HRTorQue offers DISC, an internationally accredited personality profiling tool. If you are interested contact Nicky Hardwick.
Management books have it all wrong. They all try to tell you how to manage “people.”
In a recent article in INC. – a business publication for entrepreneurs – Geoffrey James notes that it’s impossible to manage “people”; it’s only possible to manage individuals. And because individuals differ from one another, what works with one individual may not work with somebody else.
Some individuals thrive on public praise; others feel uncomfortable when singled out. Some individuals are all about the money; others thrive on challenging assignments. Some individuals need mentoring; others find advice to be grating.
The trick is to manage individuals the way that THEY want to be managed, rather than the way that YOU’d prefer to be managed. Or the way you prefer to manage. One way to do this is to ASK.
In your first (or next) meeting with your team members you could ask:
- How do you prefer to be managed?
- What can I do to help you excel?
- What types of management annoy you?
The drawback is that the answer is only worthwhile if the person is relatively self aware – and not everyone is! Another way to do it is to engage with your staff around one of the numerous personality profiling tools available. HRTorQue uses the internationally recognised DISC which is excellent for both teams and individuals. This gives both the manager and the team a tool to identify how different people work together in the team, what probable areas of conflict might be and how best to manage performance and improve team relationships. With this information one can, as far as you are able, adapt your coaching, motivation, compensation and so forth to get the best out of people based on their individual needs.