Five Tips for Leading Groups and Teams
Leading groups and teams isn’t easy. No matter how many leadership skills you might have, you can make mistakes if you overlook some essential elements. For this reason, today we’ll look at five tips that’ll help you lead groups and teams.
Now, contrary to what you might believe, a person who lacks leadership skills can become a leader. All they need to do is take into account everything that we’re going to highlight next. Without leadership, it’s difficult for a group to reach a goal.
1. Opt for effective communication
To communicate effectively, you must observe the group you lead, know how to manage your emotions, and listen. After you do this, you must give clear instructions.
You shouldn’t give hints nor be ambiguous. A working group needs clear and transparent guidelines. Only then will they know what they need to do. Otherwise, you won’t get good results.
When you communicate, you shouldn’t only focus on what you say with words, but also on your gestures. Remember that 70% of communication is non-verbal, while only 30% is verbal.
2. Don’t appeal to authority
Appealing to authority is something that you usually see at home from a very young age. You see it with phrases such as “Because I’m your father” or “Because I said so.” This is a mistake that you can’t make when it comes to leading groups and teams.
If a team leader appeals to their authority, the group won’t see them as a leader. The title must be earned because it’s more than just a title. Appealing to authority will reduce your credibility and this will affect the group, as well as the proposed goals and objectives.
3. Establish periodic goals and objectives
If a group doesn’t have any goals or objectives, it’ll stagnate. This situation can be detrimental. It leads to loss of motivation, stemming from a lack of direction. At this point, it’s hard for people to leave their comfort zone.
If a group or team doesn’t advance, your leadership is unsuccessful. Therefore, you must establish weekly or monthly challenges or goals. Everything will depend on what you want to achieve.
4. Resolving conflicts is essential to leading a group
To lead groups and teams effectively, you have to resolve the conflicts that arise. It’s important not to see them as something negative, but as opportunities to learn and do things differently.
It’s important to keep in mind that groups and teams are made up of different people. This is enriching, as long as conflicts are managed well. Conflict resolution will strengthen the group and allow it to reach the set goals.
If you don’t solve nor manage conflicts properly, they’ll emerge at the most unexpected moment, ruining everything that’s been achieved so far.
5. Change functions and responsibilities
To avoid the comfort zone, it’s important for all team members to not always do the same thing repeatedly. Each person has unique skills that they bring to the group. However, it’s always good to explore other paths.
If each team member always does the same task, in the end, it’ll be very difficult for them to stay motivated. Routines usually become boring. That’s why, from time to time, it’s good to change functions and responsibilities.
As you’ve seen, leading groups and teams isn’t simple. But with effort and enthusiasm, the tips mentioned above will help you lead your team to your desired goals. Ideally, you should analyze your situation monthly to make any necessary changes.
Are you not meeting your set goals? Are several people on the team unmotivated? Is there an unresolved conflict? Is there a communication breakdown? Answering these and other questions will help you improve your leadership style.