Academic Leadership

Academic Leadership: Fundamental Building Blocks

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7.6 Building Teams

(click the activity index number to take you back to the activities index)

The quality and effectiveness of much academic work, particularly activities associated

with teaching and learning, is enhanced by effective and efficient team work. Programs

are no more than collections of courses unless they are supported by groups of people

coming together in teams to plan, review, evaluate, and revise the program as a

coherent and connected set of knowledge, skills and attitudes.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this activity is to help you identify, build and

lead effective program teams.

When building teams it is important to maintain a positive climate. You will need to

use many other skills associated with the role of developer, including:

• managing conflict


• coaching


• delegating


• communicating effectively.
  When building a team it is also important to understand the way groups work. Applying
  these skills will enable you to assist your team in functioning effectively.

Identifying Your Team

Quinn, Faerman, Thompson, McGrath, and St. Clair (2007, pp. 68–70) identify four

essential characteristics of effective work teams:

1. The group is committed to a common goal or purpose – this is described as the
   ‘glue’ that holds them together. Collectively setting goals increases ownership and
   commitment to achieving those goals. (Refer to the activity in Section 9.1.)


2. Members of the group have clear roles and responsibilities that are interdependent
   
   
   • one of the values of a team is that individual members can draw on the
     knowledge, skills, and abilities brought to the team by other members.
   
   
   
   


3. There is a communication structure that fosters the sharing of information – this
   includes structures and processes that enable team members to voice concerns
   and the team to have issues, decisions and actions recorded.


4. The group has a sense of mutual accountability – if the team has shared goals and
   members understand theirs and others roles and responsibilities, a sense of
   commitment to each other will form naturally.