Working On Your Team

Dear Managers and Leaders!

A manager may have three different types of focus:

1.  Managers can work in their team.
2. Managers can work on themselves
3. Managers can work on their team

Managers work in their team when they focus on project management, defining new products, or do some technical work themselves. Managers work on themselves when they develop their leadership or management skills through training sessions, readings, spending time with a mentor or a coach, etc.  Managers work on their team when they build and share a vision for their team, when they research ways to optimize the team’s activities or the team structure, when they develop a culture for their organization, when they coach their employees, etc.

Of course, at any given time, the amount of effort spent on one focus or the other will vary. However, a successful manager is aware that he must spend at least a bit of time on these three spheres of activity. He cannot leave one alone for a long time without impacting his performance. A manager who does not manage projects efficiently will fail. A manager who does not develop his leadership skills will fail. A manager who never thinks about optimizing his organization will fail. We all have seen managers forgetting about one of these three areas and we have seen them suffer or fail.

I believe a lot of managers forget to work on their team because they are too busy working in their team. However, working on their team is what would free them up the most! When a manager has a good staff that is trained and empowered, a sound strategy for the future that is understood by everyone on the team, and optimized processes that are well controlled, he can really sit back and relax! When this is achieved, the manager only needs to control what is going on and can spend a lot less time working in the team. He can trust the team members to do the right thing when faced with a new challenge. He can trust the team members to act properly even when “the boss is not around”. Can you imagine yourself going on a vacation and be assured that things will run smoothly while you are gone. To achieve this, you really need to spend time working on the team.

What about you dear leader, are you working on your team? Could you leave for a week and feel you can totally forget about work and know that you do not have to be afraid that things will go wrong while you are gone?

Until next time,

Remi Cote