Improve your People Management Skills
People management skills
How can you get the best from yourself and others?
Answer: develop your: "People management skills"
People management skills are the "soft skills".
Some people develop them all naturally; and sadly, others don't.
Do you know anyone with good technical skills, but poor people management skills?
Their effect can be devastating, cant it?
People management skills include the following:
- Listening with intent to understand.
- Asking insightful questions.
- Being motivating and inspiring.
- Handling conflict situations.
- Showing a degree of trust.
- Inspires productive atmosphere.
Listening with intent to understand
We would like you to make this distinction between two kinds of listening:
- Listening with intent to understand
- Listening with an intent to reply
Good people skills mean that you listen with intent to understand.
That means listening and NOT interrupting, not drifting off, but paying full attention to the others message.
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Good listening has three major benefits
- You learn more about the other persons wants, desires and fears
- You show respect to the other
- You can't say the wrong thing, if you are listening
Conclusion 1: Listen more often, with intent to understand.
Asking insightful questions
Listening will not be enough on its own.
Good listening will inspire questions about what the other person has said.
In order to understand you must become a good questioner.
Questions can be used in two main ways:
- As a means of gathering more information.
- As a means of gentle persuasion.
As a means of gathering more information, use this phrase
"When you say, BLANK, what specifically do you mean?
As a means of persuasion you might ask questions in of the form of:
"I understand what you mean, but what would you see as the possible long range problems associated with doing that?"
Conclusion 2: To persuade and to gather more information, develop your questioning skills.
Being Motivating and inspiring
Nobody likes a grump.
Nobody wants to work with a person who is pessimistic, cynical and down.
Good people skills involves resisting the temptation to submit to the bad news.
Good people skills includes keeping the mood strong in spite of the gloom.
In essence, being a positive motivator boils down to just one thing:
That means being able to:
"Talk convincingly about WHY the future WILL BE better than the present."
If you learn to come up with a convincing reason to support the idea that the future will be better than the present, then, to that degree you will inspire confidence in others.
To the degree to which you cannot do that, is the degree to which you will fail to inspire confidence.
Conclusion 3: Train yourself to talk convincingly about WHY the future will be better than the present.
Handling conflict situations
Handling conflict situations is a delicate and important people management skill to master.
This skill resolves down to three basic abilities:
- The ability to criticise the others behaviour (claiming bad behaviour) without criticising and attacking the character of the person ( NOT claiming he is of bad character)
- The ability to suggest ways out of the conflict that is both possible and acceptable to the other
- The ability to control your language, when you are in a bad mood (not to say too much!)
Conclusion 4: By applying the three laws stated above, train yourself to give constructive criticism
Showing a degree of trust
Trust is the basis of our economy
If you don't trust the other, then you cannot do business with him- her.
Demonstration of trust is therefore a major compliment.
Demonstration of a lack of trust is a major de-motivator and an insult.
Good people skills involves trusting others to the maximum that is justifiable given two things:
- Their track record
- The value of the task being entrusted
The people management skill is to give as much trust as you can to others.
(Allowing you to delegate lower value work and get on with higher value work).
Conclusion 5: As much as is justifiable, trust others
Inspiring a productive atmosphere
This is the sum total of all the other five skills.
If you can do all the other five, then you can and will inspire a productive effort from those around you.
Conclusion 6: Work harder on changing yourself, than you do trying to change others
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People management skills include the following abilities.
- Listen more often, with intent to understand.
- To persuade and to gather more information, develop your questioning skills.
- Train yourself to talk convincingly about WHY the future will be better than the present.
- By applying the three laws stated above, train yourself to give constructive criticism.
- As much as is justifiable, trust others.
- Work harder on changing yourself, than you do trying to change others.
Visit the Corporate Coach Group for more information on Management Training.
Definition: People management skills
People management skills are the work skills used in business that let a manager guide others through four key acts: listen and question with respect; speak with hope to lift mood; settle fights by attacking the problem not the person; and share trust by handing over tasks in line with each worker’s record. Miss any one act and the skill set is incomplete.
Show CG4D Definition
- Centre on respectful talk, using active listening and clear questions
- Lift team spirit by setting a hopeful view of the future
- End conflict by criticising behaviour, not character, and offering a joint fix
- Show trust by giving tasks based on each person’s past record and task worth
Article Summary
Great managers listen with intent, ask clear questions, speak with hope, handle conflict fairly, show trust and set a positive tone; master these six people management skills and you turn individual effort into a united, high-performing team.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some questions that frequently get asked about this topic during our training sessions.
What are the six core people management skills?
Why does active listening help a manager?
How can I ask insightful questions without sounding pushy?
How do I motivate a team during tough times?
What is a fair way to handle workplace conflict?
How can I show trust when delegating?
What creates a positive work atmosphere?
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Did You Know: Key Statistics
The CIPD Good Work Index 2024 reports that 78% of UK employees say the quality of their line manager directly affects their mental wellbeing, and 42% would consider leaving their role because of poor people management. LinkedIn Learning’s 2024 Workplace Learning Report shows that 57% of UK organisations rank soft-skills development – such as active listening and conflict resolution – as their number-one training priority, up from 47% in 2023.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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Looking for People Management Skills Training?
If you're looking to develop your People Management Skills, you may find this People Management Skills Training Course beneficial:
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