Being a manager is a tough task. You always need to put your feet in someone else’s shoes to make sure that everything goes in the right direction.
Taking the example of software development companies where most of the managers are young,dynamic, charismatic and almost of the same age of their fellow teammates. In this scenario, managers are always in a dilemma that what should they need to do to get the most of their people and gain respect at the same time.
Mostly, young managers are backed with creative ideas, but they need a team and platform to make that smart move. But they often keep on pondering. Where to start? What to do? How to start a meeting?
But once the manager is ready as well as confident to encash his ideas then comes the area of discussion. So, what are those discussions that managers should have with their team before taking the smart move?
Conducting check-in meetings:
Check-in meetings are one of the most fruitful ways of conversing with the team, it also helps in team building, discussing agendas and taking feedback from the team members.
While conducting a check-in meeting, the purpose should be to hold the team accountable for valuable aspects and at the same time give any insights needed to do their best.
Regardless of the place or medium of conducting the meeting, it should be conducted bi-weekly or weekly. The conversations should be strictly related to the progress of the team which would serve as the calibration point for each one of them; thus, helping them to compare and calculate their potentials among themselves.
It makes sure that the team is having enough opportunities to get help on specific issues while also making sure their energies are spent towards making the smart move.
Development Conversation:
Development conversations should be conducted monthly or quarterly to know about your team’s growth and to find out ways in which domain and how they want to grow, where they want to develop themselves and how you can help them get there.
Developments meetings should always be casual meetings. Rather than discussing about formal agendas, development meeting should be more about creating future opportunities and coaching the team for future growth, these meetings should be the informal ones which should be taken over a coffee or during the lunch to create a friendly and collaborative atmosphere for the team to open up and participate handsomely.
What are your interests? In which domain you want to grow? How can I contribute to your growth? Are some of the questions that seems to be the best fit for these types of meetings to gradually gain trust and lead them with confidence in the future.
The Expectations Conversation:
Just like a manager has some expectations from its employees or his team, in the same way, employees too have some expectations from their manager.
To understand this practically, a manager needs to put himself in the place of an employee and think that he has a manager to whom he reports every day.
Aren’t there things you realize that you want your manager to do? Aren’t there things you wish your manager would have done, but he doesn’t?
These comprises of things employees expect their managers to do. Not every action is legitimate, but some of them are surely are!
Practicing these would help managers to tailor their approach towards each employee with a different motive according to their behavior and needs.
It’s a common trait among employees that they need from their managers to get them back with a timely response when they ask for something. So, understating these type of employee behavior and expectations is the main motive of the expectations conversation. It will surely help to maintain a healthy relationship with the team in the long run.
The Aspirations Conversation
Each employee has their own particular career aspirations, and they also have personal advancement and professional growth aspirations within the organization.
Since ages, it’s a common behavior among employees that to have a desire of working for an organization that provides opportunities for professional growth and a manager who shows interest in their professional development.So, these Aspirations Conversation would surely help the managers to gather information required to address their employees’ needs.
So, to have a friendly conversation and to know your employees’ aspirations one should usually ask; what are your career goals? where do you see yourself three years from now? What skills or areas of expertise are you interested in developing? Are we adequately tapping your potential and what you’re best at? If not, what changes would you like to see?
These questions not only help the managers to gain trust among their employees but also will develop a bonding between the team members and their manager.
Expectations conversations generally provide employees with a chance to reflect on the questions ahead of time, thus helping the managers to generate more insightful and suitable responses.
These are some of the strategic conversations that a manager can use as a framework for leading their team and build a sense of trust among themselves which would drive to strive hard and gain success in the long run, because if you are planning to take a strategic move then success is the only factor that matters at the end!
Sagar is a tech enthusiast by day and an avid reader by night. Currently working at afourtech.com, precisely he is a tech enthusiast who likes spending time by creating something from scratch. When he’s not writing or is out of his daily job role, Sagar likes to travel and explore new places.