Team Leader Role and Responsibilities

Team Leaders have a wide range of responsibilities, and may be call on to complete any task that need a group to succeed. We’ve broken the list into categories:

Coaching for Team Success

1. Provide your team with the company’s vision and the objectives of all projects.
2. Create an environment oriented to open communications, creative thinking, cohesive team effort and workplace trust.
3. Lead by example (be a role model) – make your behavior consistent with your words
4. Manage, train, and help the development of team members; help resolve any dysfunctional behavior
5. Attempt to achieve team consensus and create win-win agreements wherever possible
6. Lead problem solving and collaboration
7. Keep discussions focused and ensure decisions lead toward closure
8. Build and foster healthy group dynamics
9. Assure that all team members have the required education and training to effectively participate on their assigned project.
10. Acknowledge and reward team and team member accomplishments, as well as exceptional performance
11. Lead creativity, risk-taking, and continuous improvements in workflow

Informational Leadership

1. Familiarize the team with the customer needs, specifications, design targets, the development process, design standards, techniques and tools to support task performance
2. Provide all necessary business information
3. Initiate sub-groups or sub-teams as appropriate to resolve issues and perform tasks in parallel
4. Help keep the team focused and on track

Coordinate for Team Success

1. Work with functional managers and the team sponsor to obtain necessary resources to support the team’s requirements
2. Establish meeting times, places and agendas
3. Coordinate the review, presentation and release of design layouts, drawings, analysis and other documentation
4. Coordinates meetings with the product committee, project manager and functional management to discuss project impediments, needed resources or issues/delays in completing the task

Professional Directional Communication

1. Provide status reporting of team activities against the program plan or schedule
2. Keep the project manager and product committee informed of task accomplishment, issues and status
3. Serve as a focal point to communicate and resolve interface and integration issues with other teams
4. Escalate issues which cannot be resolved by the team
5. Provide guidance to the team based on management direction

Acting Not Reacting on Project Threats

Some examples of typical project threats are:
1. Unreasonable business requirements
2. System performance roadblocks
3. Unproven technical solutions
4. Hostile business clients
The astute leader remains on the alert for these potential treats, and as soon as they are recognized, he or she then deals with them in their early stages.

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