From Team Member to Team Leader, Questions to Ask Employees

Becoming a team leader is both exciting and demanding. And just like every critical phase, it comes with its peculiar challenges. 

One common one is gaining the trust and support of colleagues who were probably friends and peers. Hence, one of your first objectives will be getting them on board.

New roles and responsibilities define this phase, often representing a positive step toward attaining professional excellence. It’s an opportunity to inspire and influence key decisions actively. 

This article will guide you through effectively transitioning from team member to team leader, highlighting questions and best practices.

How Do You Transition From Team Member To Team Leader?

A constant objective of every team is to be more effective and efficient at reaching its goals than its members could do alone. The first step to smoothly transitioning into a team leader is figuring out how to achieve this. But that’s not all. 

Here are five steps to make your transition smoother: 

1. Create a leadership persona
2. Make communication a priority
3. Foster teamwork
4. Workforce development
5. Schedule personalised meetings

1. Create a leadership persona.

Your leadership style reflects your team management skills and influences how your team members relate to you. 

An authentic and empathetic leadership persona produces better results, allowing you to set boundaries while being kind and approachable. Importantly, your management style must motivate and guide the team towards fulfilling a shared vision.

2. Make communication a priority.

As the team manager, you must keep the lines of communication open. Actively obtaining employee feedback, providing guidance, and constructive criticism are necessary. It allows you to clearly define the team's objectives and your expectations of individual team members.

It's best practice to schedule retrospective meetings where you discuss progress, challenges and strategic plans. Routine retrospective meetings motivate employees and keep them fully abreast of their responsibilities.

3. Foster teamwork

Teamwork is about collaborations and effective partnerships. And the team management transition is smoother when you can leverage existing relationships to build a strong team with a positive culture. 

Teamwork begins by first gaining the trust and respect of your team because when morale is low, your primary assignment as the team manager is to maintain the connection.

By promoting a culture of inclusiveness, team members can freely share their opinions on how to achieve goals. They’re also more comfortable providing honest feedback and willing to seek guidance.

Assembly has the best ideas, activities and strategies to keep your team connected. Try some today.
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4. Workforce development

A team's success depends on team members' success in their respective roles. And as a team manager, you're to inspire, mentor and coach.

So, being open to professional development helps you prioritize policies and resources, enabling employees to develop their expertise further. 

5. Schedule personalized meetings

A one-on-one meeting with team members provides more insights than general team check-ins. It's a critical step in the team development process.

Having one-on-one discussions with your team members informs you of their expertise level, strengths, weaknesses, goals and personal development plans. 

It also enables you to address aspects of workflow where employees desire improvements. And making these changes will help secure the support and cooperation of your team members. 

What Questions Should A New Manager Ask Their Team?

As a new manager on unfamiliar ground, asking questions is the best way to grasp the situation. You're better equipped to lead when you get to know the team better. So, curate questions that will enable you to obtain honest feedback from your team.

Some questions to ask your new team members to get you started include: 

1. What are your professional targets?

Awareness of employees' professional goals and aspirations helps you develop workable frameworks and opportunities that assist employees in attaining optimal levels of professional development. 

This question sets you on the right path early in team management, allowing you to increase team morale and commitment.

2. What's your favorite aspect of work?

Knowledge about which tasks they enjoy doing plays a role when delegating tasks. 

When employees are assigned tasks they enjoy doing, they're much more eager to execute them. What follows is increased team productivity. According to Gallup, employees whose managers focus on their strengths report higher engagement.

3. What are your current challenges?

You can only implement necessary changes when you have sufficient information. You first need to understand the limitations experienced by your team members before you can proffer the best solution.

So, asking your team about the challenges affecting their work productivity is essential. 

4. What's your preferred means of communication?

Communication styles may vary within the team for different reasons - virtual, physical, instant messaging, calls, etc. And while you may only be able to cater to some, it helps to have the information when creating communication guidelines, especially if you're managing a remote team.

It also lets you know the quickest way to get a response from your team members. Plus, employees feel respected when you pay attention to their preferences.

5. How would you like to receive feedback?

This is a great question to ask when taking over a new department. 

Some people prefer in-person feedback, while others prefer virtual feedback, such as emails. Correspondingly, some people will opt to receive feedback on a routine basis, such as scheduled weekly or monthly check-ins, and some want their feedback in real-time.

A huge part of being a team manager involves providing and receiving feedback. Establishing the frequency and delivery format at the commencement of your tenure is essential. 

6. What were the policies of the previous manager that you liked or disliked?

Mistakes are lessons when you learn from them. You don't want to start with the same errors as the previous manager. In the same vein, maintaining existing policies that worked is a great move.

Inquire about what worked, what’s still working, and what can be improved. To encourage honest feedback, you can obtain the responses anonymously. 

The responses will provide a mental picture of your team's ideal working relationship with team leaders, whether they prefer supervision or can work with little or none. This guides you in developing a managerial approach that's best suited for the team. 

What Should A New Manager Do In The First 90 Days?

The first 90 days as a new manager allow you to prove your capability. Your performance during this period is a reliable indicator of success in this new role. 

Hence, your primary aim should be to set up a workflow that guarantees the smooth running of your team and ensure team members align with it. 

In your first 90 days as a new manager, you should:

1. Identify your priority projects.

Getting caught up with many things to do or change is easy, even on the first day, but it’s best to slow down and hierarchize. To succeed as a team manager, you must hack the art of prioritizing top projects. 

Using SWOT analysis, you can rank the projects into different priority levels based on impact and feasibility of completion.

2. Clearly define the team's goals and objectives.

When people work towards achieving a shared vision, they're more motivated and committed.

It’s crucial to state what the team intends to achieve over a period - monthly, quarterly, etc. Attach specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals to each priority project for the team. 

Most importantly, ensure you involve team members in the goal-setting process. It fosters trust and respect in the team.

3. Delegate, delegate, delegate

It's a team. So, don't assume team managers are to run every aspect of the workflow. 

Delegating tasks effectively is a core team management skill. Assign tasks to your team members according to their strengths and weaknesses. And request progress reports after meetings.

What Do You Say In The First Meeting With A New Team?

You can begin the meeting with icebreakers to douse the tension. Or personal but fun questions such as:

• What are your hobbies outside work?

• Who is your favorite artist?

• What is your favorite snack?

• What's your dream travel destination?

• What's your favorite TV show? 

To get the meeting back on track after the icebreaker, you can:

• Start with an enthusiastic statement expressing your eagerness to work with the team on high-impact projects. 

• Next, present the organization's overall aim and reiterate the team's core objectives. 

• Conclude by letting team members know you're open to ideas on how the team can fulfil its objectives satisfactorily.

Leading The Way

Leading the way is the most challenging and exciting part of transitioning to a team manager. Your ability to influence and lead others well is a function of being self-aware and ready to learn and grow.

Leadership is a beautiful experience. It's a significant milestone, both professionally and personally. So, it's important to be confident in your abilities and consciously evolve by acquiring new skills and unlearning old ways. 

Become better at being a team leader by using Assembly’s productive team management software. Book a free demo today!