What is Team Management?

Team management is a concept where a group or team of individuals perform any

given task. Team management is an important concept in every field where
individuals with different skills work together to achieve a common goal. In business,
team management is the collective effort of all employees to achieve organization
objectives.

Importance of Team Management

Every organization comprises of many employees who are assigned a particular role
in their job. Each individual performs their job and tasks as per the requirement. But
the collective effort of everyone is what companies want to achieve their business
goals. This is where team management and team work are essential. Team
management is essentially managing a team. Team building exercise, any issues
among team members have to be resolved, the best skills have to be used and the
business goals have to be met as a part of team management. The concept is
closely interwoven with other skills like leadership, time management, decision
making, good governance, communication making etc.

Effective Team Management Tips & Strategies

Team management is an important skill which is required by any manager.
Companies have to identify leaders who can control, direct and maximize the output
of their team. Some tips and strategies for effective team management are:
1. Communication: A good stream-lined and honest discussion with team members
is essential for effective team management. The team members have to be
constantly communicated business ideas and company strategies which the
leadership is thinking about so that employees are aware of what the company’s
vision is.
2. Motivation: Effective team management requires constant motivation of
employees. A strong team requires that all the members are motivated and full of
positive energy to complete their tasks.
3. Feedback: Feedback of employees by seniors as well as peers is important for
effective team management. Companies evaluate employees using techniques like
360 degree feedback and help employees improve.
4. Transparency: Having a transparent organizational structure is critical for time
management. Subordinates and team members should have easy access to top
management, discuss new ideas, revolt certain wrong practices, employee voice
should be heard etc.
5. Delegation: Effective team management ensures a team leader uses delegation of
authority while giving work to members. This helps in employee’s confidence who
feel that the manager trusts their work skills and abilities.
6. Flexibility: Team members who have flexibility at work using methods like work life
balance help in their business output, which is important for effective team
management.
7. Reward: Recognizing the efforts of team members through rewards, awards,
prizes, promotions etc are essential for good team management as this helps in
employee confidence.
8. Training: Updating employee skills with regular training and development helps in
strong team management. New skills, tools, learning methodologies, training
sessions etc help sharpen employee skills and thereby improve team output.

Team management is essential is managing any team. Depending upon the business
requirement, there are different types of teams:
1. Cross Functional Team
2. Self Directed Work Team
3. Special Purpose Team
4. Shamrock Team
Whatever the team output required, the basic principles and strategies of team
management are similar.

Examples of Team Management

There can be several examples of team management in every domain in life like
business, politics, sports, leisure etc. Some examples of team management are as
follows:
1. Team management in business: Consider a marketing head who has to sell his
products in a particular geography. He or she has to manage different teams like the
product team for ensuring good product quality, brand team for packaging & design,
marketing team for outdoor communication, sales team for managing sales etc.
Hence, a marketing manager had to align all team to ensure good sales which is
possible through effective team management.

https://www.cliffsnotes.com/study-guides/principles-of-management/understanding-
teams/effectiveness-of-teams

Effectiveness of Teams
High‐performance teams don't just appear; they are developed and nurtured. By themselves,
leaders with vision cannot guarantee the development of such high‐performance teams, nor can
members who desire to be part of such teams. The development of high‐performance teams takes
the combined efforts of visionary leaders and motivated team members. In addition, facilitators with
expertise in team building are needed. The following lists the characteristics that comprise high‐
performance teams:

 The team has a common focus, including clear and understandable goals, plans of
action, and ways to measure success.
 Roles and responsibilities are clearly defined for each team member.
 Each member has clearly defined expectations of other members.
 The team fully utilizes its resources—both internal and external.
 Members value each other's differences in healthy and productive ways.
 Each member is able to give, receive, and elicit necessary feedback.
 The team members manage their meetings in a productive way.
 The team is able to reach goals by achieving the necessary results.

To build an effective team, a leader needs to establish an organizational

environment in which individual team members can reflect upon and analyze
relationships with other team members. A leader should encourage the resolution of
any conflicts through healthy, professional confrontation, and willingly and openly
negotiate necessary changes. In short, effective leaders are cheerleaders for the
team; they encourage and support members who are committed and actively
involved with their teams and engage those members who aren't participating.

Several factors within an organization itself influence team effectiveness, including

its organizational culture, level of autonomy, and types of feedback mechanisms. But
the factors that influence the effectiveness of a team most directly stem from its
internal structure and processes.

 Structural factors include team or group type, size, and composition of skills and
abilities.
 Team processes include stages of team development, cultural norms, roles
cohesiveness, and interpersonal processes such as trust development, facilitation,
influence, leadership communication, and conflict resolution.

To judge the effectiveness of their teams, leaders need to examine their teams'
performances and personal outcomes. Performance outcomes may be measured by
products made, ideas generated, customers served, numbers of defects per
thousand items produced, overtime hours, items sold, and customer satisfaction
levels. Personal outcomes may be measured by employee satisfaction, commitment,
and willingness of members to stay on the team. Both outcomes are important for
the long‐term viability as well as the short‐term success of the team.
 https://opentextbc.ca/principlesofmanagementopenstax/chapter/teamwork-in-the-
workplace/#ch15rfin-1

Teamwork in the Workplace

1. What is a team, and what makes a team effective?

Teamwork has never been more important in organizations than it is today. Whether you
work in a manufacturing environment and utilize self-directed work teams, or if you work in
the “knowledge economy” and derive benefits from collaboration within a team structure,
you are harnessing the power of a team.

A team, according to Katzenbach and Smith in their Harvard Business Review (HBR) article

“The Discipline of Teams,” is defined as “people organized to function cooperatively as a
group”.

Katzenbach and Smith, “The Discipline of Teams”, Harvard Business Review,

July 2005.

The five elements that make teams function are:

 Common commitment and purpose

 Specific performance goals
 Complementary skills
 Commitment to how the work gets done
 Mutual accountability

A team has a specific purpose that it delivers on, has shared leadership roles, and has both
individual and mutual accountabilities. Teams discuss, make decisions, and perform real
work together, and they measure their performance by assessing their collective work
products. Wisdom of Teams reference. This is very different from the classic working
group in an organization (usually organized by functional area) in which there is a focused
leader, individual accountabilities and work products, and a group purpose that is the same as
the broader organizational mission. Think of the finance organization or a particular business
unit in your company—these are, in effect, larger working groups that take on a piece of the
broader organizational mission. They are organized under a leader, and their effectiveness is
measured by its influence on others within the business (e.g., financial performance of the
business.)
Finance Working Group
Smart managers understand that not all of a company’s influential
relationships appear as part of the organization chart. Consider a publishing
company that might have a lead finance head for each group, such as adult
fiction, nonfiction, young adult, and children’s book divisions. A finance team
working group would help spread best practices and lead to more cohesive
operations for the entire organization. (Credit: thetaxhaven /flickr / Attribution
2.0 Generic (CC BY 2.0))

So, what makes a team truly effective? According to Katzenbach and Smith’s “Discipline of
Teams,” there are several practices that the authors have observed in successful teams. These
practices include:

Establish urgency, demanding performance standards, and direction. Teams work best when
they have a compelling reason for being, and it is thus more likely that the teams will be
successful and live up to performance expectations. We’ve all seen the teams that are brought
together to address an “important initiative” for the company, but without clear direction and
a truly compelling reason to exist, the team will lose momentum and wither.

Select members for their skill and skill potential, not for their personality. This is not always
as easy as it sounds for several reasons. First, most people would prefer to have those with
good personalities and positive attitudes on their team in order to promote a pleasant work
environment. This is fine, but make sure that those individuals have the skill sets needed (or
the potential to acquire/learn) for their piece of the project. The second caveat here is that you
don’t always know what skills you need on a project until you really dig in and see what’s
going on. Spend some time up front thinking about the purpose of the project and the
anticipated deliverables you will be producing, and think through the specific types of skills
you’ll need on the team.

Pay particular attention to first meetings and actions. This is one way of saying that first
impressions mean a lot—and it is just as important for teams as for individuals. Teams will
interact with everyone from functional subject-matter experts all the way to senior leadership,
and the team must look competent and be perceived as competent. Keeping an eye on your
team’s level of emotional intelligence is very important and will enhance your team’s
reputation and ability to navigate stakeholders within the organization.

Set some clear rules of behavior. I have been through many meetings and team situations in
which we have rushed through “ground rules” because it felt like they were obvious—and
everyone always came up with the same list. It is so critical that the team takes the time up
front to capture their own rules of the road in order to keep the team in check. Rules that
address areas such as attendance, discussion, confidentiality, project approach, and conflict
are key to keeping team members aligned and engaged appropriately.

Set and seize upon a few immediate performance-oriented tasks and goals. What does this
mean? Have some quick wins that make the team feel that they’re really accomplishing
something and working together well. This is very important to the team’s confidence, as
well as just getting into the practices of working as a team. Success in the larger tasks will
come soon enough, as the larger tasks are really just a group of smaller tasks that fit together
to produce a larger deliverable.
 Challenge the group regularly with fresh facts and information. That is, continue to research
and gather information to confirm or challenge what you know about your project. Don’t
assume that all the facts are static and that you received them at the beginning of the project.
Often, you don’t know what you don’t know until you dig in. I think that the pace of change
is so great in the world today that new information is always presenting itself and must be
considered in the overall context of the project.

Spend lots of time together. Here’s an obvious one that is often overlooked. People are so
busy that they forget that an important part of the team process is to spend time together,
think together, and bond. Time in person, time on the phone, time in meetings—all of it
counts and helps to build camaraderie and trust.

Exploit the power of positive feedback, recognition, and reward. Positive reinforcement is a
motivator that will help the members of the team feel more comfortable contributing. It will
also reinforce the behaviors and expectations that you’re driving within the team. Although
there are many extrinsic rewards that can serve as motivators, a successful team begins to feel
that its own success and performance is the most rewarding.

Collaboration is another key concept and method by which teams can work together very
successfully. Bringing together a team of experts from across the business would seem to be a
best practice in any situation. However, Gratton and Erickson, in their article Eight Ways to
Build Collaborative Teams, found that collaboration seems to decrease sharply when a team
is working on complex project initiatives. In their study, they examined 55 larger teams and
identified those with strong collaboration skills, despite the level of complexity. There were
eight success factors for having strong collaboration skills:

 “Signature” relationship practices

 Role models of collaboration among executives
 Establishment of “gift” culture, in which managers mentor employees
 Training in relationship skills
 A sense of community
 Ambidextrous leaders—good at task and people leadership
 Good use of heritage relationships
 Role clarity and talk ambiguity

Gratton and Erickson, “Eight Ways to Build Collaborative Teams”, Harvard Business Review, Nov
2007.

As teams grow in size and complexity, the standard practices that worked well with small
teams don’t work anymore. Organizations need to think about how to make collaboration
work, and they should leverage the above best practices to build relationships and trust.

1. What is the definition of a team?

2. Name some practices that can make a team more successful.
1. What is a team, and what makes teams effective?

A team is defined as “people organized to function cooperatively as a group.”

Some of the characteristics of a team are that it has a common commitment and
purpose, specific performance goals, complementary skills, commitment to how
the work gets done, and mutual accountability.

Some of the practices that make a team effective are that they have a sense of
urgency and direction; they set clear rules of behavior; they spend lots of time
together; and they utilize feedback, recognition, and reward.
 Transparent: Easily seen through, recognized or detected.
Business transparency is openness, communication and accountability. It is the full, accurate and
complete disclosure of information in a timely manner. And it is vital in order to understand how to
increase team effectiveness.
https://blog.peoplefirstps.com/connect2lead/team-effectiveness-transparent

#1 Spell out your intentions

 Explain what you want to accomplish and why.

 Share your goals openly.
 Set, clarify and give feedback on your expectations.
 When giving feedback, describe why it matters.
 Check your intentions internally. Are you acting in accord with your values? If so, explain that.

#2 Share your decision-making process

 Be consistent in your process.

 Don’t deviate without explaining why.
 Be able to explain yourself.
 Set your criteria and priorities first and be sure they align with values.
 Get input along the way.

#3 Reveal information about yourself

 What makes you who you are?

 What matters most to you now?
 What do you want to be doing in the future?
 What will your legacy be?
 Don’t worry… You’re a long way from over-sharing.

#4 Avoid pretense and posing

 If you don’t know, say so.

 Be candid, honest and genuine in what you say.
 Hold yourself to the same standards you hold others. (Including being okay with imperfection.)

#5 Be sure your actions match your words

 Get feedback to be sure you follow through and are credible in what you do vs. what you say.
 Don’t say it if you don’t mean it.
 Explain discrepancies before they occur.
DELEGATION

Transparent: not opaque, not translucent, but see through. No surprises, nothing concealed, just you --
the real you shining through.

Why team transparency?

Let’s start with the other side of the coin.

What happens when transparency is lacking in a team?

In my experience, teams that aren’t transparent usually suffer from various problems that when

combined may severely compromise team performance and affect the atmosphere at the workplace.

The mounting of small errors that impact progress, high risk of missing deadlines, and opaque

workflows result in loss of priorities and data ownership. As you can imagine, teams that experience

this become frustrated and employees easily lose their motivation.

Consider this:

Team members who aren’t given access to all the data they need at the right time won’t be able to

develop a broader vision of the project and see the value their individuals tasks bring to it. That’s why

transparency in the workplace is critical to building a sense of ownership and enthusiasm among team

members.

In short:

Lack of transparency may easily affect team motivation, or lead to bad decision-making because critical

project information is not available to all stakeholders.

Transparency is a buzzword today, but many companies try to implement it without really

understanding what transparency is all about. Organizations often fail to balance transparency and

instead end up on either of these extremes: wholly opaque or fully transparent.

But what exactly is transparency in management? Read on to learn more about the benefits of this

approach and see examples of transparency in the workplace as implemented at Sunscrapers.

Transparency in business – definition

For us, transparency is about giving every team member full access to crucial knowledge about the

company. That type of knowledge sharing provides team members with the context required for

decision-making and helps them to understand their role in the company’s overall objectives better.

This is what a transparent workplace is all about – empowering employees with contextual knowledge.

However, it’s not a good idea to introduce transparent workflows at the expense of individuals and their

right to privacy. It’s best to leave the decision about sharing that type of information to team members.

So what kind of data do we share?

Another matter is transparency in communication. There are many thingswe share publicly at

Sunscrapers. We do that to help people understand who we are, what we do, and how we think. We

communicate information related to our mission, vision, values, workflows (if allowed by the client), and

team members.

Naturally, we make some information public just within the company. We do that to build company

culture, align team members with company goals, and help them improve the decision-making process.

In particular, we inform our employees about our strategy and plans. Sharing goals means that we’re

also sharing metrics that show whether we’re on the right track. Finally, we also make sure that

everyone has access to company-wide progress reports.

We also make sure that all team members are aware of the rationale behind every decision affecting
the team directly.

We keep team members updated about changes in our processes, as well decisions to hire or let go a

team member.

Another smart thing to spread around the company is learnings and insights from project

retrospectives. This is a great example of transparency. It effectively allows us to transfer experience

between project teams to speed up learning and prevent other team members from repeating the same

mistakes. Client feedback is an essential element of knowledge sharing as well because it helps us all

improve our work and pinpoint weak spots that need improvement.

We share positive feedback and praise of the individual and team performance or achievements.

CLICK TO TWEET

We also make sure that financial required for goal setting and progress evaluation is within reach of all

team members.

What we don’t share

We never share the confidential information of our clients. That one might seem obvious, but we find

that it’s always good to articulate obvious things – that’s how we keep everyone on the same page.

We also never communicate performance feedback given to individuals. We are passionate about

promoting growth at our company and want to give people an opportunity to improve

themselves and fix problems on their own.

We chose not to make information about salaries public. We keep the company roadmap with salary

ranges public because we want to build an honest recruitment process. We also have a system for

deciding about salary ranges and pay rises. We are aware that some people prefer to keep their

salaries themselves, so we don’t impose any rules here.

Reaching a balanced team transparency

I hope these transparency examples help you see why it’s worth to implement honest and transparent

communication among your staff. The idea behind transparency is empowering the team without

making anyone uncomfortable. And reaching this balance often turns out to be challenging.

But an organization devoted to constant self-improvement will make the most of a transparent

workplace for reiterating assumptions and making workflows even more efficient. Knowledge sharing is

critical to business success and this approach powers the information flow like nothing else.

Transparency in the workplace is just one of the many principles that drive us in developing the working

environment for our teams. We want to support them in the best possible way, and one of them is

creating a transparent work culture. https://sunscrapers.com/blog/how-we-understand-team-

transparency-and-why-we-think-its-so-important/

https://www.meistertask.com/blog/6-simple-tips-effective-team-management/

How to Achieve Effective Team Management

With good communication channels and plenty of opportunities to give feedback, you can provide your
team with a strong support system. With this, team leaders can develop accountability, trust, and a less
hierarchical approach.

Here are our six tips for achieving a happier and more productive team via some supportive workflows:

1. Be transparent
Transparent working environments have been found to make teams more accountable, happy and
creative.

It sounds like a big claim but transparent environments help to develop a feeling of mutual
respect between team members and team leaders. Via open and consistent communication,
transparent and authentic workplaces help employees to feel secure in their positions. In turn, team
members feel freer to contribute ideas and suggestions, enhancing creativity.

Marc de Grandpre, senior VP of Marketing at KIND Healthy Snacks, believes that transparency in the
workplace is hugely important. Marc explains how they use transparency for effective team
management at their company:

“How can your company learn, grow and succeed if people are afraid to be themselves, voice their
opinions and genuinely show that they care about the brand and team? Having the company become a
sort of safe space allows for brilliant ideas to flow and for problems in your company to be flagged and
addressed head-on.”

Marc and his team aim to make all employees feel in the loop, respected and valued. Consequently,
they found that each team member felt happier in their job, while also more creative and loyal.

Agile project management, made simple.

Get Started with MeisterTask

IT'S FREE
Using transparent tools
James Hannam, team management consultant, agrees that transparency is a cornerstone to high-
functioning teams. James explains that on his projects, teams use MeisterTask to achieve effective
team and project management. They do this by providing team members with an overview of
projects and responsibilities, via their shared Project Boards:

“If all of your team members can have a high-level of visibility over the project, while also
understanding the part they are playing at any given time, you will foster a sense of responsibility,
creating accountability among team members.”
Each task within each Project is assigned to a specific team member, making everyone’s
responsibilities clear. This also enables team members to understand the role they’re playing within the
bigger picture. With all tasks and responsibilities displayed transparently, team leaders can take a less
hands-on approach, knowing each task will be seen through by the assigned person.

2. Keep communicating
You must have heard this one before: the basis of a cooperative and productive team is good
communication.

The aim is to create an environment in which team leaders feel able to provide honest and
constructive feedback, and team members feel confident to voice concerns and communicate with one
another.

For teams with members working remotely, Google Hangouts can provide an ideal way to ensure some
face-to-face time is achieved.
If your distributed team is working across time zones and you’d like to set up a standing appointment
for calls, it’s important to find a time which works for everyone involved. By not always holding calls at
inconvenient times for the remote team member, they’ll be more open (and awake) to honestly and
accurately communicate with you.

Try a chat channel, like Slack

Another great communication tool is Slack. Lots of companies are already using Slack, as regardless of
whether your team is working remotely or all in one office, it’s a great way to cut down on emails and
build a positive and friendly working culture.

At MeisterLabs we have a ‘stand up’ Slack channel, where everyone begins their day by sharing what
they’ll be working on. This helps to prevent siphoning between teams and gives managers a good idea
about what everyone’s focus for will be. It also allows team members to jump in and offer support when
useful.

Agile project management, made simple.

Get Started with MeisterTask

IT'S FREE
3. Provide valuable feedback
Providing feedback to team members is one of the best ways you can support them to develop
professionally and personally.

Jean-François Manzoni, Professor of Leadership and Organizational Development at IMD

International, explains:
“You do your star a disservice if you fail to help her figure out how she can continue to grow”

Even if you have no negative feedback to give, make sure to hold regular opportunities to check-in.
This way, you can provide advice on how you feel your team members are progressing and could grow
further. If there are any areas of work that you feel could be improved, these discussions also provide a
good opportunity to share your constructive feedback.

Feedback can be difficult but it is an essential part of effective team management. When summarizing
her advice on how to give effective feedback, Belle Beth Cooper said:

“If you’re finding a conversation difficult or nerve-wracking, remember that your aim in providing
feedback is to help your team members succeed and grow.”

So although feedback conversations can be difficult, especially in non-hierarchical organizations,

they’re important and necessary for the development of team members and the success of your wider
team.

4. Encourage collaboration
Inevitably, your team members will be happier if they can get along well with one another. As an added
bonus, they’ll perform better too.

To achieve this, encourage your team members to collaborate. On your team, there will likely be a
whole bunch of diverse skills. Make sure these different skillsets are utilized by ensuring everyone is
aware of ongoing projects. That way, team members can jump in to collaborate wherever they feel they
can bring value.
On our marketing team, for example, I’ll often draw on support from the SEO specialist while creating
the content strategy. Equally, if I know the SEO specialist is coming up with text for a PPC campaign, I’ll
offer to help. A collaborative task management tool can help this process by sharing the upcoming
tasks for each team member with the rest of your team.

Use Google Drive

Collaboration has been found to increase creativity, so tools like Google Drive, which allow for real-time
updates on shared documents as you work, are ideal.

In our marketing team, we use the Google Docs upload feature within MeisterTask to share documents
via the relevant task. This means that we’re always working on the most up-to-date version of the
document, as other team members are able to edit it in real-time. We then use the commenting feature
on each task to leave relevant feedback, questions or updates on how the task is developing.

Try mapping out your ideas

For a less linear take on collaborative working, try using a collaborative online mind map.
With MindMeister, multiple users are able to access mind maps at the same time, meaning team
members can add their ideas, provide feedback or vote up or down on ideas. This can all be done in
real-time, whether brainstorming in a meeting together, or working entirely remotely.

Generating ideas collaboratively while mind mapping has been found to boost creative thinking, as it
integrates both the linear, convergent (left-brain) thinking with divergent, non-linear (right-brain)
thinking. This engages the whole mind in processing and creating new information, using our visual,
spatial and kinesthetic senses to come up with new ideas, increasing our creativity.

5. Trust your team to do their job

When I asked Michael Hollauf, MeisterLabs’ CEO, what his advice would be to other team leaders, he
said it would be to always recognize when to delegate tasks.
Companies hire competent staff for a reason and effective team management shouldn’t mean micro-
management. If you’ve hired staff for a specialist area like programming, you need to know when to just
leave them to do their job.

Delegate tasks while staying in the loop

Sometimes it can be hard to let go. Especially if you’ve been working on a project for a while but need a
team member to take it over. With MeisterTask, try using the Watching feature, where you can add
yourself as a ‘watcher’. Becoming a ‘watcher’ allows you to remain in the loop with how the task is
progressing and any related discussions.

Michael Kranner, MeisterLabs’ Growth Marketer, explains how this function helps him to run the Growth
team here at MeisterLabs efficiently:

“at every stage, the experiment task is assigned to one specific person…Other team members can
“watch” the task’s progression, keeping everyone in the loop with how the experiment is developing…
As experiments develop we move the tasks between the sections. All team members “watching” the
experiment are notified about the move.

By allowing “watchers” to keep an eye on progression, the feature allows team leaders to entrust team
members to get on with their tasks or projects alone while feeling able to jump in to query or help where
useful.

Retain an overview of team and project progress

In MeisterTask, team members can gain a clear overview of team and task progression via
the Statistics & Reports area. Featuring graphs on task creation and completion, team productivity can
be viewed transparently and reports can be downloaded as CSV files if needed.
Teams can also choose to time-track their tasks to gain even further insight into how long projects are
taking.

Intuitive task management

starts now!

Learn more

SIGN UP FOR FREE

6. Prevent team burn-out
As a team leader, you’re in a great position to set positive boundaries of work, play, and relaxation. In
her article on managing work notifications, Belle Beth Cooper argues that it is the responsibility of
employers to set the precedent about when and where team members should be switching off from
work entirely. This could mean, for example, by not expecting team members to check emails after
working hours.
Of course, this can be difficult. Particularly in teams where members work flexibly and might prefer to
start early or work late, to save time elsewhere. However, encouraging team members to set
themselves some working limits, to sleep well and avoid burn-out, is important.

With MeisterTask and Slack, our main communication channels at MeisterLabs, you can choose which
notifications to receive. For example, I’ll only receive a push Slack notification on my laptop if I’ve been
mentioned or been sent a direct message. Similarly, as Belle Beth Cooper suggests, team members
can try setting their phones to do not disturb mode when finishing for the night, so they’re able to switch
off, relax and rejuvenate.

https://blog.prialto.com/7-delegation-mistakes-that-can-kill-effective-teamwork

Mistake #1: Not able to differentiate between delegating and training

These two concepts are often mixed up by managers. To be clear, training is aimed at improving the employee’s
performance or help them attain a required level of knowledge or skill. Whereas, delegation is aimed at reducing
the workload of managers so they can focus on important tasks and allow the subordinates to grow in the
process.

If a manager delegates a task to a subordinate, the subordinate is expected to complete the task on their own.
The manager shouldn’t get involved unless required. Micromanaging the situation will make it look more like
training than delegation. By micromanaging, you are essentially defeating the purpose of delegating. It can have
adverse effects like low morale, self-doubt, trust deficit, and productivity slumps.

The key here is to trust the employee to perform the task on their own. They may require some guidance in the
beginning, but don’t be an overbearing presence.

Want to learn how to use delegation to boost your productivity and improve your relationships with your
employees? Download our guide How to Use Delegation to Become a More Impactful Leader.

LEARN TO DELEGATE EFFECTIVELY

 Mistake #2: Providing Vague Instructions

Clear communication is fundamental to effective delegation. If you don’t let the team member know ‘what is
expected of them’ in clear and precise terms, the outcome may fall short of the ideal.

This is why when you are delegating a task, you should clearly mention the following:

 The outcome expected in clear and measurable terms

 The time it will take for the task to be completed

 The maximum amount of resources that can be allotted

 The tools to be used

 The names and ranks of all the parties involved

 When and how reporting should be delivered

There shouldn’t be any room for misunderstanding or vagueness.

For instance, if you want to delegate a task like making a report of all the complaints received with respect to a
particular feature, the message should appear like this:

Make a 500 word report on customer complaints with regards to the email notes feature, and send it to me via
email by 3:30 pm.

The deliverables and other conditions (if any) should be explained precisely and clearly. This will help ensure the
end result is closer to what was expected.

Read More: How to Create Processes that Improve Your Bottom Line

 
Mistake #3: Picking the wrong person

If you delegate a task to someone who is not suited or capable of doing it, the results may be far from ideal.
Additionally, it may lead to squabbles, dissent, and lack of respect among your subordinates. As they say in
sports, you may end up losing "the dressing room," and that doesn’t bode well for a leader.

The key here is to gain an in-depth knowledge of your team. Their strengths, skills, weaknesses, and areas of
expertise should be known to you. This will help ensure that you pick the right person for the job. For example, if
a person has superior math skills, you could delegate statistics-related tasks to them. 

This kind of delegation will not only make you more efficient and effective, but it will make you a good leader as
well. And, it will help your team develop into a strong, cohesive unit.

Read More: How to Inspire Goal Commitment From Your Team

 Mistake #4: Delegating a task, and then not monitoring it

Delegating a task doesn’t mean that it isn’t your responsibility anymore. Although you may have explained the
task in great detail, it doesn’t guarantee the task will be completed as per your expectations.

You have to keep monitoring the progress and ask for regular updates. This helps ensure he/she is on the right
track. And, you can also step in early if there are any errors or mistakes. Nipping it in the bud avoids wastage of
time, energy, and resources.

That said, you should always try to strike a balance between monitoring and supporting. You need to give people
enough freedom to use their abilities to the best effect.

This is where collaboration tools and timekeeping tools really come in handy. They make it easier to monitor the
progress without being nosy or micromanaging the situation.

 Mistake #5: Expecting Perfection

Perfectionism is a major hindrance to getting things done. If you are driven by perfectionism, you will struggle
when it comes to delegating tasks.

Your obsession with being perfect can lead to constant meddling and micromanaging. You will never be satisfied
with their work, the result will be - endless meetings and revisions. This will eventually drive your subordinates
crazy. If someone can complete a task at 80-90%, then let them complete it.

Your focus should be progress rather than perfection. This will help you save time, and focus on more important
things.   

Read More: How to Set Effective Goals with Employees and Boost Performance

 
Mistake #6: Not sharing the rewards and credit

When you are delegating tasks, you aren't just sharing the responsibility. Your teammates should get a fair share
of the rewards and the credit, too. In other words, don’t hoard the good words or the recognition. Instead, spread
the love.

If your top management is happy with the work, let your subordinates know about it. Not only does it keep the
motivation levels up, but it will help the subordinates develop and grow.

Always remember to explicitly mention the names of employees who worked along with you on a task or project.
They will be more eager to take up delegated tasks next time around.

 Mistake #7: Not knowing what to delegate

This happens with a lot of managers regularly. It is due to the fact that they are not able to read the situation
clearly, this cannot decide what tasks to delegate.

Here’s a checklist to help you decide what can be delegated:

 A low priority task, which is something that doesn’t come under your core focus area

 Less important tasks that eat away at your time and/or energy 

 Laying the groundwork such as collecting resources, prospect research, data entry, etc

 Tasks that you are not good at doing

 A task that your teammates can do better

 Something that you want your team to learn

Here is an infographic developed by Prialto, one of the top virtual assistant services for executives, to help
you decide what to delegate.
DELEGATION
Trust your team to do their job
When I asked Michael Hollauf, MeisterLabs’ CEO, what his advice would be to other team leaders, he said it
would be to always recognize when to delegate tasks.

Companies hire competent staff for a reason and effective team management shouldn’t mean micro-
management. If you’ve hired staff for a specialist area like programming, you need to know when to just leave
them to do their job.

Delegate tasks while staying in the loop

Sometimes it can be hard to let go. Especially if you’ve been working on a project for a while but need a team
member to take it over. With MeisterTask, try using the Watching feature, where you can add yourself as a
‘watcher’. Becoming a ‘watcher’ allows you to remain in the loop with how the task is progressing and any related
discussions.

Michael Kranner, MeisterLabs’ Growth Marketer, explains how this function helps him to run the Growth team
here at MeisterLabs efficiently:

“at every stage, the experiment task is assigned to one specific person…Other team members can “watch” the
task’s progression, keeping everyone in the loop with how the experiment is developing… As experiments
develop we move the tasks between the sections. All team members “watching” the experiment are notified
about the move.

By allowing “watchers” to keep an eye on progression, the feature allows team leaders to entrust team members
to get on with their tasks or projects alone while feeling able to jump in to query or help where useful.

https://study.com/academy/lesson/delegation-collaboration-among-team-members.html
delegatioN VIDEO

https://www.lifehack.org/688325/how-to-delegate-work-the-definitive-guide-for-successful-leaders
-DELEGATION

“Being flexible is a key trait of any team player,” according to America’s Job Exchange, a
company specializing in online recruitment advertising and OFCCP compliance.

Nothing ever goes according to plan. As German military strategist Helmuth von Moltke once
famously said, “No battle plan survives contact with the enemy.” This is just as true in the war
room as it is the conference room. Throughout any project, there arises unexpected hurdles that
must be addressed. And often the difference between success and failure is how your team adapts
to those hurdles – flexibility.
 “The measure of intelligence is the ability to change.”
― Albert Einstein
“Confronting and resolving crises, rushing to meet deadlines, or picking up the slack for an
absent or dismissed colleague are all problems that require adaptation,” says America’s Job
Exchange. “If someone on a team is unable to change gears and refocus, odds are more issues
will arise to further complicate the workflow process.”

In the workplace, flexibility is the ability to make changes to the time (when), location (where)
and manner (how) in which a project or task is to be completed.
“While it is important to have a clearly defined set of roles and responsibilities for each member,
on the most effective teams tasks and responsibilities are not rigidly adhered to,” writes Traci
Schatz. “Team members are willing to cross lines of responsibility and do something that may not
be in their job description, if that is what’s required to get the job done.”
As you can probably imagine, workplace flexibility is an important quality to instill in your
employees. However, it is not always an easy lesson to teach.

Practice Makes Perfect

If you want your employees to be more flexible, you need to encourage collaboration and
open communication. These are the backbones of a flexible workforce. Perhaps the easiest way to
accomplish this is to practice. This is where Terrapin Adventures comes in. We will give your
employees a crash course in flexibility. Our team team building activities allow people to play
different roles within the team to work out solutions to certain challenges. Sometimes you may be
a leader and sometimes you are providing a supporting role for the team, regardless of your job
description, but, either way, our exercises are designed to break down communication barriers
and encourage participants to work together. These exercises are fun but challenging and are
designed to make your employees stop, think, communicate, adjust their plan of action on the fly,
and ultimately fail once or twice before succeeding.

https://social.hays.com/2017/10/26/impact-flexible-working-team-work/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/hfm.20069

Contribution of Flexibility to Performance

• In this team, being broadly skilled and flexible contributes to producing as much as
possible/helping as many customers as possible with the lowest costs.

• In this team, being broadly skilled and flexible contributes to delivering good quality.

• In this team, being broadly skilled and flexible contributes to developing new products/ new
services

Understand your role as a manager of flexible workers

Managers play a critical role in enabling and embedding workplace flexibility. Key

aspects of this role are to:

 ensure employees are aware of their rights and responsibilities around flexible
work
 provide employees with support and build a team culture based on high
performance, trust and outcomes
 ensure communication and resource management are enabled between
teams and departments
 set an example by openly supporting flexibility and working flexibly
themselves, which will help employees and teams understand that working
flexibly is a normal and accepted part of work.

This toolkit is designed to help managers at all levels implement productive,

successful flexible working arrangements. It is intended to be of particular use to

managers who directly manage employees working flexibly.

The toolkit outlines strategies that can guide you as you seek to maximise the

benefits of flexibility. These strategies can be applied to the implementation of

flexible working arrangements across whole teams or for only a few employees.

Transparency Establishes Trust

Transparency builds trust, and makes employees feel that they’re working for a company with
higher ethical standards.   According to a 2014 American Psychological Association Survey, 25%
of employees do not trust their employer.  Half of them believe their employer is not upfront with
them and open to the overall vision of the company.

When transparency is added to the corporate culture, employees will be more engaged and
committed to the vision of the company.   The reason is they fully understand the mission and
feel vested to share ideas, display their creativity, and bring about innovation to achieve the
desired objective.  People are always going to be first and best choice for operating within the
solution before automation since when committed will add more continuous value to the process.

So how does a company being about the full value of transparency to the workplace?  The
answer is communication.  Please note not just any communication but direct and clear
communication that comes from the highest level of honesty and integrity.  It is important that
communication be a two way street both coming from top down and down up.  Employees are
most engaged and committed to the process when senior leadership continually updates and
communicates company strategy, value, and the truth about their current situation.  Companies
that adopt the concept of transparent leadership see a stronger bond of trust and commitment
from their employees to strive for efforts not achievable the other way around.

Transparency Expands Relationships

You have probably heard that people do not leave the job itself but leave the managers
associated with it.  Solid relationships with strong foundations are built from being transparent.  A
2014 CareerBuilder survey showed that 37% of the 3,008 employees surveyed were likely to
leave their jobs due to poor relationships and lack of confidence with their boss’s performance.

So how do we improve relationships in the workplace?   The best advice would be to have an
open environment that encourages transparency and sharing of ideas without judgement. While
this is not easy, there are training programs to improve workplace communications and teach
people from all backgrounds to relate to one another without judgement.  Keeping an open office
is to keep the flow of communication steady to prevent bottlenecks or issues from arising.  This
means for senior management to engaged employees and relate to them as people.  They
should go out there and have meaningful conversations that build not only trust but a foundation
of confidence for everyone to succeed as one.  Oncce you establish this open line of
communication you will see a shift in the mood and even your company culture.

Transparency Increases Productivity

Most employees over the years when asked felt their employers were not straight forward with
the company vision and not providing the right information to be truly successful in their jobs. 
This creates lack of trust and a huge drop off with level of commitment to apply their full potential
toward the job.

Senior Management has to be fully transparent about their organization’s vision, mission, and
values with employees.  Transparent leadership starts with the CEO or President.   This critical
information depicted above must be communicated clearly to gain trust and commitment from
employees to be fully vested and for them to apply themselves as a team to achieve company
goals.  Companies have to put together training programs holding everyone accountable to have
alignment with the values, vision, and mission of the company.  Investing in your core people will
be less expensive and a far better investment than constant onboarding of new people.
 Transparency Strengthens Innovation
The difference between companies like Amazon and Apple to others is how together a company
can solve problems beforehand and come up with new ideas to disrupt the marketplace in a
good way.  A transparent leader main goal should be to identify each of their employee’s
strengths and leverage them together to handle bigger and more complex problems.  Your best
solutions and innovations come from truly understanding what makes your people tick and
leveraging their strengths.  It is important for people to be out of their comfort zones but not
dwelling on their weaknesses.  Situations that allow them to leverage their strengths foster
innovation and more creativity to succeed.

When employees feel micro-managed or not trusted by their manager, the result is less effort,
less productivity, and most likely to leave the organization.  On the other hand, employees who
are empowered by their managers and feel trusted will be better performers, exert more effort,
and always go above and beyond role expectations. They feel part of something big and often
get tasks done on time and have greater confidence in the workplace to perform at their highest
level.   
So what else is important to communicate to them to strengthen innovation?  It is important to let
your employees in on company problems they will either have a solution for you or help you work
on one. In addition, you will get a solution a lot faster than if you, alone, spent all that time trying
to come up with one just because you did not want to let others know there is a major problem.
Being transparent is not a weakness but actually strength at the core level.   Sharing ideas and
information will allow companies to get a new perspective, new opinions and better insight.
Problems will be solved faster and more efficiently if you learn to be open and honest.   Below is
a list of suggestions to improve innovation and trust in your organization.

1. Invest in your people first and ongoing for maximum development

2. Make sure your current policies and procedures are truthful and establish trust
3. Give up full control and leverage strategically people’s strengths as a team. Empower
coming from trust and manage together as a team.
4. Share information upfront and always be honest with every situation no matter how bad it
may be.  Be proactive and not reactive.
These reasons provided will not only benefit you personally but everyone in your organization. 
Being transparent does not cost much to implement within your organizations.  You will see
major improvements in your business when you are open, honest, and communicate effectively
with your team.   A team effort always prevails in the long run.   Establish an open environment
by keeping your people in the loop and work together as one to come up with solutions rather
than manage the problem.   Your business is ready to reach the next level when transparency is
part of the process every step of the way.
Transparency Takeaways
Self-preservation is a powerful instinct. The knowledge that the truth isn’t
always pleasant means that even as adults, many of us hold back when
transparency might make us vulnerable. We’re taught that honesty is the
best policy, but that if we have nothing nice to say, it’s better to say nothing
at all.

But transparency isn’t about throwing caution to the wind or blurting out
whatever comes to mind, it’s about understanding the benefit of honest,
forthright communication in your organization. Knowledge is power, and
the lesson to take away is that transparency, truth, and openness spread the
knowledge that empowers people and businesses to do better work
together.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/christinecomaford/2017/01/28/63-of-employees-dont-trust-their-
leader-heres-what-you-can-do-to-change-that/#3a997db67de4

ompany-level
If you want transparency in your business, you need to start at the
organizational level and ensure that it trickles down to the floor level.

Here are two effective ways in which you can maintain transparency at the
company level.

Establish your core values

Establishing core values like honesty, openness and fairness is the
cornerstone for building a transparent organization. Not only do you need
to establish these as your core values, but also ensure that your employees
personify these values and lead by example.

For example, the social media scheduling company, Buffer, has “Default to
transparency” as its core value. To maintain this in practice, the company
maintains a publicly-available spreadsheet disclosing each employee’s
salary, regardless of their position at the company. It has a set formula for
calculating salaries and is fair and honest about it. This is the epitome of
transparency and fairness within an organization.
Set up open communication channels
Another brilliant way to maintain transparency at an organizational level is
to have open communication channels. For example, this can be a portal
where the latest company news and events are shared.

You could use group chat tools like Microsoft Teams to maintain an open
communication channel for team members. In addition to group chats, you
can also use this tool to share files, manage workflows and schedule tasks.
It even has a discussion board where team members can contribute their
ideas or opinions about a certain topic.

Image via Microsoft

You could even have a forum where employees at all levels can ask
questions of senior management. On top of this, an informal community-
style portal where employees at all levels can connect and have
discussions about topics of common interest could be highly beneficial.
Employee level
At an employee level, the first step in creating a transparent work
environment is to encourage them to follow the company’s core values.
You can also create an open floor plan to foster open communication.

Open floor plan

Seating employees in cubicles may make them feel cut off from others and
can hinder open communication. So, having an open floor plan with very
few barricades can help enable an open flow of communication among
employees. The easier it is for people to communicate, the higher the
likelihood of them asking questions and having discussions instead of
working in silos.

This increase in communication can also help reduce solo working, bring
different teams together on projects - such as sales and marketing - and
encourage collaboration. All of this can benefit projects and campaigns.

Managerial level
This is probably the most important of all because managers are the ones
who act as middlemen between top management and floor-level
employees. The core burden of maintaining transparency falls on their
shoulders.

Open-door policy
The one thing that almost all transparent organizations have is an open-
door policy. Employees should be empowered and encouraged to go and
talk to any manager. This provides them with a platform to ask questions
and discuss concerns. All of this helps to maintain a positive work
environment.

Regular meetings on company/team

performance
Another responsibility that managers should bear is to convey the state of
company affairs to the employees. This shows that both good and bad
news is shared with everyone and that the company considers each
employee as an integral part of the system.
The same is true for team performance as well. All managers have insights
into the overall team performance for any given period of time. Having
monthly or quarterly team performance review meeting helps get everyone
on the same page.

The team meetings do not just need to be about performance, though. You
can simply have meetings to discuss the various projects that the team is
working on. If anyone needs ideas or help with something, they can ask for
it. Team meetings can also be used to appreciate people or to announce
important news, upcoming projects, events, etc.

Clear and honest communication

Managers should set clear expectations and provide fair feedback on
whether those expectations are met or not. If managers don’t do that, and
an employee does not get an expected raise or promotion, they might feel
resentful.

However, if there’s an open discussion about employee performance and

opportunities for improvement, then both will be on the same page.

Customer/supplier level
Maintaining transparency only within the organization is not enough to build
a transparent organization. You need to be transparent with your suppliers
and customers as well to build good relationships with them.

Have digital systems that suppliers can also

access
The first requirement for maintaining transparency among all stakeholders
is to have digital systems instead of manual ones so that everyone can
access information in real-time. Digitizing your operational processes and
systems and giving access to everyone involved is a big step towards
maintaining transparency.

For example, let’s say that you have a manufacturing firm where you have
multiple suppliers and you often pay your dues later, so you have lots of
account payables. Now, if you use a supplier management solution, such
as the one provided by PurchaseControl, you can provide everyone with
real-time visibility of the process. Both your employees and your suppliers
can see exactly what was ordered, how much was paid, how much still
remains as accounts payables, etc.

Image via: PurchaseControl

If you do this manually, people will still get the information but it won’t be
easily accessible and definitely not available in real-time. Digitizing such
processes instils confidence in your suppliers so they won’t hesitate in
letting you keep accounts payables.

This is just one of the many examples of how digital transformation can
bring more transparency between you and your suppliers.

Regular and honest two-way communication

To maintain transparency with your clients, you need to have regular, two-
way communication at each stage. From requirement gathering to
discussions about the scope of work to project updates, everything should
be communicated openly and honestly. This not only keeps everyone on
the same page but also improves project management.

Sending a thorough scope of work document and regular project updates

are two best practices that help maintain transparency at the client level.

Conclusion
Transparency is an essential characteristic of any good organization and
helps maintain a good work environment and brand image.

Follow these best practices to build a transparent organization and

maintain transparency at all levels.

 https://www.smartinsights.com/customer-relationship-management/how-to-maintain-
transparency-in-your-business-at-different-levels/
Deloitte’s marketplace survey on
workplace flexibility
Despite potential consequences to professional
growth, today’s workforce values and prioritizes the
use of flexible work options.
Deloitte’s external marketplace flexible work survey
of 1,000 US professionals explores the value of
workplace flexibility, while also providing insight
into what leaders must do to get on the same page
as their workforce.
The findings indicate that 94 percent of respondents
say they would benefit from work flexibility, with
the top gains being less stress/improved mental
health, and better integration of work and personal
life.
In addition, the survey found that:
 Potential consequences to professional growth may deter
professionals. One out of three professionals say that nothing would keep
them from taking advantage of workplace flexibility. However, nearly 30 percent
say potential consequences to their professional growth and lack of trust from
leadership would prevent them from using flexible work options offered.

 Traditional offices remain top of mind. Eighty percent of professionals

agree that a traditional work setting—defined as regular attendance at an office
or working normal business hours—is important for advancing their career.

 When companies offer options, professionals use them. Among the

professionals whose companies offers flexible work options, 82 percent say they
have used them. The options valued the most were flexible work hours and
remote work, including work from home. A compressed workweek came in at a
distant third.

 Workplace flexibility can drive better mental health. Forty-three percent

of professionals cite less stress and better mental health as the No. 1 benefit of
work flexibility and better work-life integration as No.2. One in three
professionals say work flexibility would increase their job satisfaction and
morale, and almost 30 percent say it would increase their overall productivity or
efficiency at work.
 Professionals are looking to leaders to advance the culture of
flexibility. Fifty-two percent of professionals say the CEO or management has
the greatest impact on advancing flexibility within their organization.

Visit our special section on Thrive Global for more

insights and perspectives on work-life integration.
I have picked out three of my favourite tips that I would particularly highlight from my
personal experience of working flexibly.  I currently work four days a week, sometimes from
home, managing part-time colleagues. In the past I've managed teams in different locations.
My experience has been that with a bit of thought, and an open mind to the possible, flexible
teams can be higher performing, happier, with stronger staff survey results, and significantly
greater positive delivery outcomes using these tips:

1. Trust your team

Judge people on what they achieve not how long they are in the office. With the IT we now
have, and effective juggling, play to people's preferences and strengths, and focus on getting
the work done well, rather than all doing it at the same time and in the same place. For
example, my train journey to and from work is often my most productive time of the day. I
can sort my email, read or clear papers because I am captive and can't be distracted into a
meeting!

2. Design the team, not the job

Focusing at the larger team level. This gives you a much greater degree of flexibility about
how you can knit together different working patterns and styles.  My last team of 13 included
five part-time workers covering different combinations of days and locations. This gave
space for others to step up and develop by taking more responsibility and leadership on my
non-working day. There were also options for everyone to work from home or on more
flexible hours.

3. Good communication

Talk, email, phone, video conference, keep diaries up to date.  Don't be the only person that
knows something. Organise regular team catch ups to share information, but also to review
who is doing what, whether it' working, and what needs to be tweaked. My team have weekly
team meetings using face-to-face, VC and dial-in where we share the immediate priorities,
reprioritise and work through issues.  We also have a quarterly away day out of the office
where we plan ahead, reprioritise work and delivery, and focus on development.

It's a no brainer! Go back and ask why not, rather than why? And, when the next vacancy
comes up in your team, take stock of your whole team, and advertise roles as open to all
working patterns.

You may also be interested in:

 Managing Flexible Teams tips

 Flexible working: Where do I put my cornflakes?