Yes / Nurse team leaders are responsible for contributing to managing the quality of service delivery and facility output of their nurses to ensure there is a high quality of care delivered by the health system. This study aimed to explore the perceptions of public health nursing Team Leaders (TLs) and public health nursing Team Supervisors (TSs) on nurses' development in Fiji. A qualitative study was used to gather information using in-depth phone interviews among TLs and TSs comprising Chief Midwifery Nursing Officer (CMNO), Director of Nursing (DON), Sub-divisional Nursing Managers (SDNMs), acting SDNMs and Nursing Manager (NM) at Central health division in Fiji. The data was collected through semi-structured open-ended questionnaires and were audio recorded. The data was analyzed using manual thematic analysis process. The study comprised of 26 participants, which included 10 TSs and 16 TLs. Four themes were identified for the results amongst TSs and TLs: ethical development; professional development; psychological development; and recommendations. However, nine sub- themes were identified for TSs and eight sub-themes were identified for the result amongst TLs. This study highlighted that TLs and TSs elaborated on the need for the ethical, professional, psychological development, nursing development and also on the importance of policies and guidelines. Professional ethics should be integrated into the Continuous Profession Development (CPD) points that are used to renew yearly nursing licenses as well as exposing the need for having competencies on professional ethics in nurses' logbooks. Further research is needed to determine the in-depth barriers.

The purpose of this study, a quasi experimental design, was to investigate the relationship between team leader behavior and team performance and satisfaction. This field research tested leader behavior dimensions from two theoretical models of team effectiveness: Hackman's (1992) "expert available coaching," and Cohen's (1994) "encouraging supervisory behaviors." The relationship between coaching behaviors and team performance, employee, and customer satisfaction was assessed. Manager behavior was assessed with the SMT Leader Survey (Burress, 1994), an instrument determined appropriate for team environments, that measures Communication, Administration, Leadership, Interpersonal Skills, Thinking, and Flexibility. Employee satisfaction and performance information was archival data provided by the organization. The results demonstrated that leader behavior is a less important component of team effectiveness than initially expected. Even though direct customer interaction was 25% of these manager jobs and considered the organization's most important predictor of corporate profitability, no relationship between leader behavior and customer satisfaction was found. Among the key findings was, that while flexibility differentiated leader behavior more than any other scale, its relationship with both team performance and team satisfaction was negative. Interpersonal skills were positively associated with team performance, while leadership was positively associated with team performance and satisfaction. The SMT data were factor analyzed and formed into three factors. Two were historical leadership constructs: consideration (which correlated positively with employee satisfaction) and structure. A third factor, decisiveness, was negatively related to team performance. This research determined some essential skills for managing high performance teams and improving employee satisfaction. The results indicate that managers in a team environment may need to alter their roles if high performance and employee satisfaction are organizational objectives. Possibilities include building and developing the corporation's business, creating in depth relationships with customers, and establishing alliances and partnerships with other organizations. These roles will require new manager skills which have the potential to increase manager job satisfaction and augment manager value to the corporation.

South Africa is a country with a high mortality rate because of tuberculosis and increasing cases of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis makes it a global health problem. Tuberculosis is curable and preventable but without proper treatment many of the infected have no chance of survival. Nurses has an essential role as team leaders for the community health workers in the tuberculosis care. The aim of this study is to investigate nurses' experiences of being team leaders for the community health workers in the care of tuberculosis patients. This study is based on semi-structured interviews with seven nurses working as team leaders in the tuberculosis care in different suburbs in Western Cape, South Africa. The nurses experienced that their leadership gets affected by many obstacles in their daily work. A nurse team leadership have a major effect on the quality of care and the community health workers have an essential role by reaching out to the patients in the communities. To develop the cooperation between the nurses and the community health workers, more resources are needed. Therefore a good cooperation is the key to compete against tuberculosis. This study was sponsored by the Swedish Development Cooperation Agency as a Minor Field Study

Denna studie undersöker hur arbetslagsledarrollen är utformad genom intervjuer och uppdragsbeskrivningar på de kommunala gymnasieskolorna i en svensk storstadskommun. Studien utgår från ett socialkonstruktionistiskt perspektiv och kritisk teori genom Foucault, i form av maktanalys. Maktanalysen bidrar till att belysa samtida praktiker och tekniker ur ett historiskt perspektiv utifrån frågeställningar som på olika sätt berör maktens bas och logiker. Arbetslagsledarens roll framstår i uppdragsbeskrivningar som mångfacetterad, omfattande och splittrad med diverse administrativa uppgifter samt ansvar för utvecklingsprocesser och utvärdering. Formuleringar om att utveckling ska initieras av arbetslagsledaren och beslut från skolledning också implementeras förekommer, vilka kan härledas till olika teoribildningar. Arbetslagsledare själva beskriver ett komplext uppdrag där en stor del av tiden läggs på uppgifter som är mindre framträdande eller inte alls framgår i uppdragsbeskrivningarna. En betoning ligger på att agera budbärare, eftersöka information och sköta administrativa åtaganden. Sammanfattningsvis tycks en helhet saknas i uppdragen och praktiken skilja sig från utformningen i uppdragsbeskrivningarna. Arbetslagsledaren framstår som en länk mellan skolledning, elevhälsa och lärare där de bidrar till kontinuitet och stabilitet i en skola där omsättning på rektorer tycks mer frekvent. En ny komplex organisation med flera olika delegerade ledningsuppdrag och funktioner ställer höga krav på samordning. Framtida studier kan med fördel belysa hur samverkan och samarbete mellan distribuerade ledningsfunktioner kan fungera i en komplex organisation, där förutsättningar ständigt förändras. / This study explores the formation of the teacher team leaders´ role, using interviews and job descriptions at comprehensive upper secondary schools in a Swedish metropolitan municipality. The theoretical framework includes a social constructionist and critical perspective, through Foucault, based on analysis of power. Analysis of power illuminates contemporary practices and techniques through a historical lens, using questions that are related to the basis and logics of power. The job descriptions proclaim a diverse, extensive and somewhat scattered mission consisting of administrative duties as well as managing development and evaluation of processes. According to the job description, the teacher team leader is responsible for initiating learning processes as well as implementing decisions by principals, each advocating a different theory. Teacher team leaders describe a complex mission where a substantial amount of time is spent on tasks less prevalent or unmentioned in the job description. Acting as a messenger, yet a constant search for information and administrative duties are tasks that teacher team leaders emphasize. In conclusion, it appears as if a comprehensive view of the mission at hand is deficient and that actual practice appears relatively different from the job description. The teacher team leaders operate as a link between school leaders, the Student Health Team and teachers where they contribute to continuity and stability in a school where school leaders more frequently are exchanged. A new and complex organization involving several distributed leadership roles requires thorough work in terms of co-ordination. Future studies may address how interplay and collaboration can work in a complex organization, where preconditions are continuously altered.

Abstract The rapid advances in technology and the globalization of the economy have led corporate leaders to invest heavily in virtual teams to increase their global coverage. The problem in this phenomenological study was that many organizational leaders do not understand the extent to which they need to manage virtual teams differently from traditional, face-to-face teams. This is significant, because due to geographical differences and possibly cultural differences, virtual teams require various modes of communication. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe the lived experiences of effective virtual-team leaders and the operational strategies employed to lead them. The answer to the research questions included strategies that virtual-team leaders applied to make their teams successful. The conceptual framework was comprised of the theories of transformational leadership and leader-member exchange. Data collection took place through open-ended interviews with 20 virtual-team leaders. Moustakas' modified version of the van Kaam analysis method was used to code and organize the data. The interview data were classified into common themes to provide a better understanding of the participants' perceptions and experiences. The results indicated that the primary virtual team challenges were communication and face-to-face connections. The strategies for managing these challenges included more open and scheduled communication, making sure the team members know their roles and responsibilities, and clear and concise goals and objectives from the virtual-team leaders. The implication for positive social change is that the effectiveness of virtual-team leaders may improve thus benefiting management, employees, and customers.

Som gruppchef upplevs krav både under och ovanifrån samtidigt som bristen på resurser för att bemöta alla krav lyser med sin frånvaro. Syftet med denna studie är därför att studera gruppchefers upplevda förutsättningar och hinder i deras funktion för att fullfölja sitt uppdrag inom tjänsten som gruppchef för yttre verksamhet inom Polismyndigheten i Sverige. För studien använde vi oss av en kvalitativ metod i form av semistrukturerade intervjuer av 8 respondenter med påföljande individuell kodning och tematisk analys. Resultatet påvisade att många av gruppcheferna upplever press på grund av en hög administrativ belastning, personalbrist, tidsbrist och bristande introduktion till arbetet samt en känsla av maktlöshet inom bristen på handlingsutrymme som uppstår i och med ställda krav både ovan- och underifrån. Dock påvisar även resultaten att gruppcheferna trivs med känslan av att kunna påverka både sin och sina medarbetares situation till en viss del, att de uppskattar det upplevda kollegiala stödet samt att karriärmöjligheterna blir fler. / As a team leader, one experiences high demands from both above and below, while the lack of resources to meet all requirements shines with its absence. The purpose of this study is to examine the team leaders' perceived resources to fulfill their function as a team leader for the Police Authority in Sweden as well as how they are perceiving the demands from both superiors and employees. We used a qualitative method in the form of semi structured interviews of 8 team leaders followed by individual coding thematic analysis. The results portrays that many of the line managers experience pressure due to a high administrative burden, lack of staff, lack of time and lack of introduction to the work as well as a feeling of powerlessness in the lack of room for maneuver that arises due to demands from above and below. However, the results also show that the line managers are content in the feeling of being able to influence both their and their employees' situation to a certain extent, that they appreciate the perceived collegial support and that they are facing more career opportunities.

The role for the transition team leader (TTL) has not been formalized at the state level in Texas. The purpose of this study was to determine the current perceptions of the public school superintendents in Texas for the roles, responsibilities, and functions of the TTL. The framework of the survey questionnaire was based on eight categories of expertise for the TTL derived from a review of the literature and from professional experience in preparing handicapped individuals for the world of work. The findings are listed as desirable and undesirable characteristics for the role or job description of the TTL. The desirable characteristics for the role of TTL were viewed as: (a) having experience with handicapped populations, (b) having skills to supervise others, (c) being a liaison between agencies, (d) making program adjustments as needed, (e) providing training, (f) knowing how to explain the transition program to staff, (g) being a liaison with parents, (h) being a liaison with community employers, (i) knowing pertinent regulations, (j) knowing the characteristics for each of the handicapping conditions, and (k) knowing the options and barriers to transportation for handicapped individuals in the community. The least desirable characteristics identified with the role of the TTL were: (a) The need for certification of the TTL, (b) making curricular changes at the elementary level, (c) the TTL as the Educational Diagnostician, (d) the TTL as a parent of a handicapped individual participating in the transition program, and (e) the TTL encouraging severely handicapped individuals to remain in the public schools until the maximum age of 21. These categorical data were grouped by ESC area with urban, suburban, and rural demographics. These data were analyzed by a three-way ANOVA design and significant differences were found by category, by ESC area, and by population designation. The public school superintendents have perceived the role of the TTL as a new position, community-based, community-oriented, transferable, and requiring no additional certification procedures.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Introduction: National community health worker (CHW) programmes are to an increasing extent being implemented in health systems globally, mirrored in South Africa in the ward-based outreach team (WBOT) strategy. In many countries, including South Africa, a major challenge impacting the performance and sustainability of scaled-up CHW programmes is ensuring adequate support from and supervision by the local health system. Supervisory systems, where they exist, are usually corrective and hierarchical in nature, and implementation remains poor. In the South African context, the absence of any guidance on CHW supportive supervision has led to varied practices across the country. Improved approaches to supportive supervision are considered critical for CHW programme performance. However, there is relatively little understanding of how this can be done sustainably at scale, and effective CHW supervisory models remain elusive. Research to date has mostly positioned supervision as a technical process rather than a set of relationships, with the former testing specific interventions rather than developing holistic approaches attuned to local contexts. This doctoral study was exploratory in nature, seeking to generate an in-depth and contextualised understanding of the supervision phenomenon in one specific district in the North West Province (NWP) in South Africa. Using co-production methodology in an iterative approach, the study culminated in the formulation of a supportive supervision framework with CHWs and other frontline actors. Methods: The study was based on a holistic conceptual framework of supportive supervision, which was viewed as comprising three core functions ‒ accountability, development and support ‒ embedded in a complex and multi-level system of resources, people and relationships. To address the study objectives, the research used a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods. Three studies were conducted in a phased process: study 1 comprised a qualitative description of policy and practices in two districts related to the supervision of WBOTs; study 2 identified the main actors and mapped the supervisory system of WBOTs in the district, using social network analysis (SNA); and study 3 involved a qualitative exploration of workplace and interpersonal trust factors in the district and the supervisory system of WBOTs in the district. These three studies provided inputs for a workshop aimed at developing recommendations for a district-level, WBOT supportive supervisory framework. Four published papers reporting on the research conducted are presented in this thesis. It should be noted that the research was conducted during a turbulent political and administrative period in the NWP, when the WBOT programme changed from being a flagship programme for the country to one in crisis. This shifting context needs to be borne in mind when the findings are viewed and interpreted. Results: The study identified weaknesses in both the design and implementation of the supervisory system of WBOTs, with the absence of clear guidance resulting in WBOTs and PHC facilities performing their roles in an ad hoc manner, defined within local contexts. The study documented evidence of high internal cohesion within WBOTs and (where present) with their immediate outreach team leaders (OTLs). However, the relationships between WBOTs and the rest of the primary health care (PHC) and district health system were characterised by considerable mistrust – both towards other workers and the system as a whole. This occurred against a backdrop of increasing OTL vacancies, and the perceived abandonment of WBOT training and development systems and career opportunities. These findings are not dissimilar to those reported previously on the WBOT programme in South Africa and in programmes in other low-resource settings. Nevertheless, through its in-depth, exploratory and participatory approaches, this study provides additional insights into the phenomenon of supportive supervision. Firstly, in conceptualising supportive supervision as a set of ‘bundled’ practices within complex local health systems, the findings reflected the complexity of everyday realities and lived experiences. Secondly, through the embedded nature of the research and the phased data-collection process, the study was able to observe the impact of wider health system contexts and crises on the coalface functioning of the WBOT programme. Thirdly, the study emphasised how supportive supervision depends on healthy relational dynamics and trust relationships, and, finally, how a co-production approach can translate broad guidance, experience and theoretical understanding into meaningful, local practice owned by all the actors involved. Ultimately, the process of engagement, building relationships and forging consensus proved to be more significant than the supportive supervision framework itself. Conclusion: The lack of explicit, coherent and holistic guidance in developing CHW supportive supervision guidance and the failure to address supervision constraints at a local level undermine the performance and sustainability of CHW programmes. Effective supportive supervisory systems require bottom-up collaborative platforms characterised by active participation, sharing of local tacit knowledge and mutual learning. Supervisory systems also need to be designed in ways that promote relationships and generate trust between CHW programmes, other actors and the health system.