People Management: Making Friends and Understanding People 👬
Imagine this, you are working in a team, you can choose one person as a leader, your choice is between Bob, the experienced person that is a master in technical skills, and Andy, another experienced person who can do anything and… also good in interpersonal skills, communication skills, and good at managing people. You would choose Andy, wouldn’t you? well that is probably because andy have what is called good people management.
What is People Management?
“People management is a part of human resource management that encapsulates all the processes of acquisition, optimization, and retention of talent in the organization. It involves training, directing, and motivating team members to maximize the productivity of the workplace and enhance overall professional growth” — talenx.io
To put it simply, people management is a way to manage and maintain people in a team and it is required to improve the efficiency and productivity in a workspace. It makes sure that everybody has a positive attitude working in the team which will result in everyone being able to unleash their full potential.
Fundamental People Management Skills
These 8 skills should be able to help us with how to interact with our team and perform organizational tasks.
1. Empowering employees
It’s important to give all the team members the knowledge and resources they need to perform a particular task, it will also enable them to continue learning on their own. Other examples include helping them whenever they are struggling with something they don’t understand and constantly giving feedback to each other to keep everyone motivated.
2. Active listening
When someone is talking to us, we need to show that we care and we want to understand what they are saying. Use nonverbal gestures to show your engagement in the conversation such as nodding, ask follow-up questions to learn more about what they need, and empathize with them. When done correctly, active listening will make them feel respected and lead to great chemistry between members.
3. Conflict-resolution
In a group, conflict is inevitable. Our job is to be the mediator for the conflict, whether it is a miscommunication or conflicting opinions. Find the cause of the conflict, analyze the situation, and then solve the problem by making compromises so both sides are satisfied. We need to make sure that the conflict is solved all the way and do something to prevent it from happening again.
4. Flexibility
Flexibility are important in people management, We have to understand when we need to become firm and when to become flexible. Not everyone in the group has the same way to do somethings, someone might have their preferred way to do a particular task and as long as they are more productive doing that, we need to be able to adapt to that.
5. Patience
This skill is a really essential skill to keep our workspace healthy and positive. it uses kindness and empathy to help others overcome their problems. Be patient when someone asks you questions they’ve asked before, that way they won’t be afraid to ask for help when they are struggling. You yourself would rather ask someone patient than someone short-tempered right?
6. Clear communication
Clear communication is vital in a group project. Miscommunication will lead to so many problems down the line, that is why we need to make sure every information shared can be easily understood by all the team members. Communication skills are useful when brainstorming for ideas and solving problems. Your ability to clearly communicate with your coworkers can help the team to perform effectively.
7. Trust
A group cannot run without trust between the members. Trust means believing that we can rely on someone’s abilities, assistance or advice when we need it most. Building trust helps a team to improve their efficiency and productivity. A leader should trust their members and the members should also trust the leader’s management.
8. Organization
Organization is an important people management skill that helps us track and maintain our team’s effectiveness and productivity. Examples of this include keeping track of the status of the project and tasks that are being worked on currently, hold meetings, and keep notes of the deadline for each task.
That’s all for this article, have a great day!
