I was already familiar with what the corporate world calls “leadership.” After all, running a construction site with several teams of different ages, backgrounds and cultures depending on your decision, dealing with the client and holding firm through the material and emotional setbacks common to any construction process had hardened me to that kind of situation and pressure. And there's a plus that counts for a lot: I like working with people and teams.

But it was only when leading a team of 8 creative people that I realized how much I had to learn. At first, charisma and personality carried the day and things went well with the team, but only over time did I notice that some things needed to be “methodized” so we could test their efficiency.

Today, a little more seasoned, I can say that at least 3 of those things work:

1. Well-defined rituals

Well, we are human beings, and human beings, believe it or not, love routines. The key is understanding which of those routines are essential (and the purpose of each one) for the team to function. Every meeting should exist for a reason, and everyone knows what to expect from it.

In my case, status meetings on the progress of requests and projects are one of those essentials. Quick meetings, no fluff, where the goal is for each person to share the status of what they're working on. What moved, what stopped and what finished. The key is finding the right frequency. I've had times when it was every day, others once a week. Today I believe twice a week works well for my team's dynamic.

Another important ritual has to do with what you identify as constant touchpoints with other areas. For example, my team receives several requests from the e-commerce team every week. Organizing those requests, which used to arrive at random (hallway, email, chat, etc.), into a fixed weekly meeting between the two teams brings a considerable gain in efficiency, since the requests start arriving better formed and through a more human exchange.

It's also important to have the tact to understand that specific projects and situations call for adjusting the frequency of these moments. People may complain about having to meet every day to discuss the same topic, but believe me, that time spent avoids a lot of noise and possible rework later on.

2. Constant feedback

When I took over the creative team, I had a case of “rescuing” the performance of someone on the team, and the main factor was implementing monthly feedback. From what they told me, they had gone a year without feedback. That person went from an image of low productivity to being promoted in 8 months. The performance was already there; my role was only to make visible the paths they could take. There's no magic: set up a one-hour chat at least once a month to review good performances and what can improve next month. It doesn't have to be anything elaborate; it can be one small step at a time. If possible, also encourage a two-way street. It's always important to hear opinions about your own work.

But be careful. Feedback has to be structured and grounded in reality. Revisit what happened and try to understand what could have gone better. I really like soccer analogies. Think of feedback as revisiting a play that led to a goal against you: the point is to look at the play and imagine situations that could prevent that goal in other matches. The goal is always to bring clarity to what happened with some distance in time, so the learning sticks. I try hard to keep my personal taste out of these situations. Every human being approaches problem solving differently. And as a leader, what you say will inevitably carry more weight.

3. Well-defined goals and agreements

It all starts with a clear diagnosis of where you are. Understanding the current situation is fundamental to mapping a route and reaching the goal. I always joke that a goal or agreement is like opening the Uber app, entering where you are and where you want to go. The route may change, there may be traffic, accidents and so on, but at some point you will reach your destination.

Everyone works much better when they know what's expected of them and where they want to go. Something that really helps in defining these goals is making them measurable and/or tangible. I often ask, “Five months from now, when we look back, how will we know we achieved this goal?” If it's tangible, it's easy.

Another thing that helps a lot is defining a development plan for each person on the team. If everyone knows what they want to improve, whether skills, behaviors, software or something else, it's easier to understand which goal or agreement that person will fulfill over the cycle.

Oh, and also important: cycles don't have to be long. Individual, down-to-earth goals of 3 to 6 months are excellent and create a great cadence. Long goals, of a year or more, sometimes expire because the time frame is too long. If that's the case, try breaking them into smaller parts.

How the three connect

Rituals create a good sense of space and flow, frequent feedback corrects the course and goals say where to go. You can get by with just one of these, but doing all 3 together will considerably increase the team's productivity.