I needed to be creative when trying to make my individual
associates feel like a team. There
were about thirty associates that reported to me in three separate
departments. To begin the team
building, I started to have my associates create their own lunch schedules
utilizing their teammates from other departments as cover (or help). I created contests between departments
and also with mixed department teams to allow the associates to work together
with people they normally did not interact with due to spatial reasons. Hill (1995) wrote about the necessity
of a team to work like a team and feel like a team in order to produce
results. As I began to manage my
associates on a team basis, as opposed to an individual basis, I began to see
the numbers in my departments rise and my subordinates were generally happier.
This was something that we could then celebrate as a team.
Recently at Macys.com, I have been promoted into a managerial role in
the site merchandising division.
After a year of not having any subordinates, my managerial skills have
gotten rusty. In this role, I will
have a much smaller group (only three) reporting to me. Hill (1995) gave me a great outline as
to how I can most effectively approach this new supervisor role and create the
best team. While I do not have the
ability to hand pick my team, I can create the team’s agenda, foster teamwork,
create the team’s structure and culture, and coach members of the team
individually and as a team (Hill, 1995).
I can also utilize Hill’s (1995) “Managing Paradox” to balance the personalities
of the team and work with each member of team’s strengths to get the best
results.
Hill, L. (1995) Managing Your Team, Harvard Business
School, 1-22.
Cathryn, thanks for sharing your experiences in team management! It's interesting that you have had the opportunity to manage two very different types of teams. Using Drucker's team categorization (baseball, football, tennis), how would you classify each team? Do you think you will need to make any changes to your management style now that you are leading a smaller team that is engaged in a different type of task?
ReplyDeleteJessica,
DeleteI would classify my teams in stores as the doubles tennis team. That team worked as one towards a common goal and each of the teammates would be able to pick up where the others left off. My current team is more of a baseball team, we work together to create a "play", but each teammate is more fixated on their own position and doing well in that particular position. I think that I will definitely have to adjust my management style by working with this different type of team. In a division where we are all performing our tasks separately, as a manager, I must pull the individuals together and remind them of the team and the common goal (sales!).
Cathryn, I enjoyed hearing about your previous management experience and your newly assigned managerial role. I am happy to hear that you are proactively thinking about your management strategy for your new team. I am a firm believer that every manager should be doing that to create effective teams. I think it is awesome that you will be able to immediately apply the concepts Hill (1995) talked about in this week’s reading. You mentioned that one of the things you intend on doing is to foster teamwork. Have you had time to think of any specific ways you plan to accomplish this? Additionally, have you considered ways to assess your new team members in order to see how their personalities can be balanced? I think you are off to great start at building your new team to their full potential. Congrats again and good luck.
ReplyDeleteShanah, Thanks for the kudos! I try to be a good manager! As we began our first official week as a team, today I took everyone to the store to see the difference between the "bricks" and "clicks". We went into each of my subordinates departments and made comments, suggestions, and recommendations for each other. I think that assessing the personalities is a great idea! I'll have to check with HR to see (legally) how I can go about that and work with that assessment to balance the personalities. Thanks!
DeleteCathryn, congratulations on your recent promotion.
ReplyDeleteI liked the creativity you employed in helping foster a team environment between so many people and across multiple departments. It relates to this week's reading as well as the organizational readings in previous weeks. Nicely done.
Now that you will be managing a smaller group that is more like a baseball team, do you think cross training may help foster a team style more like tennis-doubles? Or do the functions each person performs require a definite segregation of duties?
Congrats again!!!
Felipe