Team Lead Guide

If you signed up directly on the website, then you are already set up with an account. If you didn't purchase Rising Team yourself, you'll have an email from hello@risingteam.com inviting you to be a team lead. (Check your Promotions folder if you don’t see the email.)

We offer an engagement survey to track how your team trends over time as you use Rising Team. The survey includes a field for “Team” so you will be able to see baseline data for your team. Run the survey before you do any Rising Team sessions to baseline where things stand. Then re-run it periodically after that, ideally quarterly. 

Click on the Kits tab to see the full list of kits we offer. We offer Development Kits focused on building leadership skills and team insights, and Connection Kits focused on deepening team connections.

Based on your subscription plan, you will have access to either a single kit, all Connection Kits, or all Connection and Development Kits.

Each kit has a theme and you can click on it to learn more about the topic. You'll see a "Schedule these first" section with 3 kits at the top of the page that are in the order we recommend to make things easy.

We order the kits based on the science of high performing teams and which topics are important to build a strong foundation. However, you have access to all the available kits up front in case one topic feels like a pressing need for your team. For instance, if you run a baseline survey and find areas that are low, you can choose kits that tie to those specific areas of engagement. If you are using Rising Team as part of a broader company program, then your HR or leadership team may have a certain order they want you to use for the kits. 

Get the first two to three sessions scheduled so you have the time blocked out, at roughly a six week cadence. It’s helpful to schedule well in advance so people block the time on their calendars. Sessions can be done in-person or remotely. Each kit will list a range for the length of time you should book; larger teams may need more time and smaller teams may need less. Once you have a date in mind, click the kit and enter the date under the section titled "Pick a date and time." Then, "Add to calendar."

The calendar invite will not be sent by us to the people you want to attend each session, so be sure to add your team members and a video link or conference room to the calendar invite.

When it comes time to host your first session, log into Rising Team, visit the Kits tab and click "Learn more" on the kit you will be doing. For Development Kits, you should head to the "Learn about the theme" section and read or listen to the three articles. For both Connection and Development Kits you can also preview how the session will unfold. Total prep for the Development Kits should take about 30 minutes and for the Connection Kits, only 5-10 minutes. You can also read our Facilitator Guide for more information on how the sessions operate.

Based on your subscription plan, you will have access to either a single kit, all Connection Kits, or all Connection and Development Kits. You can filter by type within the list of all kits on the Kits tab. If you have access to both Connection Kits and Development Kits, we recommend alternating between the two types aiming to do one or the other once every six weeks.

You do not need to invite your team to the Rising Team site before your session; you can simply add them to the calendar invites to block the time and then invite them to use the product by sharing the link and code with them when you start the first session. That will walk them through the brief process of account creation. If you do prefer to invite them in advance and have them create accounts before the first session, you can do that on the Admin tab by clicking on your team name, and then clicking “View/Edit” next to Team members.

Teams are most successful using Rising Team when they are consistent in running the sessions. One way to ensure that happens is to make it part of your goals or OKRs. If you have an objective around supporting or developing your team, consider adding "Run [x# of] Rising Team sessions" as a key result. (We recommend 2 per quarter.) This will keep you on track and show both your team and your manager that you are committed. It’s also the best way to ensure you see results, like a lift in engagement scores.

Each kit you do will involve a team exercise related to the kit theme. After the session is over, you can see individual results as well as a consolidated view of the full team anytime via the Team tab. Revisit these periodically and consider using them as reference when coaching your team members one-on-one. Each team member can also share or update their own results from the Team tab.

The Reports tab offers "Session summary" reports that combine the end-of-session survey results, exercise results, and reflections and action items by team for each kit. This is also where you can access your engagement survey results each time you field it. Note that the results are anonymized in these reports to keep the data confidential to just the people who completed the session together.

After you run a DevelopmentKit session, you will receive weekly emails with tips for how to continue integrating these concepts into your daily routine. There are ideas to incorporate into your 1:1s and your broader team meetings to continue practicing the skills you are learning, and making sure your team sees your follow up. The Connection Kits don’t have follow up tips.

We recommend running the engagement survey once a quarter or so to track your progress. You can run it again any time you’d like by going to the Reports tab, choosing “Engagement survey” in the dropdown menu, and then clicking on “Run survey again.” As with your first run of the survey, you’ll get a draft of the proposed copy and a link you can send out to your team.

You can edit your team name, change the team lead, and add or remove team members via the Admin tab.

If you have a new team member join or if someone missed a session, you can invite them to catch up on exercises they missed. If they haven’t yet attended a session, you'll need to invite them first via the "Add a new team member" section of the Admin tab. Then, go to the Team tab and click “Send invite” under their name, next to the exercise you want them to take.

Some people use Rising Team with their manager’s team as well as with their own team of direct reports, or with both a project team and a team of direct reports. If you are using Rising Team in the context of multiple teams, you'll see a drop-down menu on the Kits tab and the Teams tab to toggle between different teams. If your Rising Team home page looks empty when you log in, it's likely because you're in a different team view.

If your subscription is part of a larger company-wide program, your reporting chain and/or HR colleagues may have a rollup view of your team’s data. These rollup views on the Reports tab are anonymized, so administrators of the program can see results and comments, but without any names attached.

We're easy to reach, and we're here to help! Email us any questions at hello@risingteam.com or join the Huddle, our private Slack community that's built for managers using Rising Team.