Office Help

[StevePil]

Hi All,

Want some general advice, I have taken on a new team of 7, 6 women and 1 man in my office. Next week I have scheduled a get to no you session 1/2 hr with each member. I want some advice on things I can do to get to know them and them to know me, anyone got any great suggestions? its quite a young team. Dont want to play games as dont think they are really in to that. I just want some good questions that have a laugh and get a good response, anyone/anything would be greta help :)
The previous TL has been slated constantly and I want to start on the right foot
Cheers
Steve

[empressali]

Hi Steve
Dependant upon how much you know about these people already, it sometimes helps to just get them to tell you about their life so far......what they achieved at school, why they chose the jobs they have done so far, what they enjoyed/ hated about their jobs etc It isn't like an interview because they are not on trial for anything, just being open about their work experiences have been. If that's too heavy, try asking about the things that make them happy, sad, and what gets them really mad. Don't end on the sad one...it can get a bit emotional. If you are in a position to arrange social nights out, ask what they might like to do.

Hopefully you might be able to pick out something from all of that waffle!

Best of luck. You are going about it the right way...planning is the key to a manager's success.

Ali

[StevePil]

Thanks for the reply, thats a great help. I think my new team are all at different levels of skills but I quite like the idea of what makes you happy, sad, mad etc - what changes they would like, what things they enjoy. I dont want to bore any of the team members but want a better understanding of them all. Some of the team I know very well, but some not at all.
Thanks again, I am going to be prepping for it over weekend and writing out some questions for each of them, anything else you can suggest would be great

[StevePil]

Ps) If you can give any tips that be great as it sounds like you know what you are talking about re managment and its kinda new to me, I have to do 121's etc every month going forward :) I cant wait for the challenge, and lots of training
thanks again Ali

[empressali]

Hi Steve
Preparation will always be the key to everything you do. Before you go into a 121, be sure of your facts and know what you want to achieve from the meetings. By getting to know your staff, you will find out what motivates them, so when you need to get that bit more out of them, you will know what buttons to press. Honesty and openness will earn respect...there is nothing worse than feeling that your manager isn't being straight with you. The only other bits of advice I can give you right now (not knowing what industry you are in, or your background) are,,,be a good listener and never make snap decisions. Give yourself time to reflect on a situation, take advice if necessary, and then tackle situations in a measured, levelheaded way.
Hope this is helpful.
Time for my beauty sleep now, but I will watch out for any posts from you over the weekend and will help if I can.

Ali

[StevePil]

Thanks Ali for all your help, I work in an office based accounts, I am going to draw up my questions over the weekend, was thinking of something like:
- Tell me about yourself
- Breif about myself
- What annoys/winds you up?
- What we can do to change things if possible?
- What makes you happy
- Where do you want to be in 5 years time

Anything you could add would be great

Thanks again
Steve

[StevePil]

Ps thanks for all your help, if I post anything else throughout the months of my training it be great if you could keep an eye out, your help tonight has been very helpful
cheers

[pingping]

Hi steve, i find a good way to break the ice is to actually take the staff away from the office - do you have a local coffee shop you can go to and buy them a coffee? i always do this when i have my 1-2-1's with my team (i manage 5 people) and it always goes down well. they feel freer to talk about things if they know they can't be over-heard by team-mates etc.
also when i first started in the job, i asked them all (individually) to explain a little about what they all do - makes them feel important (that they've all got their own responsibilities) but also gives you a little understanding of the team dynamics and workloads.
team leadership is hard work - but also very rewarding. if you are new to it, i have one bit of advice - always be friendly, but don't necessarily expect to be their friend. it can be difficult to deal with later if you become too pally and then might need to 'have a word' with any of them at a later date. empressali gave excellent advice too!

GOOD LUCK, and you can always let us know how you get on!

[Lily_b]

Our team recently had a new manager, and what tended to help us to open up to a new boss (as we had also changed reporting lines), was when we had our 1-2-1's, she first told us a bit of background about herself, how she envisages the team working, when she would like us to ask for guidance, when she is happy for us to follow existing procedure(useful when the manager is still assessing the effectiveness of processes etc) and how she see's the team evolving.

This then gives the team member a basis to go from as to how in depth you want to go with background and how open they can be with you (dependent on how open you are with them). The more open you are, the more comfortable they are likelu to be to open up to you with their career aspirations etc which will help with development plans.

[StevePil]

Thanks everyone for all your help, its been great. We have meeting rooms that I will be doing the 121's in and yes we do have a coffee room so suppose could do that aswell, I use to work in the dept but have moved up to TL for another area within the dept so know what they do etc and know some of them well but there are a lot of new faces aswell which will be good for me and them Thanks again fo rall your help, will probably be on here regularly asking for any help, its much appreciated - I never expected this many responses :)