To be a good Team Leader and manager you need specific knowledge and skills which will help you in carrying out the continuous and escalating responsibilities of the post. You may know early in your career that you would like to be a Team Leader sometime in the future, or you may have just been appointed as a Team Leader.
Whatever stage you are at, planning your learning and development is an important process which should continue throughout your professional life. The Career Pathway is made up of three levels where it would be helpful to think about your learning and development:
Click on the links below for more information.
Download the Career Progression Pathway document.
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Newly appointed Team Leaders
In your new role you will need support to develop your :
- Managerial and leadership responsibilities
- Clinical expertise to deliver safe & effective person centred care
- Ability to develop services within a multidisciplinary environment to ensure best practice.
This section will guide you through the various levels of development in your chosen career. In the early months of your role you should:
- Learn about your role through your organisational Orientation Programme
- Identify, plan and undertake appropriate learning and development activities
- Use the Competence Assessment Tool for Team Leaders to assess your learning and development needs
- Plan a flexible approach to learning through outline descriptors for development programmes
- Learn about opportunities for further development see below
- Keeping a professional portfolio.
- Your personality type and other potential career choices open to you.
- Learning activities to meet your development needs.
- Your learning style.
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Experienced Team Leaders
As an Experienced Team Leader the skills and knowledge you have acquired in leadership and management should now:
- Participate in developing, implementing and monitoring of standards, policies, procedures and protocols at an organisational level.
- Lead and promote practice/service development initiatives within the organisation.
- Build and maintain partnerships between clinicians and managers.
This should begin to harness your ability to think and act more strategically.
This section will guide you through the continuous levels of development in your role. You should be able to:
- Identify, plan and undertake appropriate Learning and Development activities
- Use the Competence Assessment Tool for Team Leaders to assess your learning and development needs
- Plan a flexible approach to learning through outline descriptors for development programmes
- Learn about Opportunities for further development see below
The Career Progression Pathway can support you for potentially more senior managerial roles.The NIPEC Development Framework can help you to think about: - Keeping a professional portfolio.
- Your personality type and other potential career choices open to you.
- Learning activities to meet your development needs.
- Your learning style.
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Senior Staff Nurse/Practitioners
This section of the website is aimed at senior staff nurses and practitioners who are thinking about becoming a Team Leaders.
Regardless of when you decide this may be the career direction for you, it is important to think about a range of options, ward leadership and management being one of them.
This section should help you think about:
The types of Knowledge and Skills you need to become a Team Leader The Career Progression Pathway includes the development of knowledge and skills specific to Team leadership and management. It also promotes the idea of developing knowledge and skills in areas which can be useful for other career directions if you choose not to become a Team Leader. You can start the development process at any stage in your career, after your preceptorship period.
Outline Descriptors for development programmes have been designed to help you think about the types of learning and development which might be useful for you. This may include elements of formal and informal learning.
Remember: Be flexible in your approach to learning and development activities – you may not always need formal learning activities.
How you identify, plan and undertake appropriate Learning and Development activities to take on the role. You may have already developed some leadership and management skills throughout your career so far. It should be helpful to think about any additional development requirements that you have based on the competencies required to be a Team Leader. The steps below should help you to think about the things you need to do to participate in activities which will help you to think about becoming a Team leader.
Think about the skills you have using a leadership and management framework such as:
- Leadership Qualities Framework
- Competence Assessment Tool for Team leaders
- You can use the Learning and Development Framework to help you think about how you assess your learning and development needs
Talk to the Team leader in the clinical area you are in. Tell him/her that you are interested in participating in some leadership/ management activities within your ward. Use the assessment of your learning needs to identify some Activities which may be helpful for you to undertake or shadow with supervision.
Your Team leader should help you to plan suitable activities with a supervisor/ facilitator. The supervisor/ facilitator should support you throughout the activity period and help you to reflect on your progress/ achievement.
Record your reflection along with a description of each activity in your portfolio.
Applying for a Team Leader post When a Team Leaders post becomes available you want to make sure you do the right things to get the post you want. This starts with filling out the application form well. The link below will help you think about the things you need to do to apply for a Team Leader post: Application and Interview Guidance
You should find it helpful to think about:
- The Core Responsibilities of the Team Leader role
- The core Job Description for a Team Leader
- The core KSF Post Outline for a Team Leader
Preparing for an Interview for a Team Leader post When a Team Leader post becomes available you want to make sure you do the right things to get the post you want. If you are short listed you should take some time to prepare for interview. The following links will help you think about the things you need to do to interview for a Team Leader post: The Opportunities a career pathway to team leadership might provide A career pathway to the role of Team Leader can provide many opportunities to learn and develop. It is helpful to think about how you might go about taking the right opportunities to help you and where they might lead in the future. Learning and Development As a Team Leader you would be leading a team in a multi-professional care setting, with the opportunity to have a direct impact on the quality and efficiency of the service your organisation provides to patients, clients and carers.
The role of Team Leader can be both challenging and rewarding.
To help you think about whether or not you would like to follow this career pathway you should find it helpful to take part in some of the activities that are a part of the daily routine of a Team Leader .
This should help you think about:
- The knowledge and skills you need to be a Team Leader Whether this is a role you will enjoy
- Whether you have a natural ability for the role
How do I Learn and Develop?
When you develop your knowledge and skill it is helpful to record this learning. You can do this by keeping a professional portfolio
The NIPEC Development Framework can help you to think about :
- Keeping a professional Portfolio.
- your Personality Type and suitable Career Choices
- Learning Activities to meet your development needs
- Your Learning Style
Future Choices
Undertaking the role of Team Leader provides you with the opportunity to develop a range of skills and experiences which are relevant for many other career pathways and roles.
Find out more about the types of careers choices nurses and midwives have made after being a Team Leader.