TEAM LEADERS’ SKILLS – FINDINGS FROM THE IT SECTOR

Abstract

: THE WORK OF TEAM LEADERS IS A COMPLEX ONE, INVOLVING A HIGH DEGREE OF RESPONSIBILITY AND A SUSTAINED EFFORT TO ACHIEVE THE ASSUMED OBJECTIVES. THE PURPOSE OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO IDENTIFY THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS OF A SUCCESSFUL TEAM LEADER. THE ADDED VALUE OF THIS STUDY IS GIVEN BY THE PRACTICAL PART, WHICH HAS TWO RESEARCH OBJECTIVES: (1) TO IDENTIFY THE MOST IMPORTANT SKILLS AT THE LEVEL OF A SUCCESSFUL TEAM LEADER SUITABLE FOR BOTH TEAM LEADERS AND TEAM MEMBERS, ALONG WITH (2) TO ANALYZE THE DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN THE SKILLS DESIRED BY BOTH PARTIES (TEAM LEADERS RESPECTIVELY TEAM MEMBERS). THE RESEARCH METHOD USED IS A QUANTITATIVE ONE, THE OPINION POLL BEING CONDUCTED AT THE LEVEL OF EMPLOYEES OF AN IT COMPANY. IN ORDER TO COLLECT PRIMARY DATA, A QUESTIONNAIRE WAS LAUNCHED, THE SAMPLE BEING MADE UP OF EMPLOYEES WHO WORK IN TEAMS, WHETHER THEY ARE TEAM LEADERS OR JUST TEAM MEMBERS. THE MOST IMPORTANT CONCLUSIONS INDICATE THAT THE MOST IMPORTANT HARD SKILLS FOR A SUCCESSFUL TEAM LEADER ARE UNDERSTANDING THE BUSINESS PROCESS, UNDERSTANDING DATA SECURITY AND HAVING TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AND THE MOST IMPORTANT SOFT SKILLS FOR A SUCCESSFUL TEAM LEADER ARE COMMUNICATION SKILLS, ADAPTABILITY, EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE, TASK DELEGATION AND TIME MANAGEMENT. AT THE LEVEL OF THE STUDIED SAMPLE, THE OPINION OF TEAM LEADERS COINCIDES WITH THE OPINION OF TEAM MEMBERS ON THE MOST IMPORTANT HARD SKILLS OF A SUCCESSFUL MANAGER, RESPECTIVELY COINCIDES ONLY PARTIALLY IN THE CASE OF SOFT SKILLS OF A SUCCESSFUL TEAM MANAGER.