5 Steps to Master Team Management Skills

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Suppose a serious problem occurred in your project team.

You don’t have a good relationship with the project members. Sometimes you forget that you are in a professional environment and think you are the boss, everyone must obey you. Although no one seems to be saying anything negative about you, but you pretty sure that they think different, and it is starting to have an effect on the project.

In spite of these skills, why these problems occur in my project? Do you think these skills are enough to become a good Test Manager? There is other skill, which the Test Manager must have, is People Skills

In almost all jobs, your people skills – also known as "soft skills" – have as much of an impact on your success as your management skills. That is especially true when you are in a management or leadership role.

What are the People skills?

People skills are a set of skills enable a person with 30%the success of the project comes from technical skills such as Testing skill, development skills, management skill…. While 70% comes from the human resource. To manage the human resource, the Test Manager needs the people skills. The most important about management is people skills, means how we deal with others. Awareness of our own and others can help you enormously in dealing with the work tasks you are responsible.

   

In the project team, let’s consider the members with whom you interact with every day.

Good people skill helps you Mastering people skills is a 5 step process as below -

Step 1) Effective communication

As the highest position in a Team, the Test Manager has to

Effective communication is much more than above functions. It is also about understanding the emotion behind the information. Through the message which you get from others, you can understand what they think, what they feel & respond accordingly.

Effective communication combines a set of skills including Listening is one of the most important aspects of effective communication. Successful listening means not just understanding the words or the information being communicated, but also understanding how the speaker feels about what they are communicating.

The following example is a demonstration of the listening in the communication

Your project team has talented members. One of the team members has very rich experience in testing and works hard. She always proposes new idea to improve the quality of the project. But recently, she changed, she became sad, de-motivated, and behind your back says bad words about you.

Step 1.3) Talking

After listening, you already understood which your people want, how they feel. It’s time to express your idea, your thought. You need talking skill. Your expression is represented via the words you said, your voice and your body language

Following figure shows you the way your message is conveyed Have knowledge of the body language and understanding what it means, you can

See the importance of the talking skill via the following scenario

You found a new solution to speed up the test execution for the project gtupapers Bank. How do you persuade the team members to use your solution?

Let’s present your idea to the project team using the talking skill which you have learned In the above example, by using a proper tone of voice, you focused on the main point. The emphasis on a particular word (productivity, cost, 30%) implies additional information than what the words say. Combining the body language such as eye, gesture, you are successful in persuading the team members to use your solution

You can self-evaluate your relationships base on the score interpretation below

Score

There’re many people, who have particular personalities, different skills, in the project team.

Incorrect

Correct

One of the best ways to build a strong relationship is getting personal. While discussing the project, the issue is usually the main purpose of speaking with someone, finding out something personal about them to take the relationship to the next level.

Step 2.3) Establish healthy culture

Answer the following -

A) I feel lonely on this team. I cannot work for them anymore

B) I am a member of the project team. I have to trust and obey the manager

C) My project team is like my family. I love them.

Incorrect

Correct

When a member feels that he is a member of the family, where others respect him and trust him, he will work with the great motivation, the best effort.

Step 3) Influencing people

What will you do in case of nobody in the project team listens and obeys your order? Although you are the Test Manager, but you no longer have any real influence over your team member.

This topic will answer your questions

  • How to influence people by increasing your credibility, trustworthiness and communication skills
  • What are the characteristics that make some people more influential than others?
The Test Manager role requires you to influence project members all of the time. Influence people is- Being a Test Manager with excellent influence skill, you can easily have team members do what you want & make your job easier.

To become a great influencer, you have to:

  • Combine the interpersonal skills, communication skills, presentation and listening skills.
  • Adapt and modify your personal style, change your behavior and attitude to the member whom you are working with

Step 4) Motivating People

The project gtupapers is in very hard time. The deadline is coming, but there’s a lot of work to do in this project. Many issues occurred such as project budget is cut down, not enough human resource. The project teams are losing their hope; they are discouraged.

In such case, you have to encourage them, give them HOPE, and let your team know that they are capable of achieving any goal they have set for themselves. It is the principle of people motivation You may ask a question Some people think that money and bonus were the best way to motivate people. Pay raises were given to the employee with outstanding performance; appreciate their achievement by salary promotion.

However, in case the company is in a hard situation, money is not the only way to motivate people. The Test Manager should find out the other ways to motivate his project members  

  • Appreciation: In your team, some members gave an outstanding performance.  As the Test Manager, you should call attention to their outstanding work; show them your appreciation of their contribution.
  • Opportunity: Provide opportunities for high potential talent to continue learning, growing, and developing their skills, such as by leading some parts of the project. Let them have a chance to prove their ability, skill up them self.
  • Positive: Always finding a creative way to stay happy and make others work with a positive attitude is the best way to motivate people.

Here are some recommended activities, which you should do to motivate team members, in the project gtupapers Bank.

  • Make people think they are not just a project team, they are a family
  • Create a friendly, closely, and funny atmosphere in the team.
  • Show respect for people around you. Even you are the Manager; you have to do it with compassion, kindness, humility and sincerity.
  • Pride: The best way to motivate your employees is to find ways that they can take pride in their skills and their knowledge. Always respect others as well as appreciate them for their contribution, which is a good way to make them proud of their work.

The following example show you the importance of the pride in motivating people

One member of project team would like to propose his idea about improving the quality of the project. Here’re 2 different behaviors of the Test Manager.


Incorrect

Correct

In above scenario, if you do like the test manager A, nobody will propose or share their insights and ideas anymore. They become a passive follower and just work for their paychecks.

Step 5) Handling ethical issues

What will you do in case some members of your team do as following?
Ethical issue 2 :Team members use project equipment for personal use


I will educate them on general ethical principles, help them to be aware of the importance of work ethics

 

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