An Exploratory Study of Communication Practices Affecting Church Leadership Team Performance. Issue 3 (27th May 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Endacott, Camille G.; Hartwig, Ryan T.; Yu, Chong Ho
• Is Part Of: Southern communication journal. Volume 82:Issue 3(2017)
• Page Start: 129
• Page End: 139
• Publication Date: 2017-05-27
• Subjects: Church leadership -- decision making -- group communication -- top management teams; Oral communication -- Periodicals; 302.224205
• DOI: 10.1080/1041794X.2017.1315450
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1041-794X

Abstract

ABSTRACT: This study extends top management team (TMT) research by examining the "black box" of teams' communication processes through survey data collected from church senior leadership teams. Seven hundred sixty-four members of leadership teams of 145 churches completed two survey instruments, the Team Diagnostic Survey and an exploratory Team Communication Questionnaire. Bootstrap forest analysis indicated that senior leadership team performance was most affected by the time the team spent on making critical decisions, the team's utilization of careful decision-making processes, members taking a churchwide perspective versus a position-based perspective when making decisions, members' perception of stress caused by dysfunctional communication among the team, and the degree to which the team sought God's perspective on decisions.