How can you be a successful people manager?

A tool which helps setting the SMART goals is seeking clarity. Employee steps up and gets a nod from the manager about the expectations. If it's sorted ahead of work to deliver, surprises can be avoided most of the times. Manager may also use the words, "Why I am saying this is because of...." And it does the magic to clarify the substance of whole talk around goals. Such connectors do marvels.

- Communicating clearly and effectively with your team, setting clear expectations, providing feedback and listening to their concerns and ideas. - Developing your team members' skills and competencies, providing them with learning opportunities, coaching and mentoring, and supporting their career growth and aspirations. - Fostering a positive and collaborative team culture, promoting trust, respect and cooperation among team members, and resolving conflicts constructively. - Aligning your team's goals and activities with the organization's vision, mission and values, and ensuring that your team understands how their work contributes to the bigger picture.

People Management requires that we see people as human beings first before considering them as 'elements' to execute strategy. Leaders should strive to create an environment where people are excited to come and work...excited people are resilient, innovative, and go out of their way to do that which they would not ordinarily do. My Leadership Philosophy therefore is premised on what I call the 'Three P's'...People, Purpose, Profit. Solve the 'People Strategy' piece and create that exciting environment, share the 'Purpose' with these excited people and watch the 'Profits' roll in. Sometimes it's not always about KPIs and goals.

For me a people manager should always put the person on pole position and shouldn’t start with smart rules or goal setting. Listen to the wonderful people you have in your team, as leader you are responsible for them. Give them the feeling that they have a voice and you are going to listen. As soon as you have build up a base with them, you can discover individual strengths and the work environment you built will bring the results you are striving for. Showing them a shared value, ideally let your people find it themselves, this is what helped me in my leader position. It’s all about the people and the potential they have. If you figured that out and put them in the right positions you will get so much back.

People management requires two very simple things in theory: 1. Leading those in your charge as appose to be in charge. Teams respond best to leaders that are “there for the team” and “always checking in”. Teams will work wonders for leaders that put themselves last and their team first. It’s a selfless role if you are leading at the right level. 2. Fostering a culture of empathy across all channels that you own in your role. This will lead to your team feeling heard and respected. In turn this will drive greater results, and create a sense of ownership from your associates.

Provide feedback that's timely, specific, and constructive. Balance praise with areas for improvement, and ensure clarity in your communication. Listen actively, collaborate on solutions, and connect feedback to goals. Follow up to track progress and offer positive reinforcement. This approach fosters growth and supports the success of your team members.

An example of how I have done this at previous companies was simply to keep a list of each individual that I was working with, regardless of whether I was their people manager, and make notes on what they were doing well, what they could improve on, etc. I make sure to write down the situation, so its easy for them to understand how the feedback applies, and I also make a point to deliver the feedback within a short timeframe.

Being a successful people manager requires effective communication, empathy, and leadership skills. You should listen actively to your team, provide clear expectations, offer constructive feedback, and support their professional growth. Building strong relationships and fostering a positive work environment are crucial. Additionally, adapting your management style to individual team members' needs and maintaining a balance between task-focused and people-focused approaches can lead to success in managing people.

Giving Feedback- this is a double edged sword. While it may sound right, I think unasked Feedback is only counter productive. Rather giving feedback, I think a people manager should give freedom to fail and succeed and when asked, if at all, can share some insights and nothing more than that. Every decision and every result is very unique and no way a manager, just bcos he holds that title, can provide a Feedback that could have changed course. So best way is to give freedom to fail and succeed. Self learning and pear learning is the best...

Having a skill matrix would help capture the skill level at a point in time which can be compared in future to track improvement. It's encouraging to know the exact progress over a period of time.

In my time as a Regional Sales Director, my team recognised that they were treated as individuals. It is so important to understand what motivates each team member so that they can be supported accordingly. One size does not fit all. Managing people is not easy.

As a part of coaching, I actively encourage Personal Development Planning. It is important to inspire employees to be the best they can be - whilst consistently achieving business objectives and forming long term growth strategies both for the business and individual.

You need to be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each individual team member, but then recognize the opportunities for development and also the threats for stagnation in their development. It’s critical to ensure that you can continually develop your team to be the very best they can be

I agree completely, coaching is very important in people management as it enables you to collaboratively strengthen the capacities of team members and enhances the overall effectiveness of performance and delivery. It enhances team morale as members feel confident and secure. The knowing that your manager will go beyond issuing instructions to actually support you to ensure you are successful is essential for team morale.

Coaching is akin to equipping your team with a compass rather than giving them a map. While a map provides a fixed route, a compass allows individuals to navigate their unique paths. By asking the right questions and guiding discussions, coaching empowers team members to harness their potential, encouraging autonomy, self-reflection, and decision-making. This fosters an environment where individuals feel valued and supported in their professional growth. Moreover, consistent coaching instills a growth mindset, where challenges are viewed as opportunities for learning. As a manager, your role in coaching is not to have all the answers but to help unveil the answers that already exist within your team members.

In some cases, managers step in to help their team with their work, which, when done in moderation, can be a valuable form of guidance. However, a more valuable part would be for the manager to delegate some of their tasks to the team occasionally. The latter serves several purposes, including developing new skills for the team members, integrating them into the business beyond their core functions, ensuring business continuity in the absence of the manager, and preparing them for future promotions so that they can hit the ground running.

Delegating goes beyond mere task assignment; it's an expression of trust in your team's abilities. When done right, it cultivates a culture where individuals feel ownership of their work, fostering innovation and dedication. To delegate effectively, understand each team member's strengths and areas for growth. Use delegation as an opportunity for them to learn and stretch their capabilities. Importantly, resist the urge to micromanage. Instead, provide guidance, maintain open lines of communication, and be available for support. Remember, the objective isn't just to get the job done, but to grow your team's capacities and confidence, positioning them for future challenges.

The skill of delegating is much important but it's something hard to learn for many company leaders. Often many leaders prefer making things on their own because by doing this they keep the control on things. Sometimes this is also due to a too anxious approach. Leaders must keep controlling processes and procedures, and results. The way of doing things instead can be delegated. If the team is regularly monitored and evaluated on results and in particular mid-term ones, delegating is totally feasible.

I think giving tasks to others is essential. It lets me work on important stuff and helps my team grow. Delegating well means choosing tasks carefully, picking the right people, and deciding how much help they need. I make sure the jobs fit my team's skills and what they're interested in. Clear talk is a big deal when I give someone a task. I tell them what I expect, when it's due, and give them what they need to do it. This helps them understand what to do and makes them responsible for it. Also, I check in on the tasks as they go along. I'm not watching every little thing, but I want to make sure everything's going well. If there are problems, we fix them quickly, so the work stays good and on time.

As a manager of a high-functioning team, delegate by: Matching Tasks: Align tasks with individual strengths and workloads. Setting Expectations: Clearly communicate goals and outcomes. Encouraging Autonomy: Trust your team’s expertise, allowing them to approach tasks in their own way. Open Communication: Be available for support, fostering a trusting environment. Recognising Success: Celebrate achievements to motivate and build confidence. Effective delegation leverages team strengths, fosters independence, and acknowledges accomplishments, promoting a thriving work culture.

Clave para poder motivar es entender a tu equipo, conocerlos individual y colectivamente. Que es lo que los mueve a diario. Que es lo que los preocupa y ocupa. Conocerlos de verdad para así ser capaces de tocar las teclas correctas en cada uno de ellos.

Motivation transcends monetary incentives; it often revolves around making team members feel valued and understood. Different individuals are motivated by various factors - some seek recognition, others personal growth, and some are driven by challenging tasks. As a manager, it's crucial to tap into these individual drivers. By providing consistent feedback, setting clear objectives, and maintaining open dialogue, you create an environment where members feel their contributions matter. Celebrate successes, both big and small, and always advocate for your team's well-being. Remember, a motivated team isn't just about productivity; it's about nurturing a space where individuals thrive, fostering long-term commitment and innovation.

Through planning, organising, leading communicating, and effective resources allocation. Planning( work plans and budgets), organising ( creating performing teams), leading, ( coaching, training, mentoring), communicating effectively the organisation plans (strategic plan= vision, goals, mission and objectives; work plans =activities, expected results/ outcomes/ outputs and who is responsible for what activities), allocate the required resources to carry out the activities

Um líder de sucesso, precisa entender o que motiva as pessoas do seu time! Abaixo, compartilho alguns aprendizados, que podem auxiliar nesta descoberta: 1 - Pessoas diferentes, são motivadas de formas diferentes. 2 - O que te motiva, não necessariamente é o que motiva o seu time. 3 - Nem sempre é sobre dinheiro. Os tipos de motivação, podem oscilar conforme o momento de vida em que estamos, por exemplo, uma colaboradora gestante, sente-se motivada, quando encontra na empresa, o BEM ESTAR, que inclui, a flexibilidade do tempo para administração das rotinas médicas, a segurança de que a empresa está prestando todo o apoio necessário e entendendo os desafios desta nova fase, dentre outros…

Motivate! As a head, manager, team mate... one should never wait to push the other to do better. Motivation can come from words of kindness, show of empathy, trust, and faith. Standing up for each other and showing up in time of need to lend a helping hand. There is no need of rules to define motivation. It can come in any form, and from anyone.

I have found that it helps to reflect on your earlier professional life when you were being managed a lot more. What did you want your manager to do, how did you want to be treated, how did you want to be heard? All of us start somewhere in our careers and if we don't forget that, we don't lose the human touch and the all important skills of listening, building trust and respect which then help your team grow and thrive.

To be a successful people manager, focus on communication, lead by example, build relationships, set clear expectations and goals, delegate effectively, provide feedback, support professional development, foster a positive work culture, excel in problem-solving and decision-making, and practice adaptability and resilience. Continuously learn, seek feedback, and reflect on your performance to grow as a leader.

Get to know your team One of the first steps in building relationship with your team is by getting to know them first hand. By doing so, you will have an idea of their interests, preferences, uncluding even possibly their strengths and weaknesses, which will then give you an idea on how to lead them properly. Quick catch-ups, coffee breaks and the like will also help foster good rapport with your members.

Antes de todos os pontos aqui listados, para trilhar uma rota de sucesso uma pessoa gestora precisa se conhecer. Entender seus limites, suas dores e seus pontos fortes. Sem isso, vira um jogo de ataque e defesa onde todos saem atingidos (e frustrados). Também é fundamental ter a clareza de que atingir uma cadeira de gestão não te torna melhor do que ninguém e nem portador de todas as respostas. Estimule o time a pensar junto com você e tenha pessoas que pensem diferente. E não tenha medo de errar. Acertar ou errar fazem parte da mesma árvore de possibilidades em uma tentativa. O que faz a diferença é a ação que você toma diante do erro. Esteja atento, perceba a ineficácia do caminho escolhido e aja rápido.

In my experience, I found out that a successful manager of Human Resources must be emotionally intelligent. Active listening, understanding, mentoring and coaching are very important attributes of a people manager. Generally, staff perform better when exposed to a safe place to contribute meaningfully to the goals of the organisation at whatever level. And also when their personal goals are aligned to the overall goals of the organisation.