Ch. 10 - Team Lead.docx

Chapter 10: Team Leadership Description Team: organizational group composed of members who are interdependent, who share common goals, & who must coordinate their activities to accomplish these goals Examples: project mgt teams, task forces, work units, standing committees, quality teams, improvement teams 1920s-30s: focus of human relations mvmt on collaborative efforts at work 1940s: study of group dynamics & development of social science theory 1950s: sensitivity training & T-groups & role of leadership in groups 1960s-70s: era of organizational development focused on developing team & leadership effectiveness thru interventions in ongoing work teams 1980s: encouraged focus on quality teams, benchmarking, & continuous improvement 1990s: focus on organizational teams, while still focusing on quality global perspective focusing on organizational strategies for maintaining competitive advantage 2000s: Ilgen/Hollenbeck/Johnson/Jundt (2005): more complex, focus on more team variables & no longer focus on exclusively the outcome of team performance Functions can be performed by formal team leader and/or shared by team members (team leadership capacity) Team Leadership Model Places leadership in driver?s seat of team effectiveness Model provides a mental road map to help leader diagram problems & solutions Effective performance begins w/ leader?s mental mode (reflects components of problem & environmental/organizational contingencies) A good leader needs to be behaviorally flexible & have a wide repertoire of actions/skills to meet team?s diverse needs (Barge 1996) Leader has special responsibility of functioning in a manner that will help the group achieve effectiveness Leaders must use discretion about which problems need intervention & make choices about which solutions are the most appropriate Leadership Decisions See Model 1st Decision: whether it?s most appropriate to continue to observe & monitor the team or to intervene in team?s activities & take action Monitoring v. Taking Action Internal Group issues v. External Group issues Info Search Structuring All members of team can engage in monitoring (search, structure) & provide help 2nd Decision: determine general task or relational function of intervention that is needed Task leadership: get job done, make decisions, solve problems, adapt to changes, make plans, achieve goals Maintenance: develop positive climate, solve interpersonal problems, satisfy members? needs, develop cohesion Superior leadership = both Task (performance) functions are closely interrelated w/ maintenance (development) functions Virtual teams = importance of cognitive model that focuses first on bldg team relations 3rd Decision: whether to intervene at internal level (team) or external level (environment) Determine LEVEL OF TEAM PROCESS needs Current focus of research: real-life organizational work teams that exist in a larger org. environment Leadership Actions Teams that can manage conflict, collaborate well together, & build commitment will have good relationship Teams that are well connected to & protected from their environment will also be more productive Leader needs the ability to perform these skills & make strategic choice as to the most APPROPRIATE FUNCTION OR SKILL for the intervention To be an effective leader, one needs to respond w/ the action that?s required of the situation Leader must analyze & mediate the situation to make the best decision for good of team Team development problem ? manage conflict, build commitment Environmental problem ? network, advocate, share info Internal Task Leadership Actions Goal focusing (clarify, gain agreement) Structure for results (plan, vision, organize, clarify roles, delegate) Facilitate decision making (inform, control, coordinate, mediate, synthesize, issue focus) Training team members in task skills (educate, develop) Maintain standards of excellence (assess team & individual performance, confront inadequate performance) Internal Relational Leadership Actions Coach team members in interpersonal skills Collaborate (include, involve) Manage conflict & power issues (avoid confrontation, question ideas) Build commitment & spirit de corps (be optimistic, innovate, envision, socialize, reward, recognize) Satisfy individual member needs (trust, support, advocate) Model ethical & principled practices (fair, consistent, normative) External Environmental Leadership Actions Network & form alliances in environment (gather info, increase influence) Advocate & represent team to environment Negotiate upward to secure necessary resources, support & recognition for team Buffer team members from environmental distractions Assess environmental indicators of team?s effectiveness (survey, evaluate, performance indicators) Share relevant environmental info w/ team Team leadership is complex Leaders must be open & objective in understanding & diagnosing team problems & skillful The key assertion of the functional perspective is that the leader is to do whatever is necessary to take care of unmet needs of the group. Team Effectiveness 2critical functions: Performance (task accomplishment) Development (maintenance of team) Team performance: quality of decision making, ability to implement decisions, outcomes of team work in terms of problems solved & work completed, quality of institutional leadership provided by team Team Development: cohesiveness of team & ability of group members to satisfy their own needs while working effectively w/ other team members Effective teams have clear, engaging direction; enabling performance situation that has structure, support, & coaching; adequate resources Conditions of Group Effectiveness Characteristics of Team Excellence Clear, engaging direction Clear, elevating goal Enabling structure Results-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate Enable context Standards of excellence Adequate material resources External support Expert coaching Principled leadership How does the Team Leadership Model work? To help make decisions about current state of team & specific actions Helps leader make sense of complexity of groups & offers practical suggestions based on theory & research Team leader engages in leader mediation process by deciding whether monitoring or taking action is most appropriate Leader might decide to intervene at all 3 levels, addressing the authoritarian individual (int., relational), clarifying group roles (int., task), & negotiating more team autonomy w/ those higher up in the org. (ext.) Helps point way for constant team analysis & improvement Strengths Designed to answer many of the questions not answered in earlier small-group research by focusing on the real-life organizational work group & leadership needed therein Provides a cognitive guide that helps leaders design & maintain effective teams, especially when performance is below standards Takes into acct the changing role of leaders & followers in organizations Help in selection of team leaders Criticisms Model is not completely supported/tested Complex Doesn?t offer on-the-spot answers to specific situations for the team leader Directions for leadership training are vague, complex, & somewhat overwhelming Leadership Instrument Collaborative Team Leader survey/questionnaire Summary Renewed interest in team leadership theory Model provides a framework in which to study the systematic factors that contribute to a group?s outcomes or general effectiveness Strategic decision model has been developed to reveal the various decisions team leaders must make to improve their group?s effectiveness Questionnaires filled out by team members & team leader can aid in diagnosing specific areas of team problems & suggest action steps to be taken by the team Model does need testing & explication Emphasizes functions of leadership that can be shared & distributed w/i work group