Key Points to Remember

Learn the Team Members’ Needs

The first step in effective leadership is to develop an understanding of each individual member of the project team. By understanding, we mean learning as much as possible about what makes each member tick, what each craves, what tasks excite each member, what approaches can be used to motivate each member for the tasks at hand, and so on. The key goal of learning members’ needs also allows project leaders to serve as developer of their team members by giving individuals the opportunities to grow through learning new skills.

Learning team members’ needs consists first of assessing their abilities. Not every team member comes to the project with all of the abilities to perform their tasks. The first task of the team leader lies in accurately determining the status of each member prior to the start of the project. Is additional training necessary? Do team members have a clear understanding of the roles that they are expected to undertake on the project? How much guidance will be needed during the early phases of the project?