Different roles meet and collide
An important cause of misunderstandings and tensions within the team comes from a possible misalignment in the interpretation of one's role within the team work.
Specifically between:
- Self-perceived Role
- Expected Role
- Exerted Role
We will see the misalignment of these roles and the consequences in Matthew's case, the team leader of our NaturalLife team.
SELF PERCEIVED ROLE
It represents what the single member of the team believes to be his role and how the team expects it to be fulfilled. This perception might be distorted by some false personal assumptions, like, for instance, wrong information received by colleagues, previous colleagues or superiors; ambiguous denomination of the role; individual perceptions or behaviors, and so on.
In the past, Matthew has always worked with very mature teams, both in experience and professionalism. Whenever a difference in opinion within the team members occurred, they used to sort it out on their own, without involving Matthew. As Matthew was always successful with this style of leadership in the past, he sees himself as more of a "coordinator/facilitator" in the new team as well, instead of a very preset and directive team leader.
EXPECTED ROLE
It represents the expectations of the team about the activities which will be carried out by a certain member of the team and the kind of contribution that they will give. These expectations may be distorted by previous working experiences of the single members; by imprecise messages by the organization and so on.
The team is a relatively young one and the members never worked together. When they found themselves in the storming phase, there hadn't yet been time to create relationships of trust. What the members expect from the team leader (Matthew) is for him to take care of disagreements, to act as a referee and to confidently lead the team in their work.
EXERTED ROLE
It represents what a member of the team effectively does, and the way he does it ( ways, techniques and kinds of collaborations with the other members).
The role that Matthew effectively executes isn't that of referee (expected role by the team), nor that of coordinator (self-perceived role), but he is what might be defined as an "absentee leader". Matthew keeps the focus on the activity to be carried out and on the deliverables, and ignores the relations level entirely. Matthew ignores that the conflicts within the team may have a strong impact on the team performance, and that it is important to address them, rather than ignore them.