The quarterly publication of the International Legal Technology Association
Issue link: https://epubs.iltanet.org/i/43128
How satisfied would you be in your job? How connected would you feel to the rest of the team? "Because I said so" may be an appropriate answer from a parent to a small child who asks "Why do I have to go to bed?" But a good team leader takes the time to answer the technologist who asks "Why aren't we supporting Android devices?" When one understands why she is doing something, she will be able to hold herself to a higher standard for how she's doing it. • Create a culture of knowledge and information-sharing. The IT team I lead uses a wiki to share everything we know, including resolutions to common problems, vendor contact information, procedural checklists, and information about managing various programs. The person who has the information is accountable for making a wiki entry, and the person who needs the information is accountable for looking in the wiki. This enables us to provide excellent customer service even in the absence of the primary resource for a particular duty. We have created a culture of knowledge and information sharing such that if any member of the team mentions something new she has learned, someone is sure to ask, "Is it in the wiki?" • Nurture a culture of learning and leading. Keep team members engaged by allowing each to teach, learn and lead. In my firm's monthly IT meetings, we often ask a member of the team to present to the others something she has recently learned, such as how to use a new system or what the hot topics were at the ILTA conference. As a former ILTA Regional Vice President, I was responsible for leading a team of ILTA City Reps. Each month one of the City Reps would take a turn choosing an agenda item and leading discussion around that topic during our monthly conference call. • Strive to understand each team member's communication style, and adapt appropriately. I have a team member who provides me with very little unsolicited communication about the status of his projects. When I first started working with him, that made me very nervous! But as I got to know him and his work style, I learned that by the time I was ready to admonish him for not addressing his project, he was ready to tell me he had completed it in a way that exceeded my expectations. Now I don't bug him. He's proved to me that when he says he's got everything under control, he has. I like that accountability! And methinks I'd put a huge damper on it if I required him to give me frequent progress reports. • If you could do everything yourself, you wouldn't need a team! Recognize that each team member is the expert in his or her area. Show respect for that expertise by taking time to listen carefully to ideas and suggestions about how operations Peer to Peer the quarterly magazine of ILTA 11