Character of a team leader

Great team leader is a leader who has a personal sparkle –

something that makes others listen and follow.

Leader's abilities are connected with personality and therefore greatly inherited.

Some people are born to be leaders!

Leadership cannot be learned in a course or at school, however, it is possible to develop it.

Leader's main qualities are:

· strategic thinking, having a vision

· capacity of empathy

· raised social perception

· understanding and using own uniqueness

· demonstrating weaknesses selectively

If these qualities characterise you and you want to become a successful team leader (leader), then focus on developing these qualities consistently. Beforehand you have to learn how to control yourself, only then you can lead others. Think about your weaknesses and strengths, try to find out who you really are and what you want to achieve in the future.

Keep in mind that being a leader does not equal with being a dominator – people have huge amount of other qualities because of what they follow somebody. Your task is to make your team members understand that you are determined and goal oriented. You need to be capable of establishing yourself through making other members understand that all the final decisions are made by YOU. However, remember not to leave your team members an impression that you are a leader who only uses his/her power on them, rather try to be a team member who is a leader in a game.

ARE YOU DOING YOUR JOB WELL?

Your team`s behaviour says it all!

If your team is not efficient enough,

think through the following 11 points...

1. Do team members know WHAT they have to do?

You need to give them exact and clear tasks. Explain as long as they understand.

1. Do team members know HOW to carry out the task?

Let them explain their plan of action – that way you get a clear picture who has understood his/her assignment or who hasn't.

1. Do members know WHY they have to do something?

You have to explain why the assignments are important and for who– no one wants to carry out a task that has no actual outcome.

1. Does somebody from the team find your approach wrong?

You need to ask and listen. If you see that a team member has stronger arguments, then agree and choose a new approach. However, if the member's arguments are not acceptable, then you have to explain why yours are better. It is important to tolerate criticism.

1. Does somebody from the team find that his/her approach is better?

Follow the previous explanation.

1. Does somebody from the team thinks that something else (family, work, school, partying) is more important?

If the importance is humanely justified then you have to resign the tasks for certain time period. Let the member solve his/her problems and return to his/her tasks later. If the importance is not justified, it is likely to happen again in the future –you should turn to your VP FA or VP TLP.

1. Do team members presume that completing a task will bring negative consequences?

You have to remind your team that in the end you are the one who is responsible for everything.

1. Are there any obstacles that cannot be influenced by the members?

You need to make changes in the strategy (in the plan of action) to achieve goals.

1. Does somebody from your team struggle with an assignment having not enough potential?

Think through, who could handle the assignment better.

10. Does a member think that he/she is already fulfilling the task when in fact he/she is not?

At first you have to recognise the work the member has already done. Ask his/her opinion what should he/she do differently. Afterwards you should tell the member what else needs to be done: “I have observed the entire team and you should also do...”

11. Has the member been recognised for not completing the task?

In that case you have not had enough information and you are recognising the person based on your “gut feeling”. In that case, you might not notice those who are hard-working because they can manage their tasks alone.

Did you get some “yes”-s?

Did you take some action?

YOUR TEAM

During the entire team work you should make sure that the team does not fall apart. Everything (even the small things) decay your team, your job is to keep it strong and solid. Bear in mind that you are not forming a new team only when everybody is new but also when one of the members leaves. In that case you should revaluate each of the member's responsibilities and assignments, so that you could resign the tasks that were left undone. Also, when a new member joins the team, it is important to repeat the journey (the team rules, the division of assignments). This guarantees that other team members will not treat him/her unequally (do not use him/her to fulfil unpleasant tasks).

The key to success in a team is common values and striving towards a common goal. It is very important for the team leader to work hard in the beginning of the OCP term, so that members could become acquainted with each other and would feel comfortable around each other. Because of that team-buildings should be organised - fun gatherings where no work is discussed.

People in your team have different personalities and are used to different working habits. In order to get to know everybody from the team, it is wise to have 4-5 members. Try to find out if your team members are morning or evening persons (for example, when the deadline for an assignment has arrived, then an evening person will definitely send you the final draft in the evening) and if he/she would rather do a team or an individual work.

People are divided into introverts and extroverts. When it comes to an introvert, then you should consider that maybe he/she is not the most efficient while being together with other team members. He/she likes to do things alone. With extrovert you should try to tame him/her, as an extrovert tends to be occupied with various things (several hobbies, friends etc).

TIPS FOR [BETTER] TEAMWORK

Group and team

These two words are not synonyms. In a group each person works individually, in a team everybody works TOGETHER

(although each member has an individual line of duty).

Delegation

Tasks that CANNOT be delegated are YOUR ONLY tasks!*

*You can’t delegate motivation of team members, planning, tracking, reward & recognition

Members are pleased with themselves: you should be able to motivate your members so that they would not be satisfied only with the tasks they have to complete but also with themselves because this is a foundation for good results.

Members choose their tasks: members should have the opportunity to choose their tasks because they`ll carry out the tasks efficiently when those are not given forcibly.

Cut-and-try method: use the member's potential when dividing the tasks. When you have given several tasks and seen that with certain tasks he/she is the most work-willing, make a mental note and try to choose the same way in the future. In order to find out what kind of tasks are suitable for him/her, give out various tasks in the beginning of the term.

Recognise: be very exact and try to recognise somebody right after reaching a goal. You should do it in front of the team. Also recognise your team outside the team, in public. Their motivation will rise. About negative cases you’d better talk to each team member separately.

Reprimand: always begin from the worst (yes, it is recommended to start with recognising but the practice has shown it does not work). When reprimanding, be exact and keep it short. Firstly, tell the member with what and why you are not satisfied and then try to get the member back in a mood where you BOTH (you too, team leader!) forget the problem right there and start from a clean sheet.

Information about the results: always say negative results with 0-emotion because then the information is received faster and more adequately. Certainly show your gratitude towards good results. In a tense situation you should stay calm (be a role model!). When it comes to bad results pay attention to your facial expressions, gestures and tone of voice. Take a moment and think through how you should act. Remember that your team members should not be afraid to approach you even with negative news.

Goals (SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Timely): important are both short-and long-term goals and both for the general team and for team members personally. DANGER: if you have your members always raise goals, they will be confused eventually and might “fail”. Recommended time to put down the goals for the team and team members is in the beginning of the term. Team member should also work on his/her goals during the development talk period.

Know how to say NO: team leader should know how to say “no” because true leading takes a lot of time. The leader should also be able to accept the team member's “no”.

Do not dictate everything: decisionsare made individually or in a team and your job is to (dis)approve them. When you are being asked what to do in a certain situation, let them answer first (what would they do?). Make sure the members talk through the main issues with you and then make the final decision.

“Critical situation”: team leader has to stay calm and “get his/her hands dirty also”. Leader is the one who has to be the representative when results are worse than expected or critical situation arises.

TEAM MEETINGS

Дата добавления: 2015-11-14