team building skills

Be a pro manager: Master team building and coaching skills!

Photo Credit: Yan Krukau

Are you a Manager or someone looking to help grow your team? Then this article is for you!

A good leader is someone who can inspire trust, build relationships, and drive results. Leadership requires you to develop a set of skills that can guide others fruitfully. These skills can be built with determination, good intentions and practice. Many essential team-building and coaching strategies can help you manage and inspire your team to achieve results. However, it’s also important to recognise what kind of manager you want to be!

While some may naturally lead with ease, anyone can learn to be a good leader. Here are some strategies to improve team building and coaching skills:

Have a clear organisational vision

Set SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) for yourself - what would you like to achieve for yourself in the team? What would you like the team to work towards, keeping in mind the company’s goals?
Encourage each team member to design goals, and align these with team objectives. This gives a sense of purpose and motivation to each person as they work in their desired direction.
Assess progress regularly, to keep these goals moving. Discuss appreciation and critical points to grow or maintain change.

Have two-way feedback

Receiving feedback is as important as giving it to employees, so design systems to ensure different ways of implementing this - between peers, across teams, and between you and your employees. Feedback can follow the ‘sandwich’ method, where you appreciate what someone is doing well, talk about improvements, and close with how you can support them in implementing the feedback. You can have regular feedback points, especially after any specific incident occurs, and try the "SBI" model: Situation (describe the context), Behavior (describe the behavior), Impact (describe the effect of the behavior) when an unfortunate situation occurs.

It is also important that you design systems to receive feedback from employees. This could be direct, anonymous, or as a group. However, ensure that when offering this as an option, you do so with an open mind, and look to genuinely implement the given inputs.

Empower your team

Delegate tasks that align with employees’ strengths: Allow people to take ownership of tasks that will adequately challenge them or that they will enjoy.
Provide context and support: Ensure that employees understand the "why" behind tasks and have clear expectations for outcomes. Let your team find solutions together and offer guidance when needed.
Prompt innovation: Encourage employees to experiment with new ideas and processes, which can lead to better results.
Establish accountability: See if team members can come up with their realistic deadlines, help them complete tasks by breaking them down and find different ways to own up to their responsibility.

Lead by Example

Your actions indicate expected behaviour from others and also inspire them to learn from you. If you want punctuality, you must be early, or if you want to set work-life boundaries, you need to follow them. Humans learn by watching far more than by being told what to do.

Have coaching conversations

Show a keen interest in your employees. Pay attention to what they do at work, and outside, if they feel comfortable to share. You don’t have to be involved in their personal lives, but knowing their background and current experiences lets you tap into its impact on work and how you can support them. You can also use this proven coaching framework to check in with your employees:

Goal: Understand the employee’s goal—what do they want to achieve?
Reality: Assess the current situation—what obstacles are in their way?
Options: Explore possible strategies or solutions to overcome those obstacles.
Will: Determine the action plan—what specific steps will the employee take?

Focus on connection and appreciation

People connect best when they feel comfortable and can be friendly or playful with each other. Have a few minutes of silliness in team meetings or where you catch up on things people are watching or about something they did. Develop a culture of appreciation and connection, through helping each other for work or beyond, celebrating wins and changes, playing and getting to know each other beyond tasks and roles.

Find your style!

Who are leaders that have inspired you before? What kind of coaching has brought you here today, or what kind of mentorship did you need more? Are you a talker or a doer? Reflecting on questions like these helps you understand what kind of leadership style suits you more, and honing that becomes easier. There is no one way to lead, and you can develop your style that aligns best with the team you are working with right now.

Enhancing your team-building and coaching abilities will lead to improved employee performance, more satisfied employees and a more proud you! Investing in their people’s wellbeing and their learning and development will lead you to be a more trusted leader too.

FAQs

What are some books to build leadership skills?

"Dare to Lead" by Brené Brown focuses on vulnerability, courage, and empathy in leadership
"Leaders Eat Last" by Simon Sinek explores leadership through the lens of creating trust and safety within a team.

What are some things I can practice to help me be a better leader?

Recognise your mental filters that affect decision-making, focus on holistic wellness and lead with a growth mindset, that leaves you open to new ideas from others and yourself.