Team Leader Training What Should I Do First? Normal slide navigation has been disabled in order to ensure this training works properly. Macros must be enabled to complete training.

What Should I Do First? You are getting slammed with work currently. Later this week, your chief is briefing the ARI Director as well as some senior Army officers regarding one of your team’s projects. The chief has asked for many additions and updates to your initial slides. At the same time, one of your researchers was in a car accident and can’t travel to a data collection scheduled for this week. Additionally, two other researchers are impatiently awaiting feedback on drafts of their most recent reports. Both want to send their reports out to peer review to meet TAPES objectives timelines, but you haven’t read the reports and are not sure they are ready. You recently sent out a report that still needed a lot of editing and were embarrassed that you made another unit’s peer reviewer do basic grammatical changes. Lastly, an offhand comment by one of your researchers seems to have ruffled the feathers of a long-time supporter on post who provides access to Soldiers.

Q1. How do you determine your priorities? Question & Answer Session Q1. How do you determine your priorities?

Question & Answer Session Q2. What would your chief advise you to focus on as your primary goal of this week?

Question & Answer Session Q3. How do your researchers see your inactivity with respect to giving them feedback? What’s going through their minds?

Question & Answer Session Q4. What do you do first?

Question & Answer Session Q5. Do you postpone data collection or try to find someone to cover it?

Lessons Learned, Slide 1 of 3 There are a number of issues competing for your time and attention. One thing you should do is make certain you have accurate information. Ask yourself if there is missing information. Try to see this situation from others’ perspectives. First, how would your chief see these competing demands? Being in tune with how your chief thinks is valuable. Being able to think like your chief in these situations will help you to set priorities and begin to devise a course of action. In this case, planning and organizing can begin through perspective taking. What about your researchers waiting to send their reports to peer review? From their perspective, it may seem as though you are dragging your feet because you don’t feel that their work is important. Help them consider alternative perspectives too: Explain to them what you are up against currently so that they better understand your position.

Lessons Learned, Slide 2 of 3 You should also take responsibility for your researchers’ actions. If a relationship with the Army is damaged, you need to take action to ensure that things are made right. You own the problem, and must take responsibility to remedy the situation as best as you can. Similarly, you are responsible for either finding someone to cover the data collection or working out an alternative plan of action. Take a deep breath, faster is not always better. Walk through each of your available courses of action. Whenever possible, share the competing demands in a situation at a team meeting so team members can offer solutions and better understand how you go about determining priorities.

Lessons Learned, Slide 3 of 3 Take others’ perspectives when possible, and use that to help you set priorities and guide your actions. Accept responsibility for the behavior of your team members. Themes Accepting Responsibility; Perspective Taking; Planning and Organizing