The 7 People Management Skills
The 7 People Management Skills
In order to improve your ability to get the best from other people, there are seven main categories of people management skills that you should consciously work to improve.
Here are the seven categories of people management skills:
- Logical thought
- Emotional language
- Organisation
- Grooming, manners and politeness
- Fairness
- Sales
- Role modelling
These seven people management skills can always be improved upon:
I know that you can never be perfect, but attempting to "perfect your performance" will add real value to everyone around you, and therefore, to yourself.
Do you think you already have these skills? Find out with our fun quiz!
Let us look closer at each of the seven subsets.
1. Logic
Remember: Facts are impersonal.
Facts are facts, irrespective of your knowledge, hopes, wishes or fears.
And because of that, thinking logically is your best method of ensuring that your thoughts and ideas are consistent with the facts. i.e. Logic is the best way to ensure your ideas are, indeed, true ideas.
What are the three or four distinguishing characteristics that separate logical thought form all other forms of thought?
Here is the list to consider:
Logical thought is:
i. Purposeful - Logical thought is NOT reverie: random pictures and imaginings. Logic is in full focus and purposeful.
ii. NON contradictory - Logic does not allow you to make two contradictory statements, or to say one thing but do the opposite.
Logic is:
- Self-consistent and
- Consistent with the observed facts
iii. Structured - Logical thought is structured according to named principles:
Logical thought is governed by "the laws of thought" of which you should make a conscious study- (Aristotelian Formal logic; the laws of thought- look it up!)
iv. Logical thought is objective thought - Logic is free from personal gut feelings, mystic revelations, whims, prejudices or fears.
People Management Skills Training
Developing people management skills is important because the common denominator in business is PEOPLE. People management skills are important because we are all unique and different. If we are to achieve our shared goals, we need to be able to work together in a coordinated and harmonious way.
2. Emotional language
We know that you should be able to think logically to ensure your ideas make sense. But remember this phrase: "Being right is not enough"
Being right is often not enough to persuade others. So, you should be able to appeal to logic and emotion.
Develop your use of emotional language. It will help you inspire and motivate others.
Appealing also to the desires, hopes, wishes and fears of others (i.e. to the NON logical element in people) can be a good way to add emotional power to your logical deductions.
Remember that the two major human motivators are Fear and Desire.
Appealing to both fear and desire can make your writing and speech more impactful.
Make that a study.
3. Organisation
Nobody likes to work with disorganised systems. Indeed, Life itself IS organisation. Death is brought on by the disorganisation of the bodies systems. In order to get the best from yourself and others, work incessantly on improving your systems.
Plan ahead and build systems.
Good systems can make one man as productive as three dis-organised men.
Remember: You are not paid for how hard you work. You are paid for how productive you are, in the eyes of "the marketplace": and therefore you should build systems that make you more productive.
4. Grooming, manners and politeness
Because you have to deal with other human beings, and because people DO judge others by what they see and hear, then it makes good sense to refine your behaviours.
Good grooming, kind and polite language, will pay you big dividends.
Coarse, thoughtless, and brutish language will cost you dearly.
You may have heard of a famous book called "How to win friends and influence people" by: Dale Carnegie. My advice is: Read it! In a nutshell the book tells you to:
- Have the other person talk about him-herself
- Don't condemn nor openly criticise others
- Try to make other people feel important
- Smile
5. Fairness
Fairness might be defined simply as: "treating others the way you would like YOURSELF to be treated".
I define fairness as: "Treating people according to their individual merit", meaning:
- If a person does a good job: he merits praise and reward.
- If a person is LAZY, dishonest or abusive, then deserves condemnation and reprimand.
Failure to treat people fairly means that you run the risk of creating a sense of INJUSTICE, in the minds of others, and people hate injustice!
People hate it when they see the dishonest, lazy or violent person gain by being lazy, dishonest or violent.
People hate it when the hardworking, honest and cooperative person does NOT gain, by being so.
Make it your policy to reward good behaviour: (Honest, hardworking and cooperative).
And make it your policy to NOT reward bad behaviour: (Dishonest, lazy, abusive).
6. Sales
In the world of work, you MUST have customers. Without customers you have no business.
Therefore every business is, fundamentally, a sales organisation. Or at least, it should be!
Even governments (assuming you live in a democracy) have to "sell" their message to the voters.
Your company too, has to sell its products and services.
So, you, as an individual, should see yourself as having to sell your ideas, knowledge and personality.
You must sell to your employer, your customers and even your family!
So learning improved sales skills is a good idea.
There is a book called: "How to master the art of selling anything" by Tom Hopkins
Read it!
7. Role modelling
Role modelling is your ability to set a good example to the younger members of the team.
We all need help: and a great way to find guidance is to find a role model.
Let us assume that you are a person who is:
- Knowledgeable
- Honest
- Hardworking
Then, you might think of yourself as a role model for the younger members of the team.
Teach others what you know; Show others the benefit of your experience; Keep others from repeating the same mistakes you made, when you were younger.
Wouldn't that be helpful?
This is your challenge, starting right now: Help as many others as you can, to do the best job they can!
If you can do that, wouldn't you also gain something valuable?
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About the Author: Chris Farmer
Chris Farmer is the founder of the Corporate Coach Group and has many years’ experience in training leaders and managers, in both the public and private sectors, to achieve their organisational goals, especially during tough economic times. He is also well aware of the disciplines and problems associated with running a business.
Over the years, Chris has designed and delivered thousands of training programmes and has coached and motivated many management teams, groups and individuals. His training programmes are both structured and clear, designed to help delegates organise their thinking and, wherever necessary, to improve their techniques and skills.
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