{"id":92,"date":"2018-10-28T14:22:25","date_gmt":"2018-10-28T21:22:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/?p=92"},"modified":"2018-10-28T18:03:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-29T01:03:13","slug":"92","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/2018\/10\/28\/92\/","title":{"rendered":"Unit 5 Learning Activity 1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two critical functions of team effectiveness are performance (being able to accomplish high-quality tasks) and development (being able to work effectively and stay cohesive) (Northouse, 2016). Larson and Lafasto\u2019s eight characteristics of excellent teams (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 369) are: a clear, elevating goal, results-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, standards of excellence, external support and recognition, and principled leadership. <\/span><\/p>\n

I acted as a team leader to an educational assistant and a special needs assistant when I taught students with developmental disabilities for a number of years. The three of us were competent team members, able to work cohesively through regular, open communication where all viewpoints were valued. Each person was highly motivated towards student success and it remained our focus above all else. Our commitment, collaboration and high standards resulted in a dramatic decrease in negative student behaviours and greater interaction between our students and the rest of the school. <\/span><\/p>\n

Principled leadership impacts team effectiveness through four processes: cognitive,\u00a0<\/span>motivational, affective, and coordination (Northouse, 2016). More specifically, leaders \u201ccan enhance the effectiveness of their team by keeping the team focused on its goals, maintaining a collaborative climate, building confidence among members, demonstrating technical competence, setting priorities, and managing performance (Larson & LaFasto, 1989, as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 372) .<\/span><\/p>\n

One year I taught second grade with a team of 7 other teachers. All of the teachers on the team were competent, hard-working and collaborative and we had a team leader. Interestingly, our team leader was initially worried about stepping into that role because she had the least amount of teaching experience (teaching was her second career). However, she demonstrated all four processes of principled leadership, especially the ability to maintain a collaborative climate. For example, she knew when to step back and let others take the lead, recognizing their expertise and experience; but she also knew when to step in and help us come to a consensus when we were stuck. She understood the conditions that would enable us demonstrate excellence as a team (Northouse, 2016), and she advocated on our behalf when needed. According to Northouse, a team leader needs to be \u201cbehaviorally flexible and have a wide repertoire of actions or skills to meet the team\u2019s diverse needs\u201d (p. 365). I learned that an effective team leader must have many more skills than technical knowledge. Our team leader was an excellent example of this.<\/span><\/p>\n

Northouse, P. G. (2016). <\/span>Leadership: theory and practice<\/span><\/i> (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two critical functions of team effectiveness are performance (being able to accomplish high-quality tasks) and development (being able to work effectively and stay cohesive) (Northouse, 2016). Larson and Lafasto\u2019s eight characteristics of excellent teams (as cited in Northouse, 2016, p. 369) are: a clear, elevating goal, results-driven structure, competent team members, unified commitment, collaborative climate, … <\/p>\n

Continue reading “Unit 5 Learning Activity 1”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":997,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ldrs500","category-unit-5"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/997"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/96"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/create.twu.ca\/walkinginmywhy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}