Managing a team is never going to be easy. For starters, you have different personalities to contend with. You might not gel with everyone, but as a manager, you need to be able to. You have people that will work at different rates, have people that want to do things in different ways. However, people are a huge resource when it comes to your business and as a leader, you need to adapt to ensure you get the most out of your time.
So could you be doing a better job? The chances are the answer is yes. With that in mind, here are some of the home truths about managing a team and some of the ways that you could make things better.
Listen and support new ideas and initiatives
It isn’t always about delegating and ensuring that people do exactly what you want 100% of the time. You actually do need to be open to new ideas and initiatives that people suggest. Someone on the front-line perhaps may have an idea of an alternative method for selling products and services. As a manager, you need to listen and support new ideas that are presented to you and then take on board the pros and cons attached to them.
Don’t take them for granted
A big thing that managers and business owners can be guilty of is to take things for granted. As it stands, someone is coming to work for you, and often it isn’t because she is doing it with the goodness of her heart. They want to progress, they want to earn a living, and they want to achieve things. This is when managers should have a decent payroll processing system Provo UT to ensure that you don’t mess with things such as late payments or getting wages wrong. You should also understand that people do have lives outside of work, so do not assume that extra hours can be met, etc.
Set challenges
One of the main priorities is to help people grow. However, if they are constantly doing the same thing repeatedly then there is never going to be any maneuvering to progress their skills and allow them to learn new things. Setting challenges is a great way to motivate a team to try different things and learn to step up their career options.
Create healthy competition
It is also a good idea to create some healthy competition between the team members. Especially if there is a sales environment. This can be a huge incentive and motivation as people will always strive to do their best in any way that they can. You could also add incentives into the mix so that people have something to work towards and achieve.
Make sure you have a decent working environment
The environment in which people work in is also an important factor. You need to ensure that this is the ideal place for people to work. That an office is not too cold or too hot. That there are facilities so that people can make drinks or have their lunches. That their environment is clean and tidy. It’s basic stuff but can make a huge difference to team morale.
Let us hope these tips help you to manage your team effectively.