
How We Build a Management Team
January 28, 2021
InterLogic in numbers:
30% growth in 2020 by the number of employees
240+ employees at the moment
People аre the main asset of any company that is why successful entrepreneurs invest in the development of their employees. With regards to managers, if they want to succeed in a highly competitive environment they need to commit to constant learning and professional growth.
What unites our team is a common goal and the challenges that we share in the process of its achievement. While working on various projects, each of us reaches higher productivity than any average individual united in a group through cooperation would.
A team is a reflection of its leader who gains credibility through building trust and low power distance. Usually, the responsibility of the leaders goes beyond the group, and the ability to cooperate with those who are not their subordinates is extremely important if they want to be effective in their position.
Professionalism starts with the ability to manage yourself, but being able to nurture and develop this quality in other members of a diverse team is a completely different task for a manager. For some, this job is intuitive while for others, it comes with experience. The key aspects that you have to focus on to be an effective manager are the following: leadership, responsibility, and relationships.
Leadership. To become an effective leader you need to:
- Understand your role and contribution to the achievement of common goals of the company.
- Define and understand the goals of a team you are a part of.
- Establish basic rules of teamwork: management focus and style, monitoring quality and deadlines, as well as communication and cooperation.
- Effective communication. Team members must feel that their opinion is important and each of them can have an impact on the result.
- Ability to inspire and ignite the interest. To have effective teamwork, a leader should be able to identify the strengths and weaknesses of every individual in his team. If a person lacks certain expertise a leader should be there to help him find a way to develop or acquire it, test out new strategies or methodologies.
- Delegate responsibilities and solving problems. Successful delegation is not enough. It’s important for leaders to encourage problem-solvers, inspire them to create, and think of out-of-the-box approaches.
- Create a positive atmosphere. While maintaining productivity, a good manager should create favourable working conditions for the team, make sure nothing distracts them from achieving their goals.
Responsibility. Taking responsibility for the result is a key to success at all levels:
- Manager. A manager is responsible not just for external communication but also for each of the team members individually. Being able to trust the team leader is a prerequisite for success.
- Team. Understanding your importance in the organization helps you recognize your personal contribution. Identifying yourself with the team makes you want to succeed together.
- Individual. Through effective delegation, each team member is responsible for the overall success of the team. Working on group goals and professional development also fosters collective achievements.
Relationships. A team should always be a part of the solution, not the problem, therefore, we always pay attention to relationships between our team members. Diverse ways of thinking and decision making are our competitive advantage, and thanks to teamwork, we achieve better results together than separately.
We have built strong connections in the team owing to:
- Using consensus and collaboration to build a united community when discussing plans, goals, and practices. Everyone is free to question or share a different point of view which allows achieving transparency in work processes, action plans, and productivity.
- Resolving problems in a professional way. In case of any misunderstanding, we talk it through and try to reach a consensus.
- Regular team buildings not only in cases when the morale has dropped down or when there have been changes in the team. Team building activities are aimed at:
- Developing communication skills in an informal atmosphere which positively influences further work communication.
- Establishing cooperation and support in group tasks that can be applied to work between team members and collaboration with other departments.
- Strengthening social and emotional atmosphere in the team, reducing tension, minimizing individual and group stress.
For our team members “we” goes before “I” because we all understand that we are working for the same mission. The purpose and goals of the company unite the team. Without clearly defined goals what remains is a dream. Outlining our mission and goals was not enough, therefore we specificated:
- Roles and responsibilities of team members;
- Processes: how the team works and makes decisions;
- Values, norms, and standards that determine what team members can expect from each other;
- Types of feedback and indicators needed to evaluate progress.
All of us do quality work not because there is someone standing over our shoulder but because our colleagues expect it from us. Mutual support helps the team to avoid failures and mobilizes it if any of the teammates need help.
Each member of our Management Team is a leader at InterLogic and provides support, sets an example with effective behaviour patterns, contributes to the professional development of teams and evaluates their productivity. I believe that human capital makes a major impact on the company’s success. That is why we invest a lot in the development of our people. Building the Talent Pool is a contribution to the future growth and success of the company which also encourages employees to go beyond and above current responsibilities and move up the career ladder.