Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading Knowledge Introduction Part A NCFE Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading Knowledge 1 Part A
These learning resources and assessments have been reviewed and approved by NCFE as meeting the requirements of the Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading Knowledge. Disclaimer: All references to individuals, groups and companies contained within these resources are fictitious and do not relate to any person or company.
Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading Knowledge Introduction Certificate in Team Leading Knowledge Welcome to this Level 2 Certificate in Team Leading Knowledge. This programme is aimed at anyone who requires the knowledge to be an effective team leader. This might be a role that you already fulfil, or one that you are aiming to fulfil, in a real or simulated work environment. Throughout the programme you will be required to undertake learning activities and assessments relating to the leadership of a team of people. If you already have a role in a real or simulated work environment you will be able to focus your responses to the activities and assessments on a work team that you are involved with. If you do not already have a job role in the workplace you may be able to focus your responses by thinking about a team that you are a member of in your everyday life for example, a sports team or other social group that you belong to. We hope you find all of the information contained in this resource pack interesting and informative. This learning resource and the assessment questions have been approved by NCFE as a great way to meet the learning outcomes for this qualification. (A complete list of the learning outcomes can be found on the last page of this resource.) The course is made up of three parts (A,B and C). This is Part A which contains one unit: UNIT 1: Preparing to lead the team As you start to read through each page you will be able to make notes and comments on things you have learnt or may want to revisit at a later stage. At the end of each section, you will be asked to go to your assessment booklet and answer the relevant questions. Once you have answered the questions go to the next section and continue studying until all of the assessments have been completed. Please make sure that you set aside enough time to read each section carefully, making notes and completing all of the activities. This will allow you to gain a better understanding of the subject content and will help you to answer all of the assessment questions accurately. Good luck with your study. Now let s begin! 1
Which teams do you belong to? Make a note of them here. Unit 1: Preparing to lead the team Welcome to unit one. This unit is split into six sections. These are: Section 1: Key leadership roles Section 2: The benefits of working with colleagues Section 3: The team leader s role in health, safety and security Section 4: The team leader s role in procuring resources Section 5: The team leader s role in customer service Section 6: How information is managed 2
Section 1: Key leadership roles Within this section you will learn about: The leader s role in motivating the team The leader s role in setting objectives The leader s role in supporting development of team members The importance of clear communication How the team leader promotes the team within the organisation. Over the course of the five units you will learn about the leadership roles in more detail, but for the moment use this section to familiarise yourself in general terms. Start by considering your own role models. A Activity 1: Great team leaders Give three examples of people who inspire you as great team leaders and say why you think this. Your examples can come from any area of life such as sport, politics, culture and the arts, industry, science or warfare. However, the examples must be people who can lead others to achieve things not just be great individuals in their own right. 1. 2. 3. You should now be in a frame of mind to think about the qualities that leaders require in order to lead another group of people to success. 3
The leader s role in motivating the team There are a number of key leadership roles that any team leader must fulfil whatever type or size of team they are leading. One important role is that of motivator. Q. What does motivation mean? A. Motivation means to be enthusiastic about doing something so the leader s role in motivating the team is to make them feel enthusiastic about fulfilling the team s aims or objectives. In the workplace and in everyday life, team members may have varying degrees of motivation and different things that motivate them. The role of the team leader is to try to ensure that everyone is fully motivated for the right reasons so that all members are working together to achieve the same goals. One important aspect of the team leader s role as motivator is to present a positive and motivated role model to the rest of the team.! STOP AND THINK! What would be the effect on members of a hockey team if the captain wasn t bothered about winning? What would be the effect on an orchestra if the conductor didn t care about how they played the music? What would be the effect on an army if the general in charge thought that they had no chance of winning the battle? 4
If the team leader lacks motivation they can t expect the team members to be motivated. Where team leaders lack motivation this will lead to a poor performance by the team, and eventually either the team will be disbanded or the team leader will be replaced by someone with enthusiasm who can motivate other people. i Key Fact In order to be an effective leader you have to be able to motivate your team to achieve their ultimate goal. The leader s role in setting objectives Another key role for the leader is to set objectives for the team.! STOP AND THINK! What would you need to know in order to be able to set effective objectives for your team? Did you think about the need to know: What the general goal or aim of the team is? Whether the team members are aware of the general goal or aim? How to approach the goal by setting smaller steps or objectives? Whether the team has sufficient resources to achieve the goal and objectives? Whether your ultimate goal and objectives are realistic and achievable? What level of skills the team members require to achieve these objectives? All of these factors need to be taken into account when setting objectives for the team. 5
The team leader should have a clear vision of the goal and the objectives required. They may set objectives for the team but should do this in a way that ensures that team members feel involved and consulted so that they have ownership of those objectives. Doing this will motivate them more. Leaders may encourage team members to set their own objectives and adopt a monitoring role to ensure that they are appropriate to the team goal. Whichever way is adopted by the team leader, objectives must be set that further the ultimate team goal. Without objectives from the team leader: The team performance will be chaotic and ineffective Individual members may set their own objectives in conflict with others Team energy with be expended to no purpose People will become de-motivated The team will not be successful. i Key Fact A team without effective objectives related to their ultimate goal will not perform in a way that enables it to be successful. 6
The leader s role in supporting development of team members The team leader must take an active role in supporting and encouraging the personal and professional development of team members. In the workplace this takes place formally through appraisal or performance review. The team leader will discuss with members their development needs and agree an action plan. Leaders should also encourage individual team members to promote their own development by attending in-house training events, conferences and other appropriate sessions. The leader s role is to ensure that the agreed actions enable personal and professional development whilst furthering the aims and goals of the team and the organisation as a whole. C Case Study: Elliot the footballer Elliot is a young player who has been bought by a club in the Premier League. The manager feels that when Elliot matures as a player he will make a big contribution to club success. At the moment he is not experienced enough to be selected for the first team on a regular basis and is not getting enough playing time. The manager discusses the situation with Elliot and they agree that it would develop him as a player and benefit the longer-term success of the club if he is loaned to another club where he is more likely to be selected on a regular basis. Q. Why is it important that team leaders support and encourage the development of team members? A. Supporting and encouraging personal and professional development: Upgrades the skills of individuals and therefore the team as whole Makes team members feel valued and therefore increases their performance Enhances a sense of team spirit Enables the team to keep motivated Enhances the performance of team members with lower levels of motivation. 7
Depending on the organisation, personal and professional development costs may be funded by a separate department such as Staff Development or Human Resources, or by the team s own budget. Whatever the case, the role of the leader is to support development in a way that is fair and transparent, and correctly balances the needs of the individual with the needs of the organisation.! STOP AND THINK! There may be occasions when the team leader judges that an individual in the team or the team as a whole should undertake some form of professional development even though they have not asked for it. Can you think of any situations where this might happen? You might have thought about situations where: Training is required to address a disciplinary issue Where the team needs someone to attend an event and feedback to the others in order to update everyone on a specific issue An individual is unaware of a development opportunity The whole team needs to be aware of an issue for example, a policy or piece of legislation The whole team needs to undertake team-building exercises. i Key Fact The role of the team leader is to support the development of team members fairly, transparently and in a way that balances the needs of the individual and the needs of the organisation. 8
The importance of clear communication Clear communication, both verbal and written, is important in any team and the team leader has a particular responsibility to ensure that they provide it when dealing with team members and others in the organisation. Here are five reasons why the team leader has special responsibilities for clear communication and the consequences of not communicating clearly. 1. The team leader is the person who issues instructions to other team members. If the instructions are not clear, tasks may be carried out incorrectly or not at all. 2. The team leader must communicate clearly so that misunderstandings do not occur amongst the team. Lack of clarity could lead to people thinking different things therefore resulting in conflict between members or between the team and the leader. 3. The team leader provides a role model for the rest of the team where communication is concerned. If he or she does not demonstrate clarity of communication the rest of the team may follow suit resulting in poor performance. 4. The team leader is responsible for enabling the team to provide effective service to customers and clients. Lack of clear communication about service practice could lead to incorrect or variable levels of service and therefore complaints from customers. 5. The team leader is the team s link with other parts of the organisation. Lack of clear communication with other parts of the organisation may: Damage the team s reputation Lead to misunderstandings about the team s role Lead to a lack or reduction of resources and support. C Case Study: The importance of clear communication booking leave time Samson is a new team leader in the Advice and Guidance section of a college. The summer vacation is approaching and he needs to ensure that there are always two members of the team available throughout the summer break to provide advice to students starting in September. Instead of sending a clearly written memo to each of the team he speaks informally to people as and when he remembers, and he also omits to say anything at all to one person. When he tries to draw up a rota covering the vacation period he finds that some people have already booked holidays that can t be changed and there are periods when no one is available. This results in conflict and bad feeling between him and the team. 9
How the team leader promotes the team within the organisation Organisations are usually made up of lots of smaller teams that have various links to one another. A key role of the team leader is to promote the activities of the team within the organisation as a whole. A Activity 2: Promoting the team within the organisation How many methods can you suggest by which a team leader could promote the team and its activities? List them below. There is one already given to help you. Publicise team activities in the organisation s newsletter or journal. Other methods you may have thought of include: Giving presentations about the work of the team to other team leaders at staff development events Publicising any achievements by the team or individual members for example, exceeding sales or customer service targets Making sure that the team always performs to the highest standards to meet organisational objectives Making sure that the team s relationships with other teams or individuals in the organisation are conducted with the highest professional standards and in a collaborative manner. i Key Fact The team leader can promote the team within the organisation by ensuring that, by maintaining efficiency and effectiveness, it develops a reputation for high levels of performance with other parts of the organisation. 10
Now apply what you have learned to a team that you are familiar with. A Activity 3: Key leadership roles Think about a team that you are familiar with and make notes about the following questions regarding key aspects of the team leader s role. Why does the team leader need to motivate the team? How do they do this? Why does the team leader need to set objectives for the team? How do they do this? Why does the team leader need to support the development of team members? How do they do this? 11
You can use your notes to help you with the assessments at the end of this section. i Key Fact A good team leader makes a positive impact on attitudes, behaviour and performance. They transform, energise and motivate their team to: View their work from different perspectives Be aware of their organisation s vision Reach their full potential by challenging themselves Work to benefit the team rather than just themselves. CONGRATULATIONS, YOU HAVE NOW COMPLETED SECTION 1. PLEASE NOW GO TO YOUR ASSESSMENT BOOKLET AND ANSWER Q1 TO Q5. 12