Thanks Diana for a prompt reply...


Our company is planning to promote a software developer to Team leader and its highly tough for us to give him some delegated work where both employees as well as management gets benefited by..

The basic responsibilities i feel is to

Daily watch on team members work

Monthly reports

In depth research on new technologies

Delegation of work

Performance appraisal(six month/ yearly)

Managing Development program

I Would be thankful if anyone can help me more in this regard...

Dear Manisha,

Good start, but I wish you were more specific about what your company looks for as a "Team Leader" exactly!?

Hierarchies like PM/TM/TL is meant to smoothen the process & have a constant flow of work with proper supervision & management.

Here are some few general roles which could apply to any technology/type of TL…apart from being “technically” strong/knowledgeable in his skills & keeping up with the new updates in his/her domain.

1) Team lead is one who needs to “lead” the team, right from receiving the work assigned from higher authorities (PM or TM), analyse, understand & distribute the work within his team, with a good knowledge of “who can do what”.
2) For this, the TL, should first be a good “team player”, he/she needs to understand & know his team…weaknesses & strength of each member as an individual & as a member of a team.
3) Time management would be another important factor which he/she needs to be good at.
4) Communication/presentation & coordination skills :: this is a key point, since he/she would be representing a team. This is very important to have a healthy relationship within the team & between other teams as well.
5) Assigning & monitoring the completion of tasks by each member, their productivity, performance & time taken. This could be done by evaluating their daily/weekly or monthly reports.
6) At the same time TL would also need to report to some higher authority to update them about his/her team’s progress.
7) Aggressive & firm in decision taking.
8) TL would be the first immediate person to have a direct interaction with his/her team, so a close look & understanding about each member’s performance/skills/problems/punctuality/corporate ethic would be a great help during any member’s appraisal.
9) Another important quality would be “unbiased” approach & treatment within the team members. He/she should be able to recognize & encourage the hardworking members, motivate the little slower ones & make an appropriate balance in a team.
10) Last but not the least, he/she should have “people management” skills to be able to handle the conflicts, ego issues or any other communication gap within his/her team or with other teams.

Remember, 90% of the resignations would be because of the immediate reporting manager. So it is very important to choose a well trained & groomed TL/TM/PM…

Now more specific details could be put in, depending on the technologies, number of team members, kind of hierarchy followed by your company & what would be the most important criteria in selecting a TL from your company’s point of view…etc.

It would be great if you could provide a few training sessions on “qualities of management” for the new TLs…which would give them a clear cut picture about their Roles & what would be expected from them…

Some are born leaders & they can be, even without experience…but many still need it.

Unfortunately we see, most companies designate roles mostly according to the employees technical skills…or just to avoid/postponed their resignations during appraisals…without actually “seeing” those capabilities in him/her.


These are few points I could think of... Hope they help...

Sure there are lot more :)

Lets wait and get more info from other members as well..


All the best,

Diana

Well Manisha,

If you have already chosen the TLs then you need not worry about the responsibilities much...I thought you were looking to draft the responsibilities & then map a person who best fits in those roles...

I think it would be better if you could first nominate minimum 3 members as Team Coordinators or representatives...give them similar responsibilities as a TL, without the name "TL"....

Observe them for few months (3 months) evaluate if they can actually take up that responsibility & act like one... how is their team management?? are they able to manage their own work along with their new responsibilities... because we often see a decrease in the performance due to new duties & lack of time management for any new TL.


I dont know how far would this be possible, since you mentioned its a small Co. but try to evaluate & nominate at least 3 members as coordinators... then let them know that any one would be chosen as a TL, only if they could prove their abilities as one...
This would not only be a healthy competition, but gives a simple career path for other members...& also adds much more value to the role "TL" since these newly appointed "TLs" have "earned" that designation becaseu of their hard work & capabilities...


Open to discuss ....


Diana

Diana, That was a good idea but i am not sure that we have that much of time..

And as our's is a small company we are very much aware of employee capabilities... and just wanted to specify them the new responsibilities in line with already present.

I am confused of how really the new team leader responsibilities help employee as well as management.

I am bit scared in assigning new responsibilities as not sure which one help in the long term benefits to the company and entire team members..

Help me out with specifying all the responsibilities required to manage. ( i want it to be much clear that we don't have hierarchy, M.D and employee will directly communicate . But by introducing team leaders i want M.D work to be reduced by assigning much of it to team leader).
I hope i am much clear on what i want..

The employees selected are of two years experience, and are aware of the technical aspects..

so they can manage to be the good TL.

Waiting for some more people to respond on it