As a manager, you have a direct impact on how well your team performs, how engaged they are with their work, and how closely they reach their goals. In fact, a Gallup report indicates that managers account for at least 70% of the variance in employee engagement scores across an organisation.

Hence, why it’s important to continually improve and adapt your team management skills.

To aid in this mission, we reached out to 22 managers, all of whom describe different approaches to team management and how to manage a team. How you manage your team may differ from some of these managers, but it’s likely you’ll find a few hidden gems to improve team dynamics and productivity.

22 Managers Share 14 Insightful Tips & Strategies For Effective Team Management

1. Give team members freedom and latitude in their work.

“Clearly define the goals of each position. Then, give people freedom to work when they want and how they want to reach those goals.”

Henry O’Loughlin of Buildremote, who has been a manager for five years

“Give your team room to take initiative and become more self-sufficient. Micromanaging can get the job done but at the expense of a collaborative, motivating atmosphere. Managing well means leading by example and building an environment of trust while providing support and guidance when necessary.”

Eric Kim of LA Tutors 123, who has been a manager for five years

“Realize that it isn't your job to determine how your team gets the job done, so delegate and move on. You need to be able to see the big picture and give employees the space to complete their work rather than checking in too often or demanding they do it a certain way. Let go of control because management isn't about control—it's about support.”

Jeff Zhou of Fig Loans, who has been a manager for five years

2. Lead by example.

“Ideally, the team and other stakeholders involved with the work should look up to you and follow your path. As an effective leader, you should show up when leadership is needed to be shown and take a bold approach.”

Saurabh Jindal of Talk Travel, who has been a manager for 10 years

“Be someone who leads by example. Where managers go wrong is they get too big for their shoes, so to speak, which leads to animosity between them and their team. People want to be respected and led, not bossed around. Ask yourself what you can do to serve them, and you’ll receive respect in return.”

Isaac Mashman of Mashman Ventures, who has been a manager for three years

3. Be honest with your team.

“Being honest and transparent builds trust between the team and the leader, which further leads to enhanced positivity in the team, higher engagement, and motivation in their work. It’s comforting to team members and lets them focus more on work rather than worrying about politics in the office.”

Sandeepan of BidFortune, who has been a manager for seven years

4. Get to know your team well.

“An effective manager knows his team. Make time to talk to them both collectively and individually on a regular basis. Give them a reason to trust you and respect your leadership. Be transparent and honest, and prove to them that they can rely on your integrity and support. “

James Crawford of DealDrop, who has been a manager for four years

“Learn and recognize your individual team members' strengths. This will allow you to better delegate tasks and opportunities, and it will help you support and praise them. Everyone wants to feel like they have a unique and important role to play, and this will give them that purpose. “

Brian Donovan of Timeshatter, who has been a manager for two years

“Effective team management requires managing different personalities, and the best way to go about this admittedly complicated task, from my experience, is to meet people where they are. Meeting a person where they are requires a manager to understand an individual's needs, interpersonal style, values, and level of professional development and then tailor their management style accordingly. Being able to manage people at the group level is important, but workers ultimately want to be treated as individuals, and you get the most out of your employees when you approach them with this in mind.”

Trevor Larson of Nectar, who has been a manager for six years

5. Provide feedback.

“One of the best ways to manage a team is to give your team constructive and comprehensive feedback. Make sure you give every team member an opportunity to speak. The purpose of feedback is to improve the team performance, and that isn’t easy without maintaining the team balance. If the team leader is the only one to speak every time, the team may lose its balance. So, everyone should be given a chance to respond and provide their input."

Sue Hirst of CFO On-Call, who has been a manager for 11 years

“Provide feedback for the team as a whole and to team members individually. Providing feedback to the entire team reinforces the fact that they’re a cohesive unit and everyone plays a part in succeeding and achieving goals, while individual feedback allows you to address any challenges an employee is having, as well as to deliver more personalized praise and recognition.”

Gabriel Dungan of ViscoSoft, who has been a manager for 16 years

6. Create a clear vision.

“Create a vision that everyone can get behind. The vision must be inspiring enough to motivate people to get excited about it. When the team is excited about the vision of what they've set out to accomplish, they'll work with energy that is unparalleled; they'll stay focused; they'll be clearer on what they're supposed to be doing, and they're more enjoyable to work with. This also helps you identify people who shouldn't be on the team because they aren't motivated by the vision.”

Tyler Garns of Box Out Marketing, who has been a manager for nine years

7. Ensure your team is in a position to perform well.

“My #1 tip for effective office team management is to put your team in a position to perform at their best. To achieve this:

• Involve them and make them see their contribution is valued.
• Clearly communicate with your staff and make sure they understand what’s needed out of them.
• Adapt your communication to the audience.
• Help them develop in the role and support them when needed.
• Provide constructive feedback.

“By doing the above, they’ll feel appreciated and involved and, as a result, the overall team performance will improve."

Chiara Gomiero of Handy Wine Guide, who has been a manager for eight years

8. Communicate with team members, not to them.

“This is especially important when it comes to strategy and the company vision. Company leaders often assume that by telling people about their fabulous vision, it will get everyone fired up and motivated to deliver the necessary results to implement the strategy. They present stories and slide shows and cascade the communication. But this doesn't really get to the heart of what motivates people. It may be met with cynicism, and everything carries on as usual.

“The leaders who developed the vision and strategy probably spent a while discussing it, thrashing around ideas, disagreeing, and agreeing until they distilled it into a specific focus. Your team needs to be given the opportunity to do this too. To understand what it 'really' means. To answer the question 'How does this apply to us and what we do?' 'How does this translate into our targets and objectives?'

“Crack this and you will have teams who are fully aligned and all facing in the same direction. Individuals will feel a greater sense of purpose because they can clearly see how what they do day to day contributes to the overall purpose of the business.”

Lyn Paxman of EvolveYou, who has been a manager for 10 years

9. Remember to delegate.

“To effectively manage a team, make sure to delegate appropriately. The most effective teams consist of specialists in each respective department, so make sure that the right work is allocated to the correct person. Otherwise, you might slow down productivity and decrease the quality of your team's output. To gain a better understanding, start by speaking with your team directly about what they're good at—and perhaps where they need work, too. By using this information, you're better equipped to prepare your team for projects in a way that promotes synergy and gives each team member an opportunity to play to their strengths.”

David Marshall of Performio, who has been a manager for 12 years

10. Incentive appropriately.

“The most effective method of managing a team is by aligning incentives. When you incentivise your team and let them see the whole picture, they are more motivated to work towards a goal. There are many jobs that just pay for your time, but I feel that a team that gets performance pay as well will be more productive, happier, and require less management. This, of course, means that you still need to steer the ship and make sure everybody has all the necessary information to complete their goals.”

Darren Nix of Steadily Landlord Insurance, who has been a manager for 11 years

11. Focus on more than just work.

“Create a weekly ritual that is more about lowering tensions and building team relationships vs. explicitly focused on deadlines and projects.”

Collin Waldoch of Water Cooler Trivia, who has been a manager for four years

12. Communicate clearly and transparently.

“Effective team management requires transparency, open communication, and collaboration. All of these traits should be encouraged by leadership in order to achieve positive results.”

Tim Mitchum of Winpro Pet, who has been a manager for seven years

“Never make assumptions. Ensure you're operating from a position of truth by keeping lines of communication wide open and seeking feedback from your team. If you're tempted to assume, that's a red flag that it's time to ASK!”

Sarah Skerik of Engagement Multiplier, who has been a manager for 20 years

“I strive for clear, transparent communication with a focus on servant leadership. My #1 phrase in every interaction with my employees as a sales leader is, ‘How can I help?’ My employees know that I am, first and foremost, a resource to help them remove any barriers and blockages that stand in the way of their success, and they trust (based on consistent action) that I will show up in the capacity needed to help them solve any and all problems quickly and effectively.”

Lindsay Calverley of LC Performance Coaching, who has been a manager for four years

13. Set boundaries.

“My #1 tip for effective team management is to set boundaries. As a team leader, you have all the power to set boundaries for work, play, and relaxation. It's a leader's responsibility to be the model about when team members should be practicing their work-life balance. It can be challenging to do this, but you have to put in place discipline in yourself first. This teaches you and your team to be respectful of your time and be disciplined. It also helps you and your team to avoid burnout. Our personal lives are important, too.”

Satya S. Parija of Doctor Spring, who has been a manager for eight years

14. Use software to aid communication and collaboration.

“Establish clear expectations and communicate with your team so that they understand your company's goals and deadlines. Leaders frequently fail to communicate effectively with their teams, which causes stress and confusion. Set a good example for your team by practicing what you preach. To make communication even easier and more streamlined, I recommend using team management apps and tools. At the end of the day, you want to be able to assign tasks and communicate effectively, and having the right tools and apps in place will help. “

Amira Irfan of A Self Guru, who has been a manager for five years

Support the above team management advice with the right solution.

Glasscubes is a robust collaboration solution that ensures your entire organisation is able to stay connected internally and externally—regardless of industry or workforce size.

While instituting many of the tips above with your team is helpful, you need a collaboration tool to turn concept into reality. Glasscubes can help you consistently apply the advice from these veteran managers, supporting your management approach and keeping your team on the road to success.

Our solution helps everyone stay in the loop on the latest updates and share what’s most important—all while keeping work moving efficiently. Use threaded discussions to keep conversations in context, whether discussions deal with client tasks or important project files. From task management to communication to file sharing, our platform helps you stay in touch and on top of things all in one place.

With Glasscubes, you can:

• Store and share files in a secure location, complete with automatic version control. You can even create approval workflows and view clear audit trails of user actions.
• Assign and manage tasks for different members of the team, and track them to completion.
• Create customised workspaces for each project team in your portfolio. Team members can share resources and communicate with one another in their specific workspace, and you can access them all for easy oversight.

Want to see how other managers are using Glasscubes to support their team management efforts? Check out these case studies.