Being a great later isn’t always an easy task, but it is considerably more difficult if your team is faced with a tight deadline. When you are a leader, your team will look to you for a sense of direction and understanding, and it is important that you can provide them with this at all times. If you are working towards a deadline, every second counts.
While every leader will likely have a different leadership style and a way of doing things, there are some general pointers that every leader should take on board and try to adhere to. Many leaders make the mistake of thinking that a great leader is solely about getting good results, but there is a lot more to it than that. A great leader cares about team happiness, productivity and efficiency, as well as getting good results. Here is a guide on how to be a great leader, especially when your team is pressed by a tight deadline.
First of all, it is important that when you are leading a team, you remain calm and don’t get visibly stressed, even if you feel it! This is important, as your team members are likely to follow your lead and your stress can impact how well they work. However, a lot of the time, trying to meet a tight deadline can be stressful, so it is important that you learn to manage your levels of stress as a leader, instead of letting them show and disturbing the whole group. If you start to panic, then you will find that a lot of other things start to go wrong!
A good leader knows everything about each individual in their team, and is aware of their strengths and weaknesses. This is an essential aspect of being a good leader when trying to meet a deadline as you are responsible for making sure everyone has the correct task. For example, if your team is pressed for a deadline and you give the wrong team member the wrong task, then this could cause severe consequences for overall productivity. Not only should you know your team’s strengths and weaknesses, but you should also know your own. If someone in your team is better at a task than you are, then a good leader would step aside.
Often leaders do not provide their team members with the right equipment and software that they need to ensure that they get the job done correctly and as quickly as possible. This can include a wide range of different things, from having an appropriate workspace, to making the most of technology by having the most useful programs available to them.
For example, you can make connectivity much more achievable by using online platforms to share workloads, ideas, deadlines, and appointments. For example, using an online program like TimeTackle makes it easy to export Google Calendar to Excel so that you and all other team members are aware of each other’s commitments at the click of a button. This can help to save precious time when you are working to a tight deadline.
Many leaders make the mistake of trying to do too much by themselves and forget how important it is to work as a team and communicate with others. Being a leader doesn’t mean that you are responsible for every aspect of the work yourself, and instead it means you are in charge of coordinating how well individual team members work together. Whether you communicate in person or virtually through Skype calls, a great leader keeps all team members up to speed so that everyone is working efficiently.
When you are leading a team that is under pressure, it is beneficial to give each individual team member a set and clear goal that they are working together. This helps to focus them, but also, they will see how their role in the team is crucial as everyone’s work comes together.
Being a great leader is about listening to others as much as it is about talking to others, so be sure to stay focused and be approachable to the individuals that you are leading.
