How to Manage People

Good employee management leads to increased revenue, improved workplace satisfaction, and reduced attrition. It’s important, therefore, to know what works and what doesn’t when managing people. Discover how to determine your management style, fit it to your workplace, and optimize your people management skills.

Understanding management styles

It’s important to understand your management style and how it is likely to impact the dynamics of your team. Whatever your exact approach, successful managers aim for these six goals:

1. Unite employees around a singular vision.

2. Know how to affect that singular vision step by step. 

3. Hire the most qualified people for the job. 

4. Focus on making progress on your overall business goals.

5. Be agile and innovative, especially as information and goals change. 

6. Grow personally and in your leadership methods.

How you achieve these goals can depend on several factors. Kurt Lewin, a German-American psychologist, developed a theory of four fundamental management styles in 1939. They are as follows: 

Authoritarian

Authoritarian, also known as autocratic, management is a top-down arrangement whose success depends on subordinates doing precisely as they’re told. Authoritarian managers are not collaborators and aren’t interested in feedback; they set the rules and expect automatic obedience.

Democratic

Democratic leaders are ultimately responsible for making major business decisions, but they’re interested in ensuring everyone is aligned and working toward the same goals. They collaborate with others to optimize success and aim for results that improve outcomes for everyone involved. 

Laissez-Faire

Laissez-faire leaders leave many decisions up to employees. They aren’t micromanagers: Rather than dictate autocratically, they make themselves available for questions or direction without insisting that every last employee do precisely what they say. 

Transformational

Transformational leaders inspire employees to collaborate to achieve new, innovative business goals. These types of leaders will sometimes alter a business’s previous goals quite radically to attain greater success and affect employee personal growth. 

How do you effectively manage people?

People management doesn’t always come naturally. It may require study, personal reflection, and extensive practice; even then, your initial approach may be insufficient, so you’ll need to reassess your methods. 

Consider the following tips for better people management: 

Build strong relationships

Leaders who cultivate strong relationships within their organization see better results in terms of employee happiness, which also boosts shareholder revenue and increases return on investment (ROI). 

Building strong relationships is about being: 

• Values-driven

• Transparent

• Compassionate

• Humane

It’s also about recognizing that your employees are individuals with unique needs. With that in mind, develop a rapport with your employees. Consider their concerns and try to understand them as individuals. Practice active listening and offer thoughtful feedback: let them know they’re valued for their contributions. 

Remember to be authentic. People tend to view inauthenticity as a threat, negatively affecting workplace morale. So, be yourself, remain calm under stress, and do your best not to worry needlessly about what you can’t change. 

Set clear expectations

Effective communication is key to good management. Some managers make mistakes when it comes to setting expectations. Employees may find their expectations: 

• Unclear

• Excessive

• Tending toward micromanagement

It’s important you let employees know why they’re doing what they’re doing. Elucidate the company’s overall goals and urge your employees toward those goals. This lets them know they’re part of a larger project where they can find individual meaning. 

Use plain language that’s meant to inspire. Solicit questions rather than just doling out tasks. Be clear about what you need everyone to do: You will want to establish key performance indicators (KPIs)—attainable goals that indicate company success—right from the start. Common KPIs include: 

• Increasing revenue

• Decreasing operational costs

• Providing better customer service

• Being more efficient

KPIs are broad goals. They differ from metrics, which are measurable attainments within those goal parameters, such as the number of customers reached or the time it takes to do something. Make sure employees know what you expect metrics-wise as well. 

Motivate and engage your team

Employees want to feel engaged. Create a positive work environment by clearly articulating your company’s values, and foster trust by embodying those values at the management level. 

Ask your employees what motivates them. This lets them know you want them to have a stake in your company. Employees will tell you they have a variety of motivations, such as getting a raise or a promotion or developing professionally. Listen without judgment. 

Establish a positive workplace culture where management sets clear expectations, actively listens to employee feedback, cultivates productivity, and aims for general satisfaction and well-being among all employees. 

Things that affect workplace culture include: 

• Management style

• Company mission and values

• Employee benefits

• Employee growth and development opportunities

A positive workplace attracts great candidates, limits attrition, and improves well-being. Typically, happy employees are more productive employees. 

Provide constructive feedback

Constructive feedback is offered in the hope of correcting an employee’s mistakes. Doing so is good for the company and the employee. However, you can’t affect positive change via constructive criticism if you offer it rudely. Teach employees what they can do better; explain to them why it’s in their interest and the company’s to follow your direction instead of belittling or scolding an employee and discounting or undervaluing their contributions. 

When offering feedback, treat employees equally. Be consistent and open to hearing employee concerns regarding criticism. This should help establish the trust they need in you to accept constructive feedback well. 

It may be a good idea to “sandwich” negative criticism between positive ones. Let employees know what they’re doing right—that they’re doing a good job overall—but call attention to areas needing improvement. 

Handle conflict and challenges astutely

Sources of workplace conflict include: 

• Poor communication

• A mismatch between employee and management values

• Competition for limited resources

• Unaddressed performance issues

• Simple personality clashes

As a people manager, you’ll want to address workplace conflicts before they get out of hand. Improve your people management skills in times of crisis by offering to collaborate on working toward a solution that benefits everyone involved. You can also find ways to compromise when employees must share scarce resources. 

Some managers let employees compete to see who can resolve the conflict, while others avoid addressing conflict altogether. Generally, these aren’t recommended methods of conflict resolution because the purpose of addressing conflict is to solve it, not to ignore it and let it fester over time. 

Make sure you understand the conflict's exact nature. Let everyone involved communicate what they’d like to see happen regarding a resolution. Be sure to address the issue face-to-face—not the people involved or their general workplace histories. Remember, you aren’t criticizing your employees as individuals; you’re working to strengthen the company by solving issues intelligently and to everyone’s benefit.

Develop your team

Learning and development are key to preventing employee attrition. Take time to understand what kind of development individual employees want rather than creating a generic development plan that may or may not satisfy anyone. Offer professional training through seminars or courses. 

Fostering interdepartmental collaboration may also be a good idea. Employees in one department can learn from those in another if they’re willing. Encourage personal as well as professional development. Emphasize self-care, a good work-life balance, and intellectual and personal growth on important subjects such as personal finance. 

Evaluate performance carefully

Be sure you’re reviewing the employee based on their original job description and not for responsibilities they were not hired to do. If you find your employee falling short in what your company's expectations, recommend actionable changes they can take to improve, rather than rendering generic criticism. 

Setting performance metrics and helping employees meet them allows employees to feel a sense of accomplishment that leads to greater workplace satisfaction. Ask for your employee’s input on your evaluation, too: You may not have gotten the whole story. Offer constructive criticism of actions, not an assessment of the person. 

Adapt to change

Adaptability is a major driver of success and longevity, and adapting to change involves setting new goals. You may need to examine seemingly fundamental concepts such as the 9-to-5 workday. The world has changed in many ways and will keep changing: If old habits are no longer useful, change them up.

You’ll want to help your employees accept that change is a constant. When it happens at your company, tell your employees clearly and transparently how you plan to make the most of it with a positive attitude and explain employees’ place in the new work environment. 

Learn more about how to manage effectively with Coursera

By understanding your personal management style, what your employees need from you, and how to align everyone with core business objectives, you'll have a firm foundation in knowing how to manage people effectively. 

Learn more about management on Coursera. Start with the Leading People and Teams Specialization from the University of Michigan. This Specialization allows you to explore proven management techniques and learn more about leading effectively. You might also consider the Strategic Leadership: Impact, Change, and Decision-Making Specialization from Dartmouth to help you build the wisdom and skills needed to grow and change as a leader.