Abstract

People are different from machines which can be driven by switching on buttons. There are no switches which make them obey commands. Machines do not have mind and that makes them different from people. People work on machines at workplace and they do not find managing the machine difficult because machines are predictable; managing people is difficult because they are not predictable because of mind which is a source of thoughts and emotions. There is not a single rule which can be used for all the people all the time. In fact, single rule which worked once for a person will be ineffective for the same person in a different situation. There is theoretical literature available on managing people at workplace but this paper is different in the sense that the principles for managing people at workplace have emerged out of long and rich experience of working with people at workplace and learning from the interactions with them. The learnings have come out from a long journey spanning forty-five years. I do not want the budding managers to take so long for learning how to manage people. This paper is written keeping in mind the budding managers who have just started managing people at workplace and are struggling to find effective ways for doing so. I hope this paper will give them the basic skill and will provide them with a foundation and they can build over this base to become excellently proficient in managing people even in trying situations. Please take basic learnings from the contents of this paper and improve and build your strength further to prove a better manager than I was.