How to Be a Good Team Leader
Establish a hierarchy., Make the time to lead., Lead by example., Delegate when appropriate., Manage projects, lead people.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Establish a hierarchy.
Ineffective team leaders aren’t just people who boss everyone around and demand a level of respect that hasn’t been earned.
Ineffective team leaders are also people who don’t establish a clear, transparent hierarchy within the team as a whole.
If you are the leader, you are at the top.
You have the final say on things and assign roles to your team.Hold a meeting with your team, especially if you are new to leading or your team has just been established.
During your meeting, discuss with your team everyone’s role and be clear about who reports to who.
Draw up a chart that has everyone’s name and title on it.
Your sheet should have a hierarchy that shows you and your role at the top, who reports directly to you, and so on.
Also make it clear that you intend to respect everyone’s roles and acknowledge how important and vital each one is to your successful team. -
Step 2: Make the time to lead.
This not only means keeping frequent and open communication with your team and helping to answer any questions.
It also means filling in any gaps, solving any problems, and that you should be working the hardest, and often, the longest.
A bad team leader delegates projects and tasks to everyone else and goes home early.
A good team leader is constantly making sure everyone is on track, organized, and picking up any slack.
Make yourself available to your team when you are needed.
You should also set boundaries that everyone will adhere to.
Your team should be able to get your attention when needed, but not every time a question arises.
Use your hierarchy to facilitate a chain of command and set your boundaries.
Additionally, set boundaries on both your and your team’s workload.
Before accepting a leadership position, re-negotiate your own workload with your boss so you can be available to your team.
Then, do the same for your team.
As a team leader, you may have to stay later than your team.
Come into work earlier, or even on the weekends.
Your goal is to prevent your whole team from having to do this.
Give your team workload boundaries that can be followed so the members of your team don’t get overwhelmed or too stressed. , This is similar to making the time to lead.
As a team leader you may have more perks, a bigger paycheck, and an extra vacation day or two, but you also have more responsibility.
Your team’s mistakes are ultimately your fault and your responsibility.
Treat everyone on your team with equal respect.
Keep an open and honest communication and show your team that you are here to solve any problems or make any needed adjustments that benefit the team as a whole.
Be respectful of other teams and people in other departments.
Never criticise other individuals or departments, especially around the team.
After all, if your team sees you behaving a certain way, members may think it’s ok to behave similarly.
Not only is that kind of behavior disrespectful and unprofessional, but it falls on you. , Although your job isn’t just to hand off work to others, part of establishing yourself as a good team leader is knowing when to delegate certain tasks.
Make it clear what everyone will be expected to do and accomplish.
Don’t hover either.
Trust your team to do the job at hand.
Be decisive as well.
People are more likely to follow and respect you if you can make quick, well informed decisions.
When you procrastinate, your team sees that and it can be perceived as weakness.
You’re there to lead and make decisions, so be prepared to do so.
If you are faced with a decision that impacts any part of the team, or you may not have all of the information you need to make an informed decision, go to your team.
Ask for a report or status update on a part of a project that can help you with your decision.
Talk with your team about your options and get input. , Being a good team leader is knowing how to differentiate between managing all the projects your team is working on and leading the team that is working on those projects.
While you need to oversee everyone and all of the projects, you should let your team do the work that each team member was hired to do.Managing is more task-oriented, keeping track of meetings and events, building and maintaining everyone’s schedules, and allowing the proper time and resources for tasks to be completed correctly.
Leading your team requires you to provide support and motivate your team members to accomplish the assigned tasks.
A good leader won’t micromanage and tell team members how to do everything.
Instead, inspire and motivate your team members to contribute ideas and methods that work best for each individual. -
Step 3: Lead by example.
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Step 4: Delegate when appropriate.
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Step 5: Manage projects
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Step 6: lead people.
Detailed Guide
Ineffective team leaders aren’t just people who boss everyone around and demand a level of respect that hasn’t been earned.
Ineffective team leaders are also people who don’t establish a clear, transparent hierarchy within the team as a whole.
If you are the leader, you are at the top.
You have the final say on things and assign roles to your team.Hold a meeting with your team, especially if you are new to leading or your team has just been established.
During your meeting, discuss with your team everyone’s role and be clear about who reports to who.
Draw up a chart that has everyone’s name and title on it.
Your sheet should have a hierarchy that shows you and your role at the top, who reports directly to you, and so on.
Also make it clear that you intend to respect everyone’s roles and acknowledge how important and vital each one is to your successful team.
This not only means keeping frequent and open communication with your team and helping to answer any questions.
It also means filling in any gaps, solving any problems, and that you should be working the hardest, and often, the longest.
A bad team leader delegates projects and tasks to everyone else and goes home early.
A good team leader is constantly making sure everyone is on track, organized, and picking up any slack.
Make yourself available to your team when you are needed.
You should also set boundaries that everyone will adhere to.
Your team should be able to get your attention when needed, but not every time a question arises.
Use your hierarchy to facilitate a chain of command and set your boundaries.
Additionally, set boundaries on both your and your team’s workload.
Before accepting a leadership position, re-negotiate your own workload with your boss so you can be available to your team.
Then, do the same for your team.
As a team leader, you may have to stay later than your team.
Come into work earlier, or even on the weekends.
Your goal is to prevent your whole team from having to do this.
Give your team workload boundaries that can be followed so the members of your team don’t get overwhelmed or too stressed. , This is similar to making the time to lead.
As a team leader you may have more perks, a bigger paycheck, and an extra vacation day or two, but you also have more responsibility.
Your team’s mistakes are ultimately your fault and your responsibility.
Treat everyone on your team with equal respect.
Keep an open and honest communication and show your team that you are here to solve any problems or make any needed adjustments that benefit the team as a whole.
Be respectful of other teams and people in other departments.
Never criticise other individuals or departments, especially around the team.
After all, if your team sees you behaving a certain way, members may think it’s ok to behave similarly.
Not only is that kind of behavior disrespectful and unprofessional, but it falls on you. , Although your job isn’t just to hand off work to others, part of establishing yourself as a good team leader is knowing when to delegate certain tasks.
Make it clear what everyone will be expected to do and accomplish.
Don’t hover either.
Trust your team to do the job at hand.
Be decisive as well.
People are more likely to follow and respect you if you can make quick, well informed decisions.
When you procrastinate, your team sees that and it can be perceived as weakness.
You’re there to lead and make decisions, so be prepared to do so.
If you are faced with a decision that impacts any part of the team, or you may not have all of the information you need to make an informed decision, go to your team.
Ask for a report or status update on a part of a project that can help you with your decision.
Talk with your team about your options and get input. , Being a good team leader is knowing how to differentiate between managing all the projects your team is working on and leading the team that is working on those projects.
While you need to oversee everyone and all of the projects, you should let your team do the work that each team member was hired to do.Managing is more task-oriented, keeping track of meetings and events, building and maintaining everyone’s schedules, and allowing the proper time and resources for tasks to be completed correctly.
Leading your team requires you to provide support and motivate your team members to accomplish the assigned tasks.
A good leader won’t micromanage and tell team members how to do everything.
Instead, inspire and motivate your team members to contribute ideas and methods that work best for each individual.
About the Author
Ryan Green
Creates helpful guides on DIY projects to inspire and educate readers.
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