Leadership is a virtue which isn’t easily learnt or grasped. Leading a group of people is not an easy task and when the composition of that group is majorly of college freshers, the task becomes even more difficult. Here are some practical tips which will help you lead a team with efficiency.
Leading a team, the right way
- Learn to have patience: Patience is a trait that is fast diminishing. And it is not hard to understand how it is needed as an essential component while leading a team. When it comes to college freshers, it is easy to comprehend their energy and constant vigour, brimming with ideas and passion. However, what they lack the most is corporate etiquette, necessary to define the exact boundary within which they should operate. As a leader, it becomes your job to fill these people with the right manners and teach them the difference between their imagination the practical outlook that they need in the corporate world. For this, one needs to implement ample patience so that they can teach the requisite ideas to these college fresher’s’.
- Learn to treat them at par: What can be expected of a fresher is to act like one. However, the fact does not change the truth that they are still human and aspiring to become equivalent to their superiors. While most of them are ready to change and mould their actions, they expect to be treated as equals and allowed the opportunity to develop in the same environment as their superiors. In order to achieve this, a leader needs to provide a conducive environment which allows for growth and development of the individual. Rather than following the hierarchy of command and superiority, allow them the chance to feel at par with their peers.
- Allow them the decision making power: It is quite understood that as a leader or a superior, you need to teach various things to a fresher. However, instead of making every decision for them, it might be a good idea to let them make some for themselves. Whether you follow their decision or not, is up to your choice but while you allow them to make a decision for you, they feel empowered and a part of the organisation. This could be beneficial for them and for you as well. Therefore, instead of simply thrusting a decision on those fresher’s, allow them a chance to take the reins in their hand and feel as though they are in charge. Engaging in discussion groups is one of the best way to get them to engage and coordinate with peers.
- Make them say a healthy goodbye: It is easy to expect yourself to behave at all times and maintain your patience but actually implementing this idea may not be as practical. You may come across situations when your patience gets the best of you and you may end up lashing out at someone for something they did. While this is quite possible, it is important to make them sit down with you at the end of the day and discuss what went wrong. This will help them understand their error and work on improving the same. It is always better to counter such an issue on the same day, instead of putting it off till tomorrow. After all, you would not want them to walk in with a distaste the next day!
- Time for treats: As a fresher to the job, it is common for a college fresher to fall prey to doubts and low self morale. They might be doubtful about their actions and lost at times about the course of action. Sometimes, with the lack of immediate results, they might feel let down with their actions and decisions. Thus, it is important to set short term goals for them which can be attained and maintain their confidence. Goals can be incentivised with rewards so that they can feel motivated to perform better and excel at every task that they do. With their spirits at a peak, college fresher’s are more likely to learn the art of decision making.
While these are just some of the basic ideas and tips to lead a team with efficiency, there are still more ideas that can help you become an effective leader which can help you bring out the best from a bunch of college freshers under you.
Author: Ankit Garg is a serial entrepreneur, having built and sold couple of online businesses. Currently he is building TFTH and aims it to be one stop platform for college students.
