Best Practices for Managing Teams with Different Backgrounds

No matter the domain, managing teams, is one of the challenging and crucial duties for every manager. A manager will be recruited for more than just managing the Company's finances, profit, and loss; managing the team and groups is also a necessary duty.

The most significant error made by small to large businesses is choosing employees for promotions or hiring based on their knowledge of the sector rather than their people management skills. Companies should place the highest importance on team management skills because it is a crucial role that determines the performance and productivity of the team, which at the end of the day results in the Company's efficiency.

If you were to conduct a small study on a company's success anywhere around the globe, you would discover that it wasn't just the quality of their service or product but also the methods they applied to manage their teams that have become one of the great approaches to achieving business outcomes.

With that stated, I don't mean to suggest that managing teams are a simple task; operating a company with a diverse workforce from different backgrounds is undoubtedly challenging. Nevertheless, the manager has to ensure that every team member effectively contributes their knowledge and abilities to the business, even if you have to go above and beyond to make it happen. Borrowing John Lyly's famous quote "All is fair in love and war" and applying it to our context, I would say that "any legitimate practice is fair in managing the teams."

Some of the agreed-upon best practices for leading teams with different backgrounds are included below.

1. Know your teams

A manager is responsible for a group of teams inside the organization, unlike a team leader who is just responsible for their team. Regardless of whether they are hybrid or remote teams, you must know every single employee of your organization's team. The best teams are created when a manager fosters teamwork, is aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each employee, and knows how to make the most of each person's unique skills.

You can arrange one-on-one meetings with your team members from various backgrounds, or at the very least, you could send a feedback form to help you get to know your teams. Like any business, I'm sure yours provides a training budget, which you utilize to take your workers out to lunch where you can interact with them more. Your conversations with them at the table will bring you closer to them.

2. Train Your Teams

Regardless of how talented a team or its members are, it is still essential for them to receive training to improve their abilities. Other training sessions in areas like communication, personality development, etc., will benefit them in their personal and professional lives.

Due to individual differences, no two team members are exactly alike, but they all need to work together to achieve the organization's shared goals. It would help if you ascertained what your team members require to operate at their best. It is one of the vital team-building skills every manager ought to have.

                      “Although individuals need not be well-rounded, teams should be.”
                                                 - Tom Rath's Strengths-Based Leadership

3. Apprise your team of the Company's expectations

To ensure that everyone on your team is working toward the same goals, you should be able to communicate to them the Company's work standards, vision, deadline, and other essential information, and the positive impact it can have in management's eyes despite working in such complicated situations. Most companies' management will be confirmed biased or believe that their team's productivity will begin to diminish in time, notably with hybrid and remote work conditions.

Yet you should never let your team know about it because it will degrade the team spirit. Never get into micromanaging; it is the greatest demotivation to any team. Believe in your team, assign some extra tasks, and make them accountable for them. As a result, they would feel more responsible and maintain trust. Help your team wherever your guidance and expertise are required.

4. Effective Team Communication Tools

Managing teams virtually is easy when you are equipped with the right communication tools; the same holds accurate for managing hybrid teams. Remote employees shall need the right tools to communicate with the team, such as office and hybrid teams. So, don't overlook this aspect; opt for the best team communication tools like Troop Messenger, designed to empower the teams and boost work productivity. It has no latency issues, which helps multiple teams to work effectively. Troop Messenger has many features that undermine the reason to work on various tools for different requirements. Nevertheless, it is a secure tool where you can initiate trivial to classified conversations, and it will assist you in managing teams remotely.

5. Train your different teams to work together

An organization comprises multiple teams, and they need to work together to achieve uniform goals. So, you must train your teams on how important it is to work as one team despite having different sets of jobs & responsibilities. Since teams in business are interdependent, they must act proactively and maintain communication intact. This is one of the crucial strategies in managing teams.

There is a strong probability that your teams are unaware of one another. Therefore, schedule some entertaining events that involve many participants or get players from various teams to come together and play as a group. This will cause interaction between the teams, producing perfect synchronization and proving that teamwork makes the dream work.

6. Tyrant or Leader

Be friendly and empathize with your teams. Your team members will regard you positively if you are a manager who promotes effective interpersonal communication on the team. Your team members won't report issues to you if you behave like a tyrant, which will reduce productivity at work. Effective management is an elusive process, so you can't afford to slip away from being righteous. Your team members must get inspired by you aiming to become like you in the future.

For instance, if a team member cannot finish a task, take a moment to recognize their efforts. Then, ask them what led to these circumstances and teach them to avoid making the same mistakes in the future.

Let me remind you of a saying: "People don't quit a job; they quit the boss." You are the go-between between the Company and the team, so don't give them orders or put them in a survival position. It will strain them out and make them question why they chose this Company in the first place. Assess their adaptability, consider their issues, and attempt to reach an acknowledged conclusion.

7. Sharing Feedback

One of the best methods of managing teams is to bring out your teams' abilities and boost productivity by providing them with feedback.

There isn't any such thing as a perfect team; you must build one, as the preceding implies. Giving team members who aren't performing as well as their colleagues can find help with constructive feedback that will encourage them to develop their abilities and be kind when aiding them when necessary. Use all of your knowledge to advise them on handling such circumstances; this will inspire them and demonstrate your empathy for your team.

8. Motivation

Regardless of the industry, motivation is the most effective method for managing teams. You are probably looking at a few successful companies in your domain and becoming inspired by them, so don't be picky; look at their motivational strategies. Budgets are necessary for motivational programs, but it doesn't mean you have to avoid them. If a construction company can encourage its foreman, consider how motivated employees must be at professional companies.

Ask yourself, do you want devoted workers who work with joy rather than just for a paycheck, or do you require lifeless pawns who aren't allowed to have fun at work?

It has been tried to motivate teams, but although I acknowledge that it takes time, this strategy has never failed, and there is no evidence to the contrary. Why do you think that despite having devoted teams that look after their finances and could advise otherwise, corporate companies never stop short of doing everything in their power to motivate their teams?

Plan a social gathering at least twice a year, or more frequently if a project is successful or you achieve something deserving of celebration. If managing a team is a locker, then the only thing that will keep you on their side is motivation; otherwise, your team members would switch sides whenever an opportunity arises.

Conclusion

I am aware that managing teams with different backgrounds is a challenging task, but certainly, it is not an impossible task. Irrespective of how many teams or team members you employ, you should be able to act spontaneously with each one based on the situation, so you must have an eagle view. Applying the strategies mentioned above at your workplace will help you successfully manage a group of teams.