‘I believe one of the best things about managing people is that we can influence lives in a positive way. That is basically what a manager is about. When I can do that I am very happy’ Arsene Wenger
Managing people is a vital skill in any organisation, whether you have a direct reporting line or whether you manage internal or external stakeholders. It’s a ‘must have’.
There are many skills needed to successfully manage a team of people, there are also a range of unavoidable variables, for example; how many people you are managing? what is their primary function? what are their expectations? what are the main objectives? There is also the company culture to consider; what are the organisation’s expectations, are they purely results driven, do they measure engagement. There is plenty to think about!
There are some key points that are vital to sick to when it comes to managing people;
- Set the standards and stick to them; It is important to set clear standards for everyone (including yourself) and it’s vital, as a leader, to adhere to them and lead by example.
- Be clear in your expectations; This also works both ways. It is always a good start to be clear in what you expect from your people and be transparent and clear about what they can expect from you as their leader.
- Continual learning and development; It is always important to keep learning, be it new skills, new courses or keeping up to date with any changes in employment law and current trends in your industry. That will help you continually develop as a leader. It is also important to make sure you can, where possible, create a positive learning environment for the people you manage.
- Learn from experience; As with life, it’s very important to learn from experience, both positive and negative. Managing people will bring challenges as well as successes. It is always beneficial to pause, reflect and learn from them.
- Be proportionate; All victories should be celebrated, and any mishaps dealt with, but all in proportion, over reaction to either isn’t needed.
If that isn’t enough to reflect on, there is the reality of the ever-increasing significance of A.I.
Without doubt, as actual or aspirational managers, we all need to consider how we can develop those key and critical skills for the future where our successful engagement with A.I. will be pivotal to success.
These skills will include; emotional intelligence, interpersonal sensitivity; embracing and leading change; relationship building and stakeholder management.
It is impossible to summarize everything about managing people into one generic guide, as there are so many variables and relentless change to contend with.
However, in this blog we have looked to give some thoughts and tips based on our own experiences in this area of management.
We all have many areas to reflect on and consider how we can continually develop in our key skills and competencies to enable us ‘to be the very best that we can be’.