Effective Leadership, Managing People: 10 Timeless Principles
In my management and effective leadership skills seminars, I often ask participants, based on their years of experience, to list their top do's and don'ts for effectively managing people. After conducting workshops and keynotes all over the world for over 12 years, I've come up with ten timeless principles, or tips for managing people. Here are the top ten:
1. Set goals collaboratively with your employees. You're more likely to have employees who are accepting of the solution because they were involved in the process.
2. Follow through. Always do what you say you're going to do. Otherwise, your credibility is destroyed. As the saying goes, they remember your last act.
3. In managing people, be empathetic and compassionate when the situation calls for it. For example, when a good employee is experiencing personal problems. Remember, your employees are your most important asset. And, you are managing people.
4. Be honest, trustworthy, fair and respectful. In managing people, if you employees don't perceive you as trustworthy, you're less likely to have real influence over them.
5. Lead by example. Be a good role model. If you are honest, trustworthy, respectful, and hardworking, you're training them to be the same.
"Effective leadership in managing people = getting along with others."
6. Communicate clearly with your staff on a regular basis. The importance of good communication sounds so obvious, it's as if it shouldn't need to be mentioned! But over and over, I hear about managers who don't communicate effectively.
7. Take care of important issues. Don't procrastinate working on projects you don't want to do. And promptly address performance issues with a difficult employee. Otherwise, these problems only get worse.
8. Have goals and objectives clearly defined in writing for accountability. Include dates, deadlines, and numbers so it's very clear what's expected. For example, if someone is in customer service they are to, "Respond to all customer inquiries and complaints within 12 hours of receiving them.This way, the employee clearly understands what's expected of them and is less likely to say, "Well,that's just your perception. You're just picking on me."
9. In managing people, be available. Be approachable.
10. Empower and motivate the team not just in terms of completing tasks, but also in terms of good communication and managing conflict.
Effective leadership when managing people correlates to successfully managing conflict. Learn to get along with others. It's not just what you know, or who you know, but how well you get along with others.
1. Set goals collaboratively with your employees. You're more likely to have employees who are accepting of the solution because they were involved in the process.
2. Follow through. Always do what you say you're going to do. Otherwise, your credibility is destroyed. As the saying goes, they remember your last act.
3. In managing people, be empathetic and compassionate when the situation calls for it. For example, when a good employee is experiencing personal problems. Remember, your employees are your most important asset. And, you are managing people.
4. Be honest, trustworthy, fair and respectful. In managing people, if you employees don't perceive you as trustworthy, you're less likely to have real influence over them.
5. Lead by example. Be a good role model. If you are honest, trustworthy, respectful, and hardworking, you're training them to be the same.
"Effective leadership in managing people = getting along with others."
6. Communicate clearly with your staff on a regular basis. The importance of good communication sounds so obvious, it's as if it shouldn't need to be mentioned! But over and over, I hear about managers who don't communicate effectively.
7. Take care of important issues. Don't procrastinate working on projects you don't want to do. And promptly address performance issues with a difficult employee. Otherwise, these problems only get worse.
8. Have goals and objectives clearly defined in writing for accountability. Include dates, deadlines, and numbers so it's very clear what's expected. For example, if someone is in customer service they are to, "Respond to all customer inquiries and complaints within 12 hours of receiving them.This way, the employee clearly understands what's expected of them and is less likely to say, "Well,that's just your perception. You're just picking on me."
9. In managing people, be available. Be approachable.
10. Empower and motivate the team not just in terms of completing tasks, but also in terms of good communication and managing conflict.
Effective leadership when managing people correlates to successfully managing conflict. Learn to get along with others. It's not just what you know, or who you know, but how well you get along with others.
Top 10 Tips on Managing People
1. Set clear direction: Might seem obvious that you need to have clear goals and yet almost 40% of employees in UK companies are not sure what their employer expects of them.
2. Link individual goals to the strategy of the company: As a manager you might know what your company is trying to achieve but the likelihood is that your people don't. Only 30% of UK employees understand how their job role impacts and contributes to their organisation reaching its strategic vision. It's your job to make this link clear and you can only do that by talking about it - all the time!
3. Know what your people have natural aptitude for: Your key function as a manager is to know your people well enough to understand what they do best. Where they have natural aptitude, they can excel. Practise doesn't make perfect unless you are practising in an area of natural talent.
4. Know your people's weaknesses: Where your people have no natural talent, they will not excel. Best case scenario, they can become average with practise and training but let go of the notion that they will ever become high performers in those areas.
5. Recruit, promote and performance manage according to the strengths needed and weaknesses that are acceptable for each role.
6. Create the right attitude: You can motivate your people by providing them with clear direction and playing to their strengths - but you also need to find out what makes them tick as individuals. What motivates you rarely motivates your people. Everyone is different and you would be wise to ask as opposed to making too many assumptions.
7. Give praise when praise is due: This is the most under utilised tool for motivating your people. Don't wait for perfection! Notice and praise situations and behaviours that went well, pointing out specifically what was good and the positive impact they had. 70% of UK employees report that they don't receive praise regularly. What an easy thing to do that makes a lot of difference.
8. Manage yourself: As a manager, you are a mini celebrity and your team watch your every move - including the inconsistencies between what you say and what you do. Don't expect your people to be something you are not.
9. Handle critical conversations: Learn how to tackle giving negative feedback and handling difficult situations (like behaviours and performance issues) with your people. It's a skill, usually something we either want to avoid or end up doing badly.
10. Deal with change: Dealing with a constantly changing environment is hard for many people. Especially when they don't see the benefits themselves. Every manager needs to be a change expert, not in theory but in practise. Delivering the message and getting buy in is one thing, where the real difference is made is by executing with consistency.
Ref: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/top-10-tips-on-managing-people-612457.html
2. Link individual goals to the strategy of the company: As a manager you might know what your company is trying to achieve but the likelihood is that your people don't. Only 30% of UK employees understand how their job role impacts and contributes to their organisation reaching its strategic vision. It's your job to make this link clear and you can only do that by talking about it - all the time!
3. Know what your people have natural aptitude for: Your key function as a manager is to know your people well enough to understand what they do best. Where they have natural aptitude, they can excel. Practise doesn't make perfect unless you are practising in an area of natural talent.
4. Know your people's weaknesses: Where your people have no natural talent, they will not excel. Best case scenario, they can become average with practise and training but let go of the notion that they will ever become high performers in those areas.
5. Recruit, promote and performance manage according to the strengths needed and weaknesses that are acceptable for each role.
6. Create the right attitude: You can motivate your people by providing them with clear direction and playing to their strengths - but you also need to find out what makes them tick as individuals. What motivates you rarely motivates your people. Everyone is different and you would be wise to ask as opposed to making too many assumptions.
7. Give praise when praise is due: This is the most under utilised tool for motivating your people. Don't wait for perfection! Notice and praise situations and behaviours that went well, pointing out specifically what was good and the positive impact they had. 70% of UK employees report that they don't receive praise regularly. What an easy thing to do that makes a lot of difference.
8. Manage yourself: As a manager, you are a mini celebrity and your team watch your every move - including the inconsistencies between what you say and what you do. Don't expect your people to be something you are not.
9. Handle critical conversations: Learn how to tackle giving negative feedback and handling difficult situations (like behaviours and performance issues) with your people. It's a skill, usually something we either want to avoid or end up doing badly.
10. Deal with change: Dealing with a constantly changing environment is hard for many people. Especially when they don't see the benefits themselves. Every manager needs to be a change expert, not in theory but in practise. Delivering the message and getting buy in is one thing, where the real difference is made is by executing with consistency.
Ref: http://www.articlesbase.com/management-articles/top-10-tips-on-managing-people-612457.html
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