Although there are a number of benefits to E-Leadership which Amanda has already referred to, the aspect that stands out is the sense of community people experience from this format. Being part of something can contribute to a sense of leadership otherwise not experienced in traditional forums. My personal experience of E-Leadership is mostly okay but I am experiencing more difficulties recently. The number of emails from various departments is enormous. These departments have several layers of management which can also be sending emails. What ends up happening for me is emails are deleted due to a lack of time to read them. This means I have to be discriminatory in what I read which also takes time. I have missed emails due to this overload and just like other comments, this becomes another stress not needed. I think we are in the early days of how to manage these issues and possibly this may end up being another training experience in the system at some point. To read or not to read, that is the question….

Kerry M

 

 

 I totally agree with notions here that there is a lot of usage of Advanced Information Technology (AIT) in the areas we work, and in most part, it is not even a case of whether we can opt in or opt out as some of these advances in AIT are now part of the working life.  Avolio et al (2014) touched on Leadership as “source” and “transmission” in this article and it this view asked urged me to ask self as to the meaning of this from my own working life as an upcoming leader.

 

The source described is the various types of leaders whilst the transmission is the means in which this style of leadership gets transmitted down the line to the people who reports to this leader. In traditional terms where face to face leadership exist, both forms of communication, verbal and non-verbal, can be seen and can play a part in either getting the information through or actually becoming a barrier to this information getting through. E-leadership has taken over in that a leader who is in charge of a large team like in nursing, where people work different shifts and some never work together because they are on fixed shifts that are on different days, most directives from the leader therefore tend to use AIT. Emails can be sent to the whole group regardless of whether you are rostered to work or you are on annual leave away in another country.

 

AIT used in this way is therefore empowering in that it is a duty of the follower to make sure that they read and understand, changes and new ideas that have come to the surface even in their absence, and to ask if such information is not clear, thereby bringing back face to face interaction to leadership. Just like what the article says, AIT come in different formats, email here being the most used in my organisation because everyone is given an email address on starting employment. However, as a leader I cannot expect to use social media like face book and twitter to communicate important information to my followers and expect all of them to follow because some may rightfully not be on those platforms because its personal choice to have social media. As leaders, it’s important to know as well that AIT has two big flaws, transmitted information has got to be fit for purpose, correctly worded or presented because once sent, it could be out there forever even if you delete it yourself.  The second flaw is that social media is a relaxed platform which people use, and there exist a tendency to be ‘casual’ in matters that need to be formal. Overall, I believe that AIT should not change the leader, as a good leaders should always follow on to make sure that information transmitted has arrived at destination and decoded in the way expected, without losing meaning, seriousness and value as the attached image is trying to show.

 
REFERENCE

Avolio B.J., Sosik J.J., Kahai S.S. & Baker B. (2014) E-leadership: Re-examining transformations in leadership source and transmission. The Leadership Quarterly, 25, (1)105-131

Allington Gono

While there are pros and cons to AIT, I also agree with what Kerry posted regarding the sheer volume of information that is communicated by AIT in my workplace and wonder if Kerry is accurate when she refers to it as another stress not needed.

I am still undecided I think!

Great topic, one that I’m sure we will see more of in the future.

Emily Rayner

Emily Kelso

As Dasgupta (2011) states both leadership and technology affect and transform each other, as well as being affected and transformed by each other. Traditionally the leader was the source of leadership and how this was transmitted was dependent on individual style within a face-to face (FtF) interaction. 

Avolio, Sosik, Kahai and Baker (2013) outline how E-leadership can be variable, with the source, or locus of leadership, originating from the assumed leader and/or follower, leader-follower dyads, with members in a virtual group and the proposed context, including within the internal and external environment. 

I certainly have been working long enough to remember when communication was only via internal mail (yes in an envelope), messages on a notice board, the “communication book” or from group FtF interaction. 

The written communication book was what we used mainly before email, and it was expected you would view it each day you were on duty.  Our department has grown incredibly over the last 10 years and we were not so reliant on email communication initially. Now however, as a number of people have stated, we are expected to check emails daily, in fact often more that once a day if you are wishing to work overtime, as messages for extra shift availabilities are regularly posted here. Email is vital in our department given the sheer size, it would be impossible for our managers to communicate FtF all the time and get anything else completed. Particularly if you are not at work daily- ie casual or part time staff or you are on leave (sick, maternity, etc) you can still remain up-to-date by logging on from home. With such ease of access one may feel like they should be checking emails or looking at the website when they are not at work so as to keep up. Una mentioned this may contribute to being overwhelmed, even when not at work.

Facebook  (Organisational and local) and twitter are also used within my organization.  I read the section about relatedness and social media with interest as certain managers and senior staff are “friends” on Facebook with some staff and I have witnessed changes in group dynamics and leadership influence in relation to posting online and the inclusion, or rather the exclusion of particular staff. 

AIT is now integral to our life that leaders and followers alike need to keep up with its social influence and understand the multiple levels of source and transmission.

 

Simone

 Avolio, Sosik, Kahai and Baker (2014) describe two aspects to leadership. The source or loci of leadership as being the leader, follower, leader-follower-dyad, collective and context, and the mechanisms of leadserhip to include traits, behaviours, cognition and affect. I can definitely see the positive and negative aspects to Advanced Information Technology (AIT) in leadership.

 

I receive countless emails, and if I do not acknowledge or respond to these immediatley, I will find myself completely unaware to new policies/students/doctors in the hospital or on the ward. I find myself checking my email at least 20 times a day while at work, and about 5 times from home. My manager and I often share an office, and similarly to Trish, the majority of our communication is done via email, which to me, seems ineffective. 

 

However, if I want to communicate with any of my staff, I do not even try to email them. They do not check their emails, even though they are aware they should, and if they do, they skim through the information. My ward is full of staff in either their early twenties, or late fifties, and neither age group responds well to AIT, interestingly. 

 For me, the positives to e-communication are definitely the ability to efficiently communicate with groups of people, and the efficacy of responses, however, in some circumstances, emails can be easily misinterpreted, or as mentioned in the article “prematurely judging intentions”.

 

Lily Turner

 

Avolio, B., Sosik, J., Kahai, S., & Baker, B. (2014). E-leadership: Re-examining transformations in leadership source and transmission. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 105-131. 

Avolio, B., Sosik, J., Kahai, S., & Baker, B. (2014). E-leadership: Re-examining transformations in leadership source and transmission. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 105-131.

Charlotte Mills