Every manager goes through moments of learning throughout their career. Whether you’ve made some mistakes or received feedback that was less than ideal, it’s an opportunity for you to learn and grow. Chances are, you’re reading this for that exact reason, and we’re happy to help you work through it! How great managers lead effective teams is by implementing these 5 habits into their everyday workflow (and you should too).

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Clear and Consistent Communication

An important part of every leadership role is communication. If you aren’t communicating consistently with your team, it can lead to misunderstandings and leave your team unaligned.

Although nobody likes meetings, regular team meetings help keep everyone on the same page. However, don’t let these meetings take up too much of your time; after all, work needs to get done!

One way to alleviate the need for lots of meetings is multiple communication channels. Phone, email, and text are good ways to keep in touch with your team and let them know what’s going on without having to gather everyone together.

Most importantly, you need to be available. What good is it to have all of these methods of communication if no one can reach you? Outside of work hours is one thing, but if you’re unavailable all the time, it sends a bad message.

Prioritizing Active Listening

The soft skill of active listening involves truly processing the words someone is telling you and understanding them, instead of simply hearing them.

You might think you already do this, but it’s easier said than done. It takes concentration and being present in the moment.

How does active listening help? It builds trust with your team, helps you understand the team’s dynamics, and allows you to see problems within it that wouldn’t be obvious otherwise.

Engage in active listening by practicing paraphrasing, asking thoughtful questions, and repetition.

Encouraging Growth and Development

You can’t expect your top talent to stick around forever, but you can guide them to stay in your company, only in a different department or position. One aspect of how great managers lead great teams is by encouraging their team members to grow and develop their skills to be the best version of themselves.

An ineffective manager stifles development and keeps their top performers where they are. It might hurt to lose a good employee, but it hurts you more to have an uninspired employee who doesn’t see a future with the company.

Offer your team clear paths to build their careers within the company, whether through promotion or department transfer. They may not want to at the moment, but at least having the option is a great way to show them you care.

Leading By Example

There’s no better way to lead your team than by example.

Don’t set expectations that you yourself aren’t prepared to meet. Instead, hold yourself to the same standards that you would hold your team members.

Demonstrate that you’re a great manager by maintaining professionalism yet a personable approach to all your interactions. Admit to your mistakes, no matter how hard it might be in the moment. Maintain a positive attitude and look towards the future, towards solutions, rather than on past failures.

Fostering Collaboration

Finally, you can’t manage a team effectively if the work environment isn’t collaborative. Encouraging your team to work together builds a healthy environment of team players who work hard towards shared success.

Not only should you celebrate individual achievements, but celebrate team wins as well. When you beat production quotas or have a breakthrough sales month, praise your team for a job well done and reward them appropriately. A pizza party, while nice sometimes, is sort of a cliche these days and doesn’t cut it anymore.

If you have some employee conflict, resolve the problem as soon as possible. If you allow issues to linger, they can become deeper, more persistent problems later on down the line. Nipping it in the bud quickly is the absolute best approach.

Now that you’ve learned more about how great managers lead their teams effectively, it’s time to build a great team! Get in touch with Tempstar today to learn how we can help!