Developing Yourself as a Team Leader Course

Standard: CITB Short Duration Standard GET3265

Duration: 1 day

Guided Learning Hours: 6 hours

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Course Aims

This course is designed to provide participants with a clear understanding of the role and responsibilities of a team leader and how their personal performance can affect the effectiveness of the wider team.

Participants will explore how team leaders interact with team members, colleagues and managers, together with the limits of their authority and the circumstances in which matters should be referred to someone more senior. The course also provides a practical approach to seeking feedback, identifying development needs and planning improvements to personal performance.

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Course Prerequisites

There are no formal prerequisites for attending this course.

The course is suitable for existing team leaders, supervisors and employees who are preparing to take on their first team leadership responsibilities within construction or the built environment.

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Course Objectives

Upon completing this course, participants will be able to:

• Describe the role of a team leader, including their responsibilities, accountabilities and interactions with team members, colleagues and managers.
• Explain how a team leader fulfils their responsibilities within a workplace team.
• Explain the limits of a team leader’s authority and accountability.
• Identify what, when and how matters should be referred to someone with greater authority.
• Describe a workplace situation that would need to be referred to someone more senior and explain why it is outside the team leader’s responsibility.
• Gather specific and evidence-based feedback on personal workplace performance from a suitable variety of sources.
• Interpret feedback objectively and identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.
• Demonstrate clear links between the feedback received and the areas selected for improvement.
• Produce a detailed action plan that addresses identified weaknesses and has the potential to improve workplace performance.
• Identify appropriate objectives, actions, resources, timescales and review arrangements for personal development.

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Course Content

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Module 1: Introduction and the Team Leader’s Role

• The purpose and scope of the course.
• The position of the team leader within an organisation.
• The difference between being a team member and leading a team.
• The role of the team leader in supporting organisational and team objectives.
• The relationship between the performance of the team leader and the performance of the wider team.
• Course learning outcomes and assessment requirements.

Module 2: Responsibilities, Accountability and Workplace Relationships

• The principal responsibilities of a team leader.
• Examples of responsibilities relating to:
  • Communicating objectives and workplace expectations.
  • Coordinating people, tasks and resources.
  • Providing instructions, information and support.
  • Monitoring progress, quality and performance.
  • Supporting safe and effective working practices.
  • Encouraging cooperation and appropriate workplace behaviour.
  • Reporting progress and concerns.
  • Following organisational policies and procedures.
• How team leader responsibilities are fulfilled in practice.
• The meaning of responsibility and accountability.
• Being accountable for personal decisions, actions and omissions.
• The effect of a team leader’s decisions and behaviour on other people.
• The team leader’s interactions with:
  • Individual team members.
  • The team as a whole.
  • Peers and other team leaders.
  • Managers and senior leaders.
  • Other relevant workplace stakeholders.
• Communicating appropriately with people at different organisational levels.
• Maintaining professional relationships and appropriate boundaries.

Module 3: Limits of Authority and Referring Matters

• The meaning of workplace authority.
• How a team leader’s authority may be defined by:
  • Their role and job description.
  • Organisational policies and procedures.
  • Delegated responsibilities.
  • Legal, regulatory and health and safety requirements.
• Recognising decisions that can be made independently.
• Recognising decisions that require approval or specialist support.
• The relationship between authority and accountability.
• The importance of acting within the limits of personal authority.
• What types of matter may need to be referred.
• When a matter should be referred to someone with greater authority.
• How a matter should be referred, including:
  • Identifying the appropriate person.
  • Gathering relevant facts.
  • Explaining the situation clearly and objectively.
  • Following the relevant organisational procedure.
  • Maintaining appropriate confidentiality.
  • Recording and following up the referral where necessary.
• Examples of situations that may require referral, such as:
  • Serious health and safety concerns.
  • Formal disciplinary or grievance matters.
  • Bullying, harassment or discrimination.
  • Significant performance or conduct concerns.
  • Contractual, financial or resource decisions.
  • Matters involving employee health or wellbeing.
  • Situations with legal or regulatory implications.
• Explaining why a particular situation is outside the team leader’s responsibility.

Module 4: Gathering Feedback on Workplace Performance

• The purpose and value of feedback in personal development.
• Identifying the workplace standards against which personal performance can be considered.
• Suitable sources of feedback, including:
  • Line managers.
  • Other team leaders and supervisors.
  • Team members.
  • Colleagues and peers.
  • Clients, contractors and other relevant stakeholders.
  • Performance reviews.
  • Workplace observations.
  • Project, quality or performance information.
• The importance of obtaining feedback from an appropriate variety of sources.
• Asking focused questions about specific behaviours, actions and results.
• Using open and probing questions.
• Listening without becoming defensive.
• Requesting examples and supporting evidence.
• Distinguishing evidence-based feedback from unsupported opinion.
• Recording feedback accurately.
• Maintaining appropriate confidentiality and professional boundaries.

Module 5: Interpreting Feedback and Identifying Improvements

• Reviewing feedback objectively.
• Separating facts, observations, opinions and assumptions.
• Comparing feedback received from different sources.
• Identifying recurring themes and patterns.
• Recognising strengths and examples of effective performance.
• Identifying weaknesses and areas in which performance could improve.
• Considering the context in which feedback was provided.
• Linking feedback to specific workplace behaviours or results.
• Establishing explicit links between:
  • The evidence received.
  • The identified weakness.
  • The proposed area for improvement.
• Describing the potential benefits of addressing an identified weakness.
• Considering how an improvement could affect:
  • Personal effectiveness.
  • Team performance.
  • Workplace relationships.
  • Quality and productivity.
  • Health and safety.
  • Organisational objectives.
• Prioritising development needs according to their importance, urgency and potential effect.
• Responding constructively to difficult or unexpected feedback.

Module 6: Preparing a Personal Development Action Plan

• The purpose of a personal development action plan.
• Translating feedback and identified weaknesses into practical action.
• Ensuring that proposed actions are explicitly linked to the feedback received.
• Defining the required improvement.
• Setting clear and achievable development objectives.
• Identifying the actions needed to achieve each objective.
• Selecting appropriate development activities, such as:
  • Coaching or mentoring.
  • Formal training.
  • Workplace observation or shadowing.
  • Guided reading or research.
  • Additional workplace practice.
  • Reflective practice.
  • Regular feedback and review meetings.
• Identifying the people, information and other resources required.
• Considering time, cost and workplace resource requirements.
• Establishing realistic completion dates.
• Identifying possible barriers and how they will be addressed.
• Defining what successful improvement will look like.
• Identifying evidence that could demonstrate improved performance.
• Establishing review dates and arrangements.
• Reviewing and updating the plan when circumstances or priorities change.
• Ensuring that the completed plan has the potential to produce a significant improvement in workplace performance.

Module 7: Scenario-Based Practical Exercise

Participants will complete a workplace scenario that requires them to:

• Review feedback obtained from a variety of sources.
• Assess whether the feedback is specific, relevant and supported by evidence.
• Interpret the feedback in detail.
• Identify strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.
• Establish explicit links between the feedback and each selected area for improvement.
• Describe the potential benefit of addressing the identified weaknesses.
• Prioritise the most important development needs.
• Produce a detailed personal development action plan.
• Include suitable objectives, actions, resources, timescales and review arrangements.
• Explain how the action plan could lead to a meaningful improvement in performance.

Module 8: Course Review and Assessment

• Review of the role and responsibilities of the team leader.
• Review of authority, accountability and referral.
• Review of the feedback and personal-development process.
• Application of the course principles to participants’ workplace roles.
• Completion of the formal question paper.
• Completion of the scenario-based practical exercise.
• Individual professional discussion.
• Final course review.

Course Assessment

Delegates must successfully complete assessments covering both CITB learning outcomes.

Learning Outcome 1: Question Paper

Delegates must complete a four-question paper covering:

• The role of the team leader, including responsibilities, accountability and interactions with team members, peers and managers.
• The responsibilities of the team leader and how those responsibilities are fulfilled.
• The limits of the team leader’s authority and accountability, including what, when and how matters should be referred.
• An example of a situation that would need to be referred to someone with greater authority, including why it is outside the team leader’s responsibility.

Delegates must achieve a minimum score of 75% to pass the question paper.

Learning Outcome 2: Practical Exercise and Professional Discussion

Delegates must complete a scenario-based practical exercise followed by a professional discussion.

They must demonstrate that they can:

• Gather or review comprehensive, specific and evidence-based feedback from an appropriate variety of sources.
• Interpret the feedback fully and identify relevant strengths, weaknesses and areas for improvement.
• Establish explicit links between the feedback and the areas selected for improvement.
• Describe the development potential of the selected areas.
• Prepare a comprehensive and detailed action plan.
• Include appropriate objectives, actions, resources, timescales and review arrangements.
• Explicitly link the action plan to the identified weaknesses.
• Explain how the proposed actions have the potential to produce a significant improvement in performance.

Delegates must meet all assessment criteria for both learning outcomes to successfully complete the course.

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