How to improve your people-management skills
Here are nine ways to improve how you manage people.
- Clearly communicate the goal you want the other to achieve.
- Explain the reasons why the goal is important.
- Outline the plan; how the goal can be achieved.
- Motivate the person to act, by offering rewards for good results.
- Monitor the progress.
- If the person makes good progress, give immediate praise and benefits.
- If there is a lack of progress, give assistance or training.
- Strive to keep good rapport with them, no matter what.
- Recognise that people work primarily to further their own self-interest, not yours.
1. Clearly communicate the goal you want the other to achieve.
Recognise that people work better when they know exactly what the goal is.
Success is the achievement of a goal. Therefore people are more successful, when they know exactly what the goal is. In fact, the whole organisation exists to achieve goals. Ensure that everything you do, and everything that you ask other people to do, links directly to the goal.
2. Explain the reasons why the goal is important.
It is vital to know the reasons why the goal is important.
Nobody wants to do things for no reason. Everybody feels happier to work when they understand the reasons for it. Therefore, the manger would improve a person's performance if they explain the reasons for it.
3. Outline the plan; how the goal can be achieved.
Now the person knows what the goal is, the next step is show the other how the goal can be achieved. You need to show them the plan or help them build the plan.
A goal without a plan is a fantasy.
A goal with a plan is a powerful force for progressive change.
If you want to manage people properly, show them the plan. This will create belief and motivation in the mind of your team.
4. Motivate the person to act, by offering rewards for good results.
Ultimately people work, not for your benefit, but rather for the benefit of themselves and their family. So, you must reward them for their work. Ideally the success of the project should bring to the individual worker some form of individual satisfaction. If you can organise things so that if you win, they win, then you will find they will work harder to make things work.
5. Monitor the progress.
Progress is not guaranteed. Many things can get in the way of progress. As the manager, you need to be continually monitoring the rate of progress.
You need to know whether you are making good progress, or not.
6. If the person makes good progress, give immediate praise and benefits.
If your staff are making good progress, then let them know and give them positive praise appreciation and rewards. People will respond well to positive feedback. People respond badly if you don't give them the appreciation they feel they deserve.
7. If there is a lack of progress, then give assistance or training.
If the progress is poor, then you need to study the reasons for the lack of progress and make corrective adjustments to the plan or the implementation of the plan.
If the problem is found to be in the performance of your staff, then you may need to give additional training to get them back on track.
8. Strive to keep good rapport with them, no matter what.
No matter what happens, strive always to maintain friendly working relationships with the people you work with. Your success depends on good relationships with your customers, suppliers, bosses, subordinate colleagues and fellow managers. Remember that a discordant, or fractious team spirit will be enough to scupper your plans. So, try to keep your relationships on friendly terms. You don't have to like everyone, but you should be able to work with anyone.
9. Recognise that people work primarily to further their own self-interest, not yours.
Don't expect people to work for you unless you have provided them with a personal motive. Irrespective of what you may like to think, people won't work for long out of "a sense of duty". They won't sacrifice their own self interest for the good of the many, and it is a mistake to ask people to "take one for the team". Always appeal to the person's self-interest and ensure that any work you ask them to do a is a WIN / WIN experience.
people management
People management is a business skill. It guides staff by setting clear goals, giving reasons, watching progress, rewarding results and keeping good work links. With any one part missing, the skill stops working.
CG4D Definition
Context: Business
Genus: Skill
- It sets and shares clear, specific work goals
- It explains the business reason for each goal
- It tracks progress and gives prompt praise, help or reward
- It keeps respectful, positive relations with every team member
Article Summary
To manage people well, state the goal, explain its value, share the plan, give fair rewards, track progress, praise success, train for gaps, keep good will and link work to each person’s self-interest; these nine habits turn managers into leaders and teams into high performers.