subject: Team Leader as a Liaison [print this page] The team leader also serves as a liaison among other teams, team leaders, and management. In this role, the leader helps arrange the cooperation among teams and keeps management informed of team progress. In addition to making sure the teams goals mesh with those of the organization, the leader must also coordinate with other teams so their actions dont become obstacles to the leaders team. A team that only focuses on its own goals rather than on how it fits in with other teams and the whole organization can end up working at cross purposes with those other teams. For example, a manufacturing teams search for product uniformity and efficiency ends up being a sales teams lack of product variety. Three areas in which a team leader will take on the liaison role include: - Timing: The outputs from any one team are usually the inputs needed by another team or group of people to do their work. They usually need these inputs at a certain time. Team leaders coordinate their actions with each other to minimize delays in delivery when needed and in the accumulation of work in progress. Work in progress is partially completed work that is waiting in line for someone else to do something to do. Anytime there is work in progress, it costs the company money because it ties up resources and slows down delivery of final products to customers. - Turf Issues: Sometimes it isnt clear which team is responsible for certain activities. A simple example might be who is supposed to load a truck-the team that gets outputs to the loading dock or the drivers? Team leaders, representing their teams, can usually work out such issues. - Resources: Sometimes two teams need access to the some tools-for example, computers, Team leaders can work out between them who might have access and when.
