Managing People - No One Shows You What To Do

Imagine the following scenario - you pay a visit to yourdoctor one day and in the course of the conversation he orshe lets it slip that they have no formal medicalqualification. However, everything's okay because they'vebeen involved in the "doctoring" business for years, hadlots of experience and have read several books on thesubject; I bet you'd be out of there like a shot.

Imagine another situation where you're looking to employ anauto mechanic to look after your company vehicles. Oneapplicant tells you how good they are at fixing cars andtrucks. Been doing it for years, the only thing is that theyhaven't served an apprenticeship or had any other form offormal training. Would you give them the job, of course youwouldn't.

So why, why, why do so many organisations trust their mostimportant and most expensive asset - their employees - tosomeone who's had no training in how to deal with people?And many Business owners and mangers experience hugedifficulty in managing people because they've never beenshow how to do it.

People most often get promoted into a manager's job becausethey know the business they're in and they know the productsand the industry. Sometimes they also get promoted becausethey get on with the team and ironically, in some cases,because they don't. (Some senior managers believe that youshouldn't promote someone who is too "close" to the team)

When appointing a manager organisations traditionally lookfor someone who can do all the "management" things. All thetechnical skills to do the job such as planning, costcontrol, resource allocation, interviewing, solving problemsand dealing with customers.

Management training in many organisations usually addressesthe activities listed above. Managers go on courses for timemanagement, report writing and health and safety issuesamongst others. However none of these activities helps themanager to motivate their team.

Before you start writing to me I'm aware that someorganisations are running courses on leadership skills andmanagement of change; more "people skills" type ofprogrammes. I know this because I'm running some of thesecourses. However, I also know that the people who come onthese courses are often hearing for the first time, abouthow to motivate their people. Some of them have beenmanagers for over twenty years and have never had any peopleskills training.

It's often just taken for granted by senior managers in anorganisation that managers will have the "natural" skills tomotivate, coach, give feedback and get the best out of theirpeople. Tiger Woods has the natural skill to play golf buthe's been listening to trainers and coaches for years and hestill does.

I didn't get any training when I started as a manager, I wasleft to get on with it and find out how to motivate my team.It worked out okay for the first few years but it was onlyuntil I started formal studies in motivation techniques atthe Open University in the UK that my management successreally took off. I've been reading books and studyingsuccessful managers for twenty-five years. If you want tomake your life easier - I suggest you do the same.

Discover how you can generate more business by motivatingyour team!Alan Fairweather is the author of "How to get More Salesby Motivating Your Team" This book is packed with practicalthings you can do to get the best out of your people. Visit http://www.howtogetmoresales.com