The aim of this book is to provide a practical guide for new and aspiring team leaders and supervisors. The book covers the main areas of concern for new team leaders and supervisors, and it is also relevant to experienced practitioners who wish to refresh their approach to managing teams.

This book is based on information and knowledge obtained and developed from:

The book is not intended as a prescriptive guide to leading and supervising teams. It presents well tested and current approaches to teamwork and a range of examples and case studies, and these are meant to demonstrate current practice in a wide range of information and library units. After reading this book or dipping into it, I hope that you will use the tools and techniques that are most relevant to your professional context. Each topic is covered in a practical and down-to-earth manner. Although references are made to relevant theories the main focus of this book is on the practice of leading and supervising teams; it is very much a ‘how to …’ guide for supervisors and team leaders. Some chapters include self-assessment audits to enable you to consider and reflect upon your knowledge and skills. There are also a number of activities and the purpose of these is to help you to relate the content of each chapter to your own work situation. Individual chapters conclude with a list of references and the book ends with a guide to further reading and a brief index.

Chapter 1 provides an overview of working as a supervisor or team leader. This includes understanding the role and the responsibilities of team leaders and supervisors. This chapter includes an audit tool which you may use to reflect on and think about your knowledge and skills with respect to leading and supervising teams.