Personal effectivenessTypical team roles

When taking part in a community challenge, it is important to understand personal effectiveness and the value of reflection. A personal development plan helps identify skills to be improved.

Part of National: Foundation KS4Community challenge

Typical team roles

A typical team consists of the following roles:

  • team leader
  • team secretary
  • treasurer
  • marketing and public relations officer
  • operations manager

Team leader

A team leader is the person who has a key role in decision making. The leader will be the one who meetings and ensures that the for every meeting is followed. Team leaders will also guide the discussion and ensure that everyone knows what is expected of them.

Team secretary

A team secretary takes the responsibility for recording what was discussed in meetings and notes any action points to be carried out after the meeting. Team secretaries will produce of each meeting and make sure that everyone knows the date of the next meeting. They will also deal with any other administrative tasks that the team requires, such as taking phone calls, replying to emails or dealing with suppliers.

Treasurer

The treasurer oversees the finances of the team. This means that they have effective financial systems in place, which record details about funding, sales, outgoings, fundraising and stock. The treasurer makes sure that the team does not run into financial difficulties and complies with relevant legislation.

Marketing and public relations officer

The marketing and public relations officer is responsible for understanding customer needs. He/she will carry out market research to find out what will best meet customer needs. It may involve finding out if there is a demand for the service, event or product, and if so, what would be the most suitable price to charge. Public relations refer to how the general public are communicated with. The marketing and public relations officer may use social media to target customers for a fundraising event, for example.

Operations manager

An operations manager makes sure that everything is in place to run an event or undertake some form of neighbourhood enhancement, eg if a team were planning on painting a mural on a wall in a park, the operations manager would have to:

  • ask for permission from the owners of the park
  • purchase paint and paintbrushes
  • confirm the design
  • plan the timings of undertaking the activity

Once everyone is aware of their team role and the tasks associated with that role, the team should be able to fulfil their goal.

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