Key Teamwork and Leadership Theories

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Recommended: The importance of teamwork

Teamwork is a vital aspect of the public and community services. These services consist of groups of people working together to achieve a mutual goal/aim. Teamwork is a key element for having a successful and efficient team. The way a team works together influences how successful they are and how efficient and effective they can be in achieving their common goals/aims. This essay will evaluate various teamwork theories, that explain the stages of forming a group and how it develops into a well established team. Examples of these theories include: Tuckman's theory of team development, Belbin's team roles, conflict theory, pluralism, trait theory and social learning theory. This essay will consider Tuckman's theory of team development, trait theory and social learning theory.
Teamwork is influenced to a great extent by a leader, leadership styles and how effective their leadership is. Northouse (2012) defines leadership as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal.”. Leadership is a crucial element in teamwork; some argue a team essentially relies on motivation and guidance from their leader. Managers generally adopt a leadership style and implement it in their work and within their team. Examples of leadership styles are: authoritarian, democratic, laissez faire, transactional and transformational. This essay will discuss authoritarian and democratic leadership, considering the influence and impact they have on a team to evaluate different elements of teamwork and how conflict is managed and resolved within a team.
One of the most influential leadership styles is authoritarian. Authoritarian leaders emphasize their role when applying power and influence over team members. The leade...

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...e. 2nd ed., London: Sage Publications.

Northouse, P.G. (2013) Leadership: Theory and Practice. 6th ed., London: Sage Publications.

Pardey, D. (2004) Leading Teams. Lichfield: ILM.

Partners Global (2013) Conflict Management and Resolution Methods – Partners for Democratic Change. [online] [Accessed 4th December 2013] http://www.partnersglobal.org/how/conflict-resolution

Schreiner, E. (2013) How to Apply the Social Learning Theory in the Workplace. [online] [Accessed 28th November 2013] http://smallbusiness.chron.com/apply-social-learning-theory-workplace-12860.html Sharma, L. and Singh, S. (2013) 'A Study on the Democratic Style of Leadership'. International Journal of Management & Information Technology, vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 54-57.

West, M.A. (2004) Effective Teamwork: practical lessons from organization research. 2nd ed., Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Limited.

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