MBM Glossaries: People Management Skills Definition
This glossary contains our People Management Skills definition and a list of terms frequently used in the topic People Management Skills. For a comprehensive guide to all things People Management, check out our free Ultimate Guide to People Management Skills.
Active Listening
A type of listening where all the senses are engaged and the listener strives to fully understand what is being communicated to be able to remember and respond to the message.
Assets
Things of value that a business owns. In People Management, manpower is considered an invaluable asset to a company.
Attrition Rate
The rate by which the company’s workforce is reduced as a result of resignations, terminations, retirements, and other means of losing employees. A high attrition rate may be highly influenced by poor management practices such as micromanagement.
Autosuggestion
A psychological technique similar to the placebo effect. It trains the mind to adapt to a certain behaviour by means of self-hypnosis.
Broken Communication
When there is a disconnect in communication between two parties and misunderstanding arises.
Bureaucracy
A hierarchy-based organisation that has a chain of command and specified roles and systemic processes.
B2B
Business-to-Business companies providing services or good directly to other businesses.
Bottom Line
The total amount that the business owes or have earned after all expenses.
Charisma
The ability of an individual to attract, influence, and inspire others.
Character
The personality of an individual based on the totality of that person’s values and behaviour.
Closed Questions
Closed Questions or Close-Ended Questions are answerable by a single word or a yes or no.
Compassion
Concern and sympathy for the misfortunes of others.
Confidence
The certainty and individual have when he/she understand who he/she is and what the person can bring to the table.
Conflict Strategy
A conflict resolution strategy that a manager puts into place to allow for swift conflict resolution. It aims to understand the problem and the individuals involved to better achieve a mutually agreeable outcome.
Decoding
Translating messages and understanding what is meant to be communicated, both spoken and unspoken.
Delayering
Removing and organisation’s layers of hierarchy
Eisenhower Principle
The Eisenhower’s Important/Urgent Principle is a way of prioritising activities. Taken from President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s speech in 1954, the principle creates a distinction between important activities that will eventually lead to the completion of a person’s goals and urgent activities that require immediate attention and bear consequences if not dealt with immediately.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence (EI) or sometimes referred to as Emotional Quotient (EQ) is the ability to understand and manage an individual’s emotions and the emotions of others.
Empowerment
Enabling an individual to independently think and act for himself/herself autonomously.
Employee Turnover Cost
The losses a company incurs when an employee leaves the company for whatever reason. A report by Oxford Economics revealed that the turnover cost for every employee averages around £30,614. This includes the logistical cost of hiring new talent and cost of lost output while the replacement talent receives necessary training and orientation for the position.
Esprit de Corps
The collective morale, pride, and values of a group. Can also be referred to as Team Spirit
Ethics
A collection of moral standards and acceptable conduct.
Egalitarian
A focus on providing equality to employees/members instead of a hierarchy or class-based ranking.
Fallacy
Flawed arguments that do not follow the laws of logic.
Grapevine
Informal channels where information in an organisation travels. These channels are based on acquaintances and friendship.
Induction
Introducing new hires in a company and familiarising them with the company culture.
‘Leaders Eat Las’
A book by Simon Sinek that shows the need for leaders and managers to exhibit empathy.
Learning Curve
A visual representation of an employee or a team’s progress when learning a new skill or understanding a new concept. A ‘steep’ learning curve is when the task at hand requires more effort to master or is more difficult to learn.
Management Iceberg
The Management Iceberg describes the art of managing an individual from addressing the items above the water; time, budgets, tasks, and results. And the more intricate workings underneath that deal with feelings, motivation, and personalities. A good manager needs emotional intelligence to be able to manage the visible and submerged parts of the iceberg.
Motivation Theory
Studies by social scientists that try to decode the workings behind what motivates a person and how that it can be harnessed to that person’s benefit. Popular motivation theories include Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, Hertzberg’s Two-Factor Theory, the Hawthorne Effect, and Incentive Theory.
The Change Management Iceberg
Also referred to as, or ‘Iceberg of Ignorance’, this follows the Management Iceberg symbolism of having more underlying mass than can be seen. It describes the possible barriers to change or achieving goals. It emphasises how there is only a small part of potential problems or issues that are visible and failure to address what’s underneath leads to failure.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
In 1943, Abraham Maslow proposed in his paper ‘A Theory of the Human Motivation’ a tier of human needs. Maslow theorised that humans need to first satisfy their basic needs before the next set of needs in the next tier. In people management, Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs helps managers to understand what an underlying cause of a performance issue could be, and how to motivate team members.
Micromanagement
A management style where subordinates are closely monitored by managers. In micromanagement, a manager maintains excessive control over small details, avoids delegation of tasks, and strips subordinates of their ability to make decisions in a particular task. This type of management is often restricting and causes a decline in team morale and employee motivation.
Motivational Theories
Studies attempting to understand and explain the reasoning behind what motivates people.
Mutually Agreeable Outcome
When one or two parties negotiate to reach an outcome that is mutually acceptable for all.
Nepotism
Favouritism towards family relatives in a position of authority.
Onboarding
The process of getting a new hire up to speed to the company and the employee’s role.
Open Communication
Transparency between managers and their team members where every member is able to communicate freely in an open, two-way conversation.
Open Questions
Open Questions or Open-Ended Questions are queries that seek full, meaningful answers.
People Management Skills
The ability to create and foster relationships with people. In the workplace, having these skills means being able to form relationships with colleagues and subordinates. For employees in a managerial position, it involves giving the team the proper motivation, staying on track with projects, knowing the needs of every individual member of the team and how they can help satisfy those needs and reach goals.
Responsible Delegation
Good people management skills help a manager make proper decisions in delegating tasks. Responsible delegation includes matching the skill requirements of a task to a team member’s skills and providing clear instructions and realistic goals.
Retention
The ability to keep and earn the loyalty of an employee or a partner.
ROI
Return on Investment is the time it takes for a business to reap profit from their investment in recruiting, interviewing, employee onboarding, compensation, and training before an employee is functioning to his/her best performance.
Self-Actualization
A psychology theory first introduced by Kurt Goldstein. It describes the motivations behind an individual wanting to realise his/her fullest potential.
Situational Leadership
A leadership model by Ken Blanchard, co-author of the One Minute Manager. Situational leadership assesses the unique needs of employees and uses a different leadership style to address the needs of their team.
Social Learning
A learning theory by Albert Bandura that suggests that people absorb and acquire skills or knowledge through observing others.
Team Spirit
A willingness of team members to do their best for the team.
The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
A book by Patrick Lencioni that explores the 5 common dysfunctions that impair a team from excelling. It includes the absence of trust, fear of conflict, lack of commitment, avoidance of accountability, and inattention to results.
Work Culture
The kind of environment a workplace provides for employees. It is influenced by beliefs, attitudes, and vision of the company and its members.
Work-life Balance
Achieving optimal quality of life by living a fulfilled life outside of work while satisfying career objectives.
For further tips and information, you can take a look at our Ultimate Guide to People Management Skills and our People Management Skills YouTube Channel. Also, check out our award-winning blog to see more People Management Skills Tips and HR Management Tips.
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