Abstract
Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the behaviors of effective governance teams as they move through stages of group development during regular school board meetings, utilizing the task and process behaviors identified in the Group Development Assessment (Jones & Bearley, 1994). Methodology. This mixed-methods research study combined two qualitative methods, ethnographic research and a multiple case study, applying ethnographic designs focused on describing group behaviors in multiple cases. Findings. Examination of the data revealed that effective governance teams exhibit productive behaviors to a high degree, balancing task and process behaviors during regular school board meetings. Humor and showing appreciation for colleagues were strategies applied most often in realigning task and process behaviors when off-diagonal group development occurred. Humor/laughter was the most common behavior observed during agenda item transitions. Differences between governance teams were observed in behavioral emphases in off-diagonal group development, in which uneven stages of group development, demonstrate an imbalance of task and process behaviors, although similar combinations of task and process behaviors were seldom repeated. Conclusion. Effective governance teams are proficient at balancing task and process behaviors during regular school board meetings. Their behaviors indicated a high degree of success in functioning together as a cohesive group. Strategies, such as critically reviewing decisions and self-evaluation, can be utilized in maximizing team effectiveness. Recommendations. Further research includes use of a random sample of governance teams, to determine if governance teams in general are proficient in balancing task and process behaviors, and if they use similar strategies to realign task and process behaviors. Furthermore, there is a need for further research to determine if governance teams serving high school or unified districts exhibit similar group development behaviors during school board meetings. Additional recommendations include conducting comparison studies of governance teams engaging in self evaluation or training, such as the Masters in Governance training, with those who do not focus on team development. It is also recommended that this study be replicated collecting data from multiple meetings and in-depth interviews with board members and superintendents.