You're a new manager in merchandising. How can you build strong relationships with your team?

As a new manager in merchandising, building strong relationships with your team is crucial. Here's how: Open Communication: Team Collaboration: Recognition and Appreciation: Professional Development: Lead by Example: Empowerment: Team-Building Activities: Building strong relationships requires time, consistency, and genuine effort. By prioritizing open communication, collaboration, and team development, you can cultivate a positive and productive work environment in your merchandising team.

Building strong relationships with your team as a new manager in merchandising is essential for fostering collaboration, trust, and productivity. Establish Open Communication: Create an environment of open communication where team members feel comfortable expressing their ideas, concerns, and feedback. Encourage regular team meetings, brainstorming sessions, and feedback sessions to foster collaboration and transparency. Set Clear Expectations: Clearly communicate your expectations for performance, behavior, and goals from the outset. Provide clarity on roles, responsibilities, and objectives, and ensure that each team member understands their individual contribution to the team's success.

To build strong relationships with my team as a new manager in merchandising, I prioritize open communication and active listening. I invest time in getting to know each team member individually, understanding their strengths, goals, and concerns. I provide regular feedback, recognition, and opportunities for growth. Encouraging collaboration and valuing their input fosters a sense of ownership and trust. Leading by example and demonstrating empathy cultivates a positive and supportive work environment, strengthening our bond as a cohesive team.

In merchandising, you are the middle man between the client, the design team, the project management team, the sales team, the QA team - it all depends on your role in the system. The point here is to make sure that you are communicating not just clearly - but strategically. → Is this something the client needs to know now? → Is this something we can do and provide to them a proof before we engage them? → Is this the best way to communicate with this client?

Delegate to elevate. ? Stop getting in the weeds. Use powerful project management or CRM tools to be able to delegate out the tasks at hand to your team properly. BUT - do not forget to constantly update said tools so that the notifications do not get out of hand and become useless.

This is a no-brainer. If you are not recognizing your team's wins - you are failing your team. No one wants to hear about the problems and the issues all day long. Sure, they are important and need to get done. But a win is a win - and the team needs to see that to stay motivated. Ways to show wins? → Praise. → Money. → Advancement. → Pizza ??

As a manager, it’s your job to coach your team effectively. This oftentimes involves pointing out mistakes and helping your team correct them. I think it’s important to take the time to recognize accomplishments and everyday achievements that your team makes. Consistently being hypercritical will lower your team’s morale; it is essential to give balanced feedback.

Good team collaboration begins with proper tools to collaborate with - like Notion, Asana etc. Without these kinds of tools, you will be sending endless emails back and forth and things will get lost in the shuffle. Good collab works stems from good tool foundations. Being able to "assign" a task or a job to someone else and follow up on it is key here.

There is no excuse in 2024 with AI where it is that you cannot be learning something new each and every single day. As a leader, you should be learning and sharing that with your team so they can learn from it as well. Learning & education is a constant thing.