In addition to his personal goals, François was asked to take charge of a new work team. He is expected to boost morale, prevent turnover and increase productivity.

For François, as for many managers who are experiencing the same reality, a real headache begins: how to manage a team in a context where employees seem to be less and less involved while guaranteeing the achievement of increasingly ambitious objectives?

François is now faced with several questions, the answers to which he does not yet have: how will I "manage effectively" this new team in this context, when all its members are so different from his old one?

• Brigitte and Sylvain are not yet 25 years old and I am at the dawn of my forties;
• Farid and Carlos have worked abroad for many years and do not seem to have a common vision of their mission;
• Isabelle wants my job and, in my opinion, she would deserve it with her much greater experience than mine;
• Robert and Nicole have been demotivated since they were asked to return to the office 3 days a week;
• etc.

What manager hasn't been confronted with this kind of questioning?

Facing the challenges

It is indeed scary to face new responsibilities and not have all the answers. Especially since it is more and more common for people to find themselves managing teams and facing many challenges (full employment, questioning the importance of spending too much time at work, wanting to balance work and family...) that come with :

• generational or cultural differences;
• employees who do not share the same values or vision of their responsibilities;
• employees with different personalities and experiences;
• motivations that are sometimes difficult to understand or accept.

To meet these challenges, François, like all other managers, must understand that, to be a good team manager, while experience in a position and natural abilities help, they are no longer enough.

As in sports, certain predispositions will facilitate and contribute to success in the function, but a certain amount of knowledge and know-how are essential to carry out the role of leader.

Ensuring cohesion

Today's leader must be a true conductor, as he or she must be able to encourage autonomy, make each team member accountable while giving meaning.

He has the difficult task of ensuring the cohesion and commitment of his employees. The events of the last few years have brought him face to face with a new reality, which consists of managing telecommuting or hybrid mode. Beyond that, he is asked to achieve objectives and deliverables, which requires him to manage his own time and priorities.

Employees are increasingly autonomous and very sensitive to the way they are supervised. Leader recognition is no longer about authority or title, but about the growth, well-being and learning that their supervisor or work environment offers them.

Each member of his team is unique

The manager must be aware and accept that to manage his team well, he must first and foremost be able to take into consideration the particularities of each person.

• He will have to learn new behaviors to adopt in order to ensure his credibility and to be accepted by everyone;
• He will have to acquire and develop attitudes that will make each member of his team feel unique;
• He will know how to listen to each person in order to use the right levers to make them succeed and direct their energy in the right directions;
• He or she will have a range of techniques and skills to create environments that are conducive to motivation and collaboration;
• He will understand that the way things are said will often be more important than the content and he will find the right message and approach for each one;
• he will realize that there is no one management style, but a permanent adaptation according to the individuals, the tasks to be carried out and the objectives to be reached;
• it will provide the necessary support to each and encourage the development that will make them evolve as individuals.

François can finally sleep well with a close-knit team and committed and motivated employees.

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