How To Know Your Team Better? 10+ Questions For Managers

In a team, you make decisions based on the strengths of your members. It is also one of the ways you get to know your team better. A manager’s job is to understand their team member’s strengths and weaknesses and ensure that everyone’s needs are met. The manager plays an important role in the success of any organization. But with so many responsibilities, managers face daily challenges, and it can be difficult for them to stay updated.

For starters, managers need to know their team members well. To do this, we’ve created an extensive list of questions every manager should ask before developing new people. But before we get into the list, let’s talk about how you can know your team better as a manager.

Do you know your team members well?

A lot of managers just focus on the work. But there’s a lot that you are missing out on by not knowing who makes up your team. When shooting for the stars, it’s best to know everyone is keeping your effort going. Managers should know their team members because it helps to identify and address any issues early on before they become more challenging to fix. Additionally, managers can use this information to understand their team’s strengths and weaknesses better and make informed decisions to help the team achieve its goals.

By understanding the team member’s strengths and weaknesses, managers can help to encourage and positively motivate team members and help them to develop their skills and abilities. Managers can also use this information to identify potential conflicts or disagreements and take appropriate steps to prevent or resolve them. Finally, by knowing what is going on with the team members, managers can provide feedback and guidance that is relevant and helpful to the team’s overall progress.

Spending time with your team members outside of work can help you understand them better and build trust and rapport. Plus, this will help you identify the strengths and weaknesses of each individual and tailor your leadership style to suit them. Effective communication is essential for building a solid working relationship with your team members. Get to know your employees through communication in a way that best suits them.

Also, join Risely for managers to gain insight and advice on leading an effective team. It will help you develop strategies and processes that foster collaboration and creativity within your team. Besides, it will also help you identify areas for improvement and make necessary adjustments in the right direction.

Questions to know your team

Managers can ask many questions to get to know their team better. Make sure to ask questions at an appropriate time. It helps managers understand the team’s strengths and challenges better. Ask questions that help you delve into topics relevant to your organization’s goals.

• What are your career aspirations?
• What motivates you to come to work every day?
• What are your strengths and weaknesses?
• What are your preferred methods of communication?
• What do you enjoy most about your job?
• What kind of tasks do you find most challenging?
• What kind of support or resources do you need to perform your job effectively?
• How do you like to receive feedback?
• What kind of work environment do you prefer?
• What are your personal and professional goals for the next year?
• What type of projects or tasks do you find most rewarding?
• What training or development opportunities do you think would benefit you?
• How do you like to collaborate with your colleagues?
• What kind of recognition or rewards do you find most meaningful?
• What are some of the biggest challenges you face in your role?
• What kind of work-life balance do you prefer?
• What sort of work culture do you thrive in?
• Which leadership style do you find most effective?
• What does your preferred work schedule look like?
• What are your preferred methods of learning and problem-solving?

You can also take the help of team assessments on Risely to know your team’s thoughts on your specific leadership skills. Risely’s leadership skills assessments offer anonymous feedback reports from team members on managers that reflect their unfiltered opinion, and many open doors of development for leaders.

Icebreaker activities for new managers

A new manager’s role can be challenging, especially as the role evolves and becomes more complicated. New managers face many common challenges, such as building a solid team and creating a positive work environment. To do so, managers can take the help of some icebreaker activities. A few are listed below:

• Taking a team out for a hike or bike ride to get to know each other better.
• Holding team-building activities in the workplace, such as scavenger hunts or trivia contests.
• Hosting social events outside work, such as movie nights or dinner parties.
• Providing opportunities for team members to share their ideas and suggestions through brainstorming sessions.
• Encouraging team members to share unique facts about themselves.

Skills to get to know your team better

There are a few skills that new managers need to get to know their team better. These include understanding team members’ individual personalities and strengths and having strong communication and interpersonal skills.

One-on-one catch-ups

One-on-one meetings with your team members can be beneficial for getting to know them better. These meetings allow you to share meals and potlucks with them, build trust and cohesion within the team, and learn more about their work and personalities. Asking your team questions can help you get to know them better. For example, you could ask them “20 questions” as a get-acquainted team-building activity. It would allow you to learn more about them as individuals while building trust and cohesion within the team. Such meetings provide a valuable opportunity for communicating and collaborating with your team, which can help you reach goals at work.

Constructive Feedback

Giving constructive feedback is an essential skill for managers. Managers should helpfully give feedback – mixing positive and negative remarks – and deliver it calmly and respectfully to the recipient. Moreover, feedback is not a one-sided activity. You can collect constructive feedback from your team members too. In addition to opening up new directions for a productive workplace, it will help you become a more humane manager who is honest about their vulnerabilities with their team members.

Active Listening

A key skill for managers is the ability to listen attentively. It means that you are actively engaged in what your team member is saying, and you are not just waiting for them to finish so that you can jump in with your opinion or advice. Listening actively allows managers to understand the ideas and thoughts of their team members properly. It also helps build trust between manager and employee, leading to better communication overall within the workplace.

Managers who know their team well will be better equipped to achieve success both at work and personal levels. By taking the time to learn about your team, you can build a strong relationship of trust and collaboration that will help you achieve your goals.

Conclusion

The ability to get the right answers could change your entire team’s culture. To start, ask some of these questions to understand your team better and ensure you’re all on the same page. You can also organize team dinners or walking meetings to build a closer bond. These activities will help you understand how your team functions and create a more comfortable working environment for everyone.