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8 Common Mistakes Made By Newly Promoted Team Leaders

We are all human and make mistakes, and there are some mistakes newly promoted Team Leaders make in particular.

Over the past 35 years I’ve been involved with Call Centers either as a Call Center Owner, consulting with businesses or coaching and mentoring Call Center Managers and Team Leaders, listed below are the most common mistakes I’ve seen new Team Leaders make.

And, yes making a mistake can be a learning experience. However, by taking the time to avoid making these 8 common mistakes, new Team Leaders can become more productive, successful and highly respected by their team more quickly.

Mistake #1:         Misunderstanding Their Role

Once one becomes a Team Leader their responsibilities are very different from what they were before when they were only accountable for their own performance.

Now they’re accountable for the performance of their team and, the performance of all the team members in the team.

In the beginning it can be a little scary and many new Team Leaders find themselves outside their comfort zone and they soon realize they need to use different skills to effectively lead and manage people.

And, if they don’t acquire these new skills they aren’t going to do what they were hired to do – lead and manage their team!

Mistake #2:         Not ‘Walking the Walk’

Team Leaders need to be a role model for their team. Their team is watching them all the time and they’re going to pattern a lot of their behavior on how they see their Team Leader behave.

If their Team Leader is negative some of the time, you can’t expect team members not to be negative too.

If a Team Leader wants to shape the behavior of their team members, they need to start with their own behavior and their will follow suit.

Mistake #3:         Not Providing Timely, Constructive Feedback

When Team Leaders don’t provide timely and constructive feedback to their team members, they’re depriving them of the opportunity to improve their performance.

Mistake# 4:         Not Making Time For The Team

Once someone is in a Team Leadership role, their team should always come first – that is the heart of what good leadership is all about.

So, they have to make the time to coach their team members to help them improve their skills whether they need help with the way they handle their calls, acquire product knowledge or complete administration tasks.

Mistake #5:         Being Too Hands On

Team Leaders want to avoid micromanagement of their team because many team members were their colleagues not so long ago, and they don’t want to feel like they’re being lorded over.

But going in the opposite direction with a ‘hands off’ management style isn’t a good idea either – you need to find the right balance and not hide behind your desk!

Mistake #6          Being Too Friendly

This is one of the more common mistakes to avoid because team members will be tempted to take advantage of the relationship if a Team Leader is too friendly with them.

This doesn’t mean a Team Leader can’t socialize with their team, far from it – they just need to get the balance right by setting healthy boundaries between being a friend and now being the Team Leader.

Mistake #7:         Failing to Define Goals

When team members don’t have clear goals they muddle through their day and waste time. They need to have clearly defined and achievable daily and weekly goals for them to strive for, and understand they will be held accountable for achieving these goals.

Team Leaders just need to remember when setting a goal is to make the goal fair and reasonable for team members based on their skill level, and be sure they get “Buy In” from team members that the goal is fair and they can achieve it.

Mistake #8:         Misunderstanding Motivation

Many Team Leaders assume their team is only working for monetary reward, especially if they are paid an hourly rate (plus commission in telesales environments).

However, it’s unlikely that this will be the only thing that motivates them. There is plenty of research around that shows money is not the most important thing to most Team Members; usually it’s far down the list!

Aside from money, often people looking for a greater work/life balance and might be motivated by flexible working hours where they can leave early if they hit their daily goal. And, many people will be motivated by factors such as achievement, extra responsibility, praise or even a sense of satisfaction by achieving team goals with their teammates.

Of course, people wouldn’t work without getting paid, but what’s important to them is what they want to do with the money they make.

So, find out what is important to them that they want to use the money to get and then help them understand how they can get the money they need to get what they want by being more productive.

Want to learn more?

Want to learn more on how to develop a proven, practical and easy-to-implement training program to create amazing Team Leaders with a clear understanding of their role, and the practical skills needed…

to turn underperformers into high achievers, who regularly reach (or even exceed) their monthly targets and KPIs?

Simply enroll in my free online course - 7 Pillars For Creating Amazing Team Leaders using this link (https://7pillarsmembers.marccarriere.net/).

You get instant access to this free course PLUS 15 Bonus Micro Training Videos AND free download of the 7 Pillars For Creating Amazing Team Leaders Guide.

After this Free Training you’ll understand all the vital elements you need to develop your own structured Team Leader training program and deliver it.

Just imagine how confident you’ll be training your Team Leaders with all the skills they need to turn low performing teams into high achievers that hit (or even exceed) their targets and KPIs every month!