Do you know how well you are performing as the team leader? Any idea what your team members think of working with you? Know your strengths and areas where you need to further develop your skills?
If you answered “no” to any of the above, you have some work to do!
On a regular basis you need to reach out to your team to check on your performance as the team leader. Consider asking your team the following three (3) questions:
- What’s working?
- What’s not working?
- What do you need from me so you can continue to be effective?
The answers to these three (3) simple questions will enable you to understand how well you are supporting your team members so that they can meet their objectives.
When I first start with a team – I ask them the following questions the first time we get together:
- How can I help you?
- What do you need from me?
What I have found is that I don’t always have to take the time to ask the questions formally – in just a short time team members will begin to approach me directly and provide feedback on how things are going.
Thanks Tom. We can only improve how effective we are as a team leader when we actively seek feedback on how we are doing. We have to make sure not to attack what we hear – to take it in, think about it and be sure we understand it and develop a plan to improve. Team members are more apt to provide feedback on a regular basis when they know we want to hear it and will act on it.
Thanks again!
Best,
Gina
Great post! Team members know that you care when you do this.