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3.2 Adding a Social Leader to Alleviate Team Conflict As has been observed in Part A, the software

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3.2 Adding a Social Leader to Alleviate Team Conflict

As has been observed in Part A, the software team are limited by their lack in numbers and hence are not able to fill each of Barry’s four key roles that are required for a self-managed team succeed. Furthermore, as noted in Part A, the software team experiences a lot of conflict.

According to Barry (1991), a social leader is able to focus mainly on building and upholding the group from a social and psychological point of view. This includes: raising different group members’ desires and concerns and in doing so actively make sure that each member is heard, being understanding to the groups emotional levels, and are able to create an environment where conflicts are mediated by …show more content…

Therefore it will be expected that by adding a social leader to the software team that conflict will be managed in an effective and efficient manner. Finally, it has been shown that teams designed with the framework set out by Barry (1991) will be more likely to develop trust between members (Lovelace, Shapiro & Weingart, 2001). This is crucial as trust is critical to team success, especially in situations (alike to that of the software team) where time constraints are an impediment (Lovelace et al., 2001).

Critiques & Limitations While the aforesaid recommendation is likely to improve the software team’s cohesion, reduce conflict and set them in a forward moving direction, it is important to be conscious of the limitations of the suggestion. It is possible that due to the circumstances present – being on an imminent deadline and a short timeframe to implement a solution – that a suitable, experienced and willing social leader will be available to transition into the group. Furthermore, even if such an inclusion was possible, it is foreseeable that – in certain situations – teams will not have the ability to work together, regardless of how the team dynamic is changed. This could be due to a hypothetically irreconcilable difference in opinion between group members that no amount of mediation will solve. Finally, if a suitable social leader were to become available, the potential cost for his/her food and accommodation at any further team interactions may be

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