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.

• 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

• 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

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

Download Extended Seminar Outline PDF