Use These 8 Tips to Become a Successful Team Leader

Use These 8 Tips to Become a Successful Team LeaderUse These 8 Tips to Become a Successful Team LeaderA kollektiv leader isnt quite a manager role- fruchtwein team leaders dont havehiring and firing power over their team members- but its not the same as the role of a regular individual contributor either. While companies and departments vary, these common practices can help make you- and your team- successful. They are eight fundamental principles about how a team leader most successfully interacts with their team members. Act With Fairness As a team leader, you often are required to assign tasks or even set the schedule for your team members. You may like some of your team members mora than others, that is natural and human. But, that doesnt mean you should show preferences for your favorite team members. If youre having trouble with fairness- and team member complaints are one way to gauge your efforts- ask your manager to look over the task assignments, assign jobs without nam es, or let a different employee pick their schedule first each week. Lead by Example Team leaders generally work alongside their team members. If youre gossiping or slacking off, your team will lose respect for you. Instead, work hard. Set an example of what you expect from your teammates. Dont talk about team members or others behind their backs. When a team member comes to you with a complaint about a coworker, decide if this is a problem or just whining. If its just whining, shut it down. If its a true problem, solve it. But dont gossip about it. Fix it or dont talk about it. Take On the Unpleasant Tasks You may think that now that youre the team leader, youre finally exempt from doing the tasks you always hated. For instance, if your team is responsible for cleaning the customer restrooms, make sure that youre on the schedule for that, too. While its an unpleasant task, your team members will have more respect for you if they see you taking your turn. Make the Tough D ecisions While you generally dont have hiring and firing authority, you are responsible for making recommendations to those managers who do. You might be included in job interviews for prospective employees who will potentially join your team. As a team leader sometimes you have to recommend or enforce disciplinary action on a coworker who is also a friend. You may need to recommend suspension or even termination of a team member. Disciplinary actions are difficult, but theyre critical to your teams success. You must handle the problems when they occur. Follow the Law If one of your team members has a baby and takes12 weeks of FMLA-approved leave when she returns you may be tempted to give her the unpleasant tasks- after all, shes been gone for three months. This is, however, against the law. You cant punish someone for taking legally approved leave its called retaliation if you do, and its a growing reason for why employees sue employers. Treat the returning employee like shes been there all along. Likewise, if you have an employee with a disability, work with your manager, the human resources department, and the employee to develop reasonable accommodations as the law requires. Record all overtime. Dont allow your employees to work off the clock, and never ask a coworker to do it. Make sure that you follow all laws and ask your manager or human resources staff member if you have questions. Follow Company Policy Sometimes you may want to grant an exception to company policy, but dont do so without approval from your boss. The reason for company policies may not be immediately clear to you, but its critical that you follow them in order to protect you and the company from accusations of illegal discrimination. For instance, you may think its not a big deal to grant an exception to Jane but not John, but if the exception is not made for the proper reasons, John could claim discrimination. Radiate Happiness at Work This advice might seem silly and u nnecessary, but your attitude sets an example for the entire group. If youre positive and pleasant, it can make your whole team work harder and better together. Happy employees are more productive, too. Stand Up for Your Team Members Never throw a team member under the bus. If you want to celebrate their successes, you must also stay prepared to support them in their failures. Remember that mistakes happen and you should work to fix them, not simply blame people for them. The Bottom Line Leading a team marks a significant step forward in your career. Make sure you approach the responsibility in the right way. These tips will help you lead people to all of your success.

Learn About Living Wills for Banks

Learn About Living Wills for BanksLearn About Living Wills for BanksIn everyday usage, living wills are advance medical directives given by individuals in anticipation of a contingency during which they may be severely ill or injured and unable to speak for themselves. They typically lay out the conditions under which the individual, if gravely ill and unable to speak for himself or herself, chooses not to be resuscitated. They also typically name a health care proxy, someone who is authorized to act on behalf of the incapacitated person who has issued the living will. The Purpose of a Living Will for Banks In recent years, as a result of the 2008 financial crisis, regulators around the globe have been demanding so-called living wills be drawn up by banks and financial institutions of various other sorts. Aliving will for a bank or other financial institution denotes a contingency plan that is on the shelf in case that entity becomes pleite and needs to be closed, sold and/or bro ken up. One of the frequently-discussed aspects of such a plan is that it may require much simpler corporate structures than are often used today by major multinational financial institutions to minimize taxes and/or to mitigate regulatory burdens. If so, restructuring financial institutions to facilitate living wills may seriously reduce their profitability, thereby restricting their ability to offer credit and perhaps also, paradoxically, reducing their financial strength. The Implications of Having a Detailed Living Will Another ironic twist is thatrating agencieshave begun to indicate that the existence of a detailed living will may force a downgrade in a companys rating. The reason is that, with a living will, it may be easier forregulatorsto let an institution fail if it runs into severe financial difficulties. Indeed, much of the rationale for living wills is to reduce the incidence of financial companies that are too big to fail. The Passage of Dodd-Frank Financial Re form Bill The Dodd-Frank financial reform bill of 2010 mandates that bank holding companies with over $50 billion in assets must prepare living wills and file them with financial regulators. At the time of passage, over 100 banks and other financial firms were affected. A number of foreign financial firms with limited footprints in the U.S. have been seeking exemption on the grounds that they should not be deemed subject to the law based on their weltumspannend size. The largest 9 banking institutions in the United States were required to file their living wills by July 1, 2012. ansicht banks included JPMorgan ChaseCitigroupGoldman SachsMorgan StanleyBank of AmericaBarclaysDeutsche BankCredit SuisseUBS Summaries of these banks plans are supposed to be available for inspection by members of the general public. Highlights of these living wills include (per Banks Preparing for the End,The Wall Street Journal, June 26, 2012) The plans must be updated annually.Regulators can demand mor e frequent revisions.Troubled banks can be forced to raise more capital or to restrict growth.TheFDIC, in consultation with theFederal Reserve, can break up a troubled bank. Smaller banks faced a filing deadline of December 31, 2013, for submitting their own living wills. Also Known AsContingency plans or resolution plans for insolvent banks or financial institutions. Historical BackgroundIf Bear Stearns orLehman Brothershad living wills in place before they became insolvent in 2008, some observers believe that their operations could have been wound down in an orderly fashion without precipitating the generalized, global financial and economic crisis that instead ensued. In particular, the growth of financial institutions that are deemed too big to fail without risking a broad-based financial and economic collapse has led to the concept of so-called living wills for these firms as a regulatory initiative designed to avoid such crises in the future.

How to Be a Better IT Manager

How to Be a Better IT Manager How to Be a Better IT Manager Invest time and money into developing your staff. Information technology is an ever-changing field, and learning new technologies is not only something your staff will appreciate, but something that will enable them to perform at their best. Budget for training and development and encourage staff to participate. Dont overlook the value of cross-training, especially if you have a large IT group and there are tasks currently being performed by one person. Training others to do those tasks will prove worthwhile if there is ever a staff shortage. Also look into free regional workshops and presentations or in-house training if you have a tight budget.Get to know what each persons job responsibility entails, not so you can randomly jump in and try to do the job yourself, but to foster respect from your staff and increase your credibility as a manager whenever a difficult situation arises.Learn what your staff does, but dont do i t for them. You may be able to do it better, or even show them a better way to do it, but you need to able to step back and let your staff learn and grow.Know the geschftlicher umgang and make sure the business knows you. An understanding of the business you support is important. A better IT manager uses his understanding of his business goals to build services and infrastructure to support those goals. He will make sure his direct reports are aware of how their work affects business goals and ensure that business administrators understand how IT is beneficial for them. Develop annual reports, frequent project updates and regular communications to showcase your departments activities.Keep the lines of communication open between you and your staff. Unless its of a confidential nature, you shouldnt hoard information. On the flip side, if you feel you are not getting important information, find ways to improve communication.Encourage teamwork among staff. Teamwork and collaboration wil l keep your department running smoothly and eliminate the isolation that often occurs in technical departments. Develop an environment where staff will feel comfortable asking for and giving assistance to each other.Provide regular feedback. Let your staff know theyre doing a good job, as well as what needs improving. You can do this via performance reviews, one-on-one meetings or at a company meeting or event where employees are rewarded for exemplary performance.Make good hiring decisions, even if it means involving your staff in the hiring process, especially if youve never done it before. You want to select an employee who will integrate well with your staff, and making the wrong selection can be more costly in the long run than not hiring anyone at all.Learn and understand best IT practices that apply to your department and measure yourself and your team against them. Review the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) and determine if you should implement portions of it in your department. Make sure you have an updated disaster recovery plan that is ready for action when necessary.Be the best project manager you can be. Consider getting formal project management training if you havent had any. Good project management skills will go a long way toward more project successes and less project failures. Train your lead staff with basic project management skills as well, so you can delegate portions of or entire projects to their control.If youve come up through the technical ranks, its easy to confuse superior technology understanding with effective management. However, technical management is, at its core, management of people of and processes very much like working with any other department. If you continue to advance your management skills and the success of the individuals that you manage, it will be easier to take the next step in your career.