9 ways to Earn Team Members Respect

9 ways to Earn Team Members Respect

Recently I happened to meet one of my ex-colleagues from previous organization. He told me that he had changed his job and will be joining new employer as a program manager. So we were discussing about his a new job, the role, etc. I knew him in some ways – he gets the work done but he is kind of aggressive manager. He used to be quite aggressive with his team and channel partners. In his opinion, managing a team is always about polarization. And if you are a strong pole, you lead. Though I have a difference of opinion about what he said. Leadership is not always about being aggressive. Being aggressive, one can make an impression in the beginning but things can go wrong afterwards.

How do you earn team members respect?

I am of the opinion that to earn somebody’s respect – you have to respect him/her and work well to earn it; listen them intently. I always believe, if one wants to lead, he should lead by being a good example.

Then I started thinking about all those instances which made me respect my earlier bosses. I found some of the instances/characteristics and also added few personality traits from others’ experiences. I am sure, you will find these tips/list interesting to earn team members respect.

Treat them with respect

Treat them with respect even in bad situation, respect their personal time but at time if project demand, required remind them to devote more time on project activities for the greater good, for the team.

Be competent to lead

Be competent enough to understand, manage and control team’s work areas. You need not be highest level of expert but should be able to make sense when you assess deliverables and match resource capabilities with

Empower them

Empower team members, assign them activities to utilize their strengths, provide them opportunities to improve weakness, train them. For their work area, entrust them to do what they want as long as it aligns with overall objective at the same time, make them accountable for their actions

Be fair and transparent

Be fair and tactfully transparent while dealing with assessment of their work. Typically everyone thinks that he/she has done amazing job and deserves special stars in the periodic review. As a manager you need to be impersonal, impartial and fair to average team members.

Be the mentor, supporter as well as a critic

At times, your project team members may look for guidance; if you are good at it, be a mentor; if not you should redirect them to right resource. So you need to be their mentor, supporter; also when it is a right time, you should criticize them for larger benefit.

Be ready to learn from them and do it gracefully

One cannot be highly competent or expert in all areas; but one should always keep learning. You can learn from your team members, value their opinion, and appraise them for their knowledge.

Appreciate and give them higher visibility

Appreciate your team members in front of your higher management and customers. You should mention about their contribution to the project/deliverables and recognize it. Team will realize that manager is fair and transparent enough to pass on the credit, in front of management or client.

Get rid of spoilt brat

You need to be strong enough to remove a team member who could potentially take down team spirit, productivity. To me personally, there can be no room for unethical team members, but you should certainly consider taking tougher decision about someone who can hamper team’s productivity and performance.

There will be bad times, shield your team from adversities

Bad times will be there. If you are able to, think and try to shield your team from adversities arising out of the situation; if not, you can be transparent with them to let them know about what is happening in the company, about project or customer or whatever that may impact their career path.

Additional readings about project management, leadership

• Avoid These 10 Most Common Mistakes That Leads to Project Failure
• Transition of A Good To Great Project Manager
• Looking for a robust task management software: Best of Both Worlds: Gantt Chart + Kanban Board?
• Project Management Tool for Software/ IT Projects
• 7 Reasons Why SMBs Prefer All In One Project Management Tool

Your life can be become easier with the right project management system. ZilicusPM is the right PM tool for you and your team. Get started now.

About Zilicus

Zilicus offers the best project portfolio management tool ZilicusPM, with robust project management tools capabilities and easy ways to track project management KPI,

Know more about project portfolio management, Gantt chart, best project management tool, project management office, project management tips, project planning guide, project risk management, project scope management, effective project management, project manager guides and know more about Project Portfolio Management Software, Project Management Software Guide.