Leadership is an essential concept for all teams because it allows them to organize and distribute tasks and ensure their successful completion. The article by Horila and Siitonen (2020) states that most research on leadership was conducted without considering time because experimental settings allow for evaluating groups for a short period. Therefore, the authors strive to understand the impact of temporality on the evolution of the relationship between teams and leaders (Horila & Siitonen, 2020). Furthermore, the article claims that leadership research is inaccurate without timing because one action leads to specific outcomes for the entire group. This study conducted interviews among three virtual teams to determine how authority ideals can vary with time. This essay aims to evaluate the findings of Horila and Siitonen about the temporal changes that occur in groups.
The main idea of this article is that leadership changes over a long period, but it does not necessarily become better. Furthermore, the authors claim that time is not a universal remedy for all problems within teams (Horila & Siitonen, 2020). Their research question evolves from reiterating that leadership and communication are dynamic into a strong statement confirmed by the study results. Indeed, the survey demonstrated that three teams that worked together for several years perceive changes in group communication differently. For example, two teams viewed the transition from authoritative administration to joint responsibility and shared practices as a positive change (Horila & Siitonen, 2020). However, the third team reported negative changes in communication between team members and leaders that became rigid (Horila & Siitonen, 2020). This study shows that group management should involve constant feedback within teams to ensure improvement because time does not solve all issues that require open discussion.
To sum up, this study demonstrated that leadership is not static because it may transform from commanding to collaboration. This change may happen when teams have good communication. Conversely, problems can remain unsolved and lead to adverse outcomes for entire groups. I think that the authors’ recommendations can be applied to our workplace. Specifically, our leaders understand that many issues are not eliminated with time; thus, they assign people responsible for specific problems. However, the type of administration in our company is quite dictatorial, which discourages many employees from being creative. I think practicing joint responsibility will improve performance and productivity in our teams.
Reference
Horila, T., & Siitonen, M. (2020). A time to lead: Changes in relational team leadership processes over time. Management Communication Quarterly, 34(4), 558-584. Web.