Provide team leadership and coaching

Provide team leadership and coaching

• Create an environment oriented to trust, open communication, creative thinking, and cohesive team effort
• Provide the team with a vision of the project objectives
• Motivate and inspire team members
• Lead by setting a good example (role model) - behavior consistent with words
• Coach and help develop team members; help resolve dysfunctional behavior
• Facilitate problem solving and collaboration
• Strive for team consensus and win-win agreements
• Ensure discussions and decisions lead toward closure
• Maintain healthy group dynamics
• Intervene when necessary to aid the group in resolving issues
• Assure that the team members have the necessary education and training to effectively participate on the team
• Encourage creativity, risk-taking, and constant improvement
• Recognize and celebrate team and team member accomplishments and exceptional performance

Focus the team on the tasks at hand or the internal and external customer requirements

• Coordinate with internal and external customers as necessary
• Familiarize the team with the customer needs, specifications, design targets, the development process, design standards, techniques and tools to support task performance
• Assure that the team addresses all relevant issues within the specifications and various standards
• Provide necessary business information
• Serve as meeting manager or chairman
• Initiate sub-groups or sub-teams as appropriate to resolve issues and perform tasks in parallel
• Ensure deliverables are prepared to satisfy the project requirements, cost and schedule
• Help keep the team focused and on track

Coordinate team logistics

• Work with functional managers and the team sponsor to obtain necessary resources to support the team's requirements
• Obtain and coordinate space, furniture, equipment, and communication lines for team members
• Establish meeting times, places and agendas
• Coordinate the review, presentation and release of design layouts, drawings, analysis and other documentation
• Coordinates meetings with the product committee, project manager and functional management to discuss project impediments, needed resources or issues/delays in completing the task

Communicate team status, task accomplishment, and direction

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

©2008 Team Fusion LLC. All rights reserved.

January 2008

Team Roles & Responsibilities Guide

Let‛s start off the year by clarifying terminology around two areas:

1. What positions are necessary on a team (Roles)

2. What tasks those positions need to carry out (Responsibilities)

There are many good teambuilding resources for a leader in today‛s work environment. The

issue arises in navigating through which resource best fits your organization. If you are

looking for simplicity, my guide takes the complexity out of understanding a team structure.

Team Roles

Every team needs to have the following positions covered in order to function effectively:

TEAM SPONSOR – Higher “ranking” employee (usually a Department Manager or Vice

President) who identifies improvement projects, has authority to allot resources to the

team, reviews results, and takes team recommendations further into the organization.

TEAM MEMBER – Anyone who contributes their knowledge, skills, and abilities to the work

of the team. In essence, everyone assigned to a team is considered a team member.

TEAM LEADER – The person who serves as the link between team members and the rest of

the organization by coordinating team activities and maintaining all team documentation.

TEAM COACH – An individual experienced in teambuilding skills, communication, resolving

problems, and analyzing data. This person helps any team member.

That‛s it. Four basic team roles exist: Team Sponsor, Team Member, Team Leader, Team

Coach. Now let‛s focus on exactly what each role is to accomplish within a team framework.

©2008 Team Fusion LLC. All rights reserved.

Team Responsibilities

For ease, the chart below outlines only the major tasks of each team role:

ROLE RESPONSIBILITY

Team Sponsor · Maintains overall authority and accountability

· Selects improvement project and drafts team charter

· Establishes resources

· Selects all team role assignments and evaluates their progress

· Monitors implementation changes for improvement project

Team Member · Participates fully in all meetings to share their knowledge

· Communicates completely by listening without assumptions

· Completes all assigned tasks

Team Leader · Establishes and sustains ways for team members to complete

their tasks

· Uses multiple problem-solving methods; data analysis

· Creates communication channels between team, Sponsor, and

all other organization departments

· Updates Sponsor on project progress

· Has management authority to implement recommended changes

Team Coach · Uses interpersonal communication skills effectively (how to

build a team, giving and receiving feedback, conflict resolution)

· Maintains technical aspects (project management, root cause

methodology, planning)

· Serves as team trainer for both interpersonal and technical

information

When shifting your company into a team-based structure, remember to educate everyone in

the organization on each of the new roles and responsibilities. Consistency is key and is well

worth the time investment.

Until next month…Live like you mean it!