Leadership and People Management
When working in a team, one essential skill excluded from your job requirement is people management. How you communicate, cooperate, and behave with your co-workers would be the main factors to determine how well you do as a team. How well you do as a team determines the quality of your work.
In this article, we’ll discuss the benefits of developing your people management skills, as well as some handy tips to improve your workplace environment as a team.
People Management
People management is the art of communicating, cooperating, and directing people, for example with your co-workers in your workplace. It’s an essential skill for both managers and employees alike, as both have to deal with people on an almost everyday basis.
By developing your people management skills, you and your team will attain several benefits, such as:
Handling Conflicts
There might come a time when you come into conflict with others. It might be because you have differing ideas, or one of you is simply having a bad day and is rather irritable.
By having the right people management skills, you can handle such conflicts wisely. This would not only help you but also your whole team, as an internal conflict would most certainly impact your team’s performance negatively.
Managing Deadlines
The ability to direct your co-workers to focus on their tasks would lead to more efficient work for your team. This means that you are most likely to meet your deadlines.
Also, by improving your ability to manage people, you can also set more realistic deadlines as you are aware of the resources and capabilities of your team.
Enjoyable and Comfortable Workplace
It’s not uncommon for people to dislike their workplace. This might be due to annoying bosses or uncooperative employees. Either way, it’s almost become an accepted norm that the workplace is expected to be unenjoyable.
This doesn’t have to be the case however, especially when you’ve developed your skills in managing people. If you are able to transform conflict into friendship, and confrontation into cooperation, you can make your workplace much more comfortable.
Tips on People Management
Now that you know the benefits of developing your people management skills, here are some best practices to improve your skills in managing your co-workers:
Empower People
Empowering your co-workers would help them improve their skills and work more effectively. Remember to praise them for their work, but don't flatter them with cheap words. Avoid criticizing them, especially in public. Rather, offer them constructive feedback to help them improve their work.
Active Listening
When your co-workers come to you with a question, you should actively listen to them. Remove all distractions, maintain eye contact, and display body language such as nodding to gesture your agreement with them. This would make them feel more appreciated, and would lead to a more pleasant working experience.
Resolve Conflict
Should you face conflict, try your best to handle it wisely and objectively. Don’t get indulged in the conflict, the goal of the conflict is to find a solution, not to prove that you are the better man.
If you find that your other employees are conflicting, then attempt to mediate and resolve it. Find the issue, and give a balanced solution that would not only solve the issue, but prevent it from coming up again.
Flexibility
It’s important to know when to be firm, and when to be flexible. Every person is different, and thus have different preferences. Some people work better when they are reminded constantly, while others work better when they are left alone.
You should attempt to understand the preferences of your co-workers, and make sure that each of them work as efficiently as possible. You can try to experiment by following their preference, and then assessing their performance to see if it was the correct decision to do so.
Patience
Patience and empathy are necessary to create a feeling of empathy and kindness between you and your co-workers. When a teammate or employee comes to you to ask for guidance, you should do so with great patience and understanding.
By doing so, your co-workers would trust you to be patient, and are more likely to ask for clarification or report issues that they face.
Communicate Clearly
Communication is an important skill in the workplace. Whether it’s for conveying your ideas, or disagreeing with others, it’s important to use clear and concise words so that everyone in the room understands your point.
You should also directly confirm with your team members if they understand you, in order to avoid miscommunication. Having the ability to explain things in a clear manner would make you a much more valuable team member.
Trust
Trusting your co-workers would greatly improve the environment and pace of your workplace. As teammates, you should trust that your fellow workers can be held responsible for their work. As a leader, you should trust that your employees can accomplish their tasks, and as an employee, you can trust that your leader believes in them and values your work.
You can build trust by performing well on your duties, and displaying your understanding of technical knowledge to your co-workers. You can also provide constructive feedback to your co-workers to help them improve their abilities and the quality of their work.
Organization
Managing the people on your team means overseeing every task they do individually. This can be overwhelming if you lack organizational skills. You should be able to keep track of all your co-worker's activity, and determine their rate of productivity.
You can do this by properly assigning the right tasks to the right people, giving certain tasks to certain people who have the ability to accomplish them effectively. You could also have a calendar to keep track of deadlines, respond to messages or emails often, and running meetings that discuss information in an effective manner.
Ask Questions, Avoid Orders
No one likes to be told what to do, no matter how high your position is. Even if they do accomplish the task, they might resent you at least a little due to feeling that they were dictated to do so.
This is especially problematic if you were not their official leader, but you need to request them to do something. They might feel that you are acting out of place, and might end up not only disliking you but also avoid doing the task that you requested.
Thankfully, there’s a way to give orders indirectly, by asking a question. This question is meant to spike their interest, and have them do the tasks willingly.
For example, instead of telling someone to start working on their task, you can simply ask them “What do you think we should do first?”, or “Can you get this done before tomorrow?”.
This is better than giving orders because you are giving them a choice, rather than directing them to a single action of your desire.
Conclusion
Hard skills help you get a job, soft skills help you keep your job. No matter how skilled you are at your job, how you communicate with your employees, co-workers, or boss would determine just how successful you are within that job.
By developing your skills in managing and cooperating with the people in your workplace, you can improve your standing within your team, and enhance your career as a whole.
