Every manager wants to build a high-performing team that can collaborate toward a common goal. But does it only depend on hiring people with the right professional skills? Not. Building a successful team highly depends on how unique each person is, if they can work collaboratively with other team members with a positive mindset, and if they are also an excellent organizational fit along with their professional skills!
And finding people who fill these roles and forming an effective team requires time and patience. And if you are also someone who is looking for ways to lay the groundwork for building a highly productive and efficient team, here is the perfect guide for you to get started:
Have a plan
Hiring the right people with the right skill set isn’t enough to ensure they’re going to be a good team fit. As a manager, you must ensure that all your team members can work together harmoniously and focus on the right priorities. To do this, managers must map out a scalable plan with smart goals and expectations from each team member.
Motivate your team to work better
Your team at work is a family beyond family, so it is crucial to ensure you treat them the same way you treat your loved ones. Build trust and long-lasting relationships with your team members to keep them motivated and happy. Furthermore, it is also recommended that you give opportunities to your employees to build stronger bonds with one another by organizing team building activities for them.
Focus on maximizing their skills
As a manager, you should know your team member’s skills and strengths. And as a manager, it is your responsibility to empower your team members to excel in their respective domains by giving them opportunities to up their skills. This will keep their morale and motivation high. You can do this in many ways:
- Organizing training sessions and webinars
- Workshops on interpersonal skills such as communication, collaboration, etc.
- Have cross-department meetups
Encourage team members to take risks
Allowing your team members to experiment and take risks will help them grow as a team and find innovative and newer ways to come up with solutions. No risk comes with a cent-percent chance of a positive outcome, and that’s why, as a manager, you should be open to the notion of failure when your team members want to try something new.
Celebrate their milestones
Whenever one of these risks works out, ensure you give your team members due credit and acknowledge and celebrate their success. However, if any idea doesn’t work out, maintain a positive environment in the workspace and do not let your team members feel discouraged by the failure.
Managing remote teams
If you are one of those managers managing a team remotely, you need to ensure your team members do not feel isolated and enjoy their work. To do this, you must foster good connections within the team by creating a work culture where everyone communicates and works collaboratively. Here are a few ways to do this:
- Organizing fun activities for your team members to keep them engaged
- Interact with all the team members casually regularly – ask them how things with them are, what they do in their free time, etc.
- Avoid micromanagement and allow your team members to take autonomy of their work
- Set expectations from the first day, and help your team members understand their individual goals and how they can achieve them