On today’s cast, we complete our discussion on coaching directs on interpersonal skills.

Of course, if you haven’t listened to last week’s cast, you may want to start there.

This cast tells you how to begin a process of coaching a direct on interpersonal skills.

Soft Skills!

How many times have you heard, “hired for technical skills, fired for (lack of) people skills”? It may be common wisdom (an oxymoron if there ever was one), but it’s still true. The path to greater success in most organizations, big and small, is more quickly achieved by improving one’s relationships and communication skills than it is by learning more technical knowledge.

Yes, results trump everything; but the higher you go, the more your results hinge on your abilities to get along and to get others to go along.

And yet, far too few managers are willing to coach directs on interpersonal skills: how they speak, how they create and maintain relationships, how they listen.

In this first of a series of casts, we lay out the basics of interpersonal skill coaching, and tell you which of the skills to start with.

Can you guess which it is?

We’ve been asked a number of times recently for more information about the Effective Manager Conference we’re holding in San Francisco, July 22 - 23. Although we used to put out a special cast each time we hosted a conference, we haven’t done that of late.

So, for those who asked, here you go. For those who would rather not hear about it, feel free to skip it … you won’t hurt our feelings and you won’t miss any of our normal material.

In this cast, we finish our conversation on how to manage effectively in a Matrix Organization.

By now, you know why matrix organizations exist (and why we don’t like them). In today’s cast, we talk about what you DO to be effective in matrix organizations.

September 9-10, 2008 – Hilton Palacio Del Rio Hotel, San Antonio, TX

“Communication is What The Listener Does”
- Peter Drucker

We are pleased to announced our first ever Effective Communications Conference!

Communication is so critical to every manager, and yet so few seem to do it well. Join us in San Antonio to learn how to be an effective communicator as a manager.

What: Manager Tools Effective Communications Conference

Who: Only 75 Attendees! We’re narrowing our focus and scope to insure everyone gets personal attention and practice.

When: September 9-10, 2008. 2 FULL Days, with our signature practices and Open Q&A

Every attendee will have a 10-15 minute presentation reviewed by professional speakers and executive communications coaches.

Where: Hilton Palacio Del Rio, San Antonio, TX

How: Go to our Registration Page. Prior attendance at out Effective Manager Conference is NOT required to attend the Communication Conference.

How Much: $1,600 early registration until July 12. $1,850 normal registration thereafter. Your registration fee includes ALL your meals. We don’t want you worrying about your meal schedule, or filing expense reports.

“I spend more time teaching effective communication to executive coaching clients than ALL OTHER SKILLS COMBINED.”
- Mark Horstman

Why: To become a better communicator. If you’re a manager now, your communication skills are what carry your ideas to your team, and your value to the rest of the organization. We bet every “great manager” you know is a great communicator. THEY KNOW THIS STUFF ALREADY!

For more details, our agenda, and logistics, please go to the Effective Communications Conference page.

If you’re ready now, go to our conference registration page to register now.

Please join us for this first ever Effective Communications Conference!

We’ve decided to add 10 more slots to our San Francisco Effective Manager Conference based on demand.

Being 6 weeks from the conference, and only having a few slots left, we felt that we would be willing to handle a few more attendees. We always have a waiting list, and we always turn some folks away, and we don’t like doing that.

And, this is is our last scheduled Effective Manager Conference in the US this year. Our September conference is on Communications, and we’re looking at Australia in November.

So, if you’ve been thinking about it, we’ve made some slots available. We hope to see you there.

This cast describes how to manage effectively in a Matrix Organization. (Not that we recommend it )

We’ve finally succumbed to the steady drumbeat of requests for “The Manager Tools Way” of dealing with how to survive and thrive in a matrix organization. A couple of years ago, Mark said he’d never do these casts. His rationale? “We’ve never done a cast about managing in an organization that employs corporal punishment [physical beatings] – why start down that path by talking about matrices?”

He was joking.

Mostly.

But he’s come around, and he’s come around fiercely. The fact is, as misguided as they are, matrix organizations are not only here and here to stay, they’re likely to increase in number over the next 30 years. The fact that we disagree with them doesn’t make them suddenly cease to exist.

We’ve got a lot of ground to cover, and some of it is background. But we start right out with our recommendations, and then spend some time building our case.

Welcome to the Matrix. We can’t make you Neo…but we can help.

This cast describes how to create a simple behavioral interview question.

We believe that behavioral interviewing is the best systemic form of interviewing evaluation a manager can use. There’s nothing that even comes CLOSE. Sure, there are those who think testing is important, and we don’t disagree. But we also think that a professional manager can, with time and an effective interview process, approximate what amounts to a “test” of any candidate that ‘is reasonably certain to be an accurate predictor of future success’. Those quote marks indicate that that is a claim that a popular screening test makes.

The question, of course, is: HOW?

There are two ways. One is to use the Manager Tools Interview Creation Tool, which we’re due to roll out shortly for premium members. Answering about a hundred questions on a scale of 1-5, in about 45 minutes, and you get an interview printed out immediately afterwards that is so good some managers will cry about it.

The other way is to use this simple model described in this cast. It works, and it’s free.