Leading A Bank’s Work Teams During Periods of Disrupted Market Performance

Abstract

As banks operate in the constantly changing financial markets giving rise to a series of crisis situations, enhancing the effective leadership at all angles of the bank’s operation is essential for bolstering a bank’s capabilities to quickly recover from the crisis. Given the dynamics that most of the banks face during crisis situations, it is in that context that this study uses the survey research method to discern the kinds of challenges that work teams face as well as the improvement initiatives that must be adopted to improve the effectiveness of team leaders during a bank crisis management situation. During a bank‘s crisis management, findings revealed that team leaders tend to play significant roles of visioning and setting direction for the team. In addition to acting as change agents, team leaders also play pivotal roles of influencing and motivating team members, linking different work teams and evaluating team members’ performance to ensure that they are achieving the set targets that can enable the bank to quickly recover from the crisis. But even if that is the case, findings still indicated the major limitations to often arise from lack of top management’s confidence and trust in team leaders, poor clarity of members’ roles and responsibilities, as well as limited knowledge and understanding of the roles of work teams during crisis management. In addition to poor motivation and risks arising from the bank’s unfavourable general work environment, challenges can also arise from the leader’s difficulties to balance personal roles with team management, poor dispute/conflict management as well as poor leadership. As the survey insinuated, all these are further compounded by poor activities’ coordination, lack of flexibility and agility and poor innovativeness. To deal with such challenges, this study suggests the bank crisis leadership approach that can be adopted during crisis management.

Keywords: Work Teams; team Leaders; Leading; Bank Crisis Situation; Bank Crisis Management; Bank Recovery

DOI: 10.7176/EJBM/16-6-03

Publication date: July 30th 2024