Are you a good manager to your people? The most effective managers have these skills:
|
Skill |
Brief Description |
|
Listening |
Listening requires really hearing and understanding what others are saying – not just the words coming out of their mouth. But reacting to their body language also and hearing the words behind the words. Listening actively takes practice to be effective. |
|
Influencing |
The ability to influence others to accomplish goals – not simply telling them what to do and when to do it – is essential to getting others to follow you. While you may be able to tell your employees what to do, you certainly can’t tell peers what to do and you’ll need to rely on others (not just your staff) to accomplish the goals and objectives of your department or workgroup. |
|
Team leader |
Do you set a vision that others can see and respond to? Do you effectively lead others by sharing the big picture – the goals and objectives to be achieved and collaborating with the team on how to reach those goals? Do you share the leadership role? Do you provide credit to the team and take the blame when things go wrong? Don’t simply delegate the tasks no one wants, enable for interesting work for the team members. |
|
Communication |
Can you effectively communicate throughout the organization? Up, down and across? In ways that work for those with whom you are communicating to ensure that they understand the message? Do you regularly communicate to share ideas and update others? Are your communications open and honest? |
|
Engage others/employees |
Have you built relationships that enable you to engage others in accomplishing goals and staying motivated? You can’t reach out to peers for help on solving a problem unless you have established a relationship with them to enable for collaboration and building trust. Imagine how you feel when someone who barely gives you the time of day suddenly wants your help. You aren’t overly motivated to help them, are you? You also want your employees to be engaged and motivated to grow in their job. Find them interesting opportunities and projects to work on – nurture them and support their professional development. |
|
Collaborate with peers |
Do you collaborate with your peers? The best way to solve issues, resolve conflicts, get work accomplished and not reinvent the wheel is to collaborate with peers. Through collaborative efforts we can better meet our own department or workgroup goals and objectives and help others to achieve theirs. Collaborative efforts also enable for innovation and creativity – in new products and services and in solving problems and addressing issues. |
Undoubtedly we could add many more skills and competencies to this list. Over the years, through my work with clients and in organizations, I have found that these are some of the most essential skills that the best managers have had that have enabled them to be effective in their roles managing and engaging others in the workplace.
