New Team Leader

You are in the SuddenTeams™ Expert System.

Expert System>
Expert System> Problems with Manager>

Congratulations! You're in for a challenging but rewarding ride, if you take the time to learn what it takes to succeed. Even if you are only a part-time team manager or leader, the majority of your job is no longer about getting your work done. Your primary job is to set the direction and boundaries for the team, then help the other people get their jobs done—not by doing their work, but by making sure they have what they need. The biggest cause of team leader failure is the refusal to accept this shift of job emphasis.

You will obviously need to learn about leading individuals and about managing your managers' and clients' expectations. Ask people you respect for recommendations on leadership books and focus on the common advice in those. TeamTrainers and this Expert System focus on what scientific research says about leading a group, a skill set that overlaps but is distinct from those for leading individuals or large organizations.

Assuming your group should be a true team (read more), the best way for you to succeed as a team leader is to create a high performance team. To maximize the odds:

  1. Get input from your boss about what he or she expects the team to accomplish, in the form of suggestions for its purpose, performance standards, and goals for improvement (see below).
  2. Create your own set of expectations in line with the boss's and present them to the team—that is, set the general direction and boundaries.
  3. Let the team choose the specifics and decide how to get there, and tell you what it needs.

To do #3, hold team meetings at least weekly in which you accomplish the following list in addition to regular work topics. It is long, but you can do most of it by taking small parts of each meeting for as many months as it takes.

  1. Implement the steps under "Effective Team Meetings."
  2. Help the team create a set of team rules and a procedure for self-enforcement.
  3. Negotiate a purpose or mission statement you and the team are comfortable with.
  4. Negotiate 3-5 SMART goals for the next year to work toward the mission.
  5. Have the team create a team charter.
  6. Have the team create written procedures for the bulk of its work.
  7. Help it create a communications plan.
  8. Help it create performance standards for tracking its progress.
  9. Help it implement continuous improvement.

As appropriate:

You will find much more information in the "Manager Guide" chapter of our "do-it-yourself" team building book, The SuddenTeams™ Program. The team training and exercises in the book cover the lists above and much more, step by step. The book also has 70 pages of techniques you will find useful in addressing a range of issues.

If this process seems daunting, outsource the team building to TeamTrainers. Because of our experience, we can take care of these steps cost-effectively in three months or less while freeing you to work on larger issues or train on other skills. But you will get the credit for the successes that show up long after we are gone.

For more ideas:

  • Share/Save