Managing People

Managing People well…..How Does A Great Manager Do It?

Managing People is often considered one of the most challenging aspects of a Managers responsibility. People are different. Their preferences for leadership & communication styles can vary as widely as their responses to different forms of motivation.

However, a Great Manager knows that effectively managing employees through establishing a system of management that leverages the strengths of each individual, and sets a clear vision of how they each contribute to achieving the goals and vision of the organization, is their single most critical task.

Under the guidance of a Great Manager, people flourish and become engaged. They are more productive, contributing to greater profitability and they stay around for longer, increasing the return on investment for the business.

Managing well means Managing People well and it is a skill that you can develop.

If you’re currently a manager or a business owner responsible for managing peoplehere are some strategies that you can apply straight away to reduce People Problems and improve organisational performance.

Manage People By Implementing Good Systems

What systems are you using in your organization right now for managing people? Are you using any?

The challenge of Managing a team of People can be significantly reduced if you implement systems to help you manage people. They prevent many of the common people problems occurring simply due to the fact that people’s roles, expected behaviour in the workplace and with customers, dress code, adherence to Company Values, etc has been documented and made very clear to them as part of their employment conditions.

Systems that are an inherent part of an organization require little effort to sustain, certainly significantly less effort than the task of “herding cats” in an organization where no systems are implemented or adhered to.

Managing People with systems is a strategy that all world class organizations adopt, in fact they systemize EVERYTHING. However, this approach is only as effective as the Managers using it. It must be met by a Manager’s strict resolve to monitor the correct and consistent use of the systems by people within the organization. Structuring the way the systems are initiated, tested and implemented can produce surprising results, even Innovations! When people are allowed to have input to the systems they will come up with new ideas and are more likely to commit to their usage.

Adopting people management systems will not only make the task of managing people easier, but it will also increase the value of your organization to potential investors or buyers.

Managing People Through Setting Clear Expectations.

People problems can occur when a Manager’s expectations have not been clearly communicated.

Great Managers know that effectively managing people involves communicating the goals of the business and clearly defining how each individual’s role contributes to business success. They know that clarity is essential for good performance.

This means that they use systems such as position descriptions and work plans to clarify what success looks like for each role and the objectives for each employee to achieve that.

Setting clear expectations means being clear at the outset, not reprimanding weeks or months after the event. Managing employees and expectations requires good communications skills and ones that are used regularly, frequently discussing progress and comparing it to expectations.

Do not make the mistake of the average manager who explains what they want and then asks their team “Ok, has everyone got it?” Do not be surprised if there are a number of different versions of “Got It!” amongst your team.

A Great Manager knows how to probe for understanding when setting goals and delegating tasks. They have the skills to confirm that they have indeed communicated their expectations clearly.

Manage Your People By Recruiting Well

Managing and leading People involves finding and retaining the best employees, but many managers do not recruit well. In fact, quite often the process is managed poorly in the rush to fill an empty position.

Great Managers know that there are key character traits that they need to be looking for in candidates, yet many managers simply refer to a persons qualifications and their previous work experience when selecting an employee.

The ideal candidate is not always the person with the best qualifications.

The ideal candidate is one who is the best “fit” for the role and the organization. This should be envisaged and documented prior to advertising for the role. Essential and Desirable characteristics can be split so that you know where you can be flexible with candidates and where you can’t.

Recruitment is often not an exact science however, when done correctly using the skills of a Great Manager, it makes the following task of Managing People and Managing Performance, much easier.

Managing People – The key to business success

The skills for Managing People are often thought of as ‘soft skills’ but if you think for a moment about the biggest challenges you face as a manager it is usually related to managing people, so they are in fact the ‘hard skills’. They do not come easily or naturally; they need to be learnt. However there are many aspects of Managing People and Managing Performance that can be improved by developing and applying skills and strategies linked to good systems, setting clear expectations and recruiting the right people.