Whether you’re a business owner, CEO, intern, or regular employee, the ability to work with others is critical for success in any position. That doesn't only apply to people who manage workers, either. You also need to manage relationships with supervisors, customers, and suppliers to be effective in your position.

Here are six people-management tips you can apply to ensure success for you and your team.

Cultivate Your Communication

Communication is vital to be able to manage upward or downward effectively. It involves more than just the use of words; it’s also about how you use your body. Take notice of your and your co-workers’ body language, which is a primary source of nonverbal communication. Study them to discover how engaged they are and what sort of mood they are in, especially before engaging in a potentially tricky discussion.

Become an active listener, which means listening with all your senses. When you try to not only hear what another person says but to understand the unsaid portions and spot the hidden meanings behind words, you’re taking the first step towards building a rapport with them. This goes a long way toward defusing difficult situations, and preventing, or managing conflicts.

Strengthen Your Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence or EQ is considered one of the strongest indicators of success in business. At its core, EQ is the ability to identify and manage your own emotions while recognizing and responding to the emotions of others. You can work at upping your EQ by:

  • Being mindful of the words you use,
  • Controlling anger, annoyance, and other negative emotions, and
  • Working proactively to understand your triggers and eradicate them from your life.

Consider this direct correlation between EQ and job performance: Research by TalentSmart shows that 90 percent of high performers in the workplace have high EQ, and 80 percent of low performers have low EQ.

Walk a Mile in Others’ Shoes

There have never been truer words than these. Visualizing yourself in the position someone else holds can help you identify challenges from their viewpoint. It enables you to understand and empathize with their perspective or situation. You can imagine how you would feel if you were in a similar position and consider what sort of response you would want from others if so.

This empowers you to respond accordingly, which gives the people you interact with the benefit of your wisdom and compassion. In these circumstances, you’re less likely to issue instructions or demand actions that you would not want to commit to, which makes you a more considerate manager or colleague.

Collaborate on Outcomes

Few people know categorically what’s best for others. Even parents don’t always get it right for their children, and it’s unlikely you’ll be able to assume you are able to judge what’s best for your workers or colleagues.

Forget about speculating on what might be best, and rather collaborate with them to find out what their idea of “best” could be. When you work together with colleagues to achieve a mutual benefit, you’ll find they put greater trust in you and respect your viewpoint.

Give Recognition

Everyone appreciates getting recognition for their contributions and achievements. Recognition reinforces desired behaviors and lets co-workers know you appreciate their contributions and accomplishments. Giving recognition to others strengthens their self-esteem and makes them more likely to trust you and follow your direction. At the same time, recognizing the good work of others is fulfilling and rewarding for the giver, and it builds a culture that attracts and retains top talent.

Show Respect

Most people show respect by being polite and kind. For a lot of people, standing aside for others or taking a hat off is a sign of respect. When people are insulted or treated badly, they feel a lack of respect. Building respect is a mutual act and requires many of the attributes listed in this post.

Improve your people management skills in various business circumstances by learning how to be an inspiring and influential leader.

How to Improve Your EQ

You can learn how to increase your EQ with training just like you can learn any other skill with proper instruction and guidance.  If that sounds like something you’d like to explore, we have an excellent solution for you and all your leaders.

Get in touch and let's set up a time to talk. Brian Tracy USA: 877.433.6225 Email Me

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