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Chapter 13 - When the Bell Rings, the Team Emerges

Elizabeth A. Williams

Synopsis

Lieutenant Dave Jones, a leader at a State Police post, has to deal with the aftermath of a conflict between one of his Troopers and a firefighter. The two individuals had a heated exchange on an accident scene and Jones thinks that their conflict is indicative of a larger system issue: how do you get members of multiple agencies, with their own priorities, to recognize larger system goals? Jones wonders how to bring this up to the leaders of the other agencies and worries about what their response might be.

Keywords: Distributed Teams, Conflict, Leadership, Systems, Emergency Response

Key Takeaways and Take a Stand Form

Key Takeaways

  1. In a multiteam system there are often multiple and competing goals.
  2. Leaders play a key role in communicating the larger system goals to their teams.
  3. Discourse between leaders is essential in multiteam systems.
  4. Distributed teams face unique challenges because of the sporadic nature of their communication and interaction.
  5. Having established communication norms (e.g., set meeting times) provides members of a distributed team (in this case, the leaders of the multiple agencies) an opportunity to discuss conflict and find solutions.

Take a Stand Form