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When you manage a team you are judged by your boss and by the team you manage. You are judged on the achievement of targets and your success as a people-manager, both of individuals and of the team as a whole. Managing teams is therefore a huge challenge. It is also a hugely rewarding career!

I first became a manager of a team in the 1970s and in the early days I made every mistake imaginable! In the 1980s I trained properly in team management and leadership and had a lot more success. Since then, I’ve managed formal and informal teams, teams of volunteers and staff, virtual teams and cross-functional teams.

In the 1990s I started designing and delivering training events in the management of teams for public and private sector organizations. This gave me a further insight beyond my own direct experience, in the pitfalls and possibilities of team management.

This book is a distillation of what I have learned over the years about managing teams. The book contains 50 secrets about the successful management of teams, which, if you follow them, will save you and your teams from a lot of misery. The secrets are organized into seven themed chapters.

• Is this a team? You need to ensure that you have a team, not just a bunch of people! This is the foundation of getting it right.

• Form your team. Teams don’t just happen by chance; you have to work to create a team. That means you have to understand about teams, not just people.

• Lead your team. If you are going to be a team manager then you have to lead them day-to-day. You can’t sit back and rest on your laurels!

• Communicate with your team. Most complaints about team managers relate to communication. It is a two-way process, and you have to get it right to be successful.

• Protect and serve your team. You might be the one who gets paid more and has the bigger office, but your job is to protect and serve your team, not the other way round.

• Manage team changes. Nothing stays the same for long. Teams change and the work changes. The team looks to you to manage them through the changes.

• Disband your team. When the time comes, people don’t like to leave without saying goodbye. If you manage the team disbandment well, the future opportunities are greater for all.

Whether you have been managing teams for a while or are a new leader, you will find that by using these secrets your people will follow you far more readily and willingly than if you don’t.

The way you manage teams affects lots of people; it also affects your standing in the world.