Six Principles of Effective Team Management

Individual department or functional managers need to embrace ownership and responsibility for success and accomplishing defined strategic initiatives. However, to maximize the effectiveness of the organization, managers must be able to work with one another to achieve common goals.

To be effective the following six principles apply:

1. Accountability must be at the forefront of every initiative. Employees do want to be held accountable and they willing accept responsibility given the necessary training, information and the organization encourages empowerment.

2. Minimize oversight through confidence and empowerment. Do not micro manage. Workers will accept more responsibility if management isn’t constantly looking over their shoulder. This encourages innovation and creativity but it requires effective communication.

3. Managers need to function more as facilitators and leaders. Coaching is a skill set that should be required training for all managers to improve team management. Regular performance discussions should be scheduled and strictly held to.

4. Performance management & performance measurement are key contributors to improved team management. Goals should be measurable and specific. Creating score cards is an effective tool to improve team performance.

5. Information sharing and effective communication are critical. Teams must have unrestricted access to all relevant information. If you can’t trust someone on the team then they shouldn’t be on the team.

6. Manager skill sets must be continuously reviewed and upgraded to allow them the opportunity to adopt new skills specifically related to coaching and mentoring. The manager’s role must be redefined for the team environment and an emphasis on the servant style of leadership (“The Lead Wolf” model) is essential. (E-mail rick@ceostrategist.com for a copy of the Lead Wolf model of leadership)

Organizations that maximize success embrace the concept of “Team Leadership” and their managers are skilled at leading group problem-solving sessions maximizing collaboration across all functional units. A forum exists to educate and train managers on the problems and concerns of other functional departments. Communication is kept at the “Adult” level and an explicit understanding of respect exists throughout the culture of the organization. This feeling of mutual respect, trust and maturity becomes the foundation for teamwork and problem solving.