Succeeding in business depends heavily on the efficient management of individuals. These skills can be acquired and learned. Having a natural affinity for dealing with people is a plus, but there are a lot of skills you can do that will facilitate the process.

Developing relationships: Begin by remembering a person’s name. Engage in conversation; look employees in the eye during a conversation. Show respect, also be attentive to everything the other individual has to say, irrespective of whether you are in agreement or not. Paying attention to what others have to offer is one of the best people management skills in your arsenal. Welcome any input from your co-workers.

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Live up to your word: Do not give promises you can’t fulfill. When you don’t keep your word, the fragile bond of trust is broken, and without trust people will not perform at their best. When you give a commitment or give a promise, you are squandering your time unless you keep your promises. To be honest, when you can’t be counted upon, your employees will not be committed when it’s really important.

Feedback is important: It’s a two-way street. Talent management skills mean keeping an open mind to all feedback. Being accessible and receptive establishes that your co-worker’s ideas count, your thoughts will be appreciated in return. Welcoming open discussion in addition encourages development of new ways of thinking, new methods of accomplishing goals, and develops the bonds of an excellent team. When your team can express themselves, the success of the company will become important to every employee. Promote all sorts of communication: Your people management skills come down to one thing — communication. Maintaining an open door policy, listen closely to your co-workers, encourage all sorts of feedback, and allow all your team to express their views. Inspire staff not just to speak to you, but with each other. The sharing of ideas is crucial in the creative process, and by listening to each other, it’s simple to spot any issues early, allowing corrective action to be put in place to prevent further problems. Acquiring these techniques may take time, yet the payoff is worth it. Through building the bonds of a good team and taking heed of your team’s opinions, a flourishing business will be achieved.

Social media could delve underneath the subterfuge of the CV. A probable candidate is likely to not only highlight all of its features for instance knowledge, talent and work history on social networking sites for example LinkedIn, but additionally its hobbies, social activities plus temperament(through web sites for instance Facebook plus Twitter) .

For the first time, companies have an opportunity to find out in case {somebody|anyone} would be the right cultural fit in support of the business and also the right professional fit before you fulfill on man. With recruitment costs so high these days, and businesses looking to concentrate on efficiencies as we head out of the recession, social media offers a vital route for sourcing the right person, quickly.

However, social media also offers candidates the opportunity to enhance their capabilities, experience, hobbies and employability. In a face- to- face interview candidates can’t run or hide their qualifications or job history. Social media removes the pressure of an interview. Most recruiters use the social media now to find the right candidate for a job.

Nowadays numerous managers feel that, by supplying staff with some education in safety in the workplace, they are sufficiently prepared for a catastrophe. The truth of the matter is that, regardless your industry, staff require far more than the basics in safety regulations and risk assessment. You need to provide your employees with sufficient supervision, the proper equipment, and last but not least regular practice.

Each team needs a professional supervisor to oversee the shop floor, however this individual must also play a greater function. A supervisor is required to see the necessity of health and safety education and have the ability to encourage other people to share their excitement.

In addition to checking compliance with health and safety regulations, a supervisory role includes managing employee performance levels as well. This isn’t a simple task. A competent supervisor must have a broad knowledge of the industry best practice and the product in addition to a high standard of comprehension of up-to-date legislation involving safety, risk appraisal and emergency assistance techniques.

It’s just not sufficient to merely send any employees on a health and safety course. Your staff have to practise risk assessment and the recognition of hazards. Employees additionally must have insights into the required precautions that they must to put in place and also how best to cope if disaster strikes. Your workers are only completely protected when everything has become automatic. safety equipment is just as vital to the your employees’ safety as training. Without the correct equipment or if they discover that equipment is damaged only after something has occurred, even the very best training is not going to help them.

It is essential to perform conscientious checks often to verify that you are in posession of all of the required apparatus and that everything is in a good state of repair. If piece of equipment will not come up to the applicable criteria, ensure it is fixed or serviced as soon as you can.

Your staff must receive appropriate health & safety training, but in addition they also must have good quality equipment, the chance to practise, and an educated supervisor who gets employees excited about being healthy at work. And then observing the various safety regulations become established in your business culture rather than something that staff have to make an effort to remember.

Management is all about being the one who facilitates business or organisational success. Delivering the required results. It can be daunting, yet with these ten simple ideas, it might not be the impossible challenge…

Business is complicated. Organisations are horribly complicated. Yet within that there are people who manage, who have ‘cracked the code’ for success. Success for themselves, their people and overall, the organisations they run.

So if there are just 10 actions a great manager takes to deliver the excellence way above the rest, what might they be?

Here are some ideas. The use and implementation of them is up to you…

1.Talk to your people

Top of the list is always how you relate to your people. Regular, easy-going interactions (we call them conversations and chats), make for relationships that work. Talk to and above all listen to them. And respond to what you hear. You will find great information which will help you develop them for the future.

2.Have Clear Expectations

Every one of your people is desperate to please and be seen to be doing a great job. To do this you need to ensure that they are all very clear indeed about what you want them to do. Some need more help with this than others.

3.Build Trust

Trust falls in many ways. Doing what you said you would; treating everyone fairly; being consistent; keeping criticism private; creating confidential time for those who need it; behaving yourself how you expect your people to; being as open as possible; taking personal responsibility for your actions. Invaluable.

4.Focus on Value

Management is about results. So whatever steps or actions you take must always be measured against their contribution to the results you want. If the action is not value creating, then it’s not required. Sometimes you might have to take a risk with an investment, especially in time or people. And that’s OK

5.Go Customer Crazy!

Whatever you do, you will manage the delivery of products or services. Your customers are your lifeblood. So make it easiest for your customer-facing people by giving them licence to delight! Challenge every process or system rigorously to check the customer offer is perfection. You will not succeed unless you get this right. Remember internal customer colleagues too!

6.Deliver Great Product

Your customers are waiting to receive. They want to buy from you with their readies in their hot little hands. So have an excellence of product or service and buying experience for them – have it available when they want it and make easy for them to get it. And don’t overpromise.

7.Test Yourself Regularly

By setting in place checks and measures that you are delivering excellent products or services, when your customers want it, with fabulous people, you are continuously improving. There is no ceiling on what you can achieve – no ‘we’re done!’ Once you are satisfied, get twitchy and up the stakes. You and your people will love it!

8.Lead a Top Team

Teams run organisations. Not a top leader. But you need to be that leader to manage your Top Team. Recognising the qualities and strengths of every single one of your people in a most constructive and creative way, makes for excellent leverage. You drive it, they deliver it whichever way they can. For outstanding results.

9.Be a Model

As the ‘boss’ you have a lot of personal freedom. Yet if you decide to abuse that, your people will not respond. A rule for one and different for the rest is not going to work. This doesn’t mean that you have to do all the work yourself – far from it. But you do need to be very clear indeed on the business priorities and keep focus.

10.Show Passion for your Business

The ‘Zapp’ you have in your day is infectious. Your people will hugely respond to how you respond to their efforts. Recognition of their performance will crank up their involvement and engagement even more. If you love the work you are in, show it. If you don’t, find something that you do love (it will be better for everyone, most of all you).

Of course there are other tweaks you can make to these ideas. But if you use these ten as your template, toss them around with your team and tease out the detail, you will be well on your way to being a 100% Successful Manager.

© 2005-6 Martin Haworth is a Business and Management Coach. He works worldwide, mainly by phone, with small business owners, managers and corporate leaders. He has hundreds of hints, tips and ideas at his website, http://www.coaching-businesses-to-success.com

…helping you, to help your people, to help your business grow…

Benjamin Franklin wrote: “If you want to enjoy one of the greatest luxuries in life, the luxury of having enough time, time to rest, time to think things through, time to get things done and know you have done them to the best of your ability, remember, there is only one way. Take enough time to think and plan things in the order of their importance. Your life will take on a new zest, you will add years to your life, and more life to your years. Let all your things have their place.” When you read Franklin’s words, what do they mean to you? Do you have enough time to balance your personal needs with your commitment to the outside world? Is stress causing havoc in your life? What exactly does it mean to have your life in balance and how do you achieve it?

Balance is defined as stability of mind and body; a state of being in balance; and harmony in the parts of a whole. The Chinese art of Feng Shui describes balance as being comprised of Yin and Yang energy. Yin is the calming and peace-giving energy and Yang is the action-oriented dynamic force. Yin energy engages receptivity and allows rest, rejuvenation, healing, dreaming, and acceptance. The fire energy, Yang, makes achievement of dreams a reality and creates success. Feng Shui believes every ‘whole’ person requires balance in his or her life force energy.

The key to creating ‘wholeness’ is learning that we must take care of ourselves in order to be able to give what we want to give in our roles as parent, spouse, employee, etc. When we do not take care of ourselves, we end up either sick and/or feeling burned out, as our bodies and mind will make us take the time if we will not do it for ourselves. Emotional and physical health requires taking responsibility for our own well-being.

Most of us have the fantasy that somebody will come along and tell us ‘it is now our turn,’ and so we put off the biological need for rest and relaxation until we are ill. After learning that there is not going to be anyone to rescue us, we realise that the only one who is going to take care of us is, in fact, our self. Once this is recognised, the emotional and physical healing of self can now begin. (I don’t know about you but I am a slower learner. It took me a long time to learn this. In fact, I still get a wake-up call every once in awhile when I choose to get sick rather than rest and take a break.)

We need to allow time each day in order to take care of ourselves. When we do take time, leave the guilt and thoughts of ‘I should be doing…’ outside the door. Instead, recognise that we deserve a few minutes of time for self and that we will be able to function better afterwards. Enjoy that time.

Time Management and Creating Balance

Time is defined as a period during which an action, process, or condition exists or continues; and management is defined as the act or art of managing. Time management is nothing more than the art of managing an action. In other words, the management of time is management of self and setting priorities for self. It is the conscious selection of where we will place our attention.

Reasons for Managing Time

Time is not a renewable resource. When it is gone, it is gone forever.

Everyone has the same amount of time.

The creative thought that emerges from balanced lives and from the joy of our leisure time is what makes the difference in
our level of creativity and productivity.

Take time for silence. Silence and solitude are opportunities for thinking and for simply being.

The best thing you can do to enhance your value at work is to take care of yourself.

Time management provides structure to one’s life and in turn, provides peace of mind.

Time management is something one does for one’s own psyche to make one’s days easier.

Time Management and Creating Balance at Home

1. Determine what’s important to you and in what order. Prioritise to get the important things done by putting ‘first things first.’

2. Set goals and strive towards a sense of purpose and fulfilment.

3. Get organised and manage your time with a daily or weekly schedule.

4. Recognise your limits and have realistic expectations for yourself. You do not have to be ’super person.’

5. Reward yourself.

6. Keep things in perspective. Say to yourself, ‘This too shall pass.’

7. Exercise and eat nutritional foods.

8. Think happy, as life seems to be easier when you smile. Use humour and find a way to laugh at the situation.

9. Be honest with yourself and others.

10. Say ‘No’ to the ’shoulds’ and ‘Yes’ to the ‘wants’ in your life.

Time Management and Creating Balance at Work

1. Make sure your work life is a meaningful expression of your life purpose.

2. Decide to do it. Set up a TO DO list, prioritise A’s, B’s, and C’s. Do A’s first.

3. Planning – take 5 minutes at the end of the day to clean up your space and get organised for the next day’s work.

4. If you have a problem, just before you go to sleep turn it over to your subconscious – your mind will work on it as you sleep and you will have an answer the next day.

5. DO IT NOW. Procrastination is a result of saying “I’ll do it later.”

6. Do not schedule early morning appointments that will disrupt your morning routine.

7. Say ‘NO’ to every new request for your time for the next month (saying NO to every request will minimise your guilt).

8. Think about it before you say ‘yes’ – say ‘I’ll get back to you.’ Some of us are compulsive ‘yes sayers’ when we are asked to do something; taking a few minutes to think about whether we have the time, energy, or desire to perform this request requires that we have a moment to check in with ourselves.

9. Give yourself a break. People are more productive when they take a few minutes away every couple of hours.

10. Don’t let other people’s ‘hurry sickness’ dictate your life.

Remember: There is no such thing as a lack of time. There is nothing more important in your life than your time. Mahatma Gandhi wrote, “There is more to life than merely increasing its speed.” In other words, the fundamental question is: ‘How much of my life-force energy does this cost?’

Gwen Nyhus Stewart, B.S.W., M.G., H.T., is an educator, freelance writer, garden consultant, and author of the book The Healing Garden: A Place Of Peace – Gardening For The Soil, Gardening For The Soul and booklet Non-toxic Alternatives For Everyday Cleaning And Gardening Chores. She owns the website Gwen’s Healing Garden where you will find lots of free information about gardening for the soil and gardening for the soul. To find out more about the books and subscribe to her free Newsletter visit www.gwenshealinggarden.ca

Gwen Nyhus Stewart © 2004 – 2006. All rights reserved.