ABSTRACT
Many teams exist in the average secondary school. Some teams are permanent, for example departments, faculties, year teams and the Senior Leadership Team, although membership changes as a result of staff being promoted, staff retiring or internal restructuring. Some teams have limited membership, for example the SLT usually comprises the head, deputy heads, assistant heads and the bursar. A major challenge for middle leaders is to transform a group of people they have responsibility for, lumped together under some functional umbrella, into a successful team. Team leaders should encourage collaboration by adopting a democratic style as often as possible. Brainstorming can be a useful team-building tool because it can be fun, it encourages contributions from all team members and it creates the kind of ‘clean communication’ which helps teams to become dynamic and creative. Shared ownership of the vision brings both a sense of direction and an underpinning philosophy to the work of the team.
