A great leader must be able to bring a team together to reach a common goal through the process of applying skills and behaviors to create a solid group relationship for any given situation. It seems to be a universal feeling that when you start a new course and the professor mentions there will be group work, everyone tends to get distressed. Northouse (2016) describes a team as a group of interdependent members working towards a common goal through coordinated activities.
When it comes to team work, establishing a common goal seems to be the easiest part. These are typically assigned by the instructor of the course, or project manager, who divides you into your designated groups or teams. This is also the time for you to discover your team. I have been in a variety of group projects in my schooling and professional careers ranging from committees to essays, and on a variety of different subjects. Every team member has a variety of different ways to contribute to the team, some in more productive ways than others.
Coordinating activities in an academic setting proves to consistently be the difficult part of group work. In an academic setting, such as World Campus, you have to utilize various communication channels while dealing with individuals all over the country to guide the group towards the established goal. My experience has nearly always been negative. Without fail, there is at least one team member who doesn’t communicate or pull their weight, making it difficult for all other members. I found myself always promoting a highly directive, or task, relationship with my team without overstepping the bounds of supporting their insight into the project, which Northouse (2016) classifies as falling in the realm of coaching or directing leadership styles. Being directive, I took the lead in establishing “what is to be done, how it is to be done, and who is responsible for doing it.” (Northouse. 2016. p.94) However, I have always considered myself a good leader in deciding “how much task and how much relationship is required in a given context or situation” (Northouse. 2015. p.109).
Recently, during a group project, I found myself needing to adapt my leadership style. I was fortunate enough to have a team member who also proved to have strong leadership abilities in our situation. This individual contributed a different level of skills than I. Where I tend to excel in human skills, commonly referred to as “people skills” (Northouse, 2016, p.45), this person excelled in the technical skills, which is defined by Northouse (2016) as having “knowledge about and proficiency in a specific type of work or activity” (p. 44). I was able to adjust my typically directive leadership style for group projects, to accommodate this other individual and assist in leading from a more supportive and less directive role, classified as “supporting” in the situational leadership model (Northouse, 2016, p.95).
For group work, it is important to be able to adjust ones leadership style according to those skills displayed by other individuals in your group. A great leader must be able to bring the team together to reach their common goal through a process of applying skills and behaviors to create a solid group relationship for the given situation. Complimenting ones abilities with those of other group members can create and maintain a cohesive and complimentary team environment.
Northouse, P. (2015). Introduction to leadership concepts and practice (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA. SAGE Publications, Inc.
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc.
There is nothing scarier in the world of online courses as the words “group project” and I’m sure we’ve all been there. Group projects are difficult enough in a face to face class where we can physically see each other and get together easily, and in one place. Working online just knocks the anxiety up a peg or two. We have no idea of the other people’s abilities to lead or follow, or their work ethic in getting an assignment done on time and with integrity. But it’s amazing how much we can learn about that person within the first few days of an assignment. Group work lends itself naturally to the situational approach of leadership. According to Norton (2016), “a leader must evaluate her is his followers and assess how competent and committed they are to perform a given goal”. (pg.93) That defines exactly what you did in your group work mentioned. You determined that in order to do your project, you had to adapt your people skills to accommodate the other person’s technical skills, which enabled you to complete the task. It is important to know the value of the supportive role within a group as communication skills is just as important as technical skills. Taking on this role shows that you feel comfortable with yourself, your group members, and the task you are about to undertake. (Northouse, 2016)
Within the academic setting, I also see this type of leadership with our instructor. At the beginning of this course, he sent a survey for us to fill out asking about our time zones, work schedules, and our self-perceived levels of leadership. I feel that he did this in order to “assess how competent and committed they are to perform a given goal”. (Northouse, 2016, pg. 93) He was using the survey to assess us and use the information to put us in the appropriate group, giving us the best chance of success. He then provides directive behaviors in accomplishing those goals by giving directions to assignments and establishing timelines for completion. It is then up to us within the group to set further directives as well as the supportive directives to get things done. (Northouse, 2016)
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc.
I agree with you on how linked together situational leadership within group projects. I feel that every single group project we are put into; we have to continuously change our style. If we are so accustomed to only one style, then the group won’t work together right. As stated in the Northouse text; “To determine what is needed in a particular situation, a leader must evaluate her or his employees and assess how competent and committed they are to perform a given task.” (Northouse, 2016, p.99).
As you said, without fail there is usually always one person that does not help the group out. If we could determine a way to encourage these people, what would it be? This is where I see situational leadership come into play. We need to determine this situation through that aspect. This could also be categorized under specific situations. The Blanchard Model (1985), was made up of specific sector where the group members and leader was present. SLII model was made up of S1 (directing), S2 (supporting), s3 (coaching) and lastly S4 (delegating). The most important one I see in this situation would be S2 where you have high- supporting and high- directing. With this, you can show the group member that they are important enough along with showing them what they need to do. This would be the part where the whole group can work together since they have a specific task to do. I believe that this has taught me a great deal in group projects and something that should be more prevalent. I really enjoyed this post and cannot wait to use what I found from it to use in my future experiences.
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc.
Mandee, I love this blog post. I can relate to the experience you relay and, likely, in particular to this experience. I also excel at social skills and am often a person who brings the group together to accomplish the shared goals.
In a situation that is very similar to yours, if not the actual situation, it became clear to me that my outside obligations limited my ability to lead. I was in the very fortunate situation of not only be able to defer to one but two very strong leaders. It was actually nice to play my role and to focus on delivering as asked. I am so grateful for this experience as it reminds myself that there is more than one role to play in a team setting. There are no leaders without followers.
I will disagree with you on one point though. You mention that the goal is set for you in these situations. I would counter and say class assignments set parameters and it is up to us as a group to set the goal to achieve an outcome. In the case it is essential for the leader to work with the group to influence them to reach a mutually agreed upon outcome. (Northouse, 2016, p. 6) That process of influence is even present in our group assignments.
Sincerely, I was so appreciative of your and others leadership to keep us on target.
Northouse, P. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA. Sage Publications, Inc.