What are the best ways to manage a team with different levels of experience?

Given an opportunity to all team members as per their strengths and let the best come out of them. Support them whenever they are in crisis or need help

Each individual is unique, and recognizing this diversity is essential in fostering a harmonious and productive work environment. Regardless of one's years of experience, it is crucial to engage in open communication to understand each person's preferences. To facilitate this understanding within my team, I encourage members to compile a list of three things they enjoy and want them to be a part of their profile. Subsequently, we establish both short-term and long-term goals based on these insights. I advocate for quarterly follow-up discussions and an extensive year-end review for more comprehensive reflections. This process ensures that our collective journey aligns with the individual aspirations and growth of each team member.

Be a team player - A leader leads by example. Get out on the field with them and show them how to get the job done. Do it once and you will never have to do it again, they will be empowered to get it done 👍👍

Assess your team members on two dimensions: WILL and SKILL. A new employee is often high on will (they want to do well!), but woefully low in skill (knowing how a task is done). They need direction to be successful. It's usually the reverse for someone who's been in their role for eons (high skill, but bored out of their gourd). They'd benefit from stretch assignments and autonomy. Assessing in this way helps you pinpoint what each individual needs from *you as the leader* in order to be most successful.

Understanding the strengths, weaknesses, and experience levels of your team is crucial. In my role as a coordinator, I conduct individual assessments to gauge where each member stands. For example, I once managed a team with a mix of professors. By assessing their backgrounds and skills, I could better understand how to leverage their strengths and address their needs.

After assessing the team, assigning roles and tasks becomes easier. I align tasks with each member's expertise and growth areas. For instance, experienced staff might handle more complex projects, while those with less experience tackle tasks that can help them grow. It's like a puzzle - finding the right piece for each spot.

It's OK to change the team members focus areas. It's also OK to move people out of toxic environments or to "easier" (often less ambiguous) areas. This shouldn't be seen as a demotion or an indicator of someone's lack of skills. As a manager, you need to find the place where your team can thrive. If people are struggling and straining and are clearly not happy or advancing their skills, then they're just toiling. That doesn't help them, you, or your team. It's far better to move them to an area where they can be successful and build trust

People don't leave jobs. They leave managers. The best leaders know this, and invest deeply in their team's personal growth.

Get to know each of your team members, what they feel they are good at, what they aspire to do and are motivated by. Build an environment of trust so less experienced members can feel confident asking questions and give more experienced members the opportunity to mentor and share their knowledge.

These are the following ways I found helpful to manage a team with different levels of skill set. 1. From the day I stepped into my motion design career, this is the one best thing I have learnt over the past 3 years which is "collaboration" 2. So, in my design team we all have decided mutually that we will never hesitate to guide/teach our fellow designers, it may sound cliche. But there is a physiological effect by doing this, when we reach someone or help someone we get a sense of authority and feel valuable to others that we got a chance to become a helping hand to someone's problem. ⏫More collaboration ⏫More contribution ⏫Leads to increase in competence I found this is the best way to maintain a skill hierarchy in your team.

Effectively managing a team with diverse experience levels necessitates a nuanced leadership approach. Understanding the unique strengths each team member brings is foundational; this allows for a strategic alignment of roles to optimize productivity. Clear and transparent communication is paramount, ensuring that expectations and goals are well-defined. Implementing mentorship programs fosters knowledge transfer, with experienced team members guiding those with less experience. Continuous professional development opportunities, tailored leadership styles, and regular feedback contribute to a collaborative culture, empowering each team member to thrive and contribute meaningfully to the collective success of the team.

I pair new with veteran professors for mentorship. This not only helps the new staff to learn and develop but also encourages knowledge sharing and fosters a supportive team culture.

Effective communication is the backbone of team management. In meetings, I encourage open dialogue and ensure that both experienced and newer team members have a voice. This helps in maintaining transparency and building trust.

Adapting your communication style will not only help you managing teams but in general life situations. Ideally you adapt your communication style to the person you are speaking in order to build rapport effectively. In the case of teams, some may have a more technical understanding of the situation whilst some other may focus on more factual information, when addressing the whole team try to have a good mix in your communication style.

The best way to communicate effectively is to talk to your people directly - have an actual conversation between humans. In order to give proper feedback and advice, you need to understand very clearly how your people will be evaluated. There will be some kind of career ladder document at most businesses. Go over this in detail, repeatedly, with your people. Make sure you both understand exactly what it's saying, what points you weight higher than others, what things are fluff and what is critical, why these things are true, etc. Communication is key, but to make it effective, you have to be consistent and build trust over time. Don't overshare - but also don't undershare

Open, honest, humble and, above all, empathetic communication is the key in any organization at any level of leadership. I believe this is the key to generating impact on each member of the team. An environment must be created where trust predominates! Knowing how to listen with a directed approach is the best tool for effective communication.

Recognizing and celebrating diversity may seem cliché, but it's genuinely underestimated within teams, especially when managing individuals with varied levels of experience. Embracing the unique skills, perspectives, and experiences of each team member not only fosters a collaborative environment but also enables the team to leverage a plethora of expertise. Diverse perspectives bring together a variety of experiences, knowledge, and creative approaches.

Every team member, regardless of their experience level, brings something unique to the table. I celebrate this diversity by acknowledging everyone's contributions and encouraging learning from each other. For example, in team workshops, I facilitate sessions where members share their unique insights and experiences, which enriches the whole team.

Everything around us is always the same, but each person sees it from a different corner depending on their background, culture, values and life experience. All these different perspectives on the table, when trying to solve a problem, can be a very powerful tool. This is why diversity can be such a valuable asset in a team if handled properly.

One of the constant dangers on a team is that more experienced team members will often steamroll over the input and initiatives of more junior members. Unfortunately, this sometimes means that historic anchoring can miss change, or authority bias can shut down good ideas that come from junior members. Managers that can foster respect for long-term knowledge and experience, yet still enable (and even encourage) new ideas to challenge existing mindsets can set a diversely-experienced team up for success. This is more than just celebrating diversity; it requires active facilitation that can be difficult - especially when egos and perceived authorities come into play - but will pay off in the end.

Beside all the above, for my last animated short film we had a team of 14, spacing from seniors to interns, we managed the team according to seniority and technical complexity. The main structure of the short was in the hands of a senior team, so the main animation. Mid worked on secondary characters, while Jrs and interns on background animations, so less complex things and not so key to the story. This helped us to have everyone involved in almost all the shots, creating a dynamic collaboration among the entire team, but mostly making feel everyone part of the project. the only one who got moved among different roles were jrs and interns who wanted to experience different tasks and prod stages

Managing a team with diverse experience levels requires thoughtful assessment, strategic role assignment, active mentoring, effective communication, and a celebration of diversity. In my role, these strategies have not only enhanced team performance but also created an environment where every member feels valued and has the opportunity to grow.

Apart from assigning tasks based of the team’s skillset variations. Ask the team to collaborate. This can be through: - Educating each other - Rotate responsibilities - Exchange experiences Succeed in doing this, and you will have a team that no one can stop.