The number of teams or departments can be very high in large corporations. Except for small firms with only a handful of people, all other organisations have different teams working on different tasks. It is better to work in separate teams than everyone working under the same manager. Teams help get tasks completed more easily and efficiently. But every team must also have a leader capable of managing them and completing work. A set of team management skills help these managers keep the members together and achieve the team’s goals
You will learn a lot about team management and the skills needed for it in the Executive Development Programme In General Management. All the details about this course are available on our website.
What Is Team Management?
Before looking at team management skills, we must first understand the task and why it is very important. Team management is a set of activities and strategies executed by the team’s leader to get work done by a group of people and achieve a common goal. Teams are important in a company because it helps foster good relationships and communication between employees. When working in a team, people learn from each other and improve themselves in many respects. Team leaders motivate the members to put in their best efforts.
As the members come from different backgrounds, there can be a lack of communication between them. Team management is required to take care of this and ensure that everyone understands their jobs and how they must cooperate with others. Another task of managers is ensuring that people work together without conflicts. When there are a group of employees, there is bound to be a difference of opinion, and the leaders must use their team management skills to resolve them. Good leadership helps to improve the productivity of the team.
Importance Of Team Management
Keeps Employees Happy
Happy employees are essential for every organisation as they contribute better to the company’s overall growth. Employees must feel good about what they do because it positively affects the firm’s success. Employee retention levels will also increase when the team members feel good about working for the company. It is very important as recruitment is expensive and time-consuming. Establishments that have happy workers give better service to their customers. It will help get more loyal customers and consequently more business. Learning team management skills helps managers keep workers happy.
Improves Productivity
Good team management helps to improve the productivity of employees. It is essential if the company must achieve its business goals and move towards better growth. Good managers create an environment that helps workers focus on the common goal instead of worrying about external problems. One of the team management skills that leaders must possess to improve productivity is maintaining personal relationships with every team member. They must also show appreciation and excitement at the team’s progress. Leaders must also openly discuss the company’s higher goals with the employees to improve interest in their job.
Reduces Employee Turnover
Another important function of team management is to retain people. Hiring is an expensive process, and companies want to reduce this as much as possible. An important reason people leave an organisation is the poor relationship between the team and its leaders. Good team management skills will certainly help improve this relationship and keep the employees happy in their jobs. Good relationships will also help employees speak openly about their problems and seek solutions. When people trust their leaders, they will likely stay in the company for longer.
Enrolling with the Executive Development Programme In General Management helps you learn the importance of team management. You can also learn all the skills needed for the job in this course. Please visit our website to know more details about this programme.
- Getting The Best Out Of Members
As a team leader, it is not just the work you are responsible for. You must ensure that the whole team performs to their best capabilities. For this, it is necessary to ensure that every member uses their full potential and contributes to the team’s success. For this, you must sit and listen to their ideas. It will help you evaluate the abilities of each employee in the team. The team leader also has to make individual development plans for them. Bringing out the best in workers is one of the important team management skills.
- Giving Feedback
Not everyone knows what they are good at. Team leaders must assess each team member’s performance and give them constructive feedback. Giving positive feedback will motivate the person to do better. But team managers must also give negative feedback when someone performs below the desired level. One of the team management skills you must learn is to convey negative feedback without hurting the person. It is best to say what went wrong instead of telling them they did something wrong.
- Delegating Effectively
One of the jobs of the team leader is to get work done by the employees. Delegation is good for the leader as well as the employees. The employees learn new tasks, and managers expand their capabilities through the team. Another important benefit of delegating work is that employees feel that you trust them with crucial jobs. The effective way to delegate work is to make them understand the value of the task and how it will impact the company’s growth.
- Interacting With Different People
Team members can avoid others who they may not like. But a team manager must interact with everyone in the team even if some people rub them the wrong way. One of the ways to do this successfully is to avoid discussing the differences and stress the common aspects. You must also listen to them and understand their feelings. It is one of the important team management skills that will help you get work done by the staff members.
- Understanding Different Workstyles
Not everyone works in the same manner. Even the time of the days when people are most productive differs from person to person. It means that the team leader must know every member’s work style and preferences. They must assign work that will make the employee excited. Observing the workers keenly is one way to understand their workstyles and preferences. It helps get the best out of everyone.
- Resolve Problems Proactively
There can be problems in every work. It is all the more true when a team works towards the same goal. Everyone may think it is the other person’s responsibility to discuss the problem and find a solution. Detecting these problems before they assume huge proportions is one of the team management skills that every leader must possess. Talking individually to team members can help discover problems early.
- Conflict Resolution
When people from different backgrounds work together, conflicts are possible. Unless these are resolved, the team will not achieve the goal it should. It is not good avoiding the issue. Team managers must admit the problem and do their best to resolve it. The best way is to allow all members to voice their opinions and find a middle ground that is acceptable to all. You must ensure that everyone is agreeable to the solution.
- Serving Before Leading
Being a servant before showing yourself as a leader gets better employee engagement. Your team members start respecting and trusting you. One way to do this is to be humble and give credit to the team for any good work. You must also be transparent and tell the employees your plans so that nothing comes as a surprise. Offer career development plans to the subordinates to enable their growth in the organisation.
- Unite The Members
One of the most critical team management skills is to keep the team united. If everyone interacts well with others, your work as a leader is very easy. Moreover, work will also get done as you want. One of the tricks to do this is to hold team-building activities regularly. Pairing new employees with experienced ones will quickly make them feel at home. You can also conduct brainstorming sessions, so everyone understands the others’ communication styles.
- Being Approachable
If you want your team to talk to you freely about work problems or even their issues, then you must be approachable to them. If you develop this quality, it is easy for you to get information from the team. One of the ways is to get out of your office and greet the employees at their workstations. Be an active listener to any problem that your team members bring to you, however small it may be. This quality will also help you know about issues before they become unmanageable.