8601-200 Developing Yourself as a Team Leader

Introducing the skills needed when leading a team through the Level 2 Award in Leadership and Team Skills will provide learners with a solid foundation in areas such as self-development, improving team performance, planning and monitoring work, and encouraging innovation. Thus, this unit helps build great team leader.

There are three ILM Units in the Level 2 Award in Leadership and Team Skills. Each unit is delivered as a standalone workshop, and all three workshops must be completed to receive the Award. After that, you stand a chance for team leader jobs.

In addition to the three units, candidates will be required to attend a mandatory induction and receive tutorial support by email and face-to-face from a tutor. The three units are:

1. Developing yourself as a team leader

• Development plan

2. Motivating the work team to perform

• Presentation preparation

3. Planning and monitoring work

• Develop and monitor a “project” plan

The purpose of this post is to discuss the first aspect: Developing yourself as a leader

Aspiring managers learn about providing constructive feedback, solving problems, motivating teams to hit goals, and resolving interpersonal conflicts in Developing Yourself as a Team Leader programs. The client experience at your organization will also be heightened if your managers are trained in communication skills.

In this first section of the unit, you will examine the role of the team leader and the responsibilities they have within an organization.

In the second section, you will consider ways of identifying needs for development and how they might be met.

Unit purpose and aim(s)

• Knowing the role and responsibilities of a team leader and being able to improve performance
• Understand how to seek, accept, and respond positively to feedback on personal performance to improve workplace performance

Learning outcomes

After completing this unit, learners should be able to:

• Describe the role of the team leader
• Explain the role of the team leader within the team
• Explain the limits of the team leader’s authority and responsibilities
• Provide an example of a situation where they would need to consult someone with senior authority
• Obtain feedback on own performance from a variety of sources
• Analyze the feedback and identify areas for improvement
• Prepare an action plan to improve performance and address weaknesses

Are you the right candidate for this qualification?

You can use the following profile to determine if this is the right fit for you:

• Staff who lead teams should pursue the qualification. Despite other titles, the most common job title for these staff members is “Team Leader”.
• Most team leaders should be viewed as part of the team; they ought to be seen as practitioners or operators who work alongside their teammates. Leading teams augments this responsibility, but it does not significantly alter their general responsibility to conduct the same or complementary job tasks as the other members of the team. Moreover, since teams typically consist of a small number of people (probably between 6 – 12 people), the team leader has a relatively small control area.
• The role of the team leader differs from that of mid-level managers in that it is oriented toward a shorter-term focus, on the performance of the team and its members on a day to day basis. The responsibility for allocating tasks between team members, ensuring that individual employees are supported in their job roles, and ensuring the completed work meets the requirements of the organization and its customers falls under this category. In addition, communication between the team and its managers is an integral part of the team leader’s role.
• Team leaders rarely manage staff who also supervise others (e.g. other Team leaders).
• The team leader is expected to be aware of the organization’s requirements for satisfying customer or supplier requirements, and to keep an eye out for these notification. Leaders are expected to encourage team members to respond appropriately to these requirements within the parameters established by the company.   In addition to not being able to amend standard practices, they may also have to make more complex decisions within tightly defined boundaries (e.g., whether a product meets the quality standard or whether a customer falls into a particular price category).  Rather than being a managerial quality, this type of decision-making reflects the team leader’s perceived superior technical competence or experience.

Why is teamwork important

Teamwork is essential to the success of any team! This means that all businesses need teamwork to succeed. In order to have a successful career, you need to work well with others, which is why teamwork is so crucial in the professional world.

• It stimulates new ideas. In order to succeed in today’s competitive business world, businesses need fresh ideas. It would be beneficial to the business if you brought a unique perspective to the table. Businesses thrive when they have a diverse team of people who can contribute their unique ideas.
• Problems can be solved by working together. Collaborating within a group can help resolve complex issues. Brainstorming is a good way for a team to share ideas and come up with creative solutions. By working together, a team can come up with the best possible solution.
• The group is supportive. Working together ensures that deadlines are met, and that high-quality work is produced. There is always someone to pick up the slack when one team member falls behind. By dividing work among team members, it gets done faster, making the overall operation more efficient. Working toward a common goal will foster a sense of camaraderie among your team members.
• The spirit of teamwork builds morale. When you contribute to something with a positive outcome, you will feel appreciated. When you offer an idea that can improve productivity, such as a new filing system, you build trust and confidence within the team. Everyone on the team has something valuable to offer. A team member feels a strong sense of belonging and is deeply committed to each other and the common goal when they work together

Assessment Criteria

Recognize the responsibilities and role of the team leader.

• Describe the role of the team leader
• Explain the role of the team leader within the team
• Explain the limits of the team leader’s authority and responsibilities
• Provide an example of a situation where they would need to consult someone with senior authority

Obtain feedback about their performance at work to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement

• Obtain feedback from multiple sources on one’s performance
• Analyze the feedback and identify areas for improvement
• Prepare an action plan to improve performance and address weaknesses

Understand how to work within an organization’s guidelines in order to achieve team goals

• Choose an organizational policy that can affect how work is planned and allocated
• Provide a specific target or objective that your team is trying to achieve

Be able to plan and allocate your time effectively

• Outline the critical steps involved in planning and allocating work
• Provide an explanation of how work is assigned to meet team objectives
• Describe how to ensure that team members understand the tasks they have been assigned

Understand how to monitor a team’s performance against aa plan

• Create a method to evaluate the performance of the team against the plan
• Describe an action the team leader can take to rectify underperformance

Wrap Up

In this unit, you will learn how to develop your skills as a team leader.

Those who are effective Team Leaders are aware of their roles, functions, and responsibilities and their authority and accountability. To improve their workplace performance, they also know how to seek, accept, and respond positively to feedback on personal performance.

To accomplish this task, you will need to develop a personal development plan. First, determine your current strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement. Among other things, we’ll describe the role of a team leader and their impact on their team. Next, take time to think about how you interact with your team, gather feedback from them and your overall performance as a team leader. Finally, you will need to develop a plan to accomplish this with clear criteria for measuring your success after identifying the areas for improvement.

Hire a Writer