While almost anyone can progress in a role to the point where they have the skills and experience to do it effectively the next stage in a career - becoming a manager - is frequently not so easy to get to. From building trust to being an effective communicator, the people skills that are required for this are not quite as straightforward as the technical requirements of a job description. But these are skills that you’ll need to manage effectively, from helping your team to navigate change to encouraging collaboration and nurturing productivity and morale. If you want to progress and be effective, these 9 people management skills are going to be key:
Strong communication skills
Whether you are explaining a vision and getting people on board with goals, motivating a team or navigating challenging moments for the business, the stronger your communication skills are the easier this will be.
Problem solving
When you reach management level you’re the one who needs to come up with the solutions. That might be internal issues such as low productivity or problems with supply chains. Being proactive about problem solving means you’ll be able to intervene before small issues escalate.
Motivational skills
Especially when it comes to unpleasant tasks or boring or repetitive jobs, being able to find a way to get your staff to feel energised about doing them is a valuable skill.
Being able to establish trust
This not only means being reliable, transparent and doing what you say you will when you say you’ll do it but also backing off from micromanaging and giving people the freedom to work without interference.
Staying calm and level headed
No one responds well to a manager who takes their feelings out on their team. If you can stay calm, focused and patient, even in the face of great frustration, you will excel at people management because you’ll give people the space to make mistakes, try again and do better.
Recognising effort made
There are few things that cause issues within teams as much as people taking credit for other people’s ideas or work. To be a successful manager you need to make sure you’re aware of who is working on what and that credit is being given to the right people for progress and achievement.
Taking responsibility
If you’re the manager then it’s likely that responsibility falls to you and there is nothing that undermines trust faster than trying to avoid this. Be accountable for your actions and your team will learn to be too.
Healthy positivity
Keeping morale high is essential as a manager - looking for the silver linings and opportunities to turn a challenging situation around. Your team will pick up on this energy and be more willing to do it themselves. Be wary of ‘toxic positivity’ which denies any issues or challenges and blindly demands a happy attitude, regardless of what is happening - this can have the opposite effect.
Honesty and transparency
Most people can tell when they are being lied to and won’t want to work in conditions where this is the case. Even if you’re in a challenging spot being open and honest about what’s happening is much more likely to lead to healthy team connections and greater trust.
Anyone can thrive as a manager by mastering these 9 key skills. Find out more by booking onto our People Management training course...