Strategy Survival Guide

The Team Leader
The role of the team leader is to lead the people and manage the resources of the team to meet the project’s
goals. It is the team leader's responsibility to:
• keep the purpose, goals and process meaningful through effective project management
• monitor the performance of the team
• build commitment and confidence in the team members
• manage, with support, the public face of the project e.g. media
• establish constructive links with other units, departments and with external stakeholders
• create opportunities for team members and make effective use of their skills and experience
• inspire, lead, coach and develop
• take on responsibility for producing specific pieces of work as appropriate.
The Recruitment Process
To enable the project to commence quickly, it is helpful to have identified potential candidates well before the
project gets the green light. Without this, the momentum behind the project can dissipate before it has even
got off the ground. One way to facilitate this is to have a database of candidates who have already passed
the interview process. The team leader can then trawl through the database to identify suitable candidates to
contact.
If team members are to be recruited from scratch, there is the critical question of who chooses the team. It is
important that the team leader is given the final decision over this and is able to interview and reject
candidates. This will avoid the awkward situation whereby the team leader is allocated team members that
others are trying to get rid off - an unfortunate, but surprisingly common, scenario.
It is important to manage the workload of any internal candidates for the team, by ensuring that real time is
made available and that the project will not simply add to existing workload. This can be aided by identifying
the part of their current workload that will be removed.
Stakeholder Engagement
When putting together a team, it is important to consider whether stakeholder interests should be
represented. It is desirable to bring into the team people from organisations and other government
Departments with a major interest in the subject area (for example practitioners, academics and other civil
servants) in order for the work to benefit from their perspective and to encourage a more inclusive process.
This will also be of benefit during the subsequent implementation of recommendations arising from the
project, particularly if team members are likely to be involved in implementation themselves.
Issues for consideration should include:
• Does the individual in question have specific skills or knowledge that will allow them to make a
genuine contribution to the team, or could the same knowledge be gained without having them on
the team?
• Will the presence of a representative from one stakeholder distort the project in any way (i.e. by
making other stakeholders feel ignored, or by appearing to prejudice the outcome)?
• Is the individual available on a full or part time basis?
In many cases an individual with expert knowledge of the issues and the key institutions can be a very
valuable team member, adding credibility to the overall project. But this should be carefully assessed when
putting together the team structure.
Strengths
• Taking time to recruit the right time, with the optimum mix of skills, expertise and freshness is crucial
to the success of the project.
Weaknesses
• The team leader is often constrained in choice of team members by budget considerations and
availability of staff.
Strategy Survival Guide – Strategy Skills
Page 47