Chapter 13
Leading Effective Teams
Chapter Overview
Through an understanding of helping and hindering roles, Situational Leadership® can
make teams more effective.
Chapter Learning Objectives
After studying this chapter, each student should be able to:
1. Discuss how effective teams act as a competitive strategy
2. Discuss the obstacles that organizations face in forming effective teams
Key Terms and Concepts
Collection: two or more individuals with common goals
Organization: two or more individuals who have stated and formal goals
Group: two or more individuals interacting, in which the existence of the group is
necessary for the individual group members’ needs to be satisfied.
Teams as a Competitive Strategy
Organizations are faced with the incredible pressure of surviving in a competitive
Obstacles to Effective Team Performance
The lack of collective emotional intelligence in teams, such as absence of trust, fear of
Individuals and Teams
The Situational Leadership® Model works well with both individuals and teams in that
diagnosing, adapting, and communicating applies to both. When working with teams, it is
Leadership in a Team Environment
When working in a team environment, Situational Leadership® centers around five
interrelated questions:
What objectives do we want to accomplish? The manager needs to determine what task-
What is the team’s performance readiness in the situation? After objectives have been
determined, the manager must diagnose the team’s performance readiness to accomplish
the objective.
Performance Readiness level R1. This is considered the “forming” stage, where
there is uncertainty characterized by a lack of goal and role clarity amongst the
What intervention should the leader make? The leader is now able to determine what
What was the result of this leadership intervention? The leader should then assess
What follow-up, if any, is required? Finally, the leader determines if there is a gap
Team Problem-Solving Modes
Teams develop personalities through the collective behavior of the people within the
team, which differentiates them from other teams. Teams have modes – patterns of
behavior as perceived by others. Team modes can be looked at much like leadership
Helping and Hindering Roles
Individuals within teams play roles – the individual behavior that each member exhibits.
It is not that a particular role by itself is helping or hindering team performance, but that
S1 (HT/LR) Competency
Helping Role Category: Establishing. S1 influence behavior proposes tasks and goals,
defines problems, helps set rules, and contributes ideas. Establishing indicators include:
S2 (HT/HR) Competency
Helping Role Category: Persuading. S2 influence behavior involves requesting the facts
and relevant information on the problem, seeking out expressions of feelings and values,
S3 (HR/LT) Competency
Helping Role Category: Committing. Individual helps to ensure that all members are part
of the decision-making process, identifies the relationships between ideas, restates
S4 (LR/LT) Competency
Helping Role Category: Attending. Individual listens as well as speaks, is easy to talk to,
encourages input from team members, and tries to understand as well as be understood.
Suggested Teaching Approaches
Activities
1. The written case study for this chapter is provided to generate discussion around
how different people’s styles can impact team performance. Use the case study to
help students explore their thought process around this concept.
Exam Questions
1. What are Dumaine’s four guidelines for the most effective use of teams?
Answer:
The first guideline is to use the right team for the job. The second guideline is to
2. Explain how Performance Readiness® can be applied to teams. Provide
examples.
Answer:
Just as individuals have different Performance Readiness® levels, so do teams.
For example, graduate students may have a high level of Performance
3. What does a team Performance Readiness® look like at an R1, R2, R3, and R4?
Answer:
At a Performance Readiness® level R1, a team resembles “pick up sticks” in
terms of their orientation toward the specific objective. The entire team is unable