Week 8 Flashcards
1
Q
What is a team?
A
A small group of people (6-8 people).
They cooperate in such a way that they accomplish more then the sum of the individuals.
This is known as synergy.
2
Q
Besides leader, what are the three essential roles that a successful team needs.
A
- Doer
- Thinker
- Carer
3
Q
What is a ‘doer’?
A
- Action oriented, constantly urging the team to get on with the task in hand.
- Tend to be totally conecerned with the task (the what) often at the expense of the process (the how).
- Impatient with ‘waffle’ and tend to swing into action without thinking things through carefully enough or considering alternatives.
- Always want to be active.
- Is prepared to get involved to help others.
- Wants to see progress and adherence to plans.
- Gets bored with too much discussion.
- Hates time wasting.
- Works hard to finish the task.
4
Q
What is a ‘thinker’?
A
- People who are good at producing carefully considered ideas and weighing up idea from other people.
- They rarely have the most to say; in fact they are amongst the quietest members of the team.
- When they do speak they are the sort of people who come up with a winning idea, as long as it is listened to.
- Collects and analyses information.
- Listens to what is being said and watches what is going on.
- Is sometimes quiet before contributing ideas.
- Thinks through the problem.
- Sees solutions anticipates problems.
5
Q
What is a ‘carer’?
A
- People oriented.
- Tend to be alert to relationship issues within the team and to be good at cheering people up, easing tensions and maintaining harmony.
- Carers therefore help the leader to counterbalance the doer and thinkers in the team who both tend to be task, not people oriented.
- Is concerned that everybody is fitting in.
- Contributes humour and builds bridges around the team.
- Works to develop a team spirit.
- Is keen to get everybody to agree.
- Watches out for others feelings and attitudes.
- Eases tension and fosters a positive spirit.
6
Q
John Adair introduced the principle of the Functional Approach, which provides an objective way of increasing effective leadership in organisations. According to Adair, what are the three areas in which a leader must work?
A
- Achieving the TASK.
- Building and maintaining the TEAM.
- Developing the INDIVIDUAL.
7
Q
What are the Traditional Leadership styles?
A
- Autocratic / Directive.
- Persuasive / Co-operative.
- Consultative / Participative.
- Democratic / Self-Directive.
8
Q
How is an Autocratic / Directive leadership defined?
A
- The leader dictates what does on, takes all the decisions himself and does not involve his staff, nor seek their views.
- The task in hand is the only real concern of the leader, and the style involves very close direction and control by the leader.
- It is sometimes referred to as the “Tell” style of leadership.
9
Q
How is an Persuasive / Co-operative leadership defined?
A
- The leader attempts to sell his ideas to his staff, once she has taken a decision.
- This begins to be two-way communication where the leader is concerned with his team’s views and opinions.
- This is sometimes known as the “Sell” style.
10
Q
How is an Consultative / Participative leadership defined?
A
- The leader discusses issues with his or her staff.
- After considering their views the leader will still make the decision themselves.
- In this participative style, working relationships feature much more strongly.
- Employees are made to feel that their contributions count for something, and that their views are important.
11
Q
How is an Democratic / Self-Directive leadership defined?
A
- The leader accepts full involvement of his staff, and everything is shared.
- This style involves maximum delegation of authority.
- Employees are often left on their own to “get o with the job” without any real direction from the leader.
12
Q
How is a style derived for a particular team?
A
- Organisational philosophy (Formal vs informal).
- Employees’ competence.
- Employees’ attitudes.
- Employees’ expectations.
- Nature of the task.
- Group’s ability to work together.
13
Q
What are the hallmarks of a good team?
A
- Has a high success rate
- Agrees, clear, challenging objectives (everyone in the team contributes to, shares understanding of, and is committed to the objectives).
- Has a leader who adjusts the leadership style from participative to autocratic in the light of the circumstances.
- A mix of people who contribute in different but complementary ways thus achieving synergy i.e. the team produces more than the sum of the equal parts.
- Operates in such away that a balance is struck between concern for the task (what) and concern for the process (how).
- Creates a supportive atmosphere where people are happy to accept risk, say what they really think, develop one another’s ideas, and commit to an agreed course of action even though there may be differences of opinion.
- Learns from experience, both successes and failures, by reviewing its processes and thus constantly improving its own performance.
- Works hard and plays hard, i.e. its members not only enjoy achieving challenging objectives but enjoy themselves as they do so inside and outside work.
14
Q
The development of teams is an evolutionary process. Left to its own devices, a team will generally go through different stages. Describe these stages using a three stage model.
A
- The chaotic stage.
- The formal stage.
- The skillful stage.
15
Q
Describe the chaotic stage of the evolutionary process for a team.
A
- No time given to setting clear objectives that everyone subscribes to.
- Inadequate time given to planning how to tackle the task.
- If a leader is appointed, no thought is given to clarifying the leader’s role.
- It is likely the appointed leader will try to impose his or her authority on a group who will not consent.
- Ideas will be voiced but not listened to and developed or rejected because the level of interrupting and over speaking will be inefficiently high.
- The success of the group will be patchy and certainly not definite; sometimes despite the chaos, it will get by; sometimes it will fail.
