In Your Corner Coaching & Consulting Services

Think only those with direct reports need to know how to manage people? Think again.

The days are gone when we could succeed by keeping our eyes down on our desks, doing our own well-defined jobs and going home. It’s a good bet that, if you think about it, you’ll recognize many times when a project’s success has depended on information, resources or influence from someone not in your hierarchical chain.

Jeff was transferred from product engineering to a newly created position coordinating quality and tracking warranty costs. His technical expertise, which had contributed to most of his success in his previous job, was less helpful now as his straightforward, get-it-done style was tripped up by what seemed to be unwarranted resistance from manufacturing supervisors and accountants. He gradually came to see that unless he found ways of persuading them that working together with him was in their own interests as well as his, he was going to fail. His technical credibility was helpful, but learning to help his new colleagues meet their goals on the way to meeting his own was the key to his eventual success.

But what do you do when this is all new to you or your interpersonal skills need development? See our Resources page for suggestions, or leave a comment suggesting or requesting a recommendation in a particular area.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 27th, 2007 at 9:06 am and is filed under Management. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.