Supporting Your Team

As a manager, you have a great deal on your plate the majority of the time.

But one of the most important things (if not the most important thing) you can do is to make time to support your team.

Encourage them to manage themselves: The best managers will step back and let their team do their job without standing over their shoulders. Encourage your team to manage themselves. You can assign personal objectives to each member and empower them to succeed and do what they do well. Give them the opportunity to make decisions and don’t second guess them. Remind them that if they need support, they can come to you.

Listen, motivate and inspire them: Listen for ideas, insights and ways to improve your business. Listening can help you to identify red flags and threats to the firm. It is a manager’s responsibility to remove any roadblocks, help resolve challenges and deal with negative issues. One of the most effective things a good manager can do is encourage great energy and talent in order to motivate their people. It is important to inspire your team by staying positive.

Be available when they need you: A common complaint in many businesses is that managers simply aren’t available. Managers communicate when they hand down projects or tasks, but other than that, they tend to be unreachable. A great manager will always be available and will always make an effort to ensure employees have everything they need to get the job done.

Give feedback and communicate: If you don’t tell your team how they are doing, how can you expect them to improve? Providing performance feedback and communicating team objectives will encourage your team to continually improve. It can be useful to have monthly or fortnightly meetings with team members to assess projects and check-in with them. Enthusiastic team members will often seek growth opportunities and want to take on new challenges or tasks. By communicating the objectives of the team and giving regular feedback, you open the door for productive two-way conversations with your team.