A team leader oversees and supports a group of employees to achieve shared goals. Unlike managers, who manage a larger group of people and report to a director or vice president, team leaders work within the team and take on leadership responsibilities along with their regular job duties. To be an effective team leader, you need a combination of skills that includes being able to set vision, communicate progress and provide feedback. You also need to be able to delegate tasks and manage the workload.
A great team leader Jason Hare can inspire their teams to move forward by demonstrating how their work fits into the company’s overall vision and mission. This can help raise team members’ energy and motivation levels and make them feel like their contributions are meaningful and important.
In addition to inspiring their teams, good team leaders are also able to create clear goals for the work they and their teams are doing. These goals give everyone a sense of purpose and direction so that they can focus on the work at hand. They can also help their team members understand what is expected of them and how they are performing, providing a useful context for assessing performance.
As with any position of authority, team leads need to have strong communication skills. They are responsible for communicating with team members and project stakeholders about their work, including relaying any potential issues to the project manager. In addition, they should be able to delegate tasks and provide opportunities for coaching and mentorship.
Good team leaders also know how to celebrate their team’s successes and ensure that each member gets the recognition they deserve. They can also be a source of positivity and encouragement, which is particularly important when a team faces challenges.
Lastly, team leaders are able to assess their own performance and identify areas for improvement. While this can be an uncomfortable task, a great team lead will lean into it in order to develop themselves and encourage their teammates to do the same.
A great team leader will be a good problem solver and can quickly identify and address any roadblocks that might prevent their teams from accomplishing their work. They should also be able to support their team members by helping them find ways to resolve conflicts, whether that involves a misunderstanding or a more serious issue.
Finally, a great team leader will be able to monitor their team’s progress and provide project status reports to their bosses. This is part of their responsibility to communicate the vision and expectations of a project manager and ensure that everyone is on track for their deadlines. This will involve comparing team members’ actual progress to the expected outcomes, as well as evaluating individual performances and giving constructive feedback. This can be a challenging aspect of the role, but it is essential for maintaining productivity. Similarly, it is crucial for team leads to keep their own sanity by ensuring that they don’t take on too much of the team’s work themselves and are able to delegate effectively.