Impeccable Lead

There is a phrase “With great power comes great responsibility”. Whenever you move up in your career, more responsibilities will come your way. While everyone in the team should be a leader, there will be one member with more experience and responsibilities acting as the team leader.

To help aspiring leads, I am sharing some of my personal lessons learned as a lead.

Team members

I will begin by saying that team members are always, always crucial for any team. Along with proper planning, it is their knowledge, their efforts that determine the success of any project.

It’s OK if they want to leave early or join late. It’s OK if they take unplanned leave(of course not often). As long as the work gets done, there is absolutely no need to care if they are in a pub or in the cubicle. See the magic if you follow this.

Whys

During one of the “Lean 101” sessions I attended, I came across this beautiful word “whys”. I must say, I instantly liked it.

For instance, you missed the delivery date and asked what the reason was.

Why did we miss the delivery date→ Because there were many bugs which needed re testing

Why there were so many bugs → Because there were some gaps in understanding.

Why there were gaps in understanding → Because there was no 3 amigos session or refinement session happened

Why did not 3 amigos / refinement happen → Because there was no such process followed.

So a proper process would have ensured project delivery on time.

Assumption

“I thought we have to do this way” or “ I thought it was not required” etc., always brings risks to the project. Ask questions whenever required. Do not assume things. Be clear.

Open door policy

One of my favourites is the open door policy. This encourages transparency and openness with team members. Be sure to always allow them to address their concerns, make suggestions, etc. Sometimes their ideas may be better than yours.

Discussing the cricket match that was played the previous day, a new movie released, how the weekend went, etc., is always acceptable.

Nevertheless, make sure everything is within limits and that it is only between you and the other team member if it is their private concern.

Accolades

Accolades motivate each individual, no matter how small or big the achievement is. Always give compliments to your team members.

Patience

Some team members understand quickly, but some need some time. Be patient. Ask if they understood. If not, then summarise. It hardly takes a few minutes. Yelling to save a few minutes damages the relationship with team members over the long haul.

Mistakes

Finally, it is okay to make mistakes, but try not to repeat the same mistake. Keep learning from mistakes.