Team Role and Responsibilities

Not sure if you noticed but I took a week off. I didn’t post on socials or write this newsletter. In today’s world of always being on and posting and engaging and doing everything from working a job, raising a family, seeing friends you need to also ensure you have a personal brand on-line too. It’s a lot of work and oftentimes a lot of undue stress. So I decided to pause and use this time to reflect as well as review what has been happening so far.

So to all of you why not take a break once in awhile, enjoy being present in the moment. Slow down to speed up.

I went to Germany to visit my in-laws and despite the language barrier we as a family had a great time. Best part is the morning runs around the Black Forest.

In this week’s newsletter I want to dive into a topic that is overlooked and something not considered by a lot of managers until it is too late or once people are already figured things out. And it’s all about roles and responsibilities as a team. Too many people think that just by aligning on the job description everyone is fully aware of their role and everything is fine.

But from my experience and errors I have made leading teams is that just aligning to the job description is only focussing on a narrow view of the team. As the manager you need to ensure that more broadly the team are aware of ownership and their roles.

Let’s dive in.

Why defining roles and responsibilities is important

Ever seen a football match? Or a team sports game? In team sports it’s really important that everyone knows their role and how to play together. But also understanding everyone’s across the team. You wouldn’t see a goalkeeper start playing up front? He knows his role and how he can best support his teammates.

Just like team sports getting the team aligned with their role and knowing where they are meant to play and the responsibilities for ensuring success of the team.

I personally experienced this when I first started leading and I thought it everybody knew their job description, but low and behold the team were disengaged and individuals did not know which areas they were meant to focus on or who was responsible for what. Leading to huge amounts of confusion and a lot of tasks being left uncompleted.

Team responsibilities is one of the cornerstones that ensures teams are highly effective at achieving results and goals. Without knowing their role within the team will create chaos and overlapping of tasks. The big challenge with this then becomes people thinking that someone else will pick up certain tasks and tasks will not get done. (I have witnessed this in engineering teams in particular when ownership is not adequately assigned well, as well as poorly in sales roles which creates huge disengagement due to unclear areas of focus).

Crafting team roles

To ensure that your team has the right understanding its really important to work with the team to get the results. Do that well will be an ongoing process and as the leader of the team that will need your communication skills and understanding of what is working and isn’t working. Getting feedback not just from the team but also from peers and other teams that work closely with yours.

Ask them:

• Have you seen the right results from the team?

• What is missing / can be improved on?

• What has been working well?

Get specific with the questions and ensure you also get examples, getting examples will help you to use these examples to solve the ways of working even further.

Top Tips for Defining Roles and Responsibilities

1. Collaborate on Defining Roles: Involve your team in the process of defining roles to ensure buy-in and clarity. This helps everyone understand their contributions to the team’s goals.

2. Communicate Clearly: Clearly articulate each team member’s role and responsibilities, both in writing and in discussions, to avoid any ambiguity.

3. Align Roles with Strengths: Assign responsibilities based on individual strengths and skills. This not only enhances performance but also boosts job satisfaction.

4. Set Expectations Early: From the outset, make sure everyone knows what success looks like in their role. This includes setting clear goals and benchmarks for performance.

5. Review and Adjust Regularly: Roles and responsibilities should be dynamic. Regularly review and adjust them as team members grow and as projects evolve.

6. Encourage Cross-Training: Promote cross-training within the team to ensure flexibility and resilience, allowing team members to step into different roles when needed.

7. Provide Support and Resources: Ensure your team has the necessary tools, training, and resources to fulfil their responsibilities effectively.

Here are some practical tips for doing this really well:

1. Create a Responsibility Matrix: Use tools like a RACI chart (Responsible, Accountable, Consulted, Informed) to map out who is responsible for what. This provides a clear visual guide for your team.

2. Document Everything: Write down roles and responsibilities in a shared document. This ensures everyone has access to the information and can refer back to it as needed.

3. Start with Job Descriptions: Review or create job descriptions that align with current team goals. Ensure these descriptions are up-to-date and reflect each team member’s actual responsibilities.

4. Hold a Team Workshop: Host a session where team members discuss their roles. This can reveal overlaps, gaps, or areas where support is needed, and help clarify responsibilities collectively.

5. Use One-on-Ones for Clarification: Use regular 1:1 meetings to discuss individual roles, clarify expectations, and adjust responsibilities based on team needs and employee growth.

6. Align with Objectives: Make sure each role is aligned with broader team and organizational objectives. This ensures that everyone’s work contributes directly to the team’s success.

Through following the above points this should help you work with your team to have a well defined roles and responsibilities for the entire team, allowing them to know where to play and work well as a unit, not just individuals.

As the company grows and develops ensure that you are spending time reviewing with everyone their roles and making sure there is clarity with the responsibilities.

I hope this helps with giving you some key pointers and direction from what I have seen work well when managing my teams as well as building out a high performing team.

Book recommendation

This week I would highly encourage you to check out (along side The Five Dysfunctions of a Team!) would be:

Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel Pink

This book delves into the factors that truly motivate individuals in the workplace, including autonomy, mastery, and purpose. Understanding these elements can help you better define roles and responsibilities that align with their team members’ intrinsic motivations, leading to higher engagement and performance. Pink’s insights can guide you in creating roles that not only meet organizational needs but also fulfill employees’ desires for meaningful work.

Enjoy the read!

That’s a wrap for this week, I hope you have enjoyed reading this weeks content and putting the above points into practice. Feel free to let me know how you got on in doing this.

PS I am updating my Free training course, First 90 days. More on this next week