You just got promoted to a manager position and now you’ve been assigned your team. Of course, you are excited, anxious and you’re trying to figure out how to work with your new team effectively. Whether you’re inheriting a team or have a new team coming on board, you need to think fast and win the team’s trust with the initial engagements.
Managing a new team may seem like an uphill task that you’re unsure how to conquer. You may find it difficult to adjust and display authority, or you may find yourself doing more with fewer resources. To avoid making mistakes, here are tips to help you manage this delicate balance of managing a new team.
Show You are Competent and Trustworthy
Managing a team that does not trust you or does not trust each other can be a nightmare. When you break trust, it becomes hard to get things done. To build trust with your team, take time and review the employee handbook and policies. Then, model appropriate leadership and intentionally focus on supporting your team throughout.
Make sure that you step away from the philosophy of shaming and blaming your team members for mistakes and treat every mistake as a learning opportunity. To demonstrate competence focus on serving rather than managing, be transparent, set boundaries, and encourage and nurture your team to grow.
Acknowledge Achievements
Acknowledging your team’s achievement can help boost their esteem. It also motivates your team to work harder, and when you show gratitude and appreciation towards achievements, it will ultimately improve the team’s overall productivity. Make your team understand that you admire their work and share your past accomplishments to encourage your team further.
Get to Know Your Team
As a team leader, you are responsible for setting the tone for your team. Knowing your team and showing real appreciation builds a sense of trust, leading to a healthy work culture. Knowing your team will help you understand where the team is lacking, and this will guide you in coming up with initiatives to make them better professionals.
You can achieve all this by having a sit down with your team to get to know each individual better. You can also share more about yourself to make the team understand more what you stand for and the values you subscribe to. Give yourself time to study and understand the strengths and weaknesses of your team before coming up with a framework for holding team members accountable.
Set Expectations
Managing a team means offering guidance and ensuring that each member fulfills their role. You need to set ambitious but achievable goals for your team. Make it clear what the team is working towards and how you expect them to get there. Be sure to understand the role and responsibilities of each member and set for what you plan to do in your new role.
Create a Strategy
A strategy will help your team have an idea of how success looks like. It’s a road map to the team’s productivity, as it also helps you identify useful stopping points as you move towards success. It helps you stay organized and create consistency with your team.
A strategy can also help your team understand your intentions, and if you’re working on a certain project, consider using a project management platform with a built-in strategy such as agile management or Gantt Charts.
Establish Open Communication
You can achieve open communication as a manager by creating a culture that allows your team members to state their opinion without any fear. It doesn’t come naturally as it may require you to implement open-door policies, real-time and frequent feedback, raising problems rather than brushing them aside as well as discouraging anonymous feedback.
If you communicate openly and honestly with your team, you encourage them to do the same with you too. Open communication increases trust, and if you are dealing with remote teams consider using communication apps or video conferencing to build connections with your team.
Open communication can also help the team experience a strong sense of belonging and ownership and sharing strategic insights with the team further encourages the team to own their work. Open communication reduces stress and helps bridge cultural differences and you can encourage it through asking questions, acknowledging contributions, and using suggestions.
Grow Your Team Through Leadership
Turnover and rapid changes happen in every industry. This is why there is always a growing need for new leaders to take over established teams, and sometimes this may happen without warning. As a highly effective leader, you need to be in a position to handle transitions smoothly, build trust, respect, and ensure lasting professional relationships at work.
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