15.3 Things to Consider When Managing Teams

Managing teams effectively requires balancing individual and collective goals, navigating paradoxes, and crossing organizational boundaries. Leaders must align team objectives with company goals, foster collaboration, and create a positive culture that values diversity and open communication.

Successful team management involves establishing clear norms, cultivating a growth mindset, and facilitating positive interpersonal dynamics. Leaders should also measure team performance, assess cohesion, and use feedback to improve processes and outcomes. These strategies help teams thrive and contribute to organizational success.

Key Considerations for Managing Teams

Key considerations for team management

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• Balance individual and collective goals
  • Align each team member's goals with the team's mission fosters shared purpose and commitment
  • Recognize both individual contributions (employee of the month) and team achievements (project milestones) to motivate performance
• Manage paradoxes in teamwork
  • Encourage collaboration and healthy competition (hackathons) among team members to drive innovation
  • Balance stability and structure with flexibility and adaptability to respond to changing demands (agile methodologies)
  • Foster accountability and psychological safety to promote learning and risk-taking
• Navigate organizational boundaries
  • Define the team's role, responsibilities, and authority within the larger organization to clarify expectations
  • Establish communication channels with other teams (cross-functional meetings) and stakeholders to facilitate coordination
  • Proactively manage relationships and dependencies with external groups (service level agreements) to optimize collaboration

Strategies for shaping team dynamics

• Establish clear team norms and values
  • Collaboratively develop and communicate norms for behavior (code of conduct), decision-making, and conflict resolution
  • Model and reinforce desired behaviors and values through leadership actions (leading by example) and recognition
  • Regularly review and update team norms as the team evolves (retrospectives) and faces new challenges
• Cultivate a positive team culture
  • Encourage open communication, active listening (paraphrasing), and respectful dialogue among team members
  • Foster a growth mindset that values learning (lunch and learns), experimentation, and continuous improvement
  • Celebrate successes (team outings), learn from failures, and maintain focus on team resilience and adaptability
• Facilitate effective interpersonal dynamics
  • Promote diversity, equity, and inclusion to leverage unique strengths and perspectives (cross-cultural teams)
  • Provide opportunities for team members to build trust, rapport (team-building activities), and social connections
  • Proactively address interpersonal conflicts and tensions through coaching, mediation (conflict resolution workshops), and problem-solving
• Understand and leverage group dynamics
  • Recognize the impact of team roles on overall team functioning and performance
  • Monitor and guide the team through various team development stages to enhance productivity
  • Adapt leadership styles to suit the team's needs and current challenges

Alignment of team and organizational goals

• Align team objectives with organizational goals
  • Communicate the organization's strategic priorities, values (mission statement), and expectations to the team
  • Collaboratively set team goals and metrics that directly contribute to organizational objectives (OKRs)
  • Regularly review team progress and adjust priorities and resources as needed to maintain alignment (quarterly reviews)
• Buffer against external distractions and pressures
  • Serve as an advocate and spokesperson for the team, communicating its value and impact to stakeholders (executive presentations)
  • Filter and prioritize external requests and demands to minimize disruptions to team focus and productivity (gatekeeper role)
  • Provide a supportive environment that enables team members to manage stress, maintain work-life balance (flexible schedules), and avoid burnout
• Facilitate effective collaboration with other teams and departments
  • Establish clear protocols and processes for cross-functional communication, coordination (shared project management tools), and decision-making
  • Foster a culture of mutual respect, empathy (active listening), and shared accountability across organizational boundaries
  • Proactively identify and address potential sources of conflict or misalignment between teams (stakeholder analysis) to ensure seamless collaboration

Measuring and improving team effectiveness

• Implement appropriate team performance metrics to track progress and identify areas for improvement
• Regularly assess and enhance team cohesion through targeted interventions and activities
• Utilize feedback mechanisms to continuously refine team processes and outcomes