Knowing how to manage your staff effectively is an important aspect of being a manager, or a team leader. Whether you’re managing a team at a serviced office, in a coworking space or remotely, having the right people management skills to control and maintain your team is crucial. Learn 7 of our best employee management tips for managing your employees today with help from Grosvenor House.
Employee management tips
1. Communication
Arguably the most important people management skill, communicate with your team. This could be as simple as forming a relationship with them stemming from asking them about their lives, or it could be on a deeper level – ensuring they are satisfied and fulfilled in their role in the company. Keeping communication lanes wide open allows for employees to come to you when they have a problem, when they are unsatisfied or need support. Therefore, it’s crucial your staff know you’re available and open to listen to their problems.
2. Praise
Praising your staff for achieving something or creating a successful piece of work is not something that should be missed. Effective people management comes from pointing out where your staff are achieving, and where they need more guidance. Ensure they know their strengths, and know that you know them too, and then together, this will make working on their weaknesses much easier.
3. Positive relationships
Another employee management tip is to ensure relationships are positive. This doesn’t just refer to the relationship between the employer and employee, but the relationships your staff form between each other, too.
This means you also need to be effective in managing conflict. If you can see a team member disagreeing or having conflict with another member of staff, it’s important to manage this properly to ensure positive relationships are upheld. Work with them to sort out the issue, and ensure a compromise or solution is achieved.
4. Set an example
Turning up to work five minutes late every once in a while isn’t a crime… however, when it becomes a habit, your staff may begin to follow suit. If they see you’re not punctual and have a laid-back attitude when it comes to tardiness, they may try and test the boundaries of how late they can turn up to work themselves.
You also want to be seen as a leader as opposed to a friend. As a manager, this is a hard balance to achieve – but you want to set an example that you are their senior, and they should aspire to be like you in a professional sense, upholding the same values you do.
5. Be decisive
Tying in with setting an example, being decisive is important for a good leader when demonstrating effective people management skills. By making important decisions quickly and confidently, this will assert your authority – especially when they see you sticking to your guns.
This also means delegating effectively – so if you know of a task that needs doing, ensure you delegate accurately to the right person for the job. You should know your team on an individual level, and know their strengths and weaknesses – so utilise this knowledge when you making your delegation decisions.
6. Show your human side
One of the most important areas of staff management is being real. Although your team may know you’re above them in terms of seniority, remind them that you’re still human, too. You also have bad days and feel the pressure. Having built up a positive relationship with your team already, they will be more willing to offer help to you if you’re demonstrating ‘real’ qualities – rather than acting as their superior all the time.
7. Managing remote employees
Having effective people management skills is especially important when you work remotely from your team. If your business predominantly works from home as you have a virtual office address, you may need to employ different staff management tactics. This could be as simple as setting up weekly Skype meetings for the whole team, or monthly socials where you all can get together to feel like they’re part of a team. Find out more information on how to manage a remote team from our helpful guide.
Interested in any of our co-working spaces or virtual offices services? At Grosvenor House, you can have the benefits of a registered address without having to pay the fees of a serviced office in Birmingham city centre. Learn more by getting in touch with our expert team now.