Leading Results director Doreen Yarnold explains how beneficial it can be for a non-tech-based company to embrace the challenge of making the most of their more tech-savvy employees
Making the most of a team’s varied skill set has been the task of managers for many years but it has become an increasingly bigger challenge in recent times.
The make-up of a working environment has changed and largely gone are the days when managers were tasked with looking after a team full of the same generation.
Now, it is normal to see teams vary in age group from post-graduates and school leavers right up to those who are close to retirement or in fact beyond. They are a diverse and mixed group.
This has created a new working dynamic and one which present fresh challenges to today’s managers and leaders. Through our work at Leading Results, we are experiencing examples of manager/leaders struggling to deal with that.
tech-savvy
Not only are there varying generations to mould together but there is now a growing band of tech-savvy staff members who can offer so much to a growing business if they are given the chance to show and share their knowledge.
Part of our leadership and management development at Leading Results is to get clients to think about and work through at a practical level how they manage a diverse group of people and teams.
For us, it’s about them accepting that this is today’s reality and then working with them to see all of their team members through a new and different lens. This allows them to gain increased knowledge of managing diverse groups, create new skills and practical day-to-day techniques which help them realise opportunity and drive growth through their teams.
Playing to individuals ‘tech-savvy’ strengths and discovering everyone’s ‘sweet spot’ of productivity and motivation lies at the core of this.
diverse teams
We’re in a commercial landscape of constant change and Generation X, Y, Millennials and even Boomers are increasingly a key part of that landscape.
Learning to adapt is one thing. Learning to adapt with the right knowledge, skills and mindset around managing and leading diverse teams should not be left to chance.
Organisations providing this development for their management and leadership teams will provide a much stronger transition towards sustained growth.
Coming soon – VIDEO: Doreen Yarnold helps leaders sometimes struggling with mixed and diverse teams
Read more: Director Anita Douglas offers practical tips to help you gain resilience in the workplace
Watch – VIDEO: How leaders should deal with the rapid pace of change…