Becoming a respected team leader can be a challenging, stressful, and time-consuming task, but I’ve been doing it for 12 years, so I think I may have learned a few tricks along the way. I’m going to share with you what has worked for me in the past and what hasn’t worked. If you are the team leader of your team hopefully you can get some great tips and tricks of being amazing! Here are the 10 ways to be a respected team leader…in my opinion.
10 Ways to Be a Respected Team Leader
1.) Be a Good Listener- to ALL SIDES of the story. Both sides have a right to their opinion.
2.) Always start the year with a Social Contract- and have everyone sign it.
3.) Never take sides- always stay neutral. If you take sides- it will divide your team.
4.) Over-communicate with your team- even though you might think they’ve already heard it- there’s always someone who never remembers what you said the first time.
5.) Be Your Team’s Cheerleader- celebrate the small triumphs even if it’s not important to you.
6.) Be a Positive Role Model- your team will look up to you and follow your lead.
7.) Be a Good Problem Solver- when there’s a logistical issue- you are good at solving it.
8.) Get Your Team Gifts- not big gifts, but something to show that you care.
9.) Share Your Lessons, Activities, and Materials
10.) Get together outside of school- yes this is very important- you need to build relationships!
1.) Be a Good Listener
I’ve been teaching for 24 years, so I’ve been on many different teams. 18 years in first grade and 5 years in third grade. On every team, there’s always a riff between team members who don’t agree. When two team members need to hash it out, it’s good to be there as a listener and a neutral party. I’ve had my share of conflict resolutions on my team, and it’s good that the team leader is there to listen to both sides. It’s hard to sit there and witness anger, frustration, and tears, but after it’s all said and done, the communication usually gets better between the two. The team members need to talk it out even if they don’t want to. This needs to happen in order to gain respect on the team again.
2.) Start the New Year with a Social Contract
Just like you do with your class, coming up with a Social Contract is essential for having an efficient team. You need to ask these four questions when making your contract:
1.) How do you want to be treated by the team leader?
2.) How do you want to be treated by each other?
3.) How should the team treat the team leader?
4.) How do you want to be treated when there’s conflict?
In my district, we have been trained in Capturing Kids’ Hearts, and they tell us to always make a social contract with our class and our teams. So, when we have our first PLC meeting, we make our social contract and hang it in our workroom to remind us of how we want to be treated.
3.) Never Take Sides
Always, always, always stay neutral no matter how hard it gets. Your best friend might want you to take their side, but it’s not the best idea. The team leader is on EVERYONE’S side, even though a team member makes mistakes. You can very respectfully talk with them in private and mention what they can do better next time. If you take sides, it will DIVIDE your team, and you do not want that to happen.
Years ago, I made the mistake of taking sides when I first started being a team leader, and I quickly found out that my actions divided the team and we never made it back together. Half of the team would be planning by themselves, and the other half would be on their own. It was awful and I regret taking sides back then. I’ve learned a lot since then!
4.) Over Communicate with Your Team
This may sound redundant, but the more you communicate- talk, text, email, phone call- the better your team will function. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve texted or emailed and there’s always someone who doesn’t read their email or texts and they don’t know what’s going on. It only takes one person to make the team look bad- and make the team have to cover for them. It’s not fair that the team has to take up the slack for someone who didn’t feel like reading the team leader’s notes or emails.
So, I’ve found that mentioning something multiple times helps everyone stay on the same page. It may be more work for you, but in the long run, it definitely pays off. I always sent a weekly email on Sundays updating my team on important deadlines and events coming up. This way, if someone says- I didn’t know about that, you have the email to prove it. Then you can say “Didn’t you read my email?” Our principal sends out a weekly newsletter with important dates on Fridays, so I would use that to help me communicate with my team.
5.) Be Your Team’s Cheerleader
You may be exhausted, frustrated, or disappointed- but you have to be your team’s cheerleader! When someone tells you a good thing happening in their classroom- praise them and congratulate them on a job well done! Tell them how proud you are and how happy you are for them! It makes a team member feel good when another team member takes notice of something they’ve done really well. We all love compliments! I always told my team that I appreciate them after we had our meetings. Especially in this profession sadly- we don’t get told we are appreciated enough. So, we have to do it for each other!
6.) Be a Positive Role Model
Everyone on your team looks to you for guidance and leadership. So, why don’t you portray a positive role model for them to follow? If a team member is having a bad day and is venting during lunch, try and stay positive by turning it around into something good. Venting and gossiping can be toxic to the team. It can drag you down and you feel like the walls are closing in. It can make you feel defeated and that no one cares about you.
I always tried to change the subject or tell them something to look on the bright side. It’s very hard to do when you’re in the heat of the moment. You just have to think of a way to turn the conversation into something more positive. Of course, you want to give your team members a chance to vent. And that can take place for the first 5 minutes of your meeting. Set a timer and then move on. Venting is over! Now on to planning!
7.) Be a Good Problem Solver
I LOVE being a problem solver- if ever there’s an issue with planning events, communication, celebrations, students, or teachers, I enjoy the challenge of trying to come up with a solution. Our team has two very important celebration days: Reindeer Day and 120th/Texas Day. We all divide up our neighborhood into stations for the kids to rotate around.
This is a time to problem-solve what our stations will be like, how many parents we need to run the stations, what materials and supplies we need, and how long each station lasts. We also get matching T-Shirts that we wear for our celebrations. It’s so fun to all be on the same page and provide the best activities for our students! The parents really appreciate our team effort to help make their first grader LOVE school! We are exhausted when it’s all over with, but so worth it.
8.) Send Small Gifts to Your Team
Now, I’m not saying that you have to give them gifts for each holiday, I gave my team a back-to-school gift, a Christmas gift, and End of Year gift. My favorite gift was giving my team a vase of silk flowers filled with magnetic letters and tied with a polka-dot ribbon. This gift was super easy to make and was not expensive at all.
Giving gifts shows your team that you appreciate them and think they are fabulous! I even hand-wrote a card to each team member thanking them for all of their hard work and dedication! I also love making white chocolate popcorn with holiday sprinkles. I would get a holiday jar to put the popcorn in and then write a cute holiday tag on top. So easy and inexpensive!
9.) Share Your Lesson Plans, Materials, and Activities
I know this is more work for you and not everyone will want to do the exact same thing you do, but sharing what you do in your classroom with your team helps build cohesiveness. I’ve been on many teams where each person does their own thing and doesn’t want to give away their great ideas because they’re worried someone will steal the show. They’re worried that someone will be doing more than they will and make themselves look bad to the admin and parents.
This is when jealousy takes over and team members resent each other for not sharing their great ideas. This can lead to team division, communication issues and not being professional with each other. I bought my team matching binders and made them binder covers with their names on them for our new school year. This way they could stay organized during our team planning. They loved it!
10.) Get Together Outside of School
Yes! Get together for lunch, dinner, or birthday parties! It’s always great to build relationships with your team outside of the stressful work environment. You might get to see a different side of someone who is always quiet and reserved or timid and shy! Building relationships with each other can really help the team dynamics and also help conflict. When there is a conflict, the team members can understand each other better and know how to talk with each other if they have built a relationship together. It doesn’t work if just some of the team is out together, it works when ALL of the team is out together.
Well, there you have it! 10 ways of becoming a respected team leader! I hope you got some great ideas for how to improve your team relationships and dynamics! I know it takes a lot of patience, responsibility, and dedication to make your team great, and I just know you will! Have a fabulous school year!
Until next time…
P.S.) If you’re interested in checking out my blog posts about my classroom and a day in first grade, click here.
P.P.S.) If you’re interested in checking out the YouTube channel of my classroom, click here.
