How to manage a large team successfully

Team leadership is a tough task at the best of times, but when you’re managing a large team of employees, it becomes another challenge entirely! Here we explore how you can inspire and lead a large team successfully, getting the most out of your employees while keeping them engaged…

Tips for managing a large team

The right team leadership strategy is the key to business success – especially within a large workforce. Here are our top tips for effective management of any large team:

#1 – Keep track of your employees’ wants, needs, and expectations

Meeting your employees’ wants and needs is a crucial part of maintaining team morale. As a manager of a large team, it’s important to regularly adapt your leadership strategy to remain in line with your colleagues’ expectations.

Poll your employees regularly to identify changes to their requirements. Which factors of your team culture matter most to them, and which have become less important? Align aspects such as your leadership methods, Employee Value Proposition (EVP), and collaboration model to meet their changing expectations.

The strength of your EVP is what determines your status as an ’employer of choice’ – helping you to retain talent and recruit more strong employees.

Learn how to build and establish a more dynamic HR strategy

#2 – Use effective targeting

The way you set targets and goals has an enormous impact on your team’s productivity. Use effective targeting tactics to drive the success of your team and its projects.

SMART targeting is a popular goal-management structure, used to set specific, measurable, attainable, realistic, and time-based aims. This ensures your colleagues know the when, why, and how of every task they undertake. 

Read more on SMART targeting methods here

#3 – Set up a colleague support network

Peer support is essential within large teams. Give employees the opportunity to learn from their colleagues, and seek their assistance when needed. This reduces pressure on you as their manager, while inspiring greater collaboration within your workforce.

Assign leaders to your team’s projects, who have the skills and confidence to support their peers in achieving their goals. While it’s your responsibility as a manager to offer support to your employees, it’s useful to have some degree of peer-to-peer autonomy within larger teams.

#4 – Keep everyone in the loop

When working in a large team, it’s all too easy to fall out of touch with our colleagues’ workloads. Bring your team together by keeping everyone in the loop with the latest projects and goals.

Try hosting more regular ‘touch base’ sessions in which employees/groups can share their latest workload updates. This is especially useful within large sales teams, who often have both combined and individual targets. Even five minutes at the beginning/end of each day can help to strengthen communication within your team!

#5 – Promote employee autonomy

It’s impossible to stay on top of every member of your team at all times. Promote employee autonomy to reduce the level of input needed from you as their manager. This makes large team leadership easier, while driving productivity and development within your workforce.

Have faith in your colleagues’ abilities; give them more control over managing their own workloads and responsibilities. SMART targeting can be an effective way to boost employee autonomy, managing your employees’ goals but minimising input on their day-to-day activities.

Introducing…

Talos Engage: Give your employees a voice

Want a better way to engage, inspire, and drive productivity within your team? Talos Engage is our gamified solution to employee engagement, making it easier to remain in touch with your employees’ unique expectations.

Gamified employee engagement

Employees simply play the swipe-card game to identify which cultural factors, incentives, and workplace benefits matter most/least to them. This is formulated into a straightforward report, allowing you to inform your leadership strategy to truly resonate with your colleagues.

With Talos Engage, it has never been easier to lead, engage, and retain strong teams of employees. The gamified layout increases completion rate, while providing a fast and fun experience for your colleagues.

Discover our gamified answer to employee engagement challenges: