In today's modern world where competition is stiff within the workplace, it is essential to have a team leader to succeed.
In any organisation, the team leader's responsibilities are diverse whether he is managing a small group or a large team. They need to keep the other team members focused, engaged, and productive and, at the same time, address the individual's concerns and problems.
This article therefore aims at discussing in detail about the duties and responsibilities of a team leader and will explain how responsibilities of a team leader affect the outcome of the group.
The core of each successful team, its driving force, is the person who directs the team members and helps them work on the objectives established.
But what is a team leader? To answer this question, therefore, we define a team leader as an individual who is in charge of supervising and directing a number of people in an organisation in order to achieve a particular goal.
Its primary function is to guide, facilitate and offer feedback and, in the process, maintain unity within the team. It also requires a group leader to easily move information between the team members and other hierarchical levels with the goals of the team being clearly conveyed.
A team leader has a major responsibility in supervising a team as well as making sure that the functional objectives of the team are accomplished. The duties of a team leader can vary depending on the organisation or industry, but there are core obligations that make up a team leader and take the team towards success.
Below are the team lead duties and responsibilities:
Another effective technique is the goal setting to the team since it is one of the top responsibilities of the team leaders. This is more than just stating the results that are required to be achieved.
Therefore, for the purpose of this work, the following dynamics have been identified which any successful group leader must embrace: The ability to precede complex tasks and objectives into sub tasks that are manageable by the team. These should be in line with the organisation strategy and should be both strategic short-term and long-term.
Another requirement is the definition of goals: Before the start of work, a team lead must make sure that every participant is aware of the goals a team has to achieve. This clarity brings a form of discipline, responsibility and goal direction within the team’s working environment, meaning that the level of evaluable progress and achievement is easily assessed.
A team lead should also look at the capability, capacity, the strengths and weaknesses of the team about setting goals. They should make sure that goals set are achievable yet challenging enough to motivate and push the team toward growth and improvement.
This continuous goal setting process also increases the need for a constant check to ensure the team is on the right track and if there are any obstacles to progress, they should be worked on immediately.
Team handling or managing team dynamics is another crucial duty which is assigned to the team lead job responsibilities. The group leader has the responsibility of managing the whole team and needs to ensure that people work together given the variability in personality, approach to work and skills.
This is self-organising that entails establishing communication with people within the team, establishing appropriate lines of communication, and cultivating a constructive organisational environment.
The team lead should also observe any conflict that may be warring the team and should be able to address it so it does not influence the rest of the team’s work output.
Things like how work should be allocated among the members of the group and how the weakness and strength of individuals should be addressed in the entire team, all fall under team management.
Self-organisation also means that a leader should foster cooperation and encourage colleagues to share their experience and insights with others.
The most important factor of the team lead’s ability is to coordinate with different kinds of workers and avoid conflicts and misunderstandings.
Communication is said to be a key aspect of leading people and is integral to the team leader's responsibilities.
A team lead must be able to convey a message effectively to their team, to ensure that every team member understands the responsibilities, assignments and objectives. These include explaining and outlining tasks, reporting frequently, and offering self for inquiries by the team that may be required.
In addition to giving directions, active listening forms part of good communication. A good group leader is people-centered, and he will set time aside to listen to the team members and what they have to say. This builds a team culture in which all individuals involved feel valued in one way or another.
In addition, free communication channels can be used to solve or prevent disputes in the organisation and create a common vision of achieving organisational goals among the team members.
The responsibility of a team lead is to monitor and track the overall productivity of the team and individual team members. This means establishing standards and monitoring the business effectiveness in meeting those standards and evaluating both short-term review and analysis of the business’ overall performance on a long-term basis.
Daily performance monitoring enables a team lead to observe the strengths and the shortcomings of the specific team, and to get to the next appropriate step to work on increasing productivity or deal with any problems recognized.
It is also important in performance tracking to help the group leader to give detailed feedback to each of the team members. If things go wrong, the team leader is in a better position to do something about it before things get out of hand.
Management should also remember to conduct both general and specific performance appraisals to ensure that a correct trajectory is being followed. This continuous evaluation also aids in the development of training needs or sections that could need more attention.
Another important part of the team leader's responsibilities is the need to acknowledge the efforts by members of teams. This shows that positive reinforcement can really make a lot of sense and that staff members will feel encouraged to perform the best out of themselves.
Complimenting employees for their efforts regardless of the results makes them feel appreciated and motivated to work harder.
Acknowledging effort enables the team leader to foster proper relationships with the team since people feel encouraged when their efforts are appreciated. Verbal appreciations in meetings or correspondences, emails, and casual one-on-one conversations with the team encourages them to conquer challenging tasks.
A good team leader is aware that more frequent thanking leads to a culture of appreciation and can spur the workforce into increased productivity.
A team leader’s responsibilities involve things beyond merely assigning work and supervising its completion. Part of the duties of a team leader includes the development of the team members’ personal and professional skills.
Staff training and mentoring are critical elements in the role of a team leader, who aims at using the opportunity to assist the employees on the team to improve their performance, build up their self-esteem, and in the process bring out the best in them by aligning them to their professional dreams. A good team leader makes it their responsibility to know the strengths, weaknesses and goals of his employees to provide feedback, training and assistance where needed.
Coaching is not only about correcting mistakes but to reinforce the learning and development of each person. The team leader must ensure that members of the team feel comfortable to seek assistance and feedback from the team leader.
Acquiring the growth of the team guarantees a team leader not only the improvement of productivity of every team member but also the overall productivity and morale of the team. The situation where every single worker is developing within a team provides a stronger and more prepared team for addressing the benefits in tackling and achieving team objectives.
A team leader’s responsibility is to make sure that all the team members understand how the team operates when it comes to performing tasks. This implies giving detailed instructions and clear expectations of the task or project to be accomplished. Clearer instruction skills avoid confusion and miscommunication that cause delay and mistakes.
A good team leader is fully aware of the fact that the complex tasks may be divided into several tasks and ensures that all specified instructions must be logical, clear and comprehensive.
Beyond just giving instructions, the team leader should also feel comfortable when everyone in the team asks questions or seeks clarification. Because of the constant communication that is carried out on an open line, there is little chance of misunderstandings or mistakes.
Clear work instructions do not only eliminate problems, but also give confidence to the team members because they know what is expected of them.
Team delegation is another key aspect of team lead responsibilities that needs to be done well, as it means that a team leader should know the abilities and current job load of his subordinates, as well as their potential. A team leader must assign tasks regarding these factors in order to ensure that there is staff balance in the organisation and that all people in the team are making a useful contribution.
The team leader must distribute the workload evenly across the team, making sure that no one is overloaded or underutilized.
There are several skills and duties that all team leaders typically perform. These include:
The team leader must coordinate and schedule the activities that will be performed by the team. This includes having well-articulated goals, identifying roles of team members and awarding roles to each member of the team.
Motivation and attention of the team members on the working process are considered one of the significant team lead duties. They require motivation of the team into optimization of its goals and ensuring the team morale during the hard times.
One of the most important team leader expectations is offering constructive feedback to help team members grow. A good team leader is always communicating, especially in the form of constructive criticism to help the team do better.
It should be noted that in any team people may experience conflicts. Since a team lead’s responsibility is to address such problems in a manner that will allow the group to resume its work without avoidable interference.
Performance monitoring and particularly the assessment of the team performance is an essential responsibility of a team leader. They need to make sure that every participant of the team is working toward attaining personal targets as well as contributing toward the achievement of the team’s goals.
For a team to function effectively it needs to have good communications. The primary responsibility that belongs to a team leader is to make sure that everyone is aware of the expectations, goal, and schedule.
In addition to the responsibilities of a team leader, it's important to recognize the duties and responsibilities of a team member. Each team member is responsible for:
Contributing to Team Goals: Team members are also expected to bring in their skills and information to support the goals and objectives of a team.
Communicating with the Team Leader: This means that all the members of the respective team should report to the team leader about their progress as well the problems they are facing.
Collaborating with Other Team Members: Teamwork is an essential part of any endeavors and therefore these calls for collaboration. Everyone that is part of the team will have to provide information and will cooperate and collaborate with each other.
A successful team leader is someone who not only manages tasks but also inspires, encourages, and supports their team to achieve collective goals. They possess good leadership qualities like good communication skills, problem solving skills and a good attitude.
Successful team leaders understand the way of encouraging collaborative work and build up a good coordination pace that drives the members of the group to their best level of performance. They are confined, anticipative, and may come up with important choices in contingencies.
To become a successful team leader, here are key steps to follow:
Develop Strong Communication Skills: Approach clarity and directness to conversations as critically important. This helps to provide clear vision so every member in the team knows their responsibility, role or expectation and the aim of the company.
Lead by Example: A good team leader is a role model for the rest of the team. They show loyalty, professionalism, as well as finding overdetermination in helping others to respond similarly.
Build Trust and Respect: A successful team leader creates an environment that establishes trust and respect for one another within the team. This can be done by firstly, listening to the team members, secondly, by acknowledging their opinions and ideas, and, thirdly, by being compassionate to them.
Be Decisive: To be efficient in the organisation, the team leader must be able to make time-bound and informed decisions, especially in the face of adversity. This helps the team to progress and avoids unnecessary delays.
Resolve Conflicts Fairly: Conflicts can arise in any team. A successful leader stays neutral, faces conflict squarely and makes both parties feel valued.
Adapt to Change: Flexibility is essential in today’s workplace where people are always under pressure to deliver more in less time. A team leader needs to be receptive to innovation and accept change while developing a capability to adapt to new circumstances.
In conclusion, the responsibilities of a team leader are diverse, including leadership, delegation, conflict solving, and work on team development. They must guarantee that the team will work effectively in a coordinated manner, be productive and fulfill all the objectives.
If you comply with the roles and responsibilities of a team leader, it will be possible to maintain high productivity and motivation of the team, as well as its compliance with the organisation’s goals and objectives.
To further enhance your understanding of team leader responsibilities, we British Academy of Training and Development invite you to attend the Supervisor & Successful Team Leader course for understanding the responsibilities of a team leader and or acquiring basic skills leading to becoming a successful team leader.