Coffee with Felix: SkillLab’s approach to Team Leadership

“We are proud of the people we collaborate with!”, reads a sentence under all our job descriptions. Indeed, at SkillLab we take pride in collaborating with talented and impact-driven people as we facilitate a working space of continuous learning. Our team leads are one of the powerful driving forces behind our bright and innovative people! 

Team leads have a big responsibility in ensuring that their teams are performing efficiently to deliver important tasks. At the same time, they provide an encouraging and supportive environment for their members. This is why we find it important to support our team leads in their people-leading endeavors. 

So how do we approach this at SkillLab? And what are some important qualities in a team lead? Keisha, our HR intern, sat down with Felix who coordinates our people, finance and cybersecurity functions. 

Felix has held his position from the very beginning of SkillLab. With an interdisciplinary study background in Liberal Arts and Sciences and making meaningful social change, Felix deeply cares about making SkillLab a nice place to work. Having a great approach to team leadership is fundamental to that.

Team Leadership expectations

Expectations matter! At SkillLab, we have four expectations towards team leads. These are Caring, Leading, Managing, and Coaching. 

1. Caring: Team leads are expected to show personal consideration and awareness for each member of their team. This means listening to each team member’s needs, preferences, and generally being there to support them in times of difficulties. Team leads also encourage all members to voice their opinions and concerns, and celebrate personal and team accomplishments. 
2. Leading: Team leads are expected to understand current company priorities and long-term strategy, and transfer this knowledge into the team. They then set clear and ambitious goals for the team and keep their focus on organizational priorities. When conflicts arise, team leads are expected to be instrumental in resolving them constructively. 
3. Managing: It goes without saying that team leads manage a team. This means they need to set clear performance expectations and hold people kindly accountable whenever needed. They design projects and workflows efficiently, delegate work to their members while providing them autonomy to execute these tasks. They are also expected to get their hands dirty to help their members tackle challenges. 
4. Coaching: Good leaders inspire other leaders. Team leads are expected to encourage their members to take ownership and autonomy of their work as they gain more expertise in their field. This means that team leads provide actionable and constructive feedback in a timely manner and encourages team members to provide feedback as well. Team leads are also encouraged to hold regular career conversations with their members and provide opportunities for people to advance in their careers.

Team leads and upholding SkillLab’s culture 

According to Felix, there are three things that a company needs to get “right”. Firstly, hiring great talent. Secondly, helping these talented people flourish in their positions. And thirdly, creating a culture that makes people feel welcomed. Team leads play an important role in all three. 

When we welcome new hires, we ask for feedback on their onboarding sessions and general impression of their first few days in the company. The general consensus is that everyone is friendly and warm towards each other, people are enthusiastic about making positive change through their work, and everyone learns from one another. This is our culture in action, which is maintained by our team leads’ great work. 

Challenges of being a team lead

However, being a team lead is difficult. When asked about any challenges in being a team lead, Felix answered from his own perspective and what he observed with other team leads. Being a good team lead is a significant challenge that requires a high degree of emotional intelligence and the ability to navigate difficult conversations effectively. Additionally, team leads are required to juggle responsibilities of both an individual contributor as well as representing and leading their own team. 

Now, from an implementation perspective, Felix says that success in leadership roles depends on several key factors: identifying and promoting individuals with strong interpersonal skills, establishing a clear, simple, and fair performance management system, and creating a training environment that accurately reflects the real-world challenges team leads face in their daily responsibilities. It is without mention that juggling these priorities creates significant challenges on their own.

Team leadership Learning at SkillLab

At SkillLab, we provide a team leadership orientation and training program for those interested in being a team lead. The first version of this program included eight, 90 minute sessions over a 6-month period where participants learn the fundamentals of team leadership in SkillLab. 

Participants take time outside these sessions to prepare assignments. During these sessions, they discuss their answers with other participants, fostering an environment of collaboration and learning from each other. The goal of this program is for participants to clarify whether the team lead position is for them, better understand the fundamentals of being a team lead, learn more about what is needed to succeed as a team lead, and increase one’s confidence to succeed as a future team lead. They can opt-out of the program at any time. 

Current team leads participate in a quarterly team leadership training. On top of that, they can receive coaching, and have regular meetings with our HR Business Partner to discuss any concerns or challenges they may have. Furthermore, our 360 degrees feedback cycle, done twice per year, is a chance for team leads to reflect on actionable and constructive feedback from their team members. Likewise, their team members receive feedback as well. Through this, both parties have the chance to openly discuss challenges at work, understand how they can best support each other, and recognise strengths and great performance. 

We at SkillLab believe in the power of collaboration and learning mindset, driven by a mission for social impact. To uphold this culture, team leads have a great responsibility to maintain a positive and supportive work environment to drive their team members’ talents and aspirations forward. It goes without saying that this is a noble and difficult responsibility and SkillLab tries to support team leads in their endeavors. Only with open ears and through learning from each other can we truly make an impact through our work.