Best practices recommendations for team leaders managing work teams

Professional Recommendations

Effective team leaders are the secret to effective teams. Through thorough research in the area of the qualities of effective team leaders, it was determined that proper communication, including listening, is an essential quality in a good team leader. Effective communication has to do with a lot of things, including providing feedback and constructive criticism as well as having the ability to receive it. Active listening skills are also an imperative quality of a good listener.

It is also important to understand why effective team leadership is so important. In the business world, team leaders are managers and effective managerial qualities are critical to the success of a business.

Professional Challenge - Recommendations for Team Leaders

When dealing with effective team leadership, there are a few key principles of leadership that should be considered. One of the most important elements of being a good team leader is effective listening skills and good communication skills. Good active listening skills are an important trait in a successful leader. While many people may have the ability to talk and be heard as well as say things that are worth hearing, not every leader has mastered the ability to be an active listener. It would be difficult for a team to be well-led if not for instances of worthwhile active listening. Without good listening skills on the part of those charged with leading the team, the odds of a communication breakdown are higher than ever before.

Through research conducted with regards to effective methods of communication between members of team and those charged with leading them, there was a variety of literature uncovered that provided direction in this area. All of this literature found that effective communication is what makes or breaks the success of a business. From different perspectives, the different authors that were part of this research came to just about the same conclusions: lack of information and communication breakdown are major flaws in the implementation of a successful team.

Clear direction is an important element in strong team leadership and communication. "Team members need very clear direction and an opportunity to explore what the task means, both individually and collectively"(Clutterbuck, 2001). Consider that a team is, in essence, a group of individuals with a common interest or goal. Members of a team depend on a team leader, a manager in this case, to direct them and let them know what needs to be done. This direction must be effectively communicated in order for the job to be performed properly. "Direction that is unclear or highly abstract can waste members' time and embroil them in needless conflicts as they try to figure out what it is that they are really supposed to do" (Hackman, 2002). In order for the group of individuals to be effective, team leaders must competently instruct them, assigning specific tasks when necessary. This can also include detailing expected results of the tasks that were assigned to them.

Feedback is a critical part of the team building and leadership process. When people are putting their hard work into something for their team, they expect feedback. Feedback is also important for the building process, and team leaders need to be open to it. Having the ability to give and receive genuine constructive feedback is a critical element of a successful team leader. It is up to a team leader to ensure that such feedback exists and that there is an environment conducive to proper feedback.

Through research and critical literature analysis, I reached the conclusion that the best practices for effective management have to do with fine-tuning communication skills. Practicing listening, asking for and providing feedback and maintaining good communication skills overall is an important part of building a successful team.

It is important for potential managers or team leaders, current managers and team leaders and team members to all have a comprehensive understanding of the roles and responsibilities of team leaders. Team leaders are responsible for guiding the members of the team in the right direction. They should be there to provide feedback and guidance as to the best ways to perform certain tasks. They should also be available to diffuse tension between members of a team, make sure that all team members are acting in a manner that is beneficial and cohesive for the team, as well.

In addition to all of these, team leaders are supposed to take responsibility. This can be a positive or negative thing for team leaders, as taking responsibility for team failures is not always the easy or desirable thing to do.

From our research findings we derived a few key recommendations for building an effective team and being an effective team leader. The first, and perhaps the most important, recommendation is to use communication to build trust, as this is an important element of team effectiveness. "Leadership is about building followership and it's your values that build followership. It's substance and character, not style, that determine followership. People follow not just because of what you do but because of who you are" (Feiner, 2005). In essence, trust based on good quality of character will go a long way in making people work their hardest and do the best they can to make the team do as well as possible.