Test Your People Skills

August 16, 2007

Having good interpersonal skills, or "people skills" helps you be more effective as a manager. Good people skills can promote cooperation among others, reduce conflict, and make the workplace more pleasant.

But, what exactly are people skills anyway?

Does having good people skills simply mean that you act friendly toward others? Or do you have to be friends with everyone?

Below is a list of some commonly accepted attributes of a person with good people skills. First, however, I want to start with a short quiz. The purpose of this little exercise is to help you assess your own strengths as a people person and perhaps find a few additional areas you'd like to work on.

Each of the following questions can be answered, Yes or No.

1. Do people feel they can trust you?
2. Do you find yourself making derogatory comments about others behind their back?
3. In the past week have you made an effort to learn something of a personal nature - unrelated to work - about someone who works for you?
4. Do you ever make promises or commitments to others knowing that you will not or cannot keep them?
5. In the past week have you explained to someone who works for you how to perform a work-related task or solve a work-related problem?
6. Do you encourage your employees to develop new skills or take on new assignments?
7. Do your employees feel that you expect a lot from them?
8. Do you discuss career goals and plans with each of your employees at least once a year?
9. Do you believe the work you do is important?
10. 10. Would you describe yourself as an optimist?
11. Can you usually tell when someone is feeling upset or discouraged?
12. Do you have the ability to inspire people to take action they would not otherwise take?
13. Are you a good listener?
14. Are you sympathetic to the frustrations and disappointments of others?
15. Do you routinely ask your employees if they have everything they need to perform well in their jobs?
16. Are you motivated by a desire to help or serve people?

Here are the correct responses. Give yourself one point for each. Y, N, Y, N, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y, Y.

If you answered more than 14 questions correctly, give yourself a pat on the back. You are most certainly a people person. If not, the descriptions below might help you identify where your strengths lie and also help you identify areas where you might be able to improve your effectiveness as a manager.

The questions above are based on four categories of people skills.

RELATIONSHIP SKILLS (Questions 1-4)

First, is the ability to establish a personal connection with people, commonly described as relationship skills. This involves establishing relationships with others that are based on trust and mutual respect.

Managers who keep their promises, respect the dignity of others, and make an effort to form personal connections with people quickly earn their trust and respect. Managers who fail to do these things undermine the trust people place in them, making it all but impossible to maintain a good relationship.

COACHING AND DEVELOPING (Questions 5-8)

Managers with good people skills are developers of people. They want to see others succeed. Therefore, they are constantly coaching, encouraging, and prodding people along. They help people set meaningful personal and career goals for themselves; and they provide plenty of opportunities for people to grow and develop. They expect a lot from each one of their employees because they know that people will live up to or down to their expectations. They especially enjoy celebrating personal successes with people.

LEADING (Questions 9-12)

Effective managers have a clear sense of direction. They are guided by their values or by a vision of what the organization can become. To them, the work they do is tremendously important; it provides meaning and purpose. And by sharing their values and vision with others, they give meaning, and purpose to the work of others as well.

These managers are also optimists. They believe the future holds great promise. And their enthusiasm and confidence have the effect of drawing others in, like a magnet. People like optimists and enjoy being around them, unlike pessimists who tend to drag others down with their messages of gloom and doom.

Managers who possess these leadership qualities inspire others and motivate them to take actions they would not otherwise have taken. They do this by appealing to people on an emotional level.

SUPPORTING (Questions 13-16)

Finally, managers with effective people skills are motivated by a desire to help or serve people. They are caring and sympathetic. And they are especially good and mending hurt feelings. They pick people up when they are feeling down and know how to console them and restore their confidence.

As leader of the team, these supportive managers know it is their responsibility to provide whatever assistance and resources the team members need to perform well in the job, whether it be tools and resources or psychological and emotional support. And they serve as a strong advocate for the team in their dealings with upper management.

As you can see, possessing good people skills does not mean winning a popularity contest. Nor does it mean that one should place relationships above getting the work done. And it certainly doesn't mean that one should allow poor performers to slide by for the sake of maintaining "the relationship." Good people skills are about bringing out the best in people and helping each individual achieve his or her full potential - as a contributor to the organization and as a person.

Best regards,

Stephen Foster, Ph.D., SPHR
Canopy Software, Inc.
1493 Market Street
Tallahassee, FL 32312
(850) 893-5699

E-mail me at: Steve.Foster@ExpertSupervisor.com.