Below, I share 5 tips to manage your team, which I gleaned from Richard Templar’s book on the Rules of Management.
As a team leader at work, you are responsible for managing and leading a group of people to reach their targets and in turn contribute toward the organisations larger objectives.
Being in a position to lead requires effort, strategy and understanding of your team members. The onus lies on you to bring out the best from the team you lead.
[bctt tweet=” Rather than shooting some bullets of criticism, keep calm and dole out encouragements…” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
Talk your team up
I have often heard the cliché “it is better to encourage than to criticize”. How apt this is when it comes to leading a team!
There will be days when tasks are more demanding, resources are not sufficient or there are tight deadlines to meet. These conditions might fuel managers to lash out at team members. But, rather than shooting out bullets of criticism, keep calm and dole out encouragement. Such as “we can do this”, “we are getting there”, or “we will get through this”.
I know a leader who tells his team at every turn that “our best is yet to come”, and each time, his team churns out a better output than they did in their previous feat.
[bctt tweet=”… your team’s success is your success” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
2 ways to encourage your team
Templar offers two ways to encourage your team: “one is to tell them they are going to do good before they have done it. Or wait until they have done good then tell them they have done good”.
He emphasizes that your team will most likely perform better when you praise them beforehand, because they wouldn’t want to “fall their hand” (in my Nigerian pidgin English parlance).
Allow your team to be better than you
Founder of TEF Tony o. Elumelu in his recent article titled: Advice for new managers, ,published on LinkedIn, pointed out that “great leaders don’t compete with their staff”.
A corporate executive once wrote that, in the early days of her career, her VP told her she wasn’t good enough. Fast forward to a few years later when she was making waves in her career, she said she ran into him. He revealed to her that during those times he was demeaning her work was a reflection of his own insecurities and not that she wasn’t good enough!
You should always give your team the necessary resources and support that they need to reach their objectives.
[bctt tweet=”No one is a repository of knowledge!” username=”SheLeadsAfrica”]
Train them to develop solutions to problems
When you have trained your team to the extent that they can deliver excellently, you should naturally expect that they will bring you solutions and minimal problems.
According to Templar, a question which indicates a problem should be answered with “and what would you like me to do about it?” and a complaint should be answered with “what do you think we should do?”. Applying this rule makes your team think in terms of the solution and not the problem.
Listen when they offer suggestions
No one is a repository of knowledge! No matter how skilled or experienced you may think you are, you will still need input from members of your team from time to time.
Caution here is not every idea or suggestion must be used, but it’s important for you to let your team know that their input is welcomed. In this way, they will not hold back important critical information.
Clearly spell out the responsibility of each member of the team
If you are delegating responsibility, clearly define what is expected in terms of the result. Provide the necessary resources, and make sure they understand how it should be achieved.
Click this link to learn 10 ways to motivate your team.
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