The Ivanti blog is no stranger to uncommon holidays. ­We’ve been known to write poems on World Poetry Day and share our favorite cup of joe on International Coffee Day.

Well, we’re at it again. Today is National Team Manager Day, and our Ivanti Insiders had plenty to say in response to the following questions. We have left the responses anonymous to protect the privacy of our Insiders.

What top three qualities do you find most beneficial in a manager?

Able to communicate effectively. Able to manage effectively. Able to call BS when seeing BS.

Awareness, willing to put the team first, and the desire to see that the team has what it needs to be successful.

Caring about their staff, recognizing the contributions of their staff, communication.

Communication, clear priorities, flexibility.

Communication, honesty, and recognition when you have done a great job.

Communication. Tell me what you want. If you have an issue, put it out there.

Consistency, directness, the ability to communicate.

Empathy, trust, encouragement.

Good time management, memory, respect for people's time and work/life balance.

Honesty, transparency, and being organized.

Honesty, trust, freedom (do not micromanage). 

Honesty, willing to do the work, and stand up for employees' decisions.

Knowledge, communication, and respect for employees.

Knowledge, fairness, leadership.

Leader, strategy-focused, and balance.

Leadership, compassion, and a sense of humor.

Leadership, guidance, and willing to defend the team.

Listening, honesty, and intelligence. 

Positive, encouraging, and leads by example.

Providing quality feedback, resolving issues, and lending a helping hand.

Push for new delegation to help your team learn new skills. Make it easy for team members to be aware of projects and tasks happening in other departments. Compassion to deal with life's unknown personal emergencies.

Relatable, understanding, communicative.

Responsible, punctual, fair.

Show appreciation, listen, protect employees.

Supportive, flexibility, willingness to jump in the trenches with the staff.

Supportive, instructive, inspiring.

Supportive, leader, and someone who inspires others.

Supportive, understanding, knowledgeable.

Understanding, not a micromanager, helps you achieve success.

What is one thing you wish your manager would do more?

Appreciation and effective communication.

Be equal with the team members, especially at the moments for recognition or project assignments.

Be more available. He's a very busy guy and his time is in demand. 

Be more supportive and listen to my thoughts versus taking someone else's opinion over mine immediately.

Buy us lunch.

Call me less.

Communicate.

Communicate and listen to my needs.

Communicate changes.

Give more feedback.

Inform us of upcoming projects.

Lead by example.

Listen.

Make me take more vacation.

Praise my reports.

Praise my team for the good things and not dwell on the bad. If you identify one mistake, make sure you also identify the 10 great things we do.

Public recognition.

Push back on his manager and not be as much of a yes man.

React to escalations immediately. 

Show appreciation.

Teach new skills and let others take over responsibilities.

If you are a manager (or were a manager), what is the one thing you would do consistently to help motivate your team?

Allow group huddles to discuss issues from a different perspective.

Bonuses. Doesn't even have to be money and could just be simple things like snacks, drinks, or food.

Celebrate what's going well.

Challenge them.

Communicate regularly.

During one-on-one meetings (once a week), just briefly touch on their performance and then let the rest be their time to vent or share ideas. Basically give them an opportunity for my undivided attention to discuss whatever they want.

Encourage growth.

Encourage that their ideas are just as good as anyone else's and need to be reviewed and considered, not just taking orders from executives but being able to feed and grow our own initiatives.

Explain how the work we do impacts the bigger company goals and objectives.

Give appreciation to each one.

Give them the latitude they need to do their job. 

Gotta have that recharge time. Fight for team events, lunches, activities, or whatever.

Incentivize training.

Provide encouragement and constructive feedback.

Recognize good work when you see it; don't just comment on the faults.

Recognize them for their achievements publicly and give them the opportunity to go to training to enhance skills.

Recognize when somebody goes the extra mile.

Say thanks and praise good work.

Stay positive.

Talk to them to see where their comfort line is, and how can I help them push past it to continue growing.

The only thing that really motivates me is cash! The rest is lip service.

Track accomplishments.

Under-promise and over-deliver.

What is one of your favorite team building activities, or one you’d like to have? Can be in-person or virtual.

A great Christmas party at the end of the year. We rent out part of Hard Rock and host the party. Lots of drawings so everyone goes home with something.  

Anything. The point is to have them regularly and often. Camaraderie and culture are everything. 

Axe-throwing is always fun with the team!

Bowling and karts are nice.

Charity project or activity.

Christmas party/white elephant exchange.

Collaboration. Other activities are a waste of time that could be used for getting work done.

Disaster recovery simulation.

Do a city trip.

Escape rooms.

Game where you have to help each other. Like an escape room.

Going for a beer after work.

I did an HDI session loooooooong ago around 2004 or 2005 and I always like the team building activity where one person was blindfolded and you had to lead them to different areas of the floor to pick things up.  I felt like it really added a trust factor between teammates because you had to really listen and trust them to get the fastest time.

I like to go out of the office and go bowling.

I love our team meetings. We meet three times a week to go over what's happening, make sure everyone is supported, and on Friday we do Facetime Friday! No dress code required. I frequently show up in a hoodie and ponytail. It's just good to see their faces!

Just a team lunch.

Monthly lunch.

Off-site eating related events.

Sending each other memes in a team chat.

Team lunches.

We just talk. The work day doesn't have to be work all day. Creativity occurs in the subconscious very frequently, so it's good to discuss a business item and then let it stew in the back of your mind for a bit. But make sure to have a deadline in place to review and see if there are any solutions.