Fast Company: Even managers with the best intentions can sometimes compromise team morale without realizing it. The art of team management involves balancing professional competence with genuine interpersonal connection. We consulted with 10 experienced industry professionals who shared the common pitfalls that can zap a team’s spirit as well as practical tips to help you avoid missteps and lead a motivated, high-performing group.
3 comments:
A lot of these tips are really important, and I’ve seen the difference in teams managed by leaders who employed these tips compared to ones who didn’t. Weekly checkins opposed to micromanaging each detail helps team members feel like they are more free creatively and not trapped. It gives you the freedom to work on your own daily pace, while still accomplishing goals on time. It also allows people to explore ideas and take initiative. I also think what they said about different levels of priority is really important. When every single thing is urgent every time, it can cause a lot of stress and eventually it can make it feel like nothing is actually important. Your team may be reluctant to get anything done and as the article mentioned, they will all be tired and burnt out. It’s important to acknowledge which things are actually urgent matters and what can be put on the back burner.
All of these common pitfalls are truly that common. I believe I have seen most of the effects of when people avoid and fall in these, both when they happen to others or myself. With repeating the other person’s point of view it makes people feel heard and clears any potential misunderstandings about what each person said and creates a situation where it can be corrected in the moment, which is so wonderful. Having weekly check-ins and to-do lists where a manager or supervisor does not need to approve the work done until the very end is definitely crucial for both the team and the manager. If the manager has to check every little thing it will get draining for the manager to be running around all the time trying to keep up with the questions and it will make the team feel useless and drained as well. I am so glad these pitfalls are in a list here and I will come back to these if I ever see myself or others starting to go towards any one of these.
This advice is much appreciated. Some of the ten total are a bit intuitive, but are great reminders for certain virtues that can sometimes go too far onto the backburner. One that I know I struggle with is micromanagement. The article puts well the exact problems with this, alongside the balanced solution of weekly check-ins. While this solution doesn’t fit every problem, the idea behind it is to find the middle ground of management, allowing for autonomy and accountability both. Avoiding forced optimism is essential, as is ensuring proper credit for individuals’ work. I’ve never heard the phrase ‘priority pause’, but I’ve attempted to enact this in management roles before out of respect for the team and for the work. I think the last point about emotional intelligence and self-awareness is the most vital one, if I had to choose. It is obviously easier said than done, and frankly, can never be truly complete. Reactivity is such a dangerous thing in a group setting. Pyschological unsafety destroys not only productivity, but collaboration, morale, and overall team wellbeing. Being aware of one’s blind spots is essential for anyone in any collaborative setting, but especially so of managers who make people-oriented decisions.
Post a Comment