When Chris Hadfield was commanding the International Space Station, he learned that it’s not about seeking out individual greatness to make yourself look good. Show
Instead, he found that excellent leadership is about building up the people around you: trusting them, empowering them, and ultimately, enabling them to contribute their expertise so that the team can become more than the sum of its parts. In other words, effective leadership and cultivating a culture of effective teamwork go hand in hand. Collaborate more effectivelyWork together with context, transparency, and accountability. With increased visibility and improved communication, you can keep collaboration at the core of everything you do. Try Teamwork for Free The importance of teamwork and leadershipWhy are teamwork and leadership important? Together they provide clarity for your team and directly impact your company vision. But what do those outcomes look like in practice? And more importantly, what actions can you take every day to help your team succeed? Today we’re looking at the top characteristics of a good leader, followed by 10 ways you can help your team work together better and more cohesively. Characteristics of a good leaderCultivating an environment of teamwork starts by building trust and rapport; by being the kind of leader that teams want to follow. The best leaders share the following characteristics — no matter their leadership style or personality. Strong communicatorBeing a leader is inherently about people. Yes, there are KPIs and products to deliver, but you don’t lead KPIs: You lead people. With that in mind, perhaps no characteristic is as valuable to a leader as effective communication skills. Every single day, you’ll be communicating: to motivate, instruct, correct, and a hundred other things. If you’re a positional leader (or leading from a non-leadership role) who lacks confidence in this area, consider investing in training or practices that will help you improve and gain confidence. Emotional intelligence (EQ)Speaking of working with people: Leaders must be able to understand and adjust to the emotions of others, including nonverbal and contextual signals. Great leaders go beyond merely identifying emotions in others — they have the soft skills to help others manage their way through strong emotional responses and to push teams and individuals toward the right outcomes. This is emotional intelligence, or EQ — a crucial skill for anyone who works with others, especially leaders, and it’s essential when leading a team through the five stages of team development. You’ll use these skills throughout, most of all in the “storming” stage. AnalyticalStrong leaders also tend to demonstrate strong analytical skills. An analytical leader can take stock of a situation, consider possible paths and likely outcomes, and chart the course most likely to succeed. This skill set provides value no matter your role, and it becomes increasingly valuable the more authority a person has. 10 ways leaders can help manage their teamsBeyond these characteristics or traits of effective leaders, every leader can take actionable steps to lead teams better and encourage greater teamwork. Consider implementing one or more of these 10 ideas over the course of the next week. 1) Foster open and honest communicationCreate an environment where openness and honesty in all aspects of communication are encouraged. Ask people to share their views and talk about the obstacles in their way. Ask for (and listen to) feedback. Don’t be afraid to ask questions yourself. (Here are five you should add to your regular practice, in fact.) Most of all, ensure your team members have a clear path to your door if they need it. Related: Try these 5 quick wins to make your team more transparent. Helpful communication tools
2) Create collaborative goalsAt the outset, goals should be clearly set and defined. Getting this right at the start may take a little extra time and planning, but it pays major dividends. For the best outcomes:
Related: Set your goals the right way with this cheat sheet, or read our ebook. The importance of KPIs and OKRsAs you go about goal-setting with your teams, it helps to place those goals in a framework and base them on real metrics and data. OKRs (objectives and key results) provide that framework, while tracking the appropriate key performance indicators (KPIs) gives you the metrics and data for what your team is currently accomplishing. OKRs are by nature collaborative, which fosters team involvement and increases buy-in. They also define success well: The key results lead toward the objective or act as milestones along the way. 3) Celebrate their successGood job, team! Never forget to laud good team efforts, ideas, or targets met. Share your team’s successes with the company at large and champion them to leadership. You can even organize a lunch or dinner for big wins where every team member can share the achievement. However you choose to mark the moment, do it together. Related: How to express gratitude to your team Fun ways to celebrate successes
4) Allow team members to problem solveInstead of imposing solutions, encourage team members to brainstorm and develop their own suggestions. By giving your team space (physical, metaphorical, or even virtual with Teamwork Spaces) to find the right solution and propose their ideas, you can empower them to think creatively, develop their confidence, and foster a sense of ownership. Related: 6 ways to better manage high-performance teams Helpful problem-solving tips
5) Provide adequate resources and trainingA great leader doesn’t just help their team members to do their current jobs. Great leaders help them identify room for advancement to develop their skills and progress their careers. Support your team by giving them the resources they need to excel and reach the next level. Related: More tips on how you can retain your best talent. Onboarding tools for seamless transitions
6) Keep yourself accountableIn your time as a leader, things won’t always go perfectly smoothly. You might even make a few bad calls. (Hey, you’re only human.) When things go wrong — when a project goes off track, when the scope suddenly changes, when the unexpected happens — you need to face it head on. Take responsibility and work with your team to address the issues and get back on target. Accountability tips
7) Keep your eye on the big pictureAs a leader, you need to strike a balance between zooming in on the details and zooming out to see the big picture. In other words, you must ensure your team is accomplishing the day-to-day tasks without losing sight of the overarching goals you’re working toward and how the team contributes to those goals. It’s a balancing act, but it’s one that any great leader needs to learn how to do. Why keeping big picture thinking is importantLike staying focused on outcomes, big-picture thinking doesn’t spend all day chasing rabbits or putting out fires. Yes, fires need to be put out, but someone has to be responsible for refocusing the team as soon as the smoke clears. If you can keep the right focus, you’ll stabilize your team and help them find synergy. 8) Show some empathyAccording to inspirational leadership author Simon Sinek, empathy “is the most important instrument in a leader’s toolbox.” Simply asking, “Is everything okay?” demonstrates you care about the team member and helps build relationships. Related: More lessons we’ve learned about working with people Examples of empathetic approaches
9) Build strong one-on-one relationshipsOne-on-one meetings are a great way for a team leader to build relationships. They also allow each team member to put their case forward for personal improvement or raise issues blocking them from performing better. Listen to what your team members say and do your best to support them. Related: How to turn tough feedback into actionable advice (and build relationships with your team even when you’re remote). Relationship-building tips
10) Build respectGreat leaders demonstrate respect for team members in many ways, particularly by being engaged with the team and working with them. Great leaders aren’t afraid to admit mistakes or take risks. They understand that respect is earned through empathy, compassion, and trust. Why mutual respect is important in an organizationTeams generally will not trust or willingly follow a leader they do not respect. They’ll follow begrudgingly when threatened into it, but that’s no way to build a positive culture. Earning that respect is key to earning trust and willing followers. On the other side of the coin, team members who know they have their manager’s respect are motivated and empowered to do more and work with more autonomy. Lead your team to success with TeamworkBeing a leader presents constant new challenges, especially in our increasingly remote-first world. But armed with these 10 strategies, you now have a roadmap toward better teamwork, communication, and trust. Another component of trust and teamwork is visibility. When it’s crystal clear who’s doing what and why, teams can move forward with grace and speed. Teamwork provides this visibility into projects, clearing up the mystery and allowing all members of the team to work together toward a common goal. Inspire your team toward greater sharing, cohesion and teamwork by giving them the ultimate tool for project tracking and collaboration: Teamwork. Sign up today to get started! Which method of communication is likely to be most effective for conveying sensitive or important information?Interactive communication is effective in conveying sensitive and important information in a way that can be best understood and acted upon immediately. Some examples of interactive communication include: Face to face meetings.
Which of the following is a guideline that project managers should follow when communicating with their teams through eanswer: subject. Which of the following is a guideline that project managers should follow when communicating with their teams through e-mail? Always reply to all the people to whom the initial message was sent. If the entire message can fit in the subject line, put it there.
Which process involves determining the information and communications needs of the stakeholders?The Plan Communications process involves determining the communication needs of the stakeholders by defining the types of information needed, the format for communicating the information, how often it's distributed, and who prepares it.
Is the ability to influence behavior to get people to do things they would not otherwise do?Leadership Power. Power is the ability to influence the behavior of others with or without resistance by using a variety of tactics to push or prompt action. Power is the ability to get things done. People with power are able to influence others behavior to achieve a goal or objective.
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