Managing People – Art or Science?

A lot of management skills are based on how well you interact with people. And people skills happen to be based on emotional intelligence, which is what we use to gauge in appropriate conversation and confrontation. To some managing people is an art, and to others, a science.

Let’s take a joke, for example. Can you create the perfect, belly-laugh-inducing joke by pure science? Well, technically speaking, I guess you could. But then there’s your voice inflection to consider… how you set up the punchline… and building suspense in your listener. All of these are interpersonal elements, played off of different factors that science doesn’t necessarily take into consideration.

But, sure, management in general is an organized body of science that contains a universal truth. There seems to be two sides of the coin here, that neither can be without. Science provides the foundation for management, but it can’t be executed without a playing a sensitive hunch or connecting with actual employees. Who knew managers could also be artists? Go figure!

Finally, if you would like to learn more about WorkCompass and how our performance management software can help motivate your talent. Get in touch today and request a demo.