A major characteristic of effective teams is clear expectations about the roles played by each team member. In such a team, action is taken and clear assignments are made. These roles are duly accepted as well as carried out. Work needs to be distributed fairly among team members, as per each person’s skill and capability.

The leader needs to have the ability to give clear assignments in each work area.

• Work Methods

  Each team member needs to understand their leader’s expectations regarding required work methods as well as procedures. This is with regards to each job or project.

• Time Frames

  It is vital to understand the due dates for the completion of projects. Determine when the dates have slipped and which completion dates are final and nonnegotiable. This is because each task is connected to another in a team. A delay in one task anywhere leads to a delay in the complete project. This way no organization will be able to meet its deadlines leading to huge losses for the company.

• Work Responsibilities

  Each team member’s role is to be clearly understood when they are assigned to a given job or responsibility. This is very important else too much time will be spent due to wrong communications reaching team members.

• Customer/Supplier Interface

  Understand the leader’s expectations while dealing with all kinds of supplier problems. Similarly the customer complaints or requests also need to be handled by each team member as per the organization’s policies. After all, effective relationships have to be built with other work groups in order to achieve the full potential of the team.

• Work Priorities

  Each person as well as each team will be loaded with a huge amount of work. It is important for each team member to understanding which jobs take priority at that particular moment. Besides, changes in work priorities also take place due to changing circumstances. It is important to be able to clearly differentiate between hot jobs and other jobs.

• Performance Expectations

  Understand what the leader expects in the way of desired outcomes. At this point in time, open communication is vital. Understand what it means to do a good job as per the leader’s expectations. Then list down the degree of effort that is expected to be put into a job. At this point in time, it is important to avoid overworking on low-priority jobs, as that will not help in realizing the company’s objectives.

• Resources

  Each team always has limited resources. The aim is to achieve the maximum with the minimum resources. Understand what resources have been allocated to perform a job. These resources may include things such as facilities, support staff, equipment, software, as well as budget. Also understand how much control the team has over resource decisions.

Once the leader is able to clarify each work area, he will be able to smoothen out the way for each of their team members. This way it will be easier for the team to achieve its objectives by making use of allocated time.

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