A number of people have asked about the role (the “job description”) of the Team Lead. Here are some ideas.
The Seasonal Team Lead does just that: leads the seasonal team. He or she communicates its results and needs to the Leadership Team, the support teams, other seasonal teams as needed, the staff as needed, and, when appropriate, the Congregation’s members. The Seasonal Team Lead is not responsible for staffing his or her team: that is the Leadership Team’s responsibility, though the Team Lead is encouraged to assist.
In working with the Congregation’s staff, the Team Lead, or anyone else on the team, explains the operational needs of the team regarding any specific event, other than regular events such as Torah study, Shabbat services, and BLL. (When a team member other than the Team Lead works with staff, it’s important to ensure the staff gets clear direction: having two people asking for conflicting things regarding an event will be confusing!)
As an example, let’s assume the Seasonal Team wants special publicity for a particular BLL speaker, beyond the normal BLL publicity. The Team Lead can, and should, request any help from the Publicity Contacts, perhaps providing a list of desired additional publications. A member of the Seasonal Team might send a message to the executive directors or newsletter editors of the other local congregations if no one on the Communications Team has contacts. All of this should be flexible when, for example, someone on the seasonal team is good friends with the newsletter editor at another congregation!
Yes – I think you have caught the most important thing, the team lead leads. They are entitled to support from the board as best we are able and ought to report back to the board at the conclusion of whatever they do.
The board is the repository of the institutional memory and experience. However it is not our job to determine what went wrong with the event even as we think about how we might do better next time. This is a fine and difficult line, not always easy to walk. Sadly, I have no formula to offer in this regard.
One other thing here.
Because the Seasonal Team will probably be small—a total of 3-4 people—its structure can be as formal or informal as the Team Lead and the team members decide. The Team Lead could rotate monthly, each team member could serve as lead on a set of events (e.g., Person A takes Shabbat morning services, Person B takes Shabbat evening services and BLL, person C takes one-time event X): it’s up to the team to structure itself.