2012-01-10

10 tips to create an effective management team

Rick Johnson

A team culture is necessary for success. Working together effectively is not automatic. It takes a specific effort and the development of a culture that is supported by executive management. Shared experiences create unity and value, and knowledge transfer is essential for an organization to grow. Without knowledge transfer and the sharing of success, it is difficult for the group to share any vision and work toward common goals.

Here are 10 tips to creative an effective management team:

1. Create an intentional communication strategy. Your management team must understand and support a common vision. This requires clarity. Clarity begins with effective communications. Make sure communication from your management team reaches all employees.
2. Do not set up intentional competition in the workplace. Try to insure that individual skill sets complement one another rather than compete with one another. Spread the responsibility and authority around by alternating leaders for various tasks. Look for star potential and introduce coaching and mentoring as a skill set.
3. Create team ownership in the decision making. Avoid group think by making sure that individuals express opinions openly without intimidation. Responsibility must be accompanied by authority and accountability.
4. Build trust and respect by giving trust and respect. Act as a coach or mentor and not a boss.
5. Create off-site team building activities quarterly such as social gatherings, athletic activities, laser tag or other activities that build unification and trust in each other.
6. Don’t just talk about empowerment and delegation, believe in it and demonstrate that belief by allowing the team members to make decisions and take independent action.
7. Take complex plans and strategies and assign accountability and ownership. This creates more efficiency and leverages creativity. Assign responsibility according to individual passions.
8. Brainstorming must be encouraged to release team innovation. Bouncing ideas off one another stimulates creative thinking which leads to creative solutions. This in itself bonds individuals into a common purpose.
9. Ask for solutions, assigning both responsibility and empowerment. Ownership of ideas and initiatives builds commitment. Involving the team in creating direction and solutions through empowerment generates commitment to the tasks necessary to meet objectives.
10. Challenge your management team. Reliance on team effectiveness rather than on a single individual minimizes risk as it is more flexible and adaptive. No one individual alone can jeopardize success. The loss of one team member can be overcome without losing sight of the objectives.

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Reprinted with the permission of Rick Johnson, expert speaker, wholesale distribution's "Leadership Strategist, and founder of CEO Strategist, LLC.CEO Strategist helps clients create and maintain a competitive advantage. Contact Rick at [email protected] to speak at your next event. www.ceostrategist.com