How to Effectively Manage a Team

Being a leader involves much more than putting your ideas into action. To sustain growth, you must know to manage a team. No matter the size of your operations or the industry that you are working in, to effectively manage a team, every leader must be aware of some fundamental principles. These principles will help you structure your working environment to ensure long term growth and positivity.

Health and Safety 

As a team leader, it is your responsibility to ensure the safety of your staff at all times. Managers must outline clear and comprehensive health and safety guidelines and practices to safeguard both the health of staff and the organization. Health and safety are there to protect your workers, to avoid injuries, but it is also there to protect your business. When you look at how much you can receive in a worker’s compensation settlement, the need for clear health and safety guidelines become startlingly clear. There are many ways of improving workplace health and safety; for example, you could use a health and safety management system.

Employee Engagement 

Safeguarding the health and safety of your staff is just one important aspect of effective management. It is vital to protect not only the physical wellbeing of your staff but also their mental wellbeing. The best way to ensure that your employees are happy is to monitor employee engagement. While an engaged employee is likely to be happy in their work, the reason employee engagement is so valuable is because the term encompasses more than just happiness or satisfaction. An engaged employee has an emotional commitment to the organization and its goals and will therefore go above the call of duty in their work. Studies have found that disengaged employees have a 37% higher absentee rate, 18% lower productivity, and 15% lower profitability. These statistics have a very real effect on revenue.

The cost of a disengaged employee is on average 34% of their annual salary. Many things can be done to ensure that your business has high levels of employee engagement. Firstly you can monitor employee engagement using employee engagement software. Secondly, you can focus on recruitment. Taking the time to find the best person for the job will help you save time and money in the long run. Remember that the best person for the job is the individual whose interests, experience, and skills align with the role they are applying for.

Communication 

Creating a culture that promotes open communication is also an essential part of effective leadership and management. Research from the US firm Gartner has found poor communication to be responsible for 70% of business mistakes. However, it is not only important for teams to feel able to effectively communicate tasks and potential problems. Leaders also need to be able to communicate praise and give feedback to their employees to ensure they feel valued and have the information necessary to improve. To foster a culture of communication, you must focus on how you interact with employees. For example, if someone brings an issue to your attention, you must take the time to thank them for letting you know, rather than just focusing on the potential solutions and impacts of the problem. Take the time to connect to employees on a personal level, to look them in the eye and thank them for the work they have done. It might sound very simple, but it is easy to forget in the fast-paced world of business.