Leading Teams

Course Description

Leading a team through any task or project requires special skills, and an understanding of the team dynamic and politics. This introductory-level course for managers or anyone interested in leading teams, addresses the key issues surrounding leadership in a team environment. Why is leadership important to team success? What is required of a team leader to lead his team effectively? This course considers how team leaders must account for the special and unique circumstances of working in a team, where responsibility, accountability, communication, and leadership are shared.

This course is based on D. Quinn Mills’ book, Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live, a text used at Harvard Business School. Excerpts of the book are made available via PDF download and no additional purchase is required.

Learning Outcomes

• List and identify the key characteristics and types of teams
• Recognize the benefits and challenges of empowered teams of which leaders need to be aware
• Identify differences in the primary and secondary roles filled by empowered teams and team leaders
• Recognize the key sources of motivation for empowered teams
• Explain Tuckman’s model of team development
• Recognize the key qualities and skills of a team leader
• State the value of using the “checklist for team leaders”
• Recognize and apply suggested approaches for managing conflict in teams
• Discuss the different approaches needed for leading virtual teams