HBR Guide to Leading Teams (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 4

Agree on Individuals’ Roles

Once you’ve set task and process goals, establish the roles that each member will play. That includes your role, too: You may have the title “leader,” but what does that mean—to you and to the rest of the team? Even though everyone has worked on teams before, each individual will bring different ideas about leadership to this team. Some people may expect you to make all decisions unilaterally and tell them what to do. Others may expect you to lead the team in making decisions together and build consensus on who will handle which activities.

To prevent confusion, you must have an explicit conversation about who will do what on the team. (Here, we’re talking about “internal” roles, essential to producing solid ...