Virtually managing teams is not that difficult in today's era.
Communication is the key. We have all heard it a million times. And now that face-to-face interaction is prohibited in the post-COVID world, communicating efficiently has become more critical than ever before. Leaders must, therefore, ensure that the communication between teams remains intact and transparent. This will not only help avoid miscommunication but will also keep the individual goals clear.
Here's how leaders can ensure whether teams are communicating effectively:
Flexibility and understanding
As a leader, one must practice emotional intelligence to understand and handle employees, especially while operating in a tense work environment. When employees feel open to discuss ideas, questions and raise concerns fearlessly, it helps leaders address the key issues in the form of a healthy debate.
Being a fantastic leader requires the flexibility to manage your people in accordance with their needs — based upon their unique strengths, levels of experience and individual styles and preferences. Adapt as needed and you will find yourself at the helm of a fantastically motivated, engaged and remarkably effective team.
Spread positivity
Display your humane side. Empathize with your employees when they feel troubled due to any reason. It can be The more you will listen and empathise, the better will be the end results. Doing so also helps strengthen the bond between employees and leaders, which is essential for organizational success.
During vulnerable times like these, leaders and managers should put concerted efforts and reach out to each associate for support, whenever required. Remember, even a simple mail or call to recognise employees for their constant dedication and diligence, can make them super motivated and perform even better in the respective domains.
Resist micro-management
One of the common leadership blunders during a crisis is micro-management. Employees can never focus well if leaders keep asking and poking them at every step of the task. Therefore, prepare for yourself with clarity of objective, key inputs from your side and expected outcomes before you assign tasks to teams.
What’s pertinent is to create a networked team, establish responsibilities, jump in to regularly review, assess progress and provide help not as a manager but as a team member. This process helps boost employee morale, ownership and learning in teams without being authoritative to anyone.
Samujjwal Ghosh, Director - Brand and Marketing, Xanadu Realty added, meeting the post-COVID world with bounded optimism. It is a term we always come across while managing business operations during crises. It is the result of combining reality with optimism and confidence. Exhibiting excessive confidence despite the dire situation can cause a loss in credibility and trustworthiness. Bounded optimism, on the other hand, comes into action when it stems from research data, demographics and temporary company plans that are designed to tackle and manage business operations during the crisis. When leaders project confidence backed by fresh data-based research and thereby recognizing the threat, optimism works wonders for the team and helps them achieve the desired goal.
