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People Management Tips for First-Time Managers
A promotion to a management position — or starting a new role — is a big step in your career.
While this is an exciting time, it’s also full of uncertainties and nerves.
Whether you are the CEO, starting a new role with more responsibilities, or becoming a manager, knowing how to work with others is an important part of any job.
People skills can be learned at any point in your career, whether you’re a new manager or seasoned.
These skills take time to master, so best the time to start improving those skills, is now.
Before you get too overwhelmed by new processes and more responsibilities, take a look at these people managements tips and reflect on how you can implement them at your new position.
I recommend that you save this article so that you can reference it throughout your management journey for quick, expert tips to help you navigate your new position.
Table of Contents:
What is People Management?
People management is a broad topic.
It covers everything from how to mediate conflict between employees to properly communicating and even how to build effective teams.
People management is different from performance management because it focuses on the employee’s well-being rather than the individual’s work.
One covers performance goals while the other one focuses on enabling employees how to solve problems and engage effectively with teammates.
People management is the process of training, motivating and directing employees to optimize workplace productivity and promote professional growth.
This is a necessary quality for current and future managers because it aims to improve the workplace culture and it also propels employees for success. It helps oversee workflow and boost employee performance every day.
Building and improving your people management skills doesn’t have to be rocket science. All you need is to make small changes in your mindset and your perspective on problems — maybe even do a leadership training development program.
Below is a set of tips to help you tweak your approach as a manager and become a more effective leader.
👂 Start by Listening
When we talk about good listening, we think this only happens at the beginning and end of a conversation: being attentive, making eye contact, taking notes (if necessary), and waiting for the other person to end their thoughts before sharing ours. And yes, these are all part of good listening skills.
But good listening is even more crucial when you are a manager.
You have to keep an open mind when talking to an employee and not jump to conclusions before or during conversations, according to Dianne Schilling, an expert on emotional intelligence.
In other words, don’t assume — what they are thinking, what is the problem, what is the solution. Instead, ask. Even if they think the answers are obvious, as a manager, is important to listen to your employee’s reasoning and thought processes about a situation as much as possible.
Later in this blog, we will dive into asking questions and their importance.
🚩 Personal Problems vs Organizational Issues
Employees are going to have problems no matter what. The world is not perfect and neither are humans — and that’s okay.
As a manager, your role is to understand problems are not created equal.
They have different root causes and most of the time, they fall into two categories: personal problems and organizational issues.
Although they might manifest in similar formats when talking to your employees, understanding the difference between the two is crucial.
“Treating an organizational problem like a person is like putting a bandaid on a broken window. Similarly, treating a personal issue like an organizational one is like removing personal and organizational categories.” Lattice Team.
Personal problems can look like this:
- An individual’s workload,
- Individual’s problems with their process,
- An individual’s dissatisfaction with their teammates or performance,
- An individual’s unhappiness with work.
These types of problems can be addressed with your people management skills and no significant reorganization.
Organizational issues look like this:
- Teams unable to cope with demands of workload collectively,
- Workflow problems frequently result in errors or delays,
- Hostility between teammates,
- Lack of communication and trust between team members.
These cannot be solved by solving one employee’s problem. They stem from inherent problems in the organization.
🏆 Focus on Employee’s Purpose
In order to properly communicate with your employees, you need to understand what draws them to their roles. What gets them up from bed every morning. In other words, what is their purpose?
The purpose is one of the most significant aspects of what keeps people happy and satisfied with their role at any company. It is what drives them to succeed and push themselves professionally.
Knowing your employee’s purpose will help you inspire them individually. Thus, benefiting the whole team.
People want to work on projects they see fit with their skills, or in roles where they can grow and learn (especially if they have a growth mindset and you inflict a culture of learning at work).
To help your employee see the impact their work makes on the organization and overall team, you need to help them understand that there is a profound sense of purpose.
The best way to help team members feel a more profound sense of purpose in their work is to help them foster an emotional connection to the work that they do for the organization.
Here’s how to make your employees feel valued at work and how to find a sense of purpose in their work
Now that you have mastered how to manage conflict - what is your plan of action for making an impact with your team?
Now that you have mastered how to create an environment of empowerment via the 3-P's - what is your plan of action for making an impact with your team?
Developing Your Communication, Empathy and Emotional Intelligence skills is start. What is your plan of action for implementing your learnings within your your team?
Now that you understand the differences in these titles - what is your plan of action for what you learned?
Assessing your team's behaviors is a start - but do you have a plan of action for the results?
Now that you have mastered the art of decision making - what is your plan of action for making an impact with your team?
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A DISC Behavior Assessment is the best way to understand your team's personalities.
Each DISC Assessment includes a Self Assessment and DISC Style evaluation worksheet
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