Challenges of Leading Technical Teams (Coursera)

Challenges of Leading Technical Teams (Coursera)

Great Leaders lead by example. They protect their team members, empower them, and help them to improve and grow while the team members, in turn, help the organization improve and grow. Working together with the team, they envision what the organization could be and inspire others to help execute the strategy that will take them there. Many times, they see their team members as more of a family than simply as business acquaintances.

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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.

Go to Class
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