One of the toughest tasks of a manager is to find the right person for the job. When managing a team as a whole it is likely that you will have a range of skills spread over a number of people. The people on your team will also want to learn new skills in order to stay motivated and perform well. It can therefore be daunting to decide on exactly who does what in order to balance the needs of the team individuals with the performance of the team as a whole. This article gives some ideas on how this can be achieved.

One thing a manager should avoid is pigeon holing a member of staff. Just because an employee knows how to complete a task and does it extremely well, they should not be dedicated solely to it. The chances are this person will become bored and demotivated if they are doing the same thing over and over again so make sure that all staff have some variety in their working lives.

Just as staff should not be pigeon-holed, it is important to make sure that no member of the team is the only one capable of performing individual tasks. This can create serious problems if the member of staff is unwell. If this is the case then this person should write a set of procedures to document their particular task and train another person in case they are unwell or on holiday. This protects the strength of the team in case the person decides to leave.

In this way, team members can train other team members. A training budget, if you are lucky enough to have one should be fully utilised, but do not dismiss the skills already present within your team. Could anyone train anyone else on a particular set of tasks or a skill? This essentially kills two birds with one stone since one employee gets to train and create training documentation, perhaps a presentation which will be a new challenge, while the trainee gets to learn a new skill and perhaps take on more responsibility.

When new responsibilities and tasks arise, it is important to look at your team objectively. Say there are four people in your team. Who has time to take on something new, who would want to take on something new and finally, who has the skills required to complete the new task. Do not be afraid to hold a short meeting and ask your team what they think as a whole. Some people may be desperate for a new challenge while others may nominate someone because of a particular talent they have. Including all team members and encouraging them to share their belief in their individual strengths and capabilities will make them feel valued and trusted.

Another way of finding out how your team feel about their own strengths is to complete regular appraisals. This can be a session to find out how they are doing, what they want to do and how they can achieve the goals you both set together. Managing their individual career needs does benefit the team as a whole since they become motivated, hard-working and skilled team members. This type of person will be far more likely to stay in their current position. Ask them their opinions on the team and whether anything needs to improve. If there is a problem with a particular procedure then include them in the process of improving it. This can even be made into one of their goals or objectives.

Part of managing the team as a whole is to encourage team behaviour and team spirit. If your team do not know each other well and do not understand each other's job roles then this may cause barriers which will affect team performance. Encourage team lunches and team meetings where everyone is on an even footing. It is easier to get to know people in a social setting. Do not force people into completing team events that simply annoy them! Team building exercises where they have to build an egg box together, (yes I experienced this), will not help them build good team relationships, but will instead make them feel forced into uncomfortable interaction. Get to know them and find out what will help them to bond with each other.