Find out the top 10 core skills you need to master as a clinical data manager and what hard skills you need to know to succeed in this job.

A Clinical Data Manager is responsible for analyzing clinical data, identifying, and reporting clinical trends by applying the knowledge of health care and database management. He/she is responsible for preparing data analyses listings and activity performance plus reporting on the progress of the clinical reports and presenting the data.

Besides the main primary responsibility of managing data, he/she is tasked with the duty of performing other associated tasks like; processing clinical data such as filing and verification of patient documents, design and validate clinical database, testing logical checks, analyze clinical data using statistical tools and also manage the data flow on each clinical process.

Core Skills Required to be a Clinical Data Manager

Core skills describe a set of non-technical abilities, knowledge, and understanding that form the basis for successful participation in the workplace. Core skills enable employees to efficiently and professionally navigate the world of work and interact with others, as well as adapt and think critically to solve problems.

Core skills are often tagged onto job descriptions to find or attract employees with specific essential core values that enable the company to remain competitive, build relationships, and improve productivity.

A clinical data manager should master the following 10 core skills to fulfill her job properly.

Verbal Communication:

Verbal Communication is the use of tones and language to relay a message; it aids as a vehicle for expressing ideas, concepts and it, is critical to the daily running of the business.

A Clinical Data Manager portrays his/her image and that of the company by the way he/she communicates; strong verbal communication skills are vital for business development and forging lasting relationships with customers, suppliers, and colleagues.

Interviewing:

Interviewing is an essential skill in making a sound hiring decision that seeks to find out the candidate's background, work experience, skill level, general overall intelligence, enthusiasm, attitudes, etc.

A Clinical Data Manager ought to be equipped with the right techniques to handle interviews whether they are face to face or telephone as they can be grueling and intimidating to the candidate; clarity and calmness of tone and the atmosphere are ideal.

Strategic Planning:

Strategic Planning is organizational management activity that is used to set priorities, focus energy and resources, strengthen operations while guaranteeing that employees and other stakeholders are working towards common goals.

A Clinical Data Manager should be liable to develop the systematic tools to be used in the organization's processes that coordinate and align resources and actions with the mission, vision, and strategy throughout the organization.

Participative Management:

Participative Management is also known as employee involvement is the participation of all stakeholders at all levels of the organization in the investigation of problems, development of strategies and implementation of solutions.

A Clinical Data Manager should include the participative management in the enterprise to create open and honest communication, freedom and transparency solicit survey feedback and form self-managed teams that are easy to work with.

Supervisory Skills:

Supervisory Skills is the ability to lead and manage people effectively in a difficult and challenging atmosphere in the day to day life.

A Clinical Data Manager must cultivate, develop and refine management and supervisory skills to strengthen the present as well as build the future of the business by becoming competent in such roles like problem-solving, communication, managing people, time management, leadership, planning, etc.

Empathy:

Empathy is the understanding of another person's condition from their perspective by placing yourself in their shoes and feeling what they are feeling.

A Clinical Data Manager ought to practice empathy with his staff by learning to be a good listener and understanding what his employees are going through and choosing to feel it with them through the use of imagination and accommodate them.

Persistence:

Persistence is the refusal to give up or let go of a firm or obstinate continuous course of action despite difficulties or opposition that you may face.

A Clinical Data Manager should strongly emphasize the need for persistence as the fundamental difference between a successful outcome and a failed one while developing this important quality in each creating happy employees and business.

Intercultural Competence:

Intercultural Competence is the knowledge and skills to successfully interact with people from other ethnic, religious, cultural, national and geographic groups.

A Clinical Data Manager should have a high degree of intercultural competence that enables him to have successful interactions with people from different groups as well as train his employees to be sensitive to the cultural differences and be willing to modify their behavior as a sign of respect for each other.

Writing Reports and Proposals:

Writing Reports and Proposals is the ability to record business reports and plans for the company or project following the policies and procedures of the company.

A Clinical Data Manager should, therefore, emphasize the need and accuracy of these reports and plans to ensure they are delivered promptly, and the details within are accurate adhering to the company's policies and regulations without compromise.

Computer Skills:

Computer Skills are the necessary computer working skills that each employee need to have while seeking to get admitted into the professional world.

A Clinical Data Manager ought to be technologically oriented and hire employees with strong computer skills because they fare better in the job market than their tech-challenged counterparts bringing a high level of quality employees in the job seeking category.

Hard Skills Required to be a Clinical Data Manager

Hard skills are job-specific skill sets, or expertise, that are teachable and whose presence can be tested through exams. While core skills are more difficult to quantify and less tangible, hard skills are quantifiable and more defined.

Hard skills are usually listed on an applicant's resume to help recruiters know the applicant's qualifications for the applied position. A recruiter, therefore, needs to review the applicant's resume and education to find out if he/she has the knowledge necessary to get the job done.

A clinical data manager should have a good command of the following hard skills to succeed in her job.

Clinical Data Manager: Hard skills list

Analyzing Data
Accounting
Budgeting
Business Intelligence
Analysis software (i.e. SPSS, SAS)
Communication
Computer applications for data collection
Contract Management
Customer Service
Database
Data Administration
Data Analysis
Data Collection
Database Design and Planning
Data Entry
Data Integrity
Data Management
Database Management
Data Processing
Data Reporting and analytics competencies (content knowledge)
Data Reporting Analysis
Data System Management
Data Security Procedures
Data Storage Technology
Data Utilization
Data Validation
MS Office
MS Word
MS Excel
Managing Accounts and Files
Management & Reporting
Management
Mathematical
Microsoft Access
Microsoft Office Suite
Navigating Database Software
Organization
People Management
Presentations
Principles and practices of data management
Project Management
Report designs
Research
SAS
SPSS
SQL databases
Statistics
Teaching
Technical
Technology
Visual Basic

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