A team is a group of people who work together to accomplish a common goal or purpose. They all share some measure of accountability. Three essential pieces define all successful groups:
- People are working together
- Having a common purpose
- Mutual accountability
Managers & Teams
As a manager, you are both a leader of teams and a member of them too. All units have leaders also (both formal and informal sometimes). As a manager, you need to be concerned about all of the following with regards to managing your group:
- Understanding the purpose and overall goals
- Providing guidance and direction as the group develops
- Helping members acquire the skills needed to be the most effective
- Training members while providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed
- Identifying outside relationships that need to be cultivated to be more productive
- You must remove obstacles that hinder success
- You share authority in decision making to create an influential culture of empowerment
Sometimes Teams Struggle
Despite having the right tools and processes, a group might not be productive together. Some teams are just dysfunctional. Since teams are about people working together, there could be people issues. Some of these include:
- Poor interpersonal communication
- Lack of trust
- Ineffective leaders
- Lack of cooperation
Sometimes there could be structural issues limiting success:
- Missing skills
- Unfocused direction
- Lack of a vision or a plan
- Poorly defined roles and goals
There also could be support issues thwarting a team’s ability to be effective:
- Lack of effective training
- You are missing essential team tools
- Lack of interest from management
- A weak culture of ownership and accountability
Winning As A Group
The goal, like in sports, is to win. No one wants to be part of a losing culture or an ineffective group. If it feels like they are part of a poorly led or constructed team, engagement will take a hit. Soon enough, you will lose people. If you are not careful, you will lose high-potentials that you can’t afford to lose. To win as a team, a leader must:
- Learn to listen more than talk sometimes
- Communicate clearly and concisely
- Involve others in planning and building new initiatives
- Help everyone overcome obstacles
- Train and cross-train members.
- Deal with performance issues immediately
- Focus on driving performance
- Create a fun, engaging, and inspiring environment
- Develop a unique culture that uses everyone’s strengths and personalities
- Create a win-win culture for everyone
To evolve your management skills, you need to realize that you can’t do it alone. You need to leverage the strength of teams around you.
