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1 – 10 of over 78000A.G. Sheard and A.P. Kakabadse
This monograph summarises the key influences of leadership behaviour on the transformation process associated with creation of an effective and high performing team. It clarifies…
Abstract
This monograph summarises the key influences of leadership behaviour on the transformation process associated with creation of an effective and high performing team. It clarifies the key factors that are relevant to a team at each stage of the transformation process and the leadership roles that each team member can play. The role of an organisation's senior management is considered both in terms of the impact it has on the transformation process within specific teams and in terms of creating the necessary organisational environment to make effective teams the norm. Some reasons why senior management behaviour is often perceived as inconsistent and unhelpful are explored. Specific recommendations are made to help senior managers to adapt their behaviour, and in so doing become more context‐sensitive to the needs of the environment as it changes. Some tools and techniques are presented that have been found in practice to help senior managers adapt their behaviour to that most appropriate at a given time, and to create the organisational infrastructure needed to make effective teams the organisational norm rather than the exception. A case study is presented illustrating the networked nature of leadership and the culture change associated with making effective teams “the way we do things around here.”
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This chapter examines the role of team processes in predicting overall effectiveness for multidisciplinary teams charged with commercializing new technologies. Theory suggests…
Abstract
This chapter examines the role of team processes in predicting overall effectiveness for multidisciplinary teams charged with commercializing new technologies. Theory suggests that both social- and task-related processes are essential in order for diverse teams to achieve their full potential. Furthermore, these team processes evolve over time, creating even more complexity related to technology commercialization. A panel of teams is surveyed over time to capture this dynamism and the role of key social and task processes. Results suggest that social team processes, such as cohesion and identification, predict affective performance (i.e., team satisfaction and commitment). Objective team performance is primarily a function of task cohesion and trust. Furthermore, affective performance serves as a mediator between social team processes and objective performance for these high-tech teams. Post-hoc analyses examine the differences in the development of both task and social processes for high- and low-performing teams. High-performing teams have higher levels of task-focused interaction, functional conflict and task cohesion early on in the commercialization process as compared with low-performing teams. Effective teams establish key social processes early on, which provides the foundation for team success.
Helge Lippert and Victor Dulewicz
There is a paucity of research into high-performing virtual teams. This study aims to design and test a model of virtual team performance and to produce a profile of high…
Abstract
Purpose
There is a paucity of research into high-performing virtual teams. This study aims to design and test a model of virtual team performance and to produce a profile of high-performing teams.
Design/methodology/approach
The main constructs found to have influenced virtual team performance in business were trustworthiness, commitment, communication characteristics, cross-cultural communication style and structure effects. New or revised scales to measure these and a new performance measure, based on five performance criteria, were developed. A research model was designed and tested, and a profile of high-performance teams produced. The sample from a global telecoms company comprised 108 global virtual teams. Two senior managers rated performance independently.
Findings
Hierarchical regression results explained 75.7 per cent of the variance of performance. Analysis of variance revealed that model fit was highly statistically significant. Trustworthiness was identified as the predominant factor, explaining a majority of the dependent variable’s variance, while interpersonal communication, commitment and cross-cultural communication style were also identified as important. The 52 items differentiating high- and low-performing teams are reported and discussed.
Originality/value
The research model makes a contribution to team performance theory and understanding, especially the relative importance of constructs for explaining performance. The profile of high-performing teams adds greatly to our knowledge and provides valuable guidance for team management, selection and development.
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Charles Margerison and Dick McCann
The successful management of work teams is a key factor in the effectiveness of any organisation. We have found that managers have different approaches to making their team…
Abstract
The successful management of work teams is a key factor in the effectiveness of any organisation. We have found that managers have different approaches to making their team successful. However, they agree that the end purpose must be to achieve a winning combination in which the individuals work together to achieve the task objectives. The role of the manager in this process is central. Often we can find many highly talented individuals, but they need a skilled manager to bring them together as a team.
Desirée H. van Dun and Celeste P.M. Wilderom
Why are some lean workfloor teams able to improve their already high performance, over time, and others not? By studying teams' and leaders' behaviour-value patterns, this…
Abstract
Purpose
Why are some lean workfloor teams able to improve their already high performance, over time, and others not? By studying teams' and leaders' behaviour-value patterns, this abductive field study uncovers a dynamic capability at the team level.
Design/methodology/approach
Various methods were employed over three consecutive years to thoroughly examine five initially high-performing lean workfloor teams, including their leaders. These methods encompassed micro-behavioural coding of 59 h of film footage, surveys, individual and group interviews, participant observation and archival data, involving objective and perceptual team-performance indicators. Two of the five teams continued to improve and perform highly.
Findings
Continuously improving high lean team performance is found to be associated with (1) team behaviours such as frequent performance monitoring, information sharing, peer support and process improvement; (2) team leaders who balance, over time, task- and relations-oriented behaviours; (3) higher-level leaders who keep offering the team face-to-face support, strategic clarity and tangible resources; (4) these three actors' endorsement of self-transcendence and openness-to-change work values and alignment, over time, with their behaviours; and (5) coactive vicarious learning-by-doing as a “stable collective activity pattern” among team, team leader, and higher-level leadership.
Originality/value
Since lean has been undertheorised, the authors invoked insights from organisational behaviour and management theories, in combination with various fine- and coarse-grained data, over time. The authors uncovered actors' behaviour-value patterns and a collective learning-by-doing pattern that may explain continuous lean team performance improvement. Four theory-enriching propositions were developed and visualised in a refined model which may already benefit lean practitioners.
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Presents the faces model, a new model of team development which describes teams using five common patterns, called “faces”. The model assumes that teams wear one face, then move…
Abstract
Presents the faces model, a new model of team development which describes teams using five common patterns, called “faces”. The model assumes that teams wear one face, then move to wearing another in a somewhat random order, unless members proactively drive their teams to wear a face or engage in a pattern which they believe is more desirable than the others. Describes the “performance” face in detail, since it is the most desirable pattern for most teams in organizations. Also describes approaches for moving typical teams from each of the other faces to the performance face. Takes issue with many popular development models which describe most groups as moving through a specific sequence of patterns.
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Denise Bedford, Ira Chalphin, Karen Dietz and Karla Phlypo
Charles Margerison and Dick McCann
Why do some teams work effectively and others not? The authors, in examining the attributes of High Performing Teams, show that there are three major areas which team leaders need…
Abstract
Why do some teams work effectively and others not? The authors, in examining the attributes of High Performing Teams, show that there are three major areas which team leaders need to concentrate upon. These are example, experience and expertise. There are certain work functions that are critical to success and there is a need for every work team to have a member who can co‐ordinate and integrate these functions. This person performs the “linking” role.
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Aims to explore how high performing teams create exponential growth.
Abstract
Purpose
Aims to explore how high performing teams create exponential growth.
Design/methodology/approach
Characteristics of the market within which the high‐performance team operated are described as accelerated change (high velocity) and knowledge creation (innovation and research). These characteristics more often than not describe characteristics of firms operating in the global enterprise system. The opinions and experiences expressed are articulated so that others who wish to emulate significant levels of performance have a roadmap to such success.
Findings
Conditions for success across a wide range of organizational principles, actions and philosophies are articulated and highlight the systems orientation of high performance. Organizations who wish for accelerated growth, resilience and change will be introduced to a series of techniques which, when applied, create understanding required for swift action in high velocity, global markets. The viewpoint is grounded in actual experience and the understanding of a leader who led through team leaders for superior outcomes. A model of leadership activities, actions, principles and philosophies required to gain this superior performance is shared.
Practical implications
The article is particularly relevant to practicing leaders in knowledge industries characterized by transaction and innovation speed, as well as the accompanying change that often follows innovation. Application will also be highly relevant to those leaders who lead highly proficient knowledge workers, as the model creates understanding of the organizational conditions necessary to unleash the full potential of these employees.
Originality/value
Practitioners will find the information in the article very useful in helping to focus on day to day operations and the relevant view things which create dynamic results.
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