Managing a team in Chinese 带团队
dài tuánduì
Manage a team in Chinese is 带团队 (dài tuán duì).
Also searched for as: team leader, managing people, being a manager, leadership, delegating.
Delegating, motivating and keeping your team on track. 15 essential managing a team words in Mandarin Chinese, with pinyin and English. Open it in the app to hear each word, tick off the ones you know and turn them into flashcards.
Leading a team in Chinese is 带团队 (dài tuán duì), where 带 (dài) suggests guiding people along rather than simply managing them. Day to day, the job means 安排 (ān pái), sorting out who does what, checking 进度 (jìn dù), progress, at the weekly 例会 (lì huì), regular meeting, and remembering to thank people when they've put in the effort. These words cover most of what a new manager says in a typical week.
| Chinese | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| 带团队 | dài tuán duì | to lead a team |
| 团队 | tuán duì | team |
| 下属 | xià shǔ | subordinate; direct report |
| 分配任务 | fēn pèi rèn wu | to assign tasks |
| 负责 | fù zé | to be in charge of |
| 安排 | ān pái | to arrange; to sort out |
| 授权 | shòu quán | to delegate (authority) |
| 例会 | lì huì | regular meeting |
| 进度 | jìn dù | progress |
| 跟进 | gēn jìn | to follow up |
| 对齐 | duì qí | to align (office jargon) |
| 带新人 | dài xīn rén | to train new staff |
| 团建 | tuán jiàn | team-building |
| 辛苦了 | xīn kǔ le | thanks for your hard work |
| 加油 | jiā yóu | come on; keep it up |
Usage tips
- 辛苦了 (xīn kǔ le) is the standard way for a manager to acknowledge effort, said once work is done, and the usual modest reply is 不辛苦 (bù xīn kǔ) or 应该的 (yīng gāi de).
- 对齐 (duì qí), 'to align', is fashionable office jargon, especially in tech companies; it's useful to recognise, but overusing it can sound like a parody of corporate speak.
- 你安排一下 (nǐ ān pái yī xià) is a typically indirect way of delegating: it hands the whole task over, including deciding how to do it.
Common mistakes
- Treating 加油 (jiā yóu) as 'good luck': it's encouragement to try hard, so when the outcome is out of someone's hands, say 祝你顺利 (zhù nǐ shùn lì).
- Calling your team 我的下属 (wǒ de xià shǔ) in front of them sounds hierarchical; in conversation say 我们团队 (wǒ men tuán duì) or 我的同事 (wǒ de tóng shì).
Mini dialogue
- A大家说一下各自的进度吧。Dà jiā shuō yī xià gè zì de jìn dù ba.Let's go round and hear everyone's progress.
- B客户那边我已经跟进了，方案周三能给他们。Kè hù nà biān wǒ yǐ jīng gēn jìn le, fāng àn zhōu sān néng gěi tā men.I've followed up with the client, and we can get them the proposal on Wednesday.
- A很好。小李刚来，你帮我带一下新人。Hěn hǎo. Xiǎo Lǐ gāng lái, nǐ bāng wǒ dài yī xià xīn rén.Good. Xiao Li has just joined, could you help me train the new starter?
- B没问题，我来安排。Méi wèn tí, wǒ lái ān pái.No problem, I'll sort it out.
- A这周大家辛苦了，下个月我们去团建！Zhè zhōu dà jiā xīn kǔ le, xià ge yuè wǒ men qù tuán jiàn!Thanks for all your hard work this week, everyone. We're going on a team-building trip next month!
Example sentences
- 我第一次带团队，压力很大。It's my first time leading a team, there's a lot of pressure.
- 我们团队一共八个人。There are eight of us on the team.
- 他对下属很好。He treats his staff well.
- 周一早上我会分配任务。I'll assign tasks on Monday morning.
- 这个项目由小王负责。Xiao Wang is in charge of this project.
- 这件事你安排一下。Can you sort this out?
- 你要学会授权，别什么都自己做。You need to learn to delegate, don't do everything yourself.
- 每周一上午开例会。We have our regular meeting every Monday morning.
- 大家说一下各自的进度。Everyone, give a quick update on your progress.
- 客户那边你跟进一下。Please follow up with the client.
- 我们先对齐一下目标。Let's align on the goals first.
- 老张很会带新人。Lao Zhang is great at training new people.
- 下个月我们去团建。We're going on a team-building trip next month.
- 这周大家辛苦了！Thanks for all your hard work this week, everyone!
- 最后一周了，大家加油！It's the final week, keep it up, everyone!
Practise speaking
Ready to use these words? The Managing a team speaking island has 8 everyday questions about managing a team to prepare your own answers to.