‘People Skills’ Building and Leading Your Team Dr Kirsteen Grant Associate Professor (Human Resource Management) Edinburgh Napier University

Team role conflict! There were four team members, named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody knew about it. Everybody was sure Somebody would do it and Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did. Everybody was angry about this because it was Somebody’s job. Everybody thought Anybody would do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn’t. In the end, Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did what Anybody could have done.

Building and leading your team Key Skills Organisation Co-ordination Management Leadership Confidence /resilience Trust /respect Delegation Empowerment Listening Empathy Inter-personal Communication Emotional intelligence Assertiveness

So, what does the HR Director do? Recruit, build, develop, motivate and engage the team Ensure team members are in the right role, in the right place, at the right time Help to resolve conflict Ensure everyone is treated fairly and with respect Dismiss team members Everything to do with people – the People Strategy!

Handling feedback and difficult conversations Team members have complained to you that Josh hasn’t been pulling his weight and is difficult to work with Tina tends to interrupt team members during meetings and her communication style can be aggressive when she’s trying to get her point across Ahmed is reserved and quiet during team meetings and discussions, but you think he has some great ideas Josh, I’m glad that you volunteered to be on our team because you’ve got some great skills. However, some of the team have mentioned that you haven’t followed through on some of your allocated tasks recently. For example, ... I wondered if everything’s okay or if there’s anything I can do to help?   Tina, you have some really good ideas and I’m grateful for these. However, some of the team have mentioned that in our meetings they feel they’re ideas and opinions are not being heard over yours. It’s important that, as a team, we listen to everyone’s ideas and ensure everyone gets the chance to speak. Perhaps we could take it in turns to offer ideas and suggestions at future meetings. Ahmed, you have some really great skills and ideas. I’ve noticed that you don’t always speak up in our meetings. I’m sure the team would welcome your thoughts and ideas. What do you think?

Giving feedback Where? When? Who? How? Prepare, but avoid pre-judgements Body language and approach Listen actively Be assertive but not aggressive Focus on the issue and facts (use ‘I’ statements) Use ‘coaching questions’ Three-step model (positive + negative + outcome)

Handling team meetings Arranging the meeting Agenda Chairing the meeting Minutes of meeting Post-meeting actions