T-ogether E-veryone A-chieves M-ore.....

Excerpts from a discussion with a friend:

Team members usually want to see things from their own perspective, with their fears and uncertainties, their confusions about new paths they may have to take, their tastes swinging arbitrarily with every new event. If team leaders also do the same thing, there wouldn't be much difference between the two. Also, one probable mistake which team leads may make to expect their team members in exactly the same mould as the leads, (" come on, be like me", "I like this, so it's good for you") rather than find out the innate inclinations of the team member and find ways to promote those even as you get the job done. Let the team member come up with their major preferences before the leads indicate or persuade theirs. Give some cool-off time between discussion and decision instead of insisting on making decisions right now and here. It's unreasonable to expect clarity from the team members, if they had it they can lead teams themselves, so it's upto the team lead to bring clarity to the table from time to time amidst confused preferences and constraints. When they have done it all, give the credit back to the team members since the raw inputs usually come from them from the floor-level and the team lead does only a support and sort out role. [Without doing any actual work themselves :) :) ]. Avoid haunting the team member lifetime with the "I told you so" syndrome if the task turns out to be a failure for some reason having to do with a team member. When the dust has settled, collect your cool, recollect the events and fish out the lessons to be learnt from the larger picture that has emerged out of the small stuff.

This ancient Sanskrit mantra highlights the spirit of learning and the value of team work.