Cover Page -- Dedication -- Title -- Copyright -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Being and Becoming a Highly Effective Team Leader -- What is the key to effective team leadership? -- How do I become a highly effective team leader? -- What about the constraints, demands and choices associated with my team leadership role? -- What are the characteristics of highly effective team leaders? -- How can I gauge my personal effectiveness as a team leader? -- How can I gauge my competence as a team leader? -- What is meant by leadership style? How important is this in leading a team? -- How can I help to improve the quality of what we do and achieve as a team? -- 2 Leading and Developing Teams -- Why is there so much emphasis on team leadership in schools? -- What exactly do we mean by leadership? Is there a distinction between leadership and management? -- What is a team? How does it differ from a group? -- What is the key purpose of developing teams in schools? -- What makes a 'good' team? What does successful teamwork depend upon? -- What should I attempt to do to build teamwork? -- How can I gauge the quality of the teamwork? -- 3 Motivating Members of the Team -- What is motivation? -- Why is motivation so important to the work of a team? -- How does a team leader recognize the needs of team members? In what ways can motivation theory help me? -- How do I set about trying to understand staff attitudes and build their motivation? -- How do I deal with demotivated people? -- When I've got them motivated, how do I keep them that way? -- 4 Managing Time and Priorities -- What is time management? -- How do I know whether I have a time management problem? -- So, where does my time go? -- How can I deal with the time thieves? -- How can I exercise greater control over my personal work patterns?.

Am I alone in having a problem managing my time? What can I do about it? -- How can I re-establish some control over my management of time? -- What is the best way of dealing with the paperwork? -- What other ways are there of improving my personal organization? -- How important is it to use technology to help me manage my time? -- 5 Encouraging Team Development through Effective Delegation -- What exactly is delegation? -- What if I am not comfortable with delegating my work? -- Are there different kinds or levels of delegation? -- How does the delegation process work? -- How can I delegate successfully? -- What are the links between people's learning styles and delegation? -- How do I conduct a successful briefing meeting? -- How can I build in effective and responsive monitoring and support? -- What part does coaching have to play in delegation? -- 6 Improving the Effectiveness of Team Meetings -- Why meet at all? -- What are the advantages of meetings over other forms of communication? -- Are there different kinds of meetings? -- What do we mean by an effective meeting? -- What makes meetings ineffective? -- What is a good way of achieving effective meetings? -- How important is the meeting leader's role? -- How can I encourage contributions from team members and stimulate discussion? -- How vital to the meeting is an agenda? What should I take into account when preparing an agenda? -- How important is the meeting environment? -- What can I learn from observing the contributions made by team members at meetings? -- How should I deal with problem people at meetings? -- How do I take accurate notes of decisions taken at meetings? -- How do I run a meeting using formal procedures? -- 7 Handling Conflict Situations Successfully -- What do we mean by conflict? -- What are the key ingredients of conflict? -- What are the possible causes of conflict?.

How might I deal with any conflict that could arise within the team? -- Is there an ideal conflict resolution style? -- Is conflict always negative? Can conflict ever be constructive? -- What if all else fails and conflict continues? -- What coping strategies should I employ to deal with a difficult team member who refuses to perform? -- But, if there simply is no warning, how do I take the heat out of a conflict situation? -- 8 Leading the Team through Strategic Decision-making -- What is decision-making? -- What if I lack confidence when making decisions? -- Are there different kinds of decisions? What are they? -- What are the key steps to arriving at a decision? -- Is there such a thing as a preferred decision-making style? How do I know what mine is? -- So, which is the most effective? -- What effect does team culture have on decision-making? -- How widely should I consult before arriving at a decision? -- Is it acceptable to delegate some decisions? -- Are there analytical tools I could use to help with decision-making? -- How can I encourage my team members to contribute creative ideas in support of the decision-making process? -- How can I be confident that new ideas will work? What steps can I take to try to ensure success? -- How do I implement decisions successfully? How do I communicate decisions to the team? -- How can I monitor the progress and impact of decisions? -- 9 Conducting Effective Performance Management Reviews -- What are performance management reviews? -- Why conduct regular performance management reviews? What are the benefits? -- Why has there developed a much closer link between performance and development? -- What is my role as team leader in performance management reviews? What is the expectation of team members? -- What key factors have been found to determine the success of performance management reviews?.

How can I best prepare for a performance management review? -- Is there an easy to follow structure that I could use when conducting a review meeting? -- How can I help team members agree meaningful objectives? -- What skills do I need at a review meeting? -- How do I handle pauses and silences? -- How important is body language/non-verbal communication? -- How do I make notes at the review discussion and still show that I am really listening? -- How do I give feedback in a helpful and constructive way? -- How do I give constructive feedback in negative situations? -- What else should I take account of when communicating with colleagues at the review? -- How do I maintain a good relationship with a team member to whom I have had to give negative feedback? -- 10 Coaching for Better Team Performance -- What is coaching? -- How does coaching benefit team members? -- How does coaching actually work? -- How well do I need to know my colleagues to be able to coach them well? -- What role is there for team leaders in coaching? -- What work situations may be conducive to a coaching approach? -- What makes a good coach? -- Are there different styles of coaching? -- How do I initiate a coaching session? -- How will I recognize a successful coaching relationship? -- Can I use coaching with the whole team rather than with individuals? -- Coaching seems to rely a great deal on trust - how can I build this trust with members of my team? -- How are knowledge, skills and behaviours applied in coaching situations? -- What are the characteristics of good listening within a coaching context? -- What hinders effective listening? -- In practical terms, how can team leaders manage the coaching relationship? -- 11 Developing an Action Research Culture within the Team -- What is action research? -- What do action researchers do?.

Why is research by practitioners important? -- What is the action research process? -- Won't staff resent the intrusion? Where does the time come from for carrying out the research? -- What skills do I need to carry out action research? -- How can I get the research under way? How will I know whether the project is manageable? -- How do I decide on my focus and identify my problem? -- How do I develop and implement a plan of action for my action research? -- Are there any ethical considerations I should be taking account of in my research? -- What should I take into consideration when collecting the data? -- What should I know about sampling, reliability, validity and bias? -- What techniques are there for dealing with data? -- What are the most effective techniques for data presentation and analysis? -- Once up and running, how do I keep track of the action research project? -- What exactly is a literature search? How do I plan a literature search? -- What is validation? Why is it important in the context of action research? -- How do I write up my action research? In what form should I present it? -- Bibliography -- Index.