8 Team Management Hacks you need to know
Monday, March 19, 2018, 6:00 AM | Leave Comment
As the manager of a team, you have a lot on your plate. You will be juggling several different tasks; a good manager never stops learning and developing their skills.
Your job is to ensure that your team is making your vision a reality through their work, and there are some key ways to help manage these people.
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Ensure Goals are Team-Orientated
If you want your team to work together with one another, you should set team-orientated goals which everyone needs to work on. Avoid setting individual goals or goals for single departments, as this can cause people to be distant from one another.
Try to avoid assigning tasks to single individuals, even small ones. Tasks as simple as naming something or coming up with a product description can be fun and engaging team tasks which promote bonding and collaboration.
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Be Consistent
An efficient and effective manager has an efficient approach to their work as well. You must treat every member of your team equally, encourage and discourage behaviours consistently, and not favour certain team members over others.
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Reward Good Work
When a member within your team performs exceptionally, reward this person publicly in front of the rest of the team. It doesn’t matter what the reward is (monetary, a small gift or just a praise), but by doing it in front of the wider team, you will make the recipient feel valued and encourage other members of your team to work hard too.
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Embrace Opinions and Ideas
Although everybody in your team will not agree with each other (this includes you as the manager), you should always openly embrace differing opinions and ideas. Do not discourage team members from respectfully voicing opinions and especially do not chastise them for it. Even if you do not agree with it, punishing somebody for voicing an opinion can cause resentment and be anti-productive.
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Hold Team Building Exercises
Team building exercises do not need to be cringe-worthy undertakings where your team members sit in a room and perform ‘ice breaker’ activities and the like. Why not consider taking your team (if possible) to a new city or country for a residential? If you live in Europe, taking your team building exercises to the likes of Prague, for example, for a long weekend can be a great way to build team morale and inter-team relationships. An event planner in Prague can help you with the logistics, to make sure the event goes down smoothly.
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Be Transparent
As a leader, you should aim to be as transparent as possible. Transparency helps to build up trust between yourself and your team members and allows you to demonstrate your integrity. Be open and transparent wherever possible and avoid withholding information which could damage your relationship with your team.
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Set an Example
As the manager of a team, you should be the person setting an example to your team members. After all, if you show up 15 minutes late each day then your team members will mirror this behaviour, because you are giving the impression that it is acceptable.
Similarly, if you show up on time each day and sometimes stay late to get ahead with work, your team members will be more encouraged to do so, you’re all in it together, right?
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Keep the Work Environment Interesting
We are not talking about putting a ping-pong or pool table in the office, but certain things can keep work interesting. Why not take your team out for surprise casual dinners or for lunch, or allow dressing-down into casual clothes at certain times of the month or days of the week? A little can go a long way and it helps people enjoy their work more.
