Managing a team of seniors when you are young is possible...
10 August 2012
Read by 2109 persons
Managing, a very complex and rich verb. Its synonyms speak for themselves: to direct, orchestrate, lead, take, train, govern, administer, manage, rule, reign, command, guide, preside, lead, organize…. Yes, managing is no small feat. But being a leader is above all about motivating, engaging individuals in a common energy, a whole. It is about establishing a logic of mutual respect and recognition. Not simple, certainly, when we know that the workings differ according to individuals but also vary according to the generations concerned.
Consider the evaluation methods specific to each generation.
It seems proven that each generation, strong in a characteristic spirit, estimates and evaluates its performance and legitimacy within a company through different biases. Indeed, where seniors will weigh their value in terms of results obtained, the younger generation will build theirs on their knowledge, their network and their personality.
So how do you solve and manage this gap?
• Start by respecting the seniors' need to be recognized for their know-how, their mastery of the field and their experience. You will thus avoid a first source of disagreement.
• Then try to identify what fundamentally motivates and carries a senior in a project in order to be able to measure with him the fruit of the work accomplished. For example, asking a senior to leave the project he is working on to take charge of another is not wise. The latter will feel in a position of failure where a young person would see an undeniable mark of recognition.
• Gain your credibility with seniors. It's up to you to subtly and subtly explain that you are not there by chance, that you have also proven yourself. It is not at all a matter of being arrogant, vain or insolent, but, on the contrary, of knowing how to remain humble while asserting your abilities to exchange, to learn together and to share experiences.
Avoid directive management.
To insinuate, in the face of a senior, that he is not an expert in his action, is to demotivate him.
• So avoid giving orders lightly. Choose and carefully target the points on which you will draw his attention.
• Maximize delegative management in order to offer an autonomy that he will appreciate at its true value. Don't imagine for a moment that you would lose control by doing so. That would be false.
• However, explain diplomatically that you absolutely rely on his feedback in order to be able to manage your team fairly. It is important that the reporting of information is not perceived as any kind of "snooping" on your part and that your role is well understood: to centralize and give the movement to follow.
Weld your team
Everything is at stake in the first moments. Do not lose sight, in this spirit, that the first interviews will be fundamental for the continuation of your exchanges. Avoid being caught off guard.
• Thus, remember to quickly specify, upon your arrival, your vision, your objectives, and try to find with the senior how he can take an active part in the direction you wish to give.
• Do not hesitate to organize a quick seminar to communicate, explain your choice of actions to be taken.
• Try to establish a group dynamic that will weld and motivate everyone.
• Be able to justify the directions you have chosen and stick to them without, however, falling into a rigidity that could be misinterpreted.
Within a company as in life, communication remains the best possible link between individuals of good will…
Article written by The ReKrute.com team
Posted online on August 10, 2012.
Consider the evaluation methods specific to each generation.
It seems proven that each generation, strong in a characteristic spirit, estimates and evaluates its performance and legitimacy within a company through different biases. Indeed, where seniors will weigh their value in terms of results obtained, the younger generation will build theirs on their knowledge, their network and their personality.
So how do you solve and manage this gap?
• Start by respecting the seniors' need to be recognized for their know-how, their mastery of the field and their experience. You will thus avoid a first source of disagreement.
• Then try to identify what fundamentally motivates and carries a senior in a project in order to be able to measure with him the fruit of the work accomplished. For example, asking a senior to leave the project he is working on to take charge of another is not wise. The latter will feel in a position of failure where a young person would see an undeniable mark of recognition.
• Gain your credibility with seniors. It's up to you to subtly and subtly explain that you are not there by chance, that you have also proven yourself. It is not at all a matter of being arrogant, vain or insolent, but, on the contrary, of knowing how to remain humble while asserting your abilities to exchange, to learn together and to share experiences.
Avoid directive management.
To insinuate, in the face of a senior, that he is not an expert in his action, is to demotivate him.
• So avoid giving orders lightly. Choose and carefully target the points on which you will draw his attention.
• Maximize delegative management in order to offer an autonomy that he will appreciate at its true value. Don't imagine for a moment that you would lose control by doing so. That would be false.
• However, explain diplomatically that you absolutely rely on his feedback in order to be able to manage your team fairly. It is important that the reporting of information is not perceived as any kind of "snooping" on your part and that your role is well understood: to centralize and give the movement to follow.
Weld your team
Everything is at stake in the first moments. Do not lose sight, in this spirit, that the first interviews will be fundamental for the continuation of your exchanges. Avoid being caught off guard.
• Thus, remember to quickly specify, upon your arrival, your vision, your objectives, and try to find with the senior how he can take an active part in the direction you wish to give.
• Do not hesitate to organize a quick seminar to communicate, explain your choice of actions to be taken.
• Try to establish a group dynamic that will weld and motivate everyone.
• Be able to justify the directions you have chosen and stick to them without, however, falling into a rigidity that could be misinterpreted.
Within a company as in life, communication remains the best possible link between individuals of good will…
Article written by The ReKrute.com team
Posted online on August 10, 2012.
