- A clear understanding of their own responsibilities
- A desire to achieve team and organizational goals
- Regular check-ins by managers and supervisors
An excellent manager also makes time to listen to and carry out employee feedback as needed, lead by example—whether that’s through showing a good work life balance or getting tasks done on time—and stay transparent on their own work challenges and how they’ll solve them.
6 tips to effectively manage a team and empower great work
You know that a good manager is critical to a team’s success. They regularly keep the team motivated, on track, informed of company milestones and goals, and ensure everyone is satisfied and contributing towards the company’s bottom line.
Here are tips to effectively manage a team, and keep employees driven and motivated to do their best:
1. Communicate directly and transparently
Employees dread miscommunication because it causes confusion and stress. Effective communication skills ensure team-wide clarity on tasks, deadlines, and goals. This transparency allows a team to focus on their productivity and collaboration.
On the flip side, poor digital communication management for teams lowers employee morale and productivity. This negatively impacts customer satisfaction and the bottom line.
A platform like monday.com Work OS can help managers and team members communicate better. For example, a manager can use a project communication plan for meetings, tasks, and progress reviews. Using this platform, managers can assign team members to action items and monitor their progress at every stage.
2. Offer a clear vision
In a study by Hypercontext, a majority of managers said that keeping their team on track to achieve goals was an important part of their role.
Managers who doesn’t have their eye on the ball, however, can’t ensure their employees move in the right direction.
Managers can often get side-tracked from their original goals by their own daily tasks and solving issues, big or small.
Setting a clear vision that highlights short-term and long-term goals for projects, teams, and the overall organization is arguably the best way for managers and employees to stay focused.
Managers can use monday.com Work OS to easily list and track goals — and share those dashboards easily with team members.
3. Encourage team collaboration
Employees who say they feel like part of a team are 2.3 times more likely to be engaged at work.
Effective collaboration is crucial for teams to get things done together, on time, and without conflicts.
To boost collaboration, managers can turn to collaboration software. In fact, using technology to run workflows and collaborative projects is almost expected; most Millennials (85%) and Gen Z (79%) workers say they want their direct managers to problem solve with technology, and this includes all of the tools needed to complete tasks and projects.
Platforms with a customizable project tracking template, for example, can help managers set-up projects. Everyone involved in the project can then track tasks, deadlines, and make changes quickly. Take a look at what that looks like on monday.com Work OS:
This transparent approach also enables employees to receive feedback and flag any issues immediately.
4. Delegate with care
A manager is expected to assign tasks to employees based on skill, experience, and competency. They must trust that every team member can complete assigned tasks on time.
Ideally, every team member should have a fair workload.
But even good managers can struggle with delegation. In fact, 21% of employees feel overwhelmed with their workload “most of the time.”
A Gallup survey found an “unmanageable workload” is the second-leading that employees state for being burnt out.
To respect individual workloads and capacities, managers can use monday.com Work OS to easily create an overview of task assignments for each team member and their deadlines.
5. Provide constructive feedback and recognition
Constructive feedback sessions provide insights into areas for improvement, both for employees and managers. It gives employees clarity on where they stand and where they are headed.
In Research by Reflektive, 92% of surveyed employees say they want more than an annual performance review. 72% of those surveyed want at least monthly review sessions.
When employees provide feedback, listen to what they’re saying and if possible, act on it. Changes inspired by these sessions can help employees, managers, and the team perform better and build trust.
Another critical aspect of feedback sessions is recognition.
Appreciation of team members’ efforts and achievements has a significant impact on employee morale, while a lack of recognition can lead to burnout.
A recent study states that a reduction of providing and receiving recognition increases the odds of burnout by 45% and 48%.
Scheduling feedback sessions while handling many other responsibilities can be challenging. One tool managers can utilize for easy feedback scheduling and managing is a feedback tracker, like the one below.
6. Overcome remote and hybrid work challenges
To handle a remote or a hybrid team, managers must identify and solve the challenges of hiring and managing virtual team members.
Some common challenges include scheduling and miscommunication. To overcome these roadblocks, managers can record all information—from new hires to team activities—on a remote work plan template.
Managers can even use this template as a way to organize remote workers’ feedback. Research shows that remote employees who received feedback in the past week were 4.6 times more likely to be engaged with the team.
Effective team management helps the whole company run more smoothly
Effective team management is essential for both team and organizational success.
A manager who excels in fundamental areas—such as setting goals, delegating tasks, and providing consistent feedback—is more likely to have engaged employees, working towards the company’s goals. Your employees may be talented, but it’s effective team management that steers them in the right direction and helps them succeed.
Get in touch to learn how monday.com Work OS can help you excel as a manager, and help your team work smarter and faster.