Interpersonal Skills for Managers

3 Must-Have Interpersonal Skills for Managers

In the professional environment, productivity is measured by the results that each employee generates for their organization. Positive results mean that there was attention focused on activities. However, the adverse effects require that priorities be reviewed for the employee to be productive again.

In this article, we are going to talk about Interpersonal Skills for Managers and why they are so important in today’s’ working environment; If you wondering what those 3 interpersonal skills for managers are, then check them below:

  • Delegate
  • Organization/time management
  • Emotional Intelligence

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3 Must-Have Interpersonal Skills for Managers (With Examples)

1. The Ability to Delegate

Delegating means sharing some tasks and responsibilities with your team in a reasonable and strategic manner. It’s not just about reducing your workload, it’s more so about developing your team’s skill sets.

To succeed in delegating tasks to our subordinates, we will need to understand how best to do this and plan accordingly. As I said before, it’s not about dumping tons of boring tasks to your team, it’s about ensuring that you are enabling them to develop as professionals.

First of all, we must get to know each member of our team’s characteristics so that we can delegate the tasks assertively. Here, it is worth knowing both technical and behavioral skills better and checking what is expected of each project’s results.

To select the best employees to manage, we can:

  • Create tables with the main characteristics of each of your employees;
  •  Cross-reference the data according to the projects that arise, taking care, not to overload one or another person;

When delegating tasks, we must define deadlines and explain to each employee what you expect from them to develop the work, from technical skills to behaviors that can impact the final result of the project.

Delegating tasks is not just about having something done and not following any process. Managers need to understand the team’s main difficulties and how they can help them perform the task.

Not delegating responsibilities or minor tasks is very harmful behavior. It often causes a manager to accumulate enormous charges on himself, which will leave him invariably exhausted and more prone to make mistakes.

Some of the worst effects to the business of having managers who won’t delegate tasks to their teams are:

  • Reduced internal Human capital being developed
  • Work overload and missed Deadlines on projects
  • Knowledge Centralization in One Individual
  • No sense of Growth in Top Performers
  • High turnover Costs as Employees will Quit

2. Organization/time management skills

Every good manager is organized. But to be well-organized practically and functionally, not obsessive, it is essential that we:

  • We have all our papers, files, tax notes, and documents are in order, so it is easy to find something specific whenever necessary;
  • Never devote a great deal of time to minor or even relatively insignificant tasks;
  • Tasks that can be expected are recommended to be revisited in the calmest hours of the day, in the early morning, or the late afternoon, periods in which it is more difficult to suffer interruptions that will harm their concentration respective tasks.

It is just as counterproductive to spend a great deal of time and energy on trivial tasks to spare little time on complex and necessary tasks. Dispensing the right amount of commitment and dedication to a given job is essential for good management.

2.1. Time-management

Time management and productivity must go together because being productive has nothing to do with the number of hours worked but precisely with the results generated in these hours.

Sometimes two overtime hours with a total focus on work and free of interruptions generate much more productivity than 8 hours in a row in business hours. This result reflects good management of time at work, but we do not always manage to have it, and we ask ourselves: why?

A poll conducted by Irvine University of California professor Gloria Mark reveals that every time the person is interrupted, it takes about 20 minutes to start focusing again on the subject they were on.

To manage our time, abandon the idea that 24 hours are not enough. In addition to selling, we have administrative, social, professional, and personal activities. Organizing our activities and put them in order of priority for sure will ensure better results.

We can manage our time better by:

  • Making an analysis of the time spent on each activity we do;
  • Defining priorities;
  • Drawing up plans for the activities to be carried out;
  • Discover which period of the day can be morning, afternoon, evening, and even dawn you are more productive before planning your activities for the day;
  • Delegating tasks effectively

A fundamental fact that many people ignore is that there are times throughout the day when you produce more. Some experts call this prime time. It’s that period when you feel you perform your activities best.

It changes from person to person and, finding out at what time you are most productive is useful for carrying out those activities that deserve your most attention.

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Interpersonal Skills for Managers

3. Emotional Intelligence as a Key Skill

Emotional intelligence is the ability to correctly identify, understand, and manage emotions, facilitating relationships with others and bringing the attainment of goals closer together.

Emotional intelligence is also to have a deep understanding of our emotions, strengths, weaknesses, needs, and impulses. When we have a strong self-awareness, we are not critical to the extreme and do not have unrealistic expectations. On the contrary, we are honest with ourselves and with others.

When a manager has emotional intelligence, he can:

  • Harness emotions for the good of the organization; Managers often need to act as agents of change. If we know how others will react emotionally to change, we can anticipate it and plan the most appropriate ways to introduce and carry it out.

Moreover, when we have this critical interpersonal skill, we do not take things personally and can move on with plans without worrying about our egos coming in the way

Conclusion

Being able to maintain an organized life, understanding other people’s emotions and our own, keeping time and learning to delegate tasks and pass on skills to our teams is what separates GREAT MANAGERS from crappy ones.

Each person has a personality, a way of being and acting; this way determines the type of relationship we have with others.

Interpersonal relationships at work, the good interaction between people and teams constitutes a key factor for alignment between the company’s strategy and the operationalization of the entire organizational, operational gear.

Reference and Further Reading

5 Interpersonal Skills ALL Effective Managers Need (mtdtraining.com)

DOYLE, Alison. Important Interpersonal Skills That Employers Value. The balance careers

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