People Management

Published in

bisaGo2020

6 min readNov 18, 2020

Making Friends, Establishing Relations, Helping & Understanding People

When working on a project, developers usually do it in teams. Ergo, there have to be good ways of managing people in order to create an ideal environment and strive for the greatest effort in creating the software.

There are some important things to pay attention to when managing other people, such as:

Making Friends

source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/388435536606279589/

Making friends in your workplace is very important, there are many benefits that come with making friends in your workplace, likely:

Higher motivation which would lead to higher productivity. Work can be stressful and complicated at times, it can also be boring when done for a long time. This would all lead to a lack of motivation, and if you’re not working at your best, it could make your work suffer. Thus, having friends that you could talk to would definitely keep your workplace from being a boring place.
Job satisfaction. Sometimes, we can work for very long hours. Most people even spend more time with their coworkers rather than their families. This means that the presence of your friends is very crucial as it could lead to a satisfactory workplace. Tasks that could be considered as a drag to do could actually be fun when working on it with your friends.
An understanding support network. When people are with their families, they often talk about their work, but does your family actually understand about your job? Your friends in your workplace, however, would definitely understand. They can even understand more when you’re having a hard time because they also know about the company’s work environment and your job. So, you can share your troubles with them and they would give you helpful suggestions to solve any issues you encounter.
Mental health and wellbeing. Yes, jobs can be very stressful; it could also be worse if you’re isolated from your coworkers. Every human wants to feel needed and respected because we are social beings. If you don’t feel needed or respected, it could impact your mental health and could lead to very serious psychological problems. Your Friends, are here to avoid that from happening, because they could also be considered as a pillar for your mental health, especially in your workplace.

Establishing Relations

Establishing relations means interacting with your coworkers. Building relationships is what working is all about, as it is also what forms the cornerstone for success and satisfaction in your workplace. It’s important because it helps us in organizing the people there. It also benefits us in the long run, because there may be times where we would need help from our coworkers, even outside our workplace. There are also some key ways for us to establish good relationships with our coworkers:

Understand your strengths and weaknesses
Schedule time to develop relationships
Ask questions and listen
Offer assistance
Know when to ask for assistance
Appreciate each employee’s role
Keep your commitments
Be present

Helping & Understanding People

source: https://spongebob.fandom.com/wiki/Squidward-SpongeBob_relationship

When working, you are bound to encounter problems. In order to solve them, help from your coworkers would definitely play a big role. Thus, you should also offer your assistance to your coworkers and help them if they need anything in your power. As the saying goes, “Two hands are better than one”.

A workplace can also have many people in it, which means that there would also be many different personalities. It is important for us to be able to help and understand those people in order to create good management of the people. Here are some ways to manage different personalities at work:

Don’t take everything personally. We all know that work can be stressful at times, people could also be going through some tough in their personal lives. This could make them to sometimes be negative at work. Even so, not every negative action from your coworkers is directed at you. Take a step back and assess the situation. The best thing you can do is offer your help.
It’s okay to disagree. One of the most important things in a working environment is being a team player, but there may be times when you feel frustrated because of a disagreement with your coworkers. It’s important for you to take some of your time to handle this with your coworker. Sit down, and explain your frustrations. This would create a rational discussion from both sides. Keep in fact, if you still can’t come to an agreement, it is okay to disagree, because disagreement in moderation is healthy in any relationship, and besides, everyone on your team is working towards the same goal.
Learn to handle egos. With the diverse personalities present in the workplace, there could be people with big egos. This could be dangerous because it can lead to conflict. To avoid this, always remind yourself that this isn’t personal. Have an honest conversation with that coworker and use facts, not emotions, because your coworker may also not realize that their actions have a negative impact on you.
Keep gossip positive. Gossip is something that can lead to a strain on your relationships and can also decrease productivity. It is crucial to avoid this by identifying “gossip triggers” so you can try to work your way around them and redirect the conversation to something positive.

“Work is just like life: you encounter different personalities, dispositions, and temperaments”

People Management in BisaGo

Our BisaGo Team this year consists of 4 members, and we all have a good relationship with each other as we are also good friends. We don’t only talk about our work, we also talk about other things unrelated to our project. Furthermore, because we are all from the same class, we also know what each other is going through, for example, if there are many assignments, so we understand if there are times when we don’t perform with our maximum capabilities.

Because we also have a good understanding of each other’s skills, it also helps us in dividing the tasks to do, so we can all maximize our potential in doing those tasks. Furthermore, if anyone of us encounters a problem, the other members also lend a helping hand. This is very crucial because everyone has their own point of view when tackling a problem, so there may be some things that we haven’t thought of yet that could solve our problems.

My Role in BisaGo

I, myself, have a role in managing my team. During sprint plannings, I would actively converse with my team members. Because I understand my teammate’s capabilities and abilities, I also suggest tasks that would suit them. Furthermore, I learned from RPL last semester that when managing a team of developers, the advanced developers should be given tasks that are hard to do, so they can fully utilize their skills. If they were to be given minor tasks that a novice developer would do, it would not be efficient for the team in terms of time and effort. Moreover, I also like to act as the one who keeps my team’s emotional level stable, because I would occasionally share funny things with my team or joke around with them so they won’t be that stressed, especially when nearing a deadline. And to my team’s response, they said that the funny things I do definitely help ease their minds. However, I don’t always joke around with them, there’s a time and place for kidding around, and I always take responsibility for the things I need to do.

In conclusion, make sure to pay attention to these three aspects of people management, because they are essential in order for us to create a stable and ideal working environment which would benefit us largely.

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