Our Top Team Management Tips
If you’ve ever managed a team, you know exactly how challenging it can be, and yet effective team management is crucial for driving success and achieving organizational goals. It requires a delicate balance between nurturing leadership and prioritizing the well-being of employees. Let’s explore these two areas that can help organizations create an environment where individuals thrive, teams excel, and bottom lines flourish.
Nurture Your Leadership and Manager Effectiveness
First and foremost, managers should be looking out for and taking care of their people and their company. Yet, one in four employees say that a better manager is the one thing to improve the workplace. That’s because some individuals are so-called born leaders, stepping into leadership roles easily and comfortably; others may be subject matter experts who need more support and training to be effective leaders. A fundamental aspect of successful team management lies in nurturing each type of manager appropriately and empowering them to become champions of their teams.
Empower Your Managers to be Champions for their Team
To foster a sense of ownership and accountability among managers, it is essential to empower them to make decisions and take charge of their teams. By entrusting them with autonomy, they can harness their skills and expertise, leading to increased engagement and productivity within the team.
Investing in their professional growth however is also vital for both their success and the success of their teams. Encourage them to participate in leadership development programs, attend industry conferences, and engage in ongoing training opportunities. By providing access to resources and support, you empower managers to lead their teams with confidence and competence.
Sometimes, the smallest lessons can have the greatest impact, especially when it comes to a manager’s communications skills. Upskilling in this area can create a lasting shift in company culture as managers learn to step back and be collaborative rather than accusatory when interacting with employees. For instance, using a curious tone when speaking can help to inject a pause in heated conversations, and removing the word “I” from conversations helps to keep the focus on the employee’s needs and opinions.
Leverage Manager Enablement Tools
Unfortunately, more than 40% of managers haven’t been provided with sufficient tools and training to be successful, a challenge that can be traced back to the difficulty in collecting manager feedback. Fortunately, there are solutions. Manager enablement tools are valuable resources that provides feedback and insights from multiple perspectives, including team members, peers, and superiors. This comprehensive feedback can help managers identify their strengths and areas for improvement, enabling them to enhance their leadership capabilities and create a positive impact on their teams.
To collect this feedback and fully leverage the resulting data, a number of best practices need to be embraced. For starters, assure employees that responses will be kept anonymous and be sure to take a 360 degree approach so that you gather data from a variety of sources who work closely with the manager. Because feedback is personal, ensure you are delivering survey results with respect, and then focus on the path forward by providing actionable steps and resources for managers to improve. Finally, be sure to follow up. Select a timeframe that provides managers enough time improve their skills, periodically deploy a feedback tool and then benchmark results so both you and the managers can track their progress over time.
Keep Tabs on Your Employee Well-Being
In addition to nurturing leadership, prioritizing employee well-being is crucial for creating a positive work environment and maintaining high levels of employee satisfaction. Healthy employees create a healthy work environment! Organizations should help all employees achieve a healthy work-life balance by encouraging them to disconnect from work during non-working hours, utilize vacation days, and prioritize self-care.
To achieve this, lead by example and demonstrate the importance of work-life balance by respecting boundaries and promoting flexible working arrangements whenever possible. Build a culture of feedback that encourages employees to share their honest thoughts and opinions, and be sure you are checking in on employee sentiment and happiness on a regular basis.
Build a Feedback Culture
Honest feedback plays a vital role in the growth and development of teams. Encouraging open communication with regular feedback sessions helps to provide guidance, recognize achievements, and address concerns. In addition to promoting transparency and fostering stronger relationships across an organization, building a culture of feedback is a powerful way to create a more positive employee experience.
To achieve true results, organizations must be strategic about capturing opportunities for improvement. Because employees’ feelings and perspectives naturally vary across departments, locations and time, the best results come from gathering feedback across the entire employee lifecycle, from pre-hire to exit. More importantly, you must ask the right questions of the right population at the right times, and do so without triggering survey fatigue.
Check Employee Sentiment & Happiness
Regularly checking in on employee sentiment and happiness is another tactic for building, developing and retaining effective teams. When employees are stressed, it’s difficult for them to engage, collaborate and deliver their best work. By asking questions of them, you can identify potential issues and address them promptly. Employee well-being surveys are an effective tool to gauge the mood, health and needs of team members. Organizations can then utilize this feedback to make informed decisions and implement necessary changes through new policies, benefits and programs. By ensuring employees feel heard and supported, organizations foster both well-being and resilience, a tactic that ultimately builds happier, more productive teams.
Build teams that thrive
Effective team management requires a multifaceted approach that combines nurturing leadership with prioritizing employee well-being. By empowering managers to be champions of their teams and leveraging tools like Manager 360, organizations can cultivate a positive work culture that encourages growth and success.
Simultaneously, prioritizing employee well-being by fostering a culture of feedback and supporting positive employee sentiment contributes to higher levels of engagement, happiness, and productivity. Implementing these top team management tips can help leaders create thriving teams that drive organizational excellence.
Our Employee Listening experts are here for you, and if you want to discuss your listening strategy and tools you can request a meeting here, or reach us at elements@peopleelement.com or 800-765-6186.
