“Team leadership is something that pretty much everyone should do.”
“Team leadership is something that pretty much everyone should do”, says Maren Harford, a Senior Business Systems Analyst at Nelson Marlborough DHB, even if you are not working as a team leader. In her role, she works on a range of projects across the organisation and this can involve project management and mentoring younger staff.
She enrolled in Introduction to Team Leadership after seeing it promoted on the organisation’s intranet. While the weekly time commitment seemed daunting at first, it took her less time than she expected.
Maren especially enjoyed the face to face sessions, held on the hospital campus. She describes the facilitator Kari as knowledgeable and “absolutely awesome”. Her guidance was really clear, tasks were hands- on and she answered everybody’s questions. After a session Maren could see some things where she immediately wanted to make a change. “You come out of those sessions and you feel really inspired”.
Maren also liked how leadership was put across as a skill set that anyone can learn, and you can be more proactive in the team if you have this skill set. She says, “It’s not only a skill that you can apply if you are in a leadership position, it is a skill set that you can apply with your colleagues, it is a really, really good knowledge base to have.” The course has challenged her to think about her communication, and to think about how different approaches may suit different people, and how she can support and encourage colleagues. She also appreciated the opportunity to meet people from across the organisation and make some new contacts.
For anyone thinking about taking up the course, Maren would encourage you to “Just take it!” even if you are not in leadership yet, you’ll gain valuable skills for working within a team, and prepare yourself for the next step.