Team leads have a responsibility to help position their team to be successful.
In this video clip, Carin Gendell, an Instructor for a NASA APPEL KS Team Leadership course, discusses the challenges for team leaders to create effective teams. She shares her top advice for leaders to build successful teams.
Video key learning points:
- 1.
Challenges to creating an effective team include accommodating team members who work virtually, overcoming a lack of support from stakeholders, and preparing to lead a team with a mix of personalities and competing priorities.
- 2.
Team leaders should understand that they have a lot of influence in creating and shaping their own team to be successful.
- 3.
There is a “toolkit” or variety of strategies and tactics that a team leader can use to make a team effective. Leaders should be proactive and use these strategies.
- 4.
A team leader should not worry about being the smartest person in the room and having all the answers. The leader needs to be honest and admit what they don’t know and not be afraid to ask for help. A leader asking the team for help and ideas empowers their team members to help find solutions and resolve issues.
Related Resources
NASA VPMC: Building Effective Project Teams for Mission Success (full video)
NASA APPEL KS Course: Team Leadership (APPEL-vTL)
NASA APPEL KS Building and Leading NASATeams Courses
NASA APPEL KS Knowledge Inventory: Team Leadership
