Every Team Member is a People Manager
This article is part of Proyek Perangkat Lunak (PPL) or Software Engineering Project Course. Any information written here may or may not be true. Please use it wisely and let me know if there is any wrong information in it.
Effective management of people is important for any organisation’s productivity and output. People managers are leaders who care about every person’s growth and well-being and also manage people effectively. Understanding the basic people-management skills can help you discover your strengths and identify areas for improvement. In PPL Project, I think it’s unfair if we only give that task to one person (scrum master). That’s why I think every team member is a People Manager, at least for himself.
What does a people manager do?
People managers improve workplace communication and prepare employees for success by using their people-management skills. From handling interpersonal conflicts to building company culture, they play an important role in the success of an organisation. People managers understand their team members and care about the organisation and the people in it.
Management is not just about serving a commercial or an administrative purpose. People managers perform a number of activities, such as onboarding new employees, making decisions and solving problems. They use their people-management skills to get work done by engaging and developing their team members.
What is people management?
People management is the process of training, motivating and directing employees to optimize workplace productivity and promote professional growth. Workplace leaders, such as team leads, managers and department heads use people management to oversee workflow and boost employee performance every day.
Essential people management skills
People management requires several soft skills, including those that can lead to open and honest communication as well as improved employee experience. Each of these skills can better help you interact with your employees and perform organizational tasks.
Trust
Trust means believing that you can rely on someone’s abilities, assistance or advice when you need it most. Building trust helps your team work together more efficiently and productively. Teams should be able to trust that their leader supports them and believes in their hard work. Leaders should be able to trust that their team can complete tasks correctly and on time.
In, PPL we must trust other team members. We believe that we can rely on each other’s abilities to finish the tasks on time. We can also build other’s trust to us by doing the task as best as possible.
Good communication
People managers have clarity in what they say so that they can make sure that all members understand them. Good communication skills enable people managers to work together in solving problems, brainstorming new ideas and adapting to new changes. They use clear and simple language so that every member understands their message. Practice effective communication skills so that every member understands what you want to say.
This skill is one of the most important skills in teamwork. In PPL project we maintain good communication between team member’s to make sure there is no miscommunication between each other.
Honesty
If our team want to grow, so we need to give them feedback that allows them to improve. But the only way that feedback can lead to real growth, is if it is honest. This means being truthful, at both the good time, and the bad.
When communicating with each other, try to understand what happened and why it happened in that way. You can then give honest, helpful feedback without being critical or negative. Not only will this show honesty and trust to your employees, it also assists with development without bringing down morale. It’s okay to tell the truth even though it’s not good news.
Active listening
Active listening is the practice of listening to the speaker to fully understand their perspective, question or concern before responding. Active listeners remove distractions, maintain eye contact and offer verbal or non-verbal cues to indicate their engagement and understanding.
We can practice active listening to give feedback when online meetings. It’s can as simple as saying “OK”, “Understandable”, “Hmmm”, or any other word’s that indicate that you understand and pay attention to the meetings.
Flexibility
Knowing when to be flexible and when to more firmly direct members is an important aspect of effective people management. You can demonstrate flexibility in your management style by accommodating individual member needs — such as adjustable schedule options — and allowing them to adjust their individual workflow so they can be as productive as possible.
In PPL Project we divide the tasks depending on the abilities and specialists of each person. With the division of tasks like that, everyone can do the task according to their abilities and also not burden the person. For example, if a member understands the backend better, that person will get more assignments on the backend and vice versa.
Final Words
We already know what is people management, people manager and its purpose, and several skills included in people management. Having people management skills is not only for the leader or scrum master but also for every team member. By having all of those people management skills we hope we can grow better as a team and not only depend on one person.
Thanks for reading and don’t forget to be grateful!
The key to managing well is understanding people.
