So your boss has just put you in charge of leading a team. You have specific goals to achieve within your team, and you have people to lead, but the questions remain: How do I get these specific people to work together to accomplish the goals we have been given? How do I lead this team effectively? What tips will make me a leader that will be respected and chosen for future projects? Every leadership can take specific steps to lead teams better and encourage greater teamwork. Consider using one or more of these ideas to improve your team’s effectiveness:
Leadership Starts with Direct, Honest Communication
Make an atmosphere that values candor and transparency in all forms of communication. Inquire about people’s opinions and the challenges they face. Request (and pay attention to) input. Do not be reluctant to inquire for yourself. Above all, ensure your team members can easily access your door if necessary.
Establish Cooperative Objectives
Goals should be established and defined clearly from the beginning. It might require a little extra work and planning to get things perfect from the beginning, but it pays off greatly. For the best results, the group must support the objectives (so plan them together). Everyone engaged must agree on what constitutes success, so establish KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) at the first team meeting. Leaders should check in frequently and provide direction when necessary in order to recognize and support the team throughout the process.
Celebrate Their Achievements
Well done, team! Never fail to recognize the efforts, concepts, or goals achieved by the team. Share your team’s accomplishments with the entire organization and promote them to leadership positions. Even better, plan a lunch or supper where everyone on the team can celebrate major victories. Make sure to invite everyone; be inclusive as to avoid dividing your team.
Consider these ideas for considerate celebrations: celebrating with a corporate picnic after a job well done. Use online resources for commendation or acknowledgment. Reward exceptional contributors with a material prize (badge, trophy, etc.); get inventive here and design a “trophy” that is both serious and fun. Food is always a possibility for more modest accomplishments with internal teams.
Permit Team Members to Solve Problems
Encourage team members to brainstorm and create their own ideas rather than forcing them. You can empower your team to think creatively, build their confidence, and cultivate a feeling of ownership by allowing them the freedom to suggest ideas and identify the best answer.
Make sure everyone can precisely restate the issue before beginning to solve it. Listen more than you talk. Give each individual a chance to express themselves and argue their case. Encourage the group to reach a consensus on their own. If that doesn’t work, you should, as a leader, calmly and firmly make a decision and then explain why you made it.
Leadership Is Keeping the Big Picture In Mind
You must find the right balance as a leader between focusing on the small details and zooming out to view the broad picture. In other words, you need to make sure that your team completes the daily chores without losing sight of the larger objectives that you’re pursuing and the ways in which the team contributes to those objectives. It’s a delicate balancing act but a skill that every great leader must master.
Influence Starts With Respect
Great leaders show respect for their team members in various ways, most notably through participating in team activities and cooperating with them. Great leaders don’t hesitate to take chances or responsibility for their errors. They recognize that gaining someone’s respect requires showing understanding, compassion, and trust.
Generally, groups won’t follow or trust a leader they don’t respect. When intimidated into doing so, they will comply reluctantly, but it is not how to cultivate a healthy culture. Gaining that regard is essential for gaining confidence and devoted supporters. On the other hand, team members who are driven and enabled to take on additional responsibility and work independently benefit from knowing they have the respect of their manager.
Leadership for Teams
From employee engagement and growth to retention and productivity, a team leader’s capacity to inspire, mentor, and coach their teams can have a significant impact on all of these factors. Additionally, a team leader’s abilities in leading a business have the strongest, most immediate influence on the team members’ experiences. Therefore, having the appropriate abilities and behaviors in leadership positions can affect how quickly team members acquire new skills, whether they feel encouraged and included, and how original or creative the team’s ideas are.