Challenges of Leading Technical Teams (Coursera)

This course can be taken for academic credit as part of CU Boulder’s Master of Engineering in Engineering Management (ME-EM) degree offered on the Coursera platform. The ME-EM is designed to help engineers, scientists, and technical professionals move into leadership and management roles in the engineering and technical sectors. With performance-based admissions and no application process, the ME-EM is ideal for individuals with a broad range of undergraduate education and/or professional experience.

Course 3 of 3 in the Principles of Leadership: Leading Technical Teams Specialization.

What You Will Learn

- How to develop a new team.

- How to set a vision for the team and achieve agreement with its goals.

- How to ask questions properly in order to support making good decisions.

Syllabus

WEEK 1

Hiring and Building a Team

Hiring and building a team are a leader's responsibilities. The words are simple and straightforward. But, as with most things, the difficulty and opportunity are found in the detail and nuance.

WEEK 2

Setting a Vision and Getting a Team Moving

After a team is created, a leader starts by setting a vision and creating an environment that will get the team moving with organization and assigning responsibilities.

WEEK 3

Managing a Team and Conducting Effective Meetings

If one has assigned responsibilities effectively, employees will begin their work on a daily basis. At that point, your responsibilities shift to managing the team. One of the most common ways used to manage a team is to conduct meetings: a skill that is often done incorrectly but, if done properly, can help the team to unite.

WEEK 4

Asking Better Questions and Making Good Decisions

A more advanced method used to manage a team is by asking questions.