Developing leadership skills in the workplace is important. Whether you got promoted as a team leader or a manager, this is the best time for you to demonstrate your soft skills. As a leader, you will need to collaborate and communicate with your teammates effectively to reach goals and achieve targets.

Unfortunately, research suggests that transitioning into first-time leadership is never easy. A study by Center for Creative Leadership says that 20 per cent of first-time managers are doing a poor job according to their teammates, 26 per cent of first-time managers believe they were not ready to begin with, and almost 60 per cent said they never received training when they transitioned into the role. The result is that half of managers in the workplace are inefficient at what they do.

How can you become a good and effective leader? It may seem daunting at first, particularly if you’ve got zero experience. And because of the hybrid work model, you’ve got a lot of factors to consider when leading a team. Below are handy tips you can use as a first-time team leader or manager.

How to lead a team when you have zero experience

Get to know your team. The first thing you must do is find out who your teammates are and what makes them tick. You can ask them to introduce themselves in creative ways, so that you can break the ice and get to know them better. You can also ask them to tell you their strengths and weaknesses. This way, you will be able to know how to go about delegating tasks to each team member.

Strive to be confident, communicative, fair, and flexible. As a leader, you must exude an aura of assertiveness, and not aggressiveness. You must be open to ideas, and you must communicate your ideas to your team members as well. Communication is a two-way street, they say. You should also strive to be just when making decisions so that you don’t discriminate against anyone or show bias and favour for a particular member. Be flexible in making decisions, too.

Delegate tasks. Don’t burden yourself by doing all the tasks by yourself. Learn to assign tasks to your team members and see if they can follow through. This way, you can really see if the team can function well. You could consider the following questions, “What are we trying to accomplish?” “Who has the experience to do this?” “Who needs to learn this task?” “Who has the capacity to finish it on time?” Then determine important deadlines and milestones, and monitor progress. 

Lead by example. As the leader, you are the team’s role model. If you want your team members to show certain traits, you must display it first yourself. If you want others to do something, you must show them the way. Otherwise, they will just freely do whatever they like.

Follow the rules. There are regulations and policies that must be followed and should never be broken. If you break these rules, you also break the trust of your team members. Show that you value order and organisation by following the rules.

Show appreciation to team members. Tell your team members that you appreciate them for what they’re doing. Recognise good performance and reward it if possible. A verbal praise may be good if you are not in the position to hand out pay raises.

Learn from mistakes. Because we’re all human, there will be times when we will make mistakes. As a leader, evaluate and assess those mistakes and learn from them. See how they can be prevented in the future and how they can be dealt with if they happen again.

Be decisive. Don’t procrastinate and do address a challenge head on. If it’s too difficult to decide, start with smaller decisions first and then create momentum from there. If things are still challenging, take a breath, collect all the information you need, and make an informed decision. Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it and consult with your team all the time.

Have fun! Lastly, don’t forget to enjoy what you’re doing. Leading a team is challenging but ultimately, it is worth it if you achieve your target. Once you become an effective leader, you can help create a positive and healthy environment where growth and development are fostered within the culture. It all starts with a few steps!