Sharon Firth

Managing people successfully requires leadership skills in addition to the practical skills of planning, organising, monitoring and evaluating the work that takes place.

Do you ever feel like you're not making much progress, or it's one step forward and two steps back? Maybe it's just me, but I have a feeling that most of us feel like that sometimes.

We all associate that phrase with the sportswear giant, Nike, but one of the reasons it's been among the most successful tag lines ever is that it's good advice.

Integrity is foundational to good management. Being who we say we are and doing what we say we will do goes a long way towards winning the trust and loyalty of those who work for us or do business with us.

The Oxford English Dictionary's primary definition of human resources is: "The personnel of a business or organisation, regarded as a significant asset in terms of skills and abilities".

No, not the football or rugby kind of goals - but we all need something to aim for and usually there will be some difficulty in achieving it, as well as great excitement when we do.

“What is the shortest word in the English language that contains the letters: a, b, c, d, e and f? Feedback - one of the essential elements of good communication.”                                      

Show people they're valued - this can be done in any way that's appropriate in your culture. Some organisations have 'employee of the month', or ask staff and customers to give positive feedback, or give staff rewards.

That Monday morning feeling can affect all of us, but hopefully we soon get over it and back into the swing of working productively with others.

We all know what it is and we all know how to do it, but we've all seen it go wrong and lead to misunderstandings, mistakes and mistrust - making managing people much more difficult.