Building a strong team is essential to the success of your business. Start by taking a close look at your organisation in order to understand exactly what type of teams you already have or need to form. There are several definitions for the word “team” and one or more may apply to your situation.

First, the entire office may be considered one team. This is especially true if your entire organisation consists of a small group and each person has a specific task to perform. Everyone must work together to achieve an end result.

Your organisation may be broken down into departments; for example, sales, marketing and advertising, accounting, customer service, etc. Each of these departments has a specific function and operates independently as a team without much input from the other departments.

Lastly, each department may be broken into teams to handle individual tasks or projects. Teams may be formed on a permanent basis, or might be formed on a case by case basis for special projects.

Team building can be incredibly difficult, regardless of the type of team you form. It’s important to keep your team structure in mind as you search for and hire new employees. In the end, you’ll find forming a team to be beneficial for a number of reasons:

- Team members will work together in a synergetic, energetic, and creative manner.

- Your team members will bring new skills to the table while picking up skills from other members of the team. Their shared efforts will increase the overall knowledge base.

- Teams are more flexible and are better able to adjust to organizational change.

- Over time, you’ll find that team members will become committed to their teams and fellow team members. No one member feels overwhelmed, but they all get to take credit for a job well done!

The difficult part of team building comes when, as a manager, you attempt to find a group of people that will get along well as far as personalities and work ethic are concerned. While this takes time, you’ll eventually appreciate the efforts you put into your team building exercise. It is much easier to delegate authority and work creatively with a fabulous team!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

One of the most difficult things I had to learn as a young business person was effective management delegation. I was afraid to delegate tasks to those beneath me; partially because I was used to doing so much on my own and partially because I was afraid the job wouldn’t be completed to my own personal standards. Rather than take the risk, I tried to finish projects by myself and rarely asked for help.

What a mistake! I soon had more work than I could handle and the quality of my completed tasks was suffering; not because I didn’t care but because I simply didn’t have enough time. I quickly realized that delegating tasks is not only integral to the successful completion of projects, but it is also an effective method of time management!

When your superiors give you a task, you automatically become responsible for the project and can be held accountable for the outcome. You’ll then delegate the task to an individual or group, thus transferring responsibility to those who are going to do the physical work. In the end, however, your superiors are going to look to you for the end product and you will always be held accountable for the quality of the work.

Your team should be properly trained and prepared for any task you hand them. You have, after all, spent countless hours working with them so there should be no question in your mind as to whether or not they can handle any given situation. Some managers are afraid of giving up power or control, but this is also an unreasonable excuse for avoiding delegation.

Delegation can be a scary concept for both new and seasoned managers, but it is one you have to learn to deal with rather quickly. There is not a single person in the world that can do everything, and you’ve been given the authority to hire a team for a reason. As long as you have taken the time to properly train your new hires, there should be no reason to hold back when it comes to delegating tasks.

Take a close look at the members of your team. Are they properly prepared for anything you may have to throw at them? If not, you haven’t done your job and you need to make a plan to remedy the situation as soon as possible!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”

As a manager, or even as a management trainee, you’re going to spend a significant amount of time focusing on how to deal with conflict as it arises. No two situations are going to be alike, so you’ll find having a grasp upon a handful of different strategies to be more beneficial than not.

Before you can decide upon a conflict management strategy, you must ask yourself three main questions:

1. Who is involved in the conflict at hand? Are they individuals, teams, departments, or a combination of each?

2. Why are these individuals or groups in conflict with each other? Is it personal or professional?

3. How serious is the conflict? Is it brewing just under the surface, is it growing in intensity, or does it need immediate attention?

There are a myriad of ways to deal with conflict, but here are a few of my favourites:

Avoid the conflict. It seems as though this is not a strategy at all, but if you are consciously monitoring a conflict while avoiding it, you’ll be able to intervene if it becomes necessary. Avoidance tends to work very well if two employees are involved in a simple disagreement and are likely to come to their own conclusions without help.

Find a compromise. Meet with both parties, understand their points of view, and figure out what each one can give up in order to make the other happy. Each should find the resolution to be palatable in some way, shape, or form. They will each be forced to stand down on some issues while maintaining their positions on others, but no one person will be forced to completely give up on his or her ideas.

Stage a confrontation. Confrontations can be scary and stressful, but sometimes allowing all parties involved in a conflict to air their views is enough to make the conflict go away. Everyone involved will have to verbalize their positions and reasoning. This gives each participant enough information to come to and agree upon a logical conclusion. Confrontation should be used carefully, however, as some individuals will perceive the situation as a personal attack and walk away feeling hurt.

Being able to identify and resolve conflict will allow you to keep your organisation running as smoothly as possible. You’ll be able to control the situation and practice effective delegation while making sure your projects are completed despite the setbacks conflicts sometimes cause!

Thanks again,
Sean

Sean McPheat
Managing Director
MTD Management Training

Click below for a:
FREE email course “Improve Your Management Skills”