5 Steps To Master Team Management Skills

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5 Steps to Master Team Management Skills

Ad closed by Suppose a serious problem occurred in your
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You dont have a good relationship with the
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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.
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In such case, you may ask yourself some questions:
What do I need to do in order to turn things around in the workplace?

I have such many skills such as:
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
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Role of People skills

30%the success of the project comes from technical skills such as Testing (/software-
testing.html)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, lets consider the members with whom you interact with every day.
Do you have good relations with them?

Is there any trouble with those relations?
Good people skill helps you
Achieve the project target: Human resource is the most important contributor to achieve
the project target. If you have a good people skill, you will manage the human resource
perfectly.
Communicate more effectively: Good people skills help you to express thoughts and
feelings effectively. Moreover, you can receive communication from others, understand and
respond to them in an appropriate manner.
Co-operate effectively: Can you manage the project team if you have a bad relationship
with them? The answer is impossible. Team is a group people, not individual. It can only
become a strong team if all the members of the team cooperate and understand each other.
How to master People Skills?

Mastering people skills is a 5 step process as below -
Step 1) Eec ve communica on

As the highest position in a Team, the Test Manager has to
Send, receive and process huge numbers of messages from team members every day.
Discuss & exchange information with others.
Express different ideas to the project teams effectively.
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
Step 1.1) Listening

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.
As the Test Manager, you have to do as following
Your employee may have something to tell you, stop talking and start listening and be
patient because not everyone can express his/her thought well
Dont act as a boss; keep interacting in your role as a parent or friend. You should listen to
her even she has a negative approach towards you or difficulty in communicating with you.
Make her feel heard and understood which can help build a stronger, deeper connection
between you and your members.
Ask for more information to be sure you heard the whole story because you need to realize
her issues, find out what she thought, and resolve them.
The issues in this case are that you did not recognize her contribution although she worked
hard, motivated. This thing made her de-motivated.
Step 1.2) Emo onal awareness

The secret of successful communication is emotional awareness. All human emotions reflect
on face. If you are happy or upset, others can see it via your face, no matter how hard you try
to avoid this.
Be aware and understand others emotion, it helps you to realize their feeling. Will help you find
out their true concern and resolve it.
Step 1.3) Talking

After listening, you already understood which your people want, how they feel. Its 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
The words: The message which you convey to other must be clear, easy to understand
and focus on the main point. Do not talk too much or nobody understands what you said.
The voice: The voice you speak is responsible for about 40% of the message we are
sending. Tone involves the volume you use, the level and type of emotion that you
communicate and the emphasis that you place on the words that you choose.
Body language: Body language is the various forms of non-verbal communication, wherein
a person may reveal clues as to some unspoken intention or feeling through their physical
behavior. The body language includes:
Have knowledge of the body language and understanding what it means, you can
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Learn to read people more easily

Have more effective communication with them.
Increase your understanding of others
Become more aware of the messages that you convey to them
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 Guru99 Bank. How do
you persuade the team members to use your solution?
Lets 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
Step 2) Building rela onships

Have you ever asked yourself a question?
How good are your relationships between you and your team?
Take the online test below, and click the "Calculate" button at the foot of the test to evaluate
your relationships
Sr.
Statements Never Rarely Often Always
No
1 I appreciate other members who work with me
2 I take the initiative in resolving the conflict
3 I am active and creative
I pay attention and listen to the others even they say

4
negative words
5 I think I am the boss! Everyone must obey me
Calculate
You can self-evaluate your relationships base on the score interpretation below
Score Evaluate
10-12 You have a strong relationship with your team members. You have the potential ability to lead
project team to the success
7-9 You recognized that working well with others in the workplace is important, but you performed
so well. Anyway, you still have a chance to improve your relationship
0-6 You have a bad relationship with others in your team. It is your weak point. You must work mo
collaboratively to achieve your target in building relationship
Building relationships is an important factor within the project team. Its all about getting people
to like and to trust you so that they can do what you need.
Therere 3 steps which you should follow to build a good relationship
Step 2.1) Make the connec on

Therere many people, who have particular personalities, different skills, in the project team.
If these people with such skills and personal can connect as a group, it will build a strong
business relationship, strong confidence. One person cannot do anything, but a group of people
can do everything.
Step 2.2) Ge ng personal

One of the best ways to build a strong relationship is getting personal. While discussing project,
issues are usually the main purpose of speaking with someone, finding out something personal
about them and it takes the relationship to the next level.
Consider the following scenario
Your team has 2 talented and experienced members. As Test Manager, you also realize their
talent and want to build a good relationship with them. However, you dont have any idea
about their personal such as their family, their hobbiesEtc.
How can you build the good relationship with them?
A) It is impossible to build a good relationship without any idea about their personal life
B) No Problem. I can build a good relationship with them because I am their manager!
C) I don't know how
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.
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) Inuencing 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) Mo va ng People
The project Guru99 is in very hard time. The deadline is coming, but theres 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 Guru99 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. Herere 2 different behaviors of the Test Manager.
The behavior which can make the employee proud of their work is the
The Behavior A
The Behavior B
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?
Above cases are examples of ethical issues in the workplace. They are a big trouble nuisance
for any project.
Project team is a business group. It has its own rule and all the members in this group must
follow this rule. Ethics in the workplace are important because it creates a secure and content
work environment.
Back to the project Guru99 Bank, if the cases mentioned above happen, what would you do?
The following interactive shows you some recommendations to handle the ethical issues in your
project
Ethical issue 1 : Team members do personal tasks in their working time
Solution
Ethical issue 2 :Team members use project equipment for personal use
Solution
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5 Steps to Master Team Management Skills

In such case, you may ask yourself some questions:

What do I need to do in order to turn things around in the workplace?

In spite of these skills, why these problems occur in my project?

What are the People skills?

Role of People skills

Do you have good relations with them?

Good people skill helps you

How to master People Skills?

Step 1) Eec ve communica on

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

Effective communication combines a set of skills including

Step 1.1) Listening

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

As the Test Manager, you have to do as following

Step 1.2) Emo onal awareness

Step 1.3) Talking

Following figure shows you the way your message is conveyed

Learn to read people more easily

Step 2) Building rela onships

1 I appreciate other members who work with me

2 I take the initiative in resolving the conflict

3 I am active and creative

I pay attention and listen to the others even they say

5 I think I am the boss! Everyone must obey me

Therere 3 steps which you should follow to build a good relationship

Step 2.1) Make the connec on

Step 2.2) Ge ng personal

Consider the following scenario

How can you build the good relationship with them?

Step 2.3) Establish healthy culture

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

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

Step 3) Inuencing people

This topic will answer your questions

How to influence people by increasing your credibility, trustworthiness and communication

To become a great influencer, you have to:

You may ask a question

Step 5) Handling ethical issues

Ethical issue 1 : Team members do personal tasks in their working time

YOU MIGHT LIKE:

TEST MANAGEMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT

(/testlink-tutorial-complete- (/initiation-phase-project- (/introduction-project-

TEST MANAGEMENT PROJECT MANAGEMENT COURSE

(/top-20-test-manager- (/learn-financial-planning- (/pmp-tutorial.html)

Risk Analysis and Solution (/how-precaution-becomes-cure-risk-analysis-and-solutions-in-test-

Test Estimation (/an-expert-view-on-test-estimation.html)

Team Organization (/how-to-organize-a-test-team.html)

Test Planning (/what-everybody-ought-to-know-about-test-planing.html)

Monitoring and Control (/how-you-can-achieve-project-goals-through-test-monitoring-control.html)

Issue Management (/issue-management-in-your-testing-project.html)

Test Report & Evaluation (/how-test-reports-predict-the-success-of-your-testing-project.html)

Test Management Reviews (/software-quality-assurance-test-audit-review-makes-your-life-easy.html)

Defect Management (/the-unconventional-guide-to-defect-management.html)

Test Process Improvement (/a-complete-guide-to-test-process-improvement.html)

Test Tool Selection (/testing-automation-why-right-tools-are-necessary-for-testing-success.html)

People Skills (/how-not-knowing-people-skills-blocks-your-success-as-test-manager.html)

Test Manager Interview Questions (/top-20-test-manager-interview-questions.html)

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