7 Interpersonal Skills of Great Managers

Broaden your managerial effectiveness to ensure your success in today’s hyper-speed, technology-driven and diverse workplace.

Impact, engagement and results depend on a situationally balanced combination of technical, function-related, operational and interpersonal proficiencies. Interpersonal skills are pivotal to building credibility, trust, accountability and commitment in your team. This 2-day, interactive, hands-on, action planning and skill-building experience will equip you with an expanded perspective and a set of competencies to distinguish you from others who subscribe to a more traditional managerial mindset.

Who Should Attend

Managers, team and project leaders, and supervisors who want to take their personal, team and unit performance to the next level through the dynamic use of interpersonal and engagement proficiency.

What Will Be Covered

• Linking management challenges to interpersonal skills
• Increasing your self-awareness and clarifying values
• Adapting style preferences to the situation
• Checking for understanding
• Delivering clear messages and instructions
• Directing and communicating performance expectations
• Using active listening to enhance your effectiveness
• Giving effective corrective feedback and engaging difficult people
• Motivating others to get great results
• Achieving productive and satisfying work relationships with peers, your manager, and others
• Practicing using feedback as an important communication tool
• Utilizing and leveraging the talents and experience of a multigenerational team
• Practicing strategies to promote inclusiveness
• Applying key interpersonal skills to facilitate delegation and meetings
• Drafting a management credo
• Planning for continued interpersonal skill development
• Providing the right support for teams

How You Will Benefit

• Expand your managerial mindset
• Examine the impact of your values and approaches to management
• Establish, communicate and gain commitment for performance expectations
• Enlist others through trust and empathy
• Energize others through providing feedback, building teams and handling conflict
• Enable others through motivation and valuing differences
• Empower others through delegating tasks and conducting meetings

Outline

Learning Objectives

• Describe the Connection Between Effective Management and the Use of Interpersonal Skills
• Use Critical Interpersonal Skills Recommended for Various Management Challenges
• Practice Active Listening and Feedback Skills with Class Colleagues in Application Exercises
• Tailor Responses to the Needs/Preferences of Target Audience(s) Based on Self-Assessments
• Apply Conflict Management Skills in Work Situations with Direct Reports and Associates
• Employ Motivational/Management Principles and Empathy in Realistic Management Examples
• Demonstrate Trust and Motivational Practices in Different Interpersonal Skills Practices
• Choose Constructive Responses to On-the-Job Management Encounters Using Conflict Management, Feedback, and Listening Principles Practiced in Class
• Discuss Individual Action Plans That Describe How Identified Skills Will Be Used on the Job
• Present an Individual Management Credo That Reflects Your Personal Values, Communication and Management Styles

Expanding Managerial Mindsets

• Explain the Interpersonal Skills That Effective Managers Use
• Describe How Your Team Members Would Rate Your Use of Interpersonal Skills
• Identify Other Management Approaches That Can Be Added to Your Current Repertoire
• List Potential and Real Barriers to Your Successful Use of Interpersonal Skills
• Evaluate How Adopting Different Management Styles and Mindsets Facilitates Your Managerial Effectiveness

Examining the Impact of Values, Behavioral Preferences and Management Styles

• Assess Your Level of Self-Awareness and Its Impact on Your Effectiveness
• Identify and Clarify Key Personal Values and Actions That Reflect the Principle
• Describe the Impact They Could Have on Others with Different Behavioral Style Preferences

Establishing Clear Performance Expectations

• Prepare Two Performance Expectations for Self or Team Members Using Pointers Provided and Practiced in Class
• Develop and Use a List of Questions and Actions to Check for Understanding in Setting Performance Goals
• Apply Pointers for Establishing Performance Expectations to Real-Life Practical Examples
• Use Interpersonal Skills to Establish Performance Expectations, Check for Understanding, Gain Commitment and Deliver Clear Messages

Enlisting Through Trust, Empathy, and Active Listening

• Identify Personal Listening Liabilities and Strategies for Improvement
• Recognize the Uses of Feedback in Building, Understanding, and Achieving High-Performance Standards, Individually and in Teams
• Practice and Apply the Use of Questions to Build Shared Information and Enhance Clarity
• Analyze the Uses of Self-Disclosure, Feedback, Listening, and Questions to Achieve Productive and Satisfying Work Relationships with Peers, Your Manager, and Others

Energizing by Providing Feedback, Building Teams, and Handling Conflict

• Describe the Impact of Your Current Approach to Providing Feedback to Team Members
• Identify Common Mistakes to Avoid When Giving Feedback
• Use Feedback Best Practices in Various In-Class Scenarios
• Partner with Colleagues to Develop a Feedback Approach That Will Be Taken in a Challenging On-the-Job Example
• Identify Your Team’s Development Stage and Prepare Interventions to Progress Team’s Development
• Use Constructive Management Approaches and Interpersonal Skills to Recognize and Handle Conflict in Skills Practices and Peer Coaching

Enabling by Providing Instructions, Motivating, and Valuing Differences

• Use a Set of Steps to Provide Clear Directions to Others
• Apply Motivational Principles to On-the-Job Situations
• Evaluate and Implement Practices That Value Differences in Your Work Teams
• Identify Some Strategies for Utilizing and Leveraging the Talents and Experience of a Multigenerational Team

Empowering Through Delegating and Conducting Effective Meetings

• Identify Opportunities to Delegate to Team Members
• Plan to Delegate to a Team Member Using Pointers Provided
• Diagnose the Effectiveness of Your Current Meetings
• Implement Two New Effective Meeting Practices
• Apply Key Motivational Skills to Facilitate Delegation and Meetings

Management Credo Presentation and Action Plan Discussion

• Draft Your Personal Management Credo
• Present Your Personal Management Credo in Writing
• Verbally Outline Your Interpersonal Skills Development Plan
• Invite Feedback from and Offer Feedback to Your Colleagues