Top 17 People Management Skills to be Best on the Job

Top 17 People Management Skills to be Best on the Job

In the workplace, managers, supervisors, and other senior personnel need to have people management skills to be able to exercise control and influence, and organize the activities of people in order to achieve the business goal of their organizations.

This post provides important people management skills and qualities you need to develop to be effective in managing people to achieving the goals of your department or organization.

What is People Management?

Simply put, people management is the act of influencing, organizing, and exercising control on the activities of people in the workplace in order to achieve the desired goal of the business.

Human management is applicable to both small and large scale businesses. For the fact that there are people in the workplace, there is need for the services of a people manager.

Now, let’s look at the skills and qualities you need to develop to be effective working with people:

17 People Management Skills and Qualities to be Successful Working with People

1. Delegation

One of the ways to bring out the best in people is to give them opportunity to handle responsibilities. This is what delegation is all about. Sometimes, you can’t really tell what people can do until you delegate certain duties to them. Delegation is part of coaching experience.

Delegating people to carry out some functions is a way of giving people a sense of belonging and telling them that you believe in what they can do.

Building confidence in people is very necessary in the workplace. When you show faith in people, though some might not perform perfectly well, but mentally they can build the desire to improve themselves.

Delegating tasks can also help reduce stress in the workplace. It is important to know that you cannot do everything all by yourself.

It is not good for the team and it is not good for you. It causes burn out and can cause mutiny in the workplace. Allow people express the abilities through delegation.

2. Motivation

Motivation is a key factor in people management. Motivation is needed not occasionally but always on daily basis. This is a good way to manage people. People need to be motivated in the workplace through different means.

The first aspect of motivation is making people believe in themselves and not feel inferior to others in the workplace.

If you can make people in the workplace believe in their abilities despite their glaring weaknesses, then you have succeeded in motivating them.

Also, motivation can come in form of appreciation. Do you know a simple thank you can make a big impression on someone?

Appreciate people for their effort no matter how little. It means a lot to them. In situations where there are mistakes in their work, criticize constructively and not destructively.

3. Coaching

Coaching is part of people management. For whatever anyone wants to become in workplace, coaching is vital to that desire.

That’s why in many organizations, once an employee is about to start work, there is a provision for orientation or training that deals with job description and problem solving skills on the job under consideration.

The role of coaching in workplace has the ability to reduce errors and blunders in the process of job execution.

This is very important because errors abound much where there’s no proper coaching in the work place. Coaches teach, correct, and instill discipline in the workplace.

The future and realization of future goals of a business is largely dependent on coaches.

Coaches are responsible for transmitting the values of the business down to the workers.

They are highly skilled in human management and are found in almost every department of an organization because of their irreplaceable roles in the organization.

4. Communication

The role of communication in people management cannot be overemphasized. To effectively manager people, it is not only what you say that counts but what other people say also counts.

Even as a coach in a workplace, part of your job is to communicate effectively with the people you are coaching, not just for them to listen but also to air their views on areas they are struggling to meet up.

Communication is important in managing people because without it no relationship can be established in the workplace. And when there’s no relationship then progress is a mere daydream.

Learn to communicate effectively with people in the workplace, it matters a lot.

Communication goes a long way to establishing proper coordination in the workplace and the ability to coordinate people is not possible without effective communication.

Communication relays the mind of the employer to the employees and also among employees.

5. Empathy

Empathy entails putting yourself in the shoes of others to know how they feel in a given situation. Though you might have a different feeling to a situation, it is important to put feelings of others into the equation in order to be able to relate with them in circumstances like that.

Empathizing with people is an indispensable tool in managing people in the workplace.

People tend to draw closer to people who tend to understand and respect their feelings always.

It is a sign of disrespect not to empathize with people in the workplace. Also, it is a sign of selfishness.

Empathy in workplace will make you identify with the struggles of your colleagues and help them find possible solutions to their problems.

This is what empathy is all about, nothing more nothing less. People management is not possible without empathy.

6. Patience

Empathy comes with patience. Understand that different people at the workplace have different learning curves and speed. Patience is needed in this scenario. Though we are conscious of time, but patience is key in human management.

This is an essential skill every coach should possess. When training and managing people, you have to be patient with their ego and reasoning pattern, and their speed of learning.

Sometimes, you have to see beyond their immediate abilities and give them the confidence to push ahead.

Without patience, you might misjudge actions and intents of people you are managing.

Growth may not be speedy as you expect and sometimes people you are managing can still perform below their standard, but you have to be patient with them.

7. Open Mindedness

This is also an important skill in people management. You cannot be right at all times. We know in parts and are not perfect even in areas we think we are perfect.

Don’t give people in the workplace the impression that you are far better than them and don’t need their opinions. That may be your undoing.

Open mindedness allows you take corrections and suggestions that can make you a better coach and leader in the workplace.

In carrying out your coaching or management duties, you need to give room for suggestions from your staff; and be sure to take note of everything people say about you and make the change that is necessary.

Sometimes, people may present their suggestions in a bad way, swallow your feelings and note their points.

When being corrected, understand it is not in your power to determine how you will be corrected or how suggestions will come.

Once you are able to deal with this, you won’t have problem with people’s approach.

8. Trust

Trust is something that makes people run to you for help, it is the confidence they have in your ability to help them solve a problem.

Trust does not come by default but it is earned. People have trust issues and that’s a major problem in human management.

For people to trust you in the workplace, you must have an unquestionable character and unshakeable integrity.

If you lack these attributes, then you will be far from been trusted by people in your workplace. This in turn makes people management a difficult task.

You need to be careful not to break the trust people have on you because you might not get it back. Even if you get it back, it will be more difficult to establish it in the heart of people.

Trust is easier to break than to maintain, so, be careful with your actions in the workplace because people are watching.

9. Good Judgment

As someone managing human beings, one of the uphill tasks you might face is the challenge of making the right judgment.

Making judgments is very important and critical in managing people. This is because one wrong judgment can ruin a reputation built over the years.

To make good judgments requires careful thinking and consideration of the situation at hand. Do not be in a haste to make judgments, especially when emotions are high either from people or you. This is maturity in leadership.

Sometimes, it is better to delay judgment than to make the wrong one.

One thing that facilitates good judgment is to avoid sentiments in judgment. A lot of people overseeing the affairs of people have failed in this aspect.

They allow their sentiments becloud their sense of judgment, hence the wrong judgment.

Hardly do you make the right judgment out of sentiments.

10. Leadership

People management requires a lot of leadership skills. And leadership is not all about barking out orders to subordinates.

To manage people entails bringing out the best in them, and to do this requires showing them by example what to do, and not just bark out orders.

In the workplace, you need to show leadership qualities to your team and help them achieve their goals, both business and personal goals.

Leaders are goal getters; they set goals and do all they can to achieve them.

Leadership is mostly influence, and it is the influence you have on people that can make them do what you want them to do.

This does not include instilling fear in them but making them willing to produce their best on the tasks assigned to them.

11. Approachability

How can you manage people if you are not approachable? You need to be accessible to people under you.

The people you are managing should be free and confident that you will give them a listening ear when they approach you concerning a matter.

For you to be easily reached, you have to chisel out some unwanted traits in you that make you unapproachable by people.

More so, in the workplace, you need to be easily accessible to your colleagues, as well as your subordinates. This is very important in your ability to effectively manage people.

Your body language and facial expression should encourage people to come to you if they have the need to do.

12. Accountability

This is a key factor in people management. Accountability cannot be left out in the qualities of a leader.

A good coach or manager is known for accountability and failure to know this can breed mutiny in the workplace. The minutest details are important in the workplace.

Don’t assume that the people you are managing are not interested in what happens in the organization; and leaving them in the dark does not tell good of you at all.

To be accountable is important to your reputation as a leader of a team. When you are accountable, then you can be trusted and be relied upon.

Accountability is a sign of a responsible leader or coach in the workplace. It is unprofessional not to account for your role.

When you leave people in the dark, it becomes difficult for them to follow you and when they can’t follow you, you develop a bad reputation in their eyes. At that point, managing people becomes more difficult.

13. Organization

Part of your duties as a people manager is to coordinate them and make them do the right thing at the right time.

In people management, orderliness makes it easier to achieve certain goals. It is a special quality to have and part of the influence you instill in your people.

Organizational skill entails ensuring that things are done in an orderly manner always.

This starts with you the manager; show the people the right thing to do and the right way to do those things.

To organize people requires the ability to influence their mindset into doing things the right way.

14. Honesty

The place of honesty in people management cannot be underestimated. The truth is that honesty works hand in hand with integrity.

If you want to manage people well, be honest with them and give them no reason to doubt you.

Honesty is the basis of trust. In your dealings with people in the workplace, be honest in your speech, assessments, and actions. Failure to do this will not give you a good reputation, and I guess you won’t like that.

Another word for honesty can be sincerity. People like sincerity to the core.

Honesty is not easy and can only be attained by people of strong integrity. By interpretation, honesty precedes integrity.

A dishonest leader cannot be trusted even when he/she is saying the truth because of past record of dishonest actions.

15. Positivity

A good people manager must be someone with a positive mindset. His/her positivity even in adverse circumstances is another way of motivating his/her people.

The place of positivity in people management cannot be ignored. A good leader must be positive in his communication and actions.

Understand that positivity can steer the heart of a group or team to take on challenges that seem impossible to surmount.

This is true because what some people need in the workplace is just that little push to make them believe in what they can do and how far they can go.

A leader that lacks motivation cannot inspire people to do great stuff. In leadership, you can’t give what you don’t have.

So, if you want to get people motivated then stay positive in all your dealings with them. Even when they see impossibilities, tell them it is possible.

16. Performance Appraisal

Performance appraisal is the timely evaluation of a group’s activities in a workplace.

From time to time, there’s a need to carry out appraisal to know how far the people you are managing are coping.

Appraisal can be done depending on the timing the leader deems necessary.

Through appraisal, faults and mistakes are cited for possible corrections. Without appraisal, it is almost impossible to know where your team is getting it all wrong.

It pays to carry out periodic appraisals. Errors corrected can prevent future problems in the workplace.

Performing performance appraisals help the team to know where to exert more strength and ability.

Sometimes some colleagues in the workplace may not be meeting up with the required standard. It is through appraisals that they are encouraged to do better.

17. Supportiveness

A good people manager must be supportive of the people he/she is managing. No doubt about that. Though you may have your opinion, however you have to be supportive to their growth and personal goals.

Failure to be supportive of the people you are managing can be counterproductive.

Supportiveness does not connote tolerating gross incompetence but appreciating new and better ideas generated by your team members during appraisals, meetings and planning.

It is not a must that every idea must come from you the leader of the team. Encourage your team to get good ideas and when they know you are supportive, they get motivated to help the team grow.

Your support to them is very importance to their input and output. Understand that without giving your people the support they need, it will not be easy to carry then along no matter how good you are as a group leader.

People Management Skills for Resume

If you are writing a resume for a management or leadership position where you have to work with people, you can apply the skills and qualities shared above in completing the core competence or skills section of your resume.

Recruiters will be impressed to see in your resume that you have the right skills and qualities to manage people. But make sure you actually have these skills and qualities before using them in your resume so as not to present a false description of yourself to the recruiter.

Conclusion

To effectively work with humans in the workplace is a difficult job, but it is not an impossible task to accomplish.

People management starts with self-development of the manager or leader who intends to make good impression on the people at the workplace.

The skills and qualities needed to be a successful people manager has been explained clearly in this article.

This post can serve a guide for any manager desirous of making good impact on people in the workplace. Remember, if you can change the mindset of your people positively, then you have them under control.