Students should examine and discuss the importance of leadership to leading teams in Health and Social Care.

Assignment Guide for Leading Teams

Title Page:

In the Arden Assessment cover page, under the Assessment Title, students should indicate that this is a case study

NOTE: This must be written in the third person and should display good to excellent ability to write academically. There should be no use of Pronouns i.e., no use of “I, Me, We, Us”. Also pay attention to general key words useful in demonstrating at this level of study – for instance; evaluation, analysis, critical discussion, application and synthesis.

Introduction

This should explain what the assignment is about and mention the main concepts discussed within the body of the assignment. This part should use up not more than 5% of the total word count.

Main Body

Ques 1. Students should examine and discuss the importance of leadership to leading teams in Health and Social Care. Leadership roles and theories should also be discussed generically and then a focus on one or multiple leadership styles/roles, discussing when these specific styles or roles may be applied in practice. For question 1, the following checklist should be used to ensure relevant concepts have been discussed and evaluated:

• Different theoretical models of leadership
• Generic discussion of leadership styles and then choice of one or multiple with justification
• Critical discussion of leadership styles including the ones recommended for Emmie: advantages, disadvantages/challenges of these leadership styles/models

The above concepts, and any others that are deemed relevant should all be applied to different aspects of leading teams in Health and Social Care. The importance of using different theoretical models when building a successful team should be discussed. There should also be relevant ethical considerations for leadership style and effective communication.

1500 words

40 marks

Ques 2. Students should analyse the values the theoretical models mentioned in question 1 could play when building teams and discuss the stages of team development and how this could be used to develop and motivate the team. Here, attributes required for effective leadership would be needed.

Stages of Team development should be discussed here weaving in all or some of the following attributes of leadership:

• How to Motivate the team in Health and Social Care
• Different modes of communication and effective communication strategies (to be expanded on in question 3),
• Motivation of staff
• Conflict resolution and
• Emotional intelligence
• The need for regular team Meetings,
• Empowerment/Theories of Motivation,
• Delegation of responsibility,
• Consultation,
• Other strategies, all aiming for an,
• Inclusive environment where teams feel engaged 

This list is not exhaustive

1500 words

40 marks

Ques 3. This should provide recommendations on ways to encourage open and effective communication (both written and verbal means of communication used within the professional context, use of information technology, other forms of media etc) between the leader, senior management and all the team members in order to support team development within Health and Social Care. It should aim to discuss what constitutes open and effective communication. This section may also consider ethical considerations in communicating in the professional environment. This is not exhaustive.

1000 words

20 marks 

A conclusion to wrap up the whole assignment should be given. The conclusion should summarise very briefly the main considerations and recommendations. There should not be introduction of any new concept in this section.

References

Students should adhere to the AU Harvard style of referencing. All references cited must be listed and all references listed must be cited.  All quotes must have page numbers cited. Avoid the use of too many quotes. Students need to show independent thinking/originality of thought.