Topic 3: Leading Teams
Research often depends on the combined skills and expertise of a number of people. A team can be described as a group of people whose activities are directed towards achieving a common goal, the achievement of which depends on their integrated efforts. Managing the team's interactions and workload can make the difference between an ordinary or inconclusive result and an exceptional outcome. High-performance team leadership attracts talented staff and students who want to enjoy working in a team with a clear purpose, high standards, and good relationships.
This topic outlines common team dynamics, and identifies the actions a leader should take to effectively coordinate team members and manage the team dynamics. This includes establishing and maintaining effective communication, defining roles and responsibilities, clarifying standards of performance, and determining the special requirements of ‘virtual teams’ that rarely meet face to face but interact electronically.
Although this topic may seem irrelevant to sole researchers it can prompt the question: "Could I improve my research impact and outcomes if I collaborated with other researchers?" Members of your discipline or people whose work impacts on the same area that your research is addressing could form a community of practice in this area. The sections on communication and virtual teams can be applied in these instances.
Learning outcomes
Upon successful completion of this topic you should be able to:
- Identify the attributes of high-performing teams
- Establish sound communication and information practices
- Recognise the importance of establishing expectations, clarifying roles, and building accountability
- Recognise the role of team dynamics in interpersonal relationships
- Recognise the challenges faced in virtual teams.
Topic content
Read the following notes.
3.1 Organisation and communication
3.2 Setting and maintaining standards
3.3 Virtual teams
References
Print
Baskerville, R. & Nandhakumar, J. (2007). Activating and perpetuating virtual teams: now that we're mobile, where do we go? IEEE Transactions on Professional Communication, 50(1), 17–34.
Belbin, R. M. (1993). Team Roles at Work. Butterworth Heinemann Maslow.
Cascio, W. F. & Shurygailo, S. (2003). eLeadership and virtual teams. Organizational Dynamics, 31(4), 362–376.
Further Reading
Carlson, J. R. & Zmud, R. W. (1999) Channel expansion theory and the experiential nature of media richness perceptions. Academy of Management Journal, 42(2), 153–170.
Hersey, P. & Blanchard, K. H. (1999). Leadership and the One Minute Manager. New York: William Morrow.
Herzberg, F. I. (1987). One more time: how do you motivate employees? Harvard Business Review, 65(5), 109–120.
Jain, R. K. & Triandis, H. C. (1997). Management of Research and Development Organisations (2nd ed.). New York: Wiley Interscience.
Kiresuk, T. J., Smith, A. & Cardillo, J. E. (1994). Goal Attainment Scaling: Applications, Theory, and Measurement. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.
Margerison, C. J. & McCann, D. (1991). Team Management, Mercury, London.
Maslow, H. A. (1943) A theory of human motivation. Psychological Review 50, 370–396.
Mumford, M. D., Scott, G. M., Gaddis, B. & Strange, J. M. (2002). Leading creative people: orchestrating expertise and relationships. Leadership Quarterly 13, 705–750.
Tuckman, B. W. (1965). Development sequence in small groups. Psychological Bulletin 63(6), 384–389.
Zigurs, I. (2003). Leadership in virtual teams: oxymoron or opportunity? Organizational Dynamics, 31(4), 339–351.
Online
Team Management Systems (Margerison, C. J. & McCann D.) http://www.tmslearnonline.com/
http://www.12manage.com/methods_margerison_team_management_profile.html
Meredith Belbin Team Roles. http://www.belbin.com/
For detailed information about virtual teams:
http://www.managementhelp.org/grp_skll/virtual/virtual.htm
http://www.seanet.com/~daveg/ltv.htm
Modules
