas of interest and weak points
It doesn’t matter whether you are working in finance, marketing, technology, or something else there are several online courses and in-person workshops you can undertake. However, it is significant that you consider the qualifications of the teacher carefully such as how effective they are while completing the program. But this will give you an idea about the massive price discrepancy. Although there are many types of MBA a more flexible alternative is online courses. These courses have gained credibility and popularity in recent years and many of them are collaborating with professors, universities, and thought leaders.
3. Test your critical thinking skills
Critical thinking is necessary for all careers you may wish to pursue and it is the core focus of several MBA programs. The top schools rely on case methods for developing these skills. Students are provided a real-life business problem and he has to analyze the situation, identify the causes, and probable methods for addressing it. Students need to compare the recommendations and discuss the matter with the remaining class and professor to decide on a set of recommendations. You can consult friends and co-workers to create a case study. You can observe that your critical thinking skills are growing quickly.
4. Learn by doing things
Collecting the classroom knowledge and then applying it, in reality, is a great way of reinforcing your learning and developing leadership. Some of the alternatives for applying your skills are participating in events such as Catchafire, shadowing a good colleague from another team, or making an opportunity via side-hustle.
Conclusion
The MBA program provides several advantages from the development of your business network to building necessary skills for career development. But the tuition costs and phenomenal and they rise every year. Due to this, many people explore alternative paths. You can use these tips and resources to get a similar experience to that of an MBA at a fraction of the cost.
