Getting the most from school management teams: understanding the dynamics, the realities and the possibilities

This paper discusses the findings of an exploratory study aimed at testing the validity and utility of micropolitical theory for facilitating critical reflection by members of senior management teams (SMTs) in schools. It also introduces the TEAM Development Questionnaire© which has been developed on the basis of those findings. The questionnaire, which is currently the subject of a second pilot study, has purposely been designed as a developmental tool for use at the school and wider corporate levels to enhance SMT functioning and effectiveness. The impetus for developing such a tool grew from the findings of recent surveys of SMT members in Queensland secondary schools which revealed that teamwork and leadership characteristics of a school’s SMT were key determinants of respondents’ levels of role satisfaction. Specifically, respondents’ levels of satisfaction and self -efficacy as school leaders and managers were significantly correlated with the goodness of fit between how their SMT actually functioned and how they would ideally like it to function. This suggested that SMT dynamics were a critical factor in supporting, maintaining and promoting the leadership and management skills and aspirations of SMT members, while the qualitative data collected in the surveys pointed to micropolitical theory as a useful conceptual framework for understanding and managing those dynamic