Pages

Labels

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Tips and Tricks to Lead a Team Successfully


One thing that I have always loved is leading and working with teams.  There is just something so rewarding to me about working with others and watching a group of people successfully accomplish something together.  Team leadership happens to be a strong suit of mine, but management is not for everyone! A lot of people don't like it at all.  For some, they just don't like the responsibility or pressure.  Others, I believe, just don't know how to manage a team.  It's something that needs a little mix of intuition and a lot of training and experience.

We have all seen these hilarious Dilbert cartoons portraying bad management.  They're so funny because they're based in truth! Everyone I have ever asked has had a bad manager at some point in their work history.  I certainly have.  There are a lot of bad managers out there because people don't focus enough on the importance of training for it.  If you find yourself managing a team, either because you wanted to or because you got assigned to do it, I suggest you do some research.  Put in some effort!  You don't want to just be guessing your way through it. You are now responsible for the team's success and job satisfaction of both you and everyone under you.  You alone can be the factor on whether someone hates or loves their job.  That's a big deal!

I found myself managing a large team at one point and decided I wanted to do it well.  So I went and met with a management professor at the local university and had an hour long meeting about her best tips to manage a team.  The following list is a compilation of what I took away from the meeting, what I have learned through personal experience, and what I do any time I am leading a team.  Good luck to you and I hope it helps!

  • Be concerned about both the product you are producing and the people you are working with
  • Find strengths and weaknesses of team members and pair them together 
  • If someone on your team is struggling, find out why.  For example, maybe they are too shy to speak up in meetings or ask for help.  Make a point to meet with them on the side for a few minutes or submit their ideas in writing.
  • Get to know your people on the team.  Finding out outside commitments and interests is important! It will endear them to you if they feel like you care and will help you manage them, gauge their stress levels, and generally help them better.  For example, say one lady is always late to a 7:30 morning meeting.  Other team members are getting irritated with her until you go talk to her and find out that she has to drop her child off at the company day care every day and it doesn't open till 7:30.  So you move the meeting to 7:45 and everyone is  now happy.
  • Hold your people accountable. If they know you will hold them accountable, they will try harder. Your team will be stronger if people know they won't have to pull the weight of someone who is slacking off.
  • Have good questions and communication with your team. Be as precise as possible when communicating.  If/when something goes wrong, recognize it, find out where something got miscommunicated and learn from it.
  • Be sure to tell all people on your team the big picture and the overall goal that you're working towards and remind them of that on a regular basis.   The more unified people's ideas of a project or goal is, the more you will succeed.
  • Some managers only tell an employee their small part and forget the "why" which is important.  For example, if you work at a clothing store, tell don't just tell your employees "Fold the shirts this way".  Tell them "We fold the shirts this way becasue then customers can see the front more easily and they won't dig through the piles as much.  It will make your job easier in the long run".  They are way more likely to fold them correctly if they know why.
  • Repeat assignments and be very clear on what each person needs to do.  If you sense a lack of understanding, have the person repeat back to you what was said in their own words.
  • Cheerleading your team is a great motivator. Use kind words, treats, snacks, etc.
  • When celebrating a milestone, do it at an appropriate level.  If your team barely scrapes by a deadline and some less than superior work got put in towards the end, be realistic.  Bring in doughnuts or something and save the pool party for something great. Don't celebrate big over a small victory. 
  • Having a common enemy is a strong team motivator but that should be used with caution. For example, if you're in marketing and your team is creating ads to go against a rival company, that may be a good motivator.  If you are competing against another department in your company, you may want to steer clear of making them the enemy.
  • Find a common ground to unite a team. Whether it's a common enemy, recognition, desire to win, having respect, etc. use it!  Remember what the uniting thing is and continuously repeat it.
  • When receiving a suggestion, never EVER ridicule the person making it.
  • Praise in public, reprimand in private. This one is SO important! You will destroy the morale of your team if you reprimand and get onto people in front of their coworkers.
  • When problems arise with a specific person, be sure to first get them to recognize that they are causing a problem. Once that is accomplished, ask them to come up with ideas to fix it.  Help people solve their own problems in a gracious and kind way.  Be careful with this though because you don't want them to feel like they have no help from you.  There is a line - find it.
  • Find out who is emerging as a team leader and who people seem to respect.  That way, if there is any tough news or situations, you can get their input and use them to help you win over the team if there is a controversial situation or decision that has been made.
  • Before you speak to your team, think of how you would react to what you are saying if you were in their shoes
  • Sometimes, people feel as if some team members are not as involved or don't do as much "real" work.  Don't let people who feel that way, put down others who are proud of their jobs.
  • Hold everyone to the same standards.
  • It is always better to ask questions than to make assumptions.  This is important.  Don't accuse, ask.  There are always, always two sides to every story.
  • Try to engage everyone and find their talents.  Don't dismiss people.  They may suprise you.
  • Find out what the customer wants and tailor to them.  For example, some companies like to see a bunch of numbers and data on presentations, and some like more abstract ideas.
  • If someone continuously submits sub-standard work, you need to decide what to do.  If the person has a desire to work there and seems to be trying and is just lacking training, you may want to mentor them and help them learn.  If they seem like they could care less about their work, you may just want to let them be until you can replace them.  Or, maybe find out if there is something they would rather be doing and try to move them to another task.
  • Be fair and sincere.  People will see it and respect it.
  • Recognize individuals who shine in front of the team but don't go overboard.  Too much praise and you will make others jealous and possibly embarrass the person you are praising.  Public praise will let everyone know you are keeping an eye out for exceptional work and encourage them to try harder and do their best for you.
  • Reflect credit and absorb blame.  Make everyone feel as if their ideas were what made things work and take blame for what goes wrong.  Stay out of the limelight - it looks bad if you sing your own praise.  Your team thriving will reflect well on you and your good leadership.

So there you have it.  My tips and tricks to successfully lead a team.  I hope these help you in some way.  Good luck out there!  Being a good leader isn't easy but the fact that you're researching it and care about the people you're going to manage already gives you a leg up on everyone else :)