Tackling Internal and External Issues

Overview

This lesson will discuss how a team lead can handle internal and external politics. Let's learn about some preemptive strategies and corrective solutions to alleviate conflict and foster success in the workplace.

Playing politics

“Everyone sees what you appear to be, few experience what you really are.” — Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince.

Playing politics is unavoidable in a team lead position. Let’s take a look at a few actions a team lead can take to maintain good relationships in the workplace.

Good neighbors

Delivery teams frequently work with other teams. It's worth keeping on positive terms with the people running the projects you rely upon. It's important to be timely and responsive to their requests, even if the answer is no. Be sure to share useful information with them, especially if it's something that can impact both teams (a database going out of support, for example). When interfacing with tools that belong to another team, it's best practice to take the same protective measures you would with a third party.