- Describe a situation where it would be appropriate to use each of the six leadership styles described by Daniel Goleman.
Managing employees with different professional backgrounds within a team setup requires a multifaceted leadership perspective. A team working for a medical research project involving study participants, research assistants, nurses, laboratory technologists, and medical officers. The situation involves systemic delays in various departments, which may lead to interruptions when managing clients during visits. The back and forth process leads to confusion of study participants. Misunderstandings may be created from the registration desk and by departmental entries that occasionally fails to capture relevant data leading to inconsistencies posted in the client’s management system file. The challenges may lead to delays in data submission, receipt of specimen samples for laboratory, and professional advice to launch the research findings. Given that client management systems entries are not reversible, the confusion may affect the processes, especially while consulting the IT system administrators for support. Although teams with diverse professional inclinations experience conflicts during operations, effective leadership approaches can be applied to strengthen team spirit for successful operations.
- Have you had negative team-building experiences? How would you, as a project manager, avoid repeating those negative experiences?
Managing interdepartmental disagreements within an institution conducting research in a medical discipline care requires effective leadership styles. A negative team building experience was witnessed in developing and sharing of data between nurses, laboratory technologists, and physician’s department. As a project manager, I would encourage open dialogue and communication among departments to reduce negative experiences. The model would help team members to experience work processes from perspectives of other conflicting departments to build synergies and improve team spirit. Cohen (2017) avers that engaging in outdoor games away from the professional processes may act as icebreakers and help in building better working relationships. Goleman, Boyatzis, and McKee (2013) illustrate that applying effective leadership styles also assist in enhancing weak bonds between conflicting departments. Therefore, leadership styles that connect people focus on developing shared commitments among workers and attempt to harness individual talents can improve team relationships. Employing team-building exercises, such as competitive games or singing rhymes help as icebreakers when initiating the process of building effective teams.
References
Cohen, E. (2017). 31 Team Building Activities Your Team Will Actually Love. Retrieved from https://www.workamajig.com/blog/team-building-activities
Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R. E., & McKee, A. (2013). Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press.