Group Dynamics for Teams by Daniel J. Levi

Author:Daniel J. Levi [Levi, Daniel J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: General, Medical Books, Psychology, Health; Fitness & Dieting, Organizational Behavior, Occupational & Organizational, Business & Investing, Workplace, Business Life, Psychology & Counseling
ISBN: 1412999537
Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc
Published: 2013-03-12T14:00:00+00:00

10.5 Application: The Functional Approach to Leading Teams

Although there is a substantial amount of research on both leadership and team development, there is limited research on the most effective types of leadership for teams (Zaccaro & Klimoski, 2002). Traditional leadership theories do not adequately explain team leadership. Team leaders can adopt various roles, ranging from being an active participant in the team to being an external leader who sets the team’s overall direction and allows the team to manage its internal processes.

From a functional leadership perspective, the goal of the team leader is to help the team operate more effectively (Zaccaro & Marks, 1999). Team leadership is a form of social problem solving that helps the team attain its goals. This includes helping the team interpret and diagnose problems, generate and evaluate solutions, and implement those solutions. Functional leadership is not defined by a specific set of leader behaviors, because the appropriate behavior depends on the characteristics of the team, its task, the environmental context, and the problems it is facing. It is not a specific style of leadership behavior but rather a problem-solving approach to dealing with the problems that teams face.

There are three core leadership functions: setting the direction for the team, managing the team’s operations, and developing the team’s leadership abilities (Zaccaro, Heinen, & Shuffler, 2009). The focus of the team leader depends on the situation the team faces and the maturity of the team. Leaders help the team solve problems in order to meet its goals, while developing the skills and abilities of the team members so they have the collective capacity for leadership. They promote team learning by giving performance feedback to the team and using this information to help the team develop performance strategies that are more effective.

There are several approaches that team leaders can take to support the team (Hackman, 2012). Leaders can focus on the structure and context of the team to ensure it has the capabilities to succeed. Alternatively, team leaders can be actively involved in the internal operations of the team to facilitate performance. Finally, leaders can assume the role of coach to provide guidance to the team when they encounter challenges to performance. From a leadership perspective, establishing the context for the team is the most important factor.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.