56 Responsibilities of a Team Leader

John Spacey, June 07, 2020

A team leader is a senior member of a team who plays a role in directing work, improving the team and representing the team with stakeholders. This is not a position of control but rather a position of leading with influence. A team leader is usually a hands-on position that requires high productivity and talent such that an individual is recognized as a leader by both the team and stakeholders. The following are common responsibilities of a team leader.

Assign Work	Best Practices
Challenge Assumptions	Challenge the Status Quo
Clear Issues	Client Relationships
Coaching	Creative Processes
Cross-team Collaboration	Decision Making
Delegate Responsibility	Develop Proposals
Feedback	Goal Setting
Hands-on Work	Identify Alternatives
Influence Decisions	Influence Strategy
Knowledge Capture	Knowledge Transfer
Leading by Example	Lessons Learned
Manage Expectations	Managing Up
Meeting Deadlines	Mentoring
Organization	Partner Management
Performance Monitoring	Pitching Ideas
Planning	Presentations
Problem Solving	Process Delivery
Process Improvement	Progress Monitoring
Public Speaking	Recognizing Team Members
Relationship Building	Reporting
Requirements Capture	Resolve Conflict
Scheduling	Set Deadlines
Set Expectations	Set Priorities
Stakeholder Management	Standards
Team Communications	Team Culture
Team Direction	Team Engagement
Team Motivation	Team Strategy
Work Estimates	Work Quality

Team Leader vs Team Manager

Team leader implies leading with influence. A team manager leads with authority and control. A team leader can be delegated authority but accountability for the team remains with the team manager. In other words, any failures of team leaders is also a failure of the team manager.