Expertise of Team Leaders in Analysing Team Conflicts

Team leaders are expected to adequately analyse team conflicts. Both content and analytical depth of cognitive processes determine team leaders’ performance and are assumed to differ with level of expertise. A study is reported in which team leaders at four different levels of expertise (novices, semi-experts, experts, mediators) were compared in their analysis of a team conflict presented in a computer-based simulation. Few differences were found between novices and semi-experts, whereas team leaders and mediators differed both in content and in analytical depth of cognitive processes. It is not the amount of practice time itself, which substantially impacts the content and depth of team leaders’ analyses of conflicts. Rather the quality of experience is crucial for developing the ability to conduct an elaborated analysis of team conflicts.