Teamwork malfunctioning

Groupthink is a psycholocal phenomenon in which the group is so harmonious and cohesive that it becomes harder and harder for each individual to take a position which is not in line with the group's. The group tends to create such a strong vision of its mission among the members that any difference of opinion is nullified. The result is that the group may behave in a very irrational way, making decisions that would be totally in contrast with common-sense.

Scapegoating happens when things go wrong and it is necessary to find a person in the team to blame for the failure. It is a negative behaviour in terms of learning. In fact, if we look for a scapegoat, a person to blame, automatically we are not involved, we will not take any responsibility for our actions or we won't even question ourselves, as we have found someone else to blame for something wrong.

Group anxiety is a distress that many of us might feel when working in groups. The reason for this is often the fact that in a group we are less likely to receive any immediate feedback about what we do or say. This anxiety might emerge in several types of behaviour, such as speaking too much, withdrawing from the group and not speaking at all, trying to get involved in a conversation with one person only, excluding all the others, in order to create an alliance, etc..

In this respect, it is advisable to observe our teammembers' behaviour carefully so as to identify any possible mulfunctioning. The sooner we realise what the problem is, the sooner we could prevent it from becoming too big and irreversible.

Rethinking the Adaptive Leadership model through the Italian Adaptive Leadership Behavior Questionnaire

Since Heifetz designed the adaptive leadership framework in 1994, the academic literature has benefitted from many qualitative research studies focusing on specific adaptive challenges and how the adaptive leadership framework can be practically used to face these. It seems very few have dealt with adaptive leadership through the quantitative lens and have attempted to measure adaptive leadership behaviors or tested Heifetz’s adaptive leadership six-dimensional model. In response, my PhD research aimed to measure the perception of adaptive leadership behaviors across the Italian corporate context and to investigate whether Heifetz’s adaptive leadership model can apply to the Italian culture. Findings and contribution to knowledge can be read in the thesis: Novellini, P. (2023) Rethinking the Adaptive Leadership model through the Italian Adaptive Leadership Behavior Questionnaire, PhD thesis, University of Sunderland.

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Novellini - Hall Italian Adaptive Leadership Behavior Questionnaire

Do you want to measure the perception of adaptive leadership within your company or team? You can use 'Novellini - Hall Adaptive Leadership Behaviour Questionnaire', a new tool in the literature of leadership. This questionnaire was designed especially to be used in the business environment with a perspective on the higher level figures in the hierarchy. However, you can use it in any type of environment and at any level by adapting the terminology to the reality you want to focus on.

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