When you take on a managerial role, you are also taking on the responsibility for the performance of your entire team. You want to make sure that they deliver the work that needs to be delivered and that they are productive and effective in their work.
In order to ensure that this happens, you are going to need to have the right skills and knowledge to enable you to become as effective a team manager as possible.
But what is team management, and how do you make sure that you are the very best manager and leader of a team that you can be?
Team management is when an individual, or a small group of people, within an organisation, are given the responsibility of leading a team. Their role asks them to coordinate a group of individuals, ensuring that they perform key tasks that relate to the business, either in a smaller department or as a whole.
Rather than take charge of set tasks, more often than not, a team manager will manage the process and team in its entirety, encouraging cooperative work to get closer to the end goal.
Read our blog on leadership and management here
Without high-quality team management, there is always a chance that the individuals who are a part of the team simply won’t feel motivated to reach those end goals. They may do work that needs to be done, but it may not always be at the level of what is required, or they may end up not being as productive as they need to be.
A manager will take charge of driving the business forward, and that success and growth are always at the forefront of the entire team, no matter what type of role they take on within the business.
In order to be a good team manager, you need to ensure that you are as transparent as possible. Of course, there are going to be circumstances when certain pieces of information cannot be shared with those around you, but when you can. Do.
You want to ensure that you are as honest and open as you can be, as this helps those on the team to feel that you trust them with the key pieces of information that you have and that you value them being a part of the process of decision making too.
This is especially true if a decision or a process change is going to have an impact on them and the job that they do.
One key aspect of managing a team, and working as a team for that matter, is communication. Without communication, things are going to be a lot harder to do, and tasks can take much longer than they otherwise would.
Not only this, but when communication is flowing in your workplace, then this is going to help your team to feel motivated to do their work and increase the morale within your team too.
Communication can be one of the hardest parts of being a manager. However, it is something that you can improve, and so long as you keep practising good communication techniques, you should see an improvement in your communication skills.
In order to get work done in the best way possible, you are going to need to make sure that you have an experienced and knowledgeable team working with you. Development and training is the best way to ensure that you can reach your full potential. However, this should not always be down to your colleagues to arrange.
As a manager, you should always take the lead when it comes to development within your team. You should highlight opportunities that you think are going to be right for them to take on and ensure that they feel able to request relevant opportunities themselves.
How many times have you said that delegation is the hardest part of being a manager? It seems like so many people find it hard to delegate their work tasks to those around them. For some, it is all about relinquishing control which is hard; for others is the act of asking someone else to do a job that is usually down to you.
No matter what is putting you off delegating, you are going to need to take a step back from these concerns; because delegation is really an important skill to master.
When you delegate work out, you are freeing up your time, which means that you can focus on some of the key managerial tasks that you need to undertake.
Not only this, but when you show trust in a colleague that they can complete work that is usually down to you to do, you are boosting the way that they feel and helping them to feel like a valued member of the team.
We all hope that there will be no conflict in the workplace, but of course, bringing a variety of different people together in a pressurised environment can and does happen. One part of being a manager is trying to manage these situations and starting any disciplinary procedures that need to be undertaken.
Managing discipline can be one of the harder parts of the job as no one likes to be told that they have done something wrong (and for that matter, no-one likes being the one to tell them that), but it has to happen.
As a manager, you need to be able to be impartial and neutral in the situation and not take anyone’s side or seem to be placing blame. The important thing to do is to make the disciplinary process as quick as possible and ensure that everyone feels that their point of view has been listened to and respected.
We have all felt moments in our working lives when we are less than motivated to do the tasks that we need to do. More often than not, we are going to need to find that motivation within ourselves, but there are also times when our managers and leaders can be the ones to provide us with the driving force.
The ways that you can motivate your team as a manager can vary depending on who they are, who you are and the type of work that you do.
However, it is down to you to work out the best ways to get the results that you need and to ensure that your team are performing the best that they can.
Read about leadership goals and objectives here.
In order to get key work tasks and projects completed, you need a team that comes together. Collaborative working is a great way to share skills and knowledge, ensuring that your work is completed as a team.
For some, this collaboration will come relatively easily, and you will start to see your colleagues working together as a cohesive team. However, this is not always the case. At times when collaboration seems hard to master, it is down to you as a manager in the team to encourage those key team members to come together and to ensure that they offer their own skills to the project.
We, as people, can only ever improve if we know what needs to change. This is why managers need to ensure that they provide their team with regular feedback. This feedback should always be presented in a way that is constructive, which means that it gives them the space to change and grow.
Feedback can, of course, also be positive. However, it seems that positive feedback is not given out as freely as negative feedback, despite the fact that it is just as important. It is good to know when you are doing the right thing in your job, as this shows that not only are you making the right choices but these behaviours have been noticed too.
Another key thing that managers need to do is to ensure that they have trust in their team and what they can do. Trust is incredibly valuable and should never be underestimated. It can make someone feel valued and keep them feeling motivated in what they do each day.
It isn’t always easy to trust your team, especially if they are new or the work that needs to be done is of great value to your company. But it is something that you should definitely work at. The best way to develop trust in your team is to simply get on and do it. If you give them a chance to succeed (or to fail, perhaps in some circumstances), then you are going to learn that they can be trusted with certain aspects of the workflow.
Whilst a manager is a somewhat separate entity from the rest of the team, this should never be made obvious. A manager should be a functional part of the rest of the team. They should feel that you are there to support them and that no matter what happens, you are working alongside them.
In doing this, you are showing them that you care about more than just the work; you also care about how you can all come together to get there. They know that you are ready to roll your sleeves up and get busy when the time comes and will feel like you are leading from the front, not pushing them from the back.
It is great to have a team who wants to give 100% to their work, but what happens when this 100% starts to run out? Those team members are at risk of burnout. When they burn out, not only is this bad for them, but it could also have a harmful impact on the business and the team too.
They may need to take time out of their working life to get better, which means that their work will need to be shared out amongst the rest of the team. Not only this, but if they are still at work, then they may end up having reduced morale and productivity and even impacting the wider team.
It can be hard to know how to prevent burnout in your colleagues, especially if they are independent in their workflow. What you can do is encourage them to share how they are feeling and their honest workload, as well as make sure that they feel that they are able o ask for help if they need it without fear of retribution.
Team management is a crucial aspect of ensuring the success and productivity of any organization. As a team manager, it is important to have the right skills and knowledge to coordinate a group of individuals, encourage cooperative work, and ensure that tasks are completed to the required standards. Good communication, transparency, trust, and delegation are some of the key skills required for effective team management. Regular feedback, collaboration, motivation, and preventing burnout are also important to ensure that your team is performing at its best. By implementing these strategies, you can become a better manager and leader, and achieve the goals and objectives of your organization.
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