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A couple years ago two strong technical people on my team were promoted to be co-team leaders of the team that I am on (Real-time technical delivery team).  A few months ago one of those moved on to a technical position with no team to speak of (Central Support).

The remaining team lead (We'll call "Rob") recently moved from a cubicle to an office (at the end of the cube farm, not remote from the team) without explanation or preamble; this caused some anxiety on the part of some team members etc etc. 

I am usually on second shift, so I have not been involved in the discussion very much, but today I got to spend some time with him; and discussed his plans with him:

  • He wants to be the "Site Technical Lead"
  • He does not like dealing with politics (whatever that means)
  • He wants to leave all the people stuff to the account manager (We'll call "Gary"). He thinks of Gary as doing all of the management stuff.
  • I tried to give Rob feedback (without using the proper format, shame on me); saying that when he does things without telling the team why, the team makes up stories. He said "That's part of the fun" (I believe that was his way of deflecting the issue, but he will continue to think about it.) Further explanation in comments below
  • I don't think our organization has a clear role for Team Leader, and definitely does not have training  for the role.
  • I believe Rob has had some push-back from team members on a few certain things and subsequently backed off of managing the team.

I listened to the "I Am A Former Peer" podcast, and it helped, but is there anything that could help more here?

I don't know if Gary realizes Rob's point of view in this. Is it up to me to facilitate communication (to Gary; to the team)?

I have relatively low seniority, but I think people respect my technical skills.

Halp! (and thanks)

 

Edit: PS, I love the podcasts!

mattpalmer's picture

I'm trying to get a picture of what's going on here, but I can't work out your relationship to the troublesome team lead.  Are you his direct, his manager, or someone else?   What is it that you want out of this whole situation?

csours's picture

 I edited the above post with anonymised names for some clarity (hopefully).

I am nominally Rob's (the team leader) direct report, but I believe he thinks of me and the other team members as reporting to the account manager (Gary). One problem is that this has not been communicated to the team; another is that Gary is not managing our team.

I want the team to function well. Rob has done several things lately without much communication to the team and that has left them flabbergasted. For my part, for the time I've been on the team I have been delivering excellent technical work to the organization I support, but only the minimum to the organization I am part of. (That is a related, but slightly different issue)

Smacquarrie's picture

 I am not sure there is much you can do if Rob refuses to di the job. Can you approach Rob on an O3 basis and ask for insight or assistance? How would it be perceived if you were offer the idea  of yourself or another to take over team lead? I spent the previous 3 years with a team lead lime this. Essentially I took the initiative and acted in that role until I left the team last summer. Now someone new has taken over the position. Are you in a position to do the role if necessary?

 

Mac

AppleJack's picture
Training Badge

Yikes! It sounds like the team leader does not want to lead/manage the way that you would like him to.  If you are his direct, I'm not sure that you get to give him feedback, at least not Manager Tools version of feedback.  I'd recommend listening to the following podcasts and you may want to check out DISC to help you understand and communicate with Rob better (not so that you can correct how he communicates).

manager-tools.com/2012/02/do-not-give-feedback-your-boss

http://manager-tools.com/2009/10/disagreeing-with-your-boss-part-1

 

csours's picture

 @Mac I have considered taking more responsibility, and one of my team mates 'caught' me listening to the manager tools podcasts and suggested something similar. 

What steps should I take/what should I think about before I suggest myself for therole?

 

@Applejack, Thanks for the podcast suggestions. It's not that I don't like his leadership/management style; Rob is simply not leading/managing at all.  I can communicate with Rob, but he is not communicating with the team. It would be acceptable for me to take a hit to my relationship with Rob to try to convince him to interact with the team.

Smacquarrie's picture

 If this is something you want to do, you need to think about your current relationships with coworkers and supervisors. What can you do to make them better and how can you help to motivate others to be better? Do you have the people and technical skills to do the job? How will others view you and does, or should, this matter to you? If you believe you are ready for this then you need to discuss with Rob, Gary, and your boss.

The only thing worse than failure is to never have tried at all. 

Mac

csours's picture

I'm currently working nights, but I will be going back to day shift in about three weeks.

Right now I think I will approach Rob with the idea that I start running weekly team meetings (which we haven't had in the last few years); and also prime him with the idea that I want to advance to a leadership position in the team.

I will also have a discussion with Gary (who is also my boss, I apologize that wasn't clear) and tell him what Rob said to me about wanting to be technical lead and asking if I could move into team facilitator position and then towards leadership.

 

Comments? Suggestions?

 

PS. Regarding Feedback; I only used the middle portion of the feedback model. I said: When you do things without explaining what is going on, the team makes up their own stories.  -- After listening to the DO NOT GIVE YOUR BOSS FEEDBACK podcast, I absolutely see why you don't give your boss feedback, but I still think that the Behavior => Outcome is can be a good way communicate if used sparingly.