Leadership

Week 4 - Execution and Evaluation

It takes time for a group to become a team. Teams often go through the following stages:

Stage 1 – The Chaotic Stage

No time give to set objectives. Inadequate time given to planning. No clear team roles. Poor listening skills. Lots of interrupting. Idea lost. Fun – for a while!

Stage 2 – The Formal Stage

The group’s reaction to chaos will make everything formal. Procedures and roles will be followed rigidly. Strong leadership, step-by-step procedures. Tends to be overly constricting

Stage 3 – The Skilful Stage

Confidence and success will lead to a relaxation of the overly rigid 2nd stage. Responsibilities are shared and trust generated. Less directive leadership. Flexible, relaxed and co-operative.

Leadership styles will vary with the experience and trust of both the team and the leader. All teams start cautiously. Over time, successful teams generate trust and allow all members to take part and contribute equally.

Adair’s Model

Throughout a project a Leader must:

  1. Maintain impetus in order to achieve the goal
  2. Consider the whole team – always building, always encouraging
  3. Set personal standards and help others to achieve their potential

Barriers to an effective team

Lack of agreement on objectives

  1. Objectives not explicit
  2. Differing objectives
  3. Hidden agendas
  4. Different levels of commitment

Lack of agreement on constraints

  1. Lack of understanding of time limits
  2. No agreement upon authority or resource limits
  3. Lack of information

Lack of agreement on decision-making process

  1. Authority and control
  2. Vocal Minority
  3. Majority agreement/no majority view
  4. Lack of proper consensus being reached

Ineffective Communication

  1. Poor communication and Poor listening
  2. Interruptions
  3. Lack of continuous discussion
  4. Ambiguity

Evaluation

It is a British custom to sit down after completing a task and to criticise. This can be useful, as it will highlight failures and areas for improvement. But it is also demoralizing.

We don’t aim to replicate failure – we aim to replicate success. It is far more important to work out what went well, why it went well and how it can be repeated. This way moral is strengthened and we ensure that we’ve highlighted the steps to success.