After the questioning of models based on paternalistic and directive management, new management practices have emerged. More democratic and collaborative, these practices are gaining ground.
But they are still challenged by a new context: that of hybrid work, between face-to-face and telework. You are a team manager and you are wondering what good practices to adopt to satisfy the expectations of your employees and those of the company in a changing work context? Here are 11 good management practices to implement in your team.
1. Define the objectives clearly
Even if you practice participative management, your role is to steer the teams in order to encourage the realization of projects. To ensure that each employee can work independently – especially when work is organized remotely – take the time to define qualitative and quantitative, individual and collective objectives.
The clearer the objectives are, the more likely they will be achieved.
2. Set the framework
In order to achieve its mission, your team will have to comply with a certain number of rules.
Good management practice is to express the rules and constraints in a clear and exhaustive way at the beginning of the project, in order to avoid unpleasant surprises along the way.
Then write them down in a document that everyone can access at any time.
3. Determine the scope of work
Where does your team’s mission begin and end? What is the scope of work for each employee? On which subjects should pairs or groups be considered?
To adopt good management practices, you need to have a global vision of the mission and know how to divide the work according to your skills.
Good management practices to organize the work of the team
You may have a group of experts on hand, but if they do not coordinate their work, the expected result will not be achieved. As a manager, you are responsible for the ability of your team members to work together towards a common goal.
The implementation of collaborative tools and rituals that promote good work organization and team spirit are part of good management practices.
4. Share a roadmap
To bring a project to fruition, it is essential to know the final goal and to define the intermediate steps to reach it.
The roadmap is an essential operational document: implement it in your team and share it to give a concrete vision of the project and its progress.
5. Communicate
Establishing regular and controlled communication is part of good management practice.
The weekly Monday morning meeting may seem tedious, but it allows you to assess the progress of the project, detect tensions in the team or identify difficulties. So don’t skip these periodic meetings, which can boost teams and give them momentum for the week ahead.
Our advice: if these meetings tend to drag on, suggest that they take place in a standing position – if they are face-to-face – over a short period of time. Prepare the agenda, play your role as moderator and send the minutes of the meeting. Also, allow time at the end of the meeting for employees to bring up unplanned topics.
6. Set up shared work tools
With telecommuting, it’s no longer clear who’s in the office and who’s out. To free yourself from the obligation of being in the office, provide all the communication and sharing tools that allow you to work remotely as well as in the office: shared calendar, instant messaging, collaborative tools.
If some members of your team are not used to using them, plan a small training session to make sure that these tools are mastered and used by all.
Involve, motivate and unite: good management practices
7. The individual in the group
Of course, your mission is to manage a team. However, it is essential to take individualities into account: what are the individual aspirations? What is the professional project of each employee? How does everyone see their place in the team?
Open the discussion on these subjects during your annual individual interview, in order to better understand the desires and needs of your employees. Your objective: to make them coincide with the team’s project and the company’s project.
The better you know your team members, the more effective your management will be.
8. Rituals
Team spirit and team life are among the sources of motivation for an employee. Hence the importance of establishing small rituals that allow for informal exchanges and give a very human dimension to work relations.
Friday coffee breaks, monthly aperitifs, small restaurants before the school vacations are all good management practices that can strengthen team cohesion. With teleworking, original formats are to be imagined to maintain these practices despite the distance.
9. Feedback and rewards
Have you ever been so caught up in the handlebars that you were pedaling without even seeing where you were going? Beyond the metaphor, it’s true that a lack of perspective can make work meaningless.
By giving regular feedback to your team on numbers, results, progress, failures, and successes, you will get them involved.
Another good management practice is to celebrate successes and endings. After a period of hard work, recognition of the work done maintains motivation and commitment.
10. Self-assessment that makes you accountable
Do some of your employees consider your management to be unfair or biased? To avoid this type of situation, which often makes management difficult, self-evaluation is one of the best management practices to introduce in a team.
Another interesting practice is the evaluation of the manager by his employees. This way, you can know the level of satisfaction of the team regarding your management, and make your practices evolve accordingly.
11. Collaborative and co-constructed projects
Among the most popular management practices are co-constructed projects. Based on the solicitation of employees during the design phase through brainstorming sessions, this practice of co-reflection and co-construction erases the relationship between the decision-maker and the implementer. The team can then take full ownership of the project.
