A vitreous learning cycle is one in which we polish our rough edges.

When applied to developing our people skills  this vitreous cycle

produces resilient  individuals and relationships.

vit·re·ous  [vi-tree-uhs] adjective: of the nature of or resembling glass, as in transparency,  brittleness, hardness, glossiness, etc.: vitreous china.

Synonyms: clear, glasslike, hyaline, hyaloid, translucent, transparent, burnished, clear, glazed, glazy, glossy,  icy, lustrous, shiny, sleek, slick

Knowing  who you are points the way

Self-knowledge  is  honestly answering the question,  What you are like?  Knowing what interests you, what your strengths are and what you are not satisfied with helps you adjust your personal compass and set objectives that are in keeping with who you are.

Just do it

People skills are not rocket science.   The best place to polish your people skills is in the real world.  Challenge yourself to step outside of your comfort zone.     Developing any skill involves practicing it.  Someone  who is skilled in the social graces, meets every situation with poise,  good manners, and elegance.

We learn social skills reflexively

Reflexive learning is navigating the circular relationships between cause and effect in rapidly changing circumstances. In this  context  it refers to the capacity of an individual to recognize the forces of socialization.  It is a quantum reflection and you, as the observer, are part of the equation.

The majority of businesses do not fully realise the potential of their workforce and need to benchmark skills and behaviours organisationally. Codes of conduct are the guiding principles and ethical standards set by the employer. Both the employees and the employer are required to comply with it in all of their actions. Managers can do much to create a productive atmosphere through constructive engagement. People management is a learned skill and managers need to have a framework within they relate to their teams objectively and foster a postive culture organisationally.

Performance typology

Defining the key competencies and behaviours of an effective manager includes the ability to inspire high levels of teamwork, and the qualities that are exemplifed in values, ethics, character, knowledge and demonstrated in superior people skills. Often managers are promoted without sufficient grooming or training to take on the roles that allow them to navigate the complexities of individual, team and hierarchical interactions Competencies are the outcome of being appropriately qualified to perform a task and are observable or measurable skills, knowledge, and abilities.Knowles (1975) uses the following typology for competencies:

• Knowledge
• Understanding
• Skill
• Attitude
• Value

These benchmark the distinguishing standards between superior and other performers and are requisite in managers who are frequently the role models to employees and therefore inform the culture enfranchised organisationally. Time invested in training in soft skills competencies provide tangible bottom line results.

In the new knowledge economy, encouraging initiative is needed throughout the ranks. Involvement in an organization is no longer optional. A manager can work towards engaging personnel to achieve its objectives and increase the triple bottom line. The new ‘knowledge-centric’ enterprises are characterized by flattened hierarchies and multi-tasked workforce. Managers are assuming more leadership and coaching tasks and must work harder to provide employees with resources and working conditions they need to accomplish the goals they are hired to fulfill. Mining the talent by empowering human capital is now the prime focus of organizational success. A critical feature of knowledge-based enterprises is that they are invested with a significant culture of empowerment, or decision-making authority. Communication is vital to stimulate a creative workplace in a mature, seasoned culture and creativity in communication is key to implementing a high performance culture. In brief, managers now work for their staff, and not the reverse. Employee empowerment shifts managers’ mind-set and affording them with more time to engage in implementing agile decisions and keeping their eye on critical issues that require immediate action.

Understanding the power of a quality relationship management depends a good deal on an awareness of people’s behaviour and preferences. Soliciting from any group, community or department, what motivates, inspires and provides satisfying experiences is key to creating strong bonds and powerful alliances that drive buy in and support, no matter the context.

Currently relationship management, across all it’s various attributions, is poorly understood and even more abysmally executed. If the current understanding of relationship management is simply to monitor and respond to negative commentary on your reputation, your brand, your business or your services, or to follow up and cross sell when the customer or client has fallen off your radar, this is no better than shutting the stable door long after the horse has bolted it. It’s about listening, responding, reciprocating, acknowledging, modeling ethics and values, everywhere you are or your business is active.

The value of building and maintaining a reputation built on the seven principles of human givens (accountability, boundaries, respect, responsibility, honesty, support and trust) means creating cooperative alliances and rewarding relationships. This cannot be short cut, avoided, undeserved or manipulated. We are each being held to account on our behaviours in regard to our commitments and on this we stand or fall in peer assessment.

There is no excuse now, given the quantity and quality of tracking technologies and social media assets, not to create a formidable and very manageable strategy to build and sustain quality relationships and use all positive testimonials, word of mouth recommendations and quality referrals to build personal and professional capital as well as business advantage. To fail to implement such a strategy is to be asleep at the wheel in a fast moving and competitive world.

Robin Good knows a thing or three about getting noticed online. Robin is an independent new media reporter and online publisher covering topics dealing with effective communication, technology, media and the human potential.

His writings cover the intersection of personal publishing technologies, collaborative creativity, product design, e-learning, citizen journalism and modern forms of human dialogue.His own tv channel hand-picks international news stories that you may not be able to see on your mainstream TV network channels, this ensures he gets plenty of repeat views of course.

Apart from being a very entertaining presenter (in two languages, english and italian), he fully encourages you to learn how to build a strong online identity to increase both your credibility and reputation and does a great job in this short video tutorial. What really matters, he says, is your passion and desire to share your knowledge and explore. He encourages you to be bold and ‘get your hands dirty, it’s part of the game.’