When you’re a team leader, shepherding different personalities toward a common goal can be rewarding and challenging. Use these strategies to stay on task without a drop of anyone’s blood, sweat, or tears:

• Communicate clearly and constantly. It’s not enough to announce a project deadline. Continually trading thoughts and providing reminders help monitor progress. Meetings, emails, and brief check-ins keep the project fresh and energized.

• Unitask. Instead of the multitasking approach, let each team member dedicate uninterrupted time to 1 task. Intense focus without distractions often translates to better results.

• Divide and conquer. Massive projects can look intimidating from a team’s point of view. Set up smaller goals to accomplish along the way. Breaking the work into manageable chunks makes it less daunting and allows more opportunities for praise.

With thoughtful planning, the team can tackle assignments with ease.