Adopting Agile Leadership During the Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study of University Student Affairs Leaders
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Authors
Mahoe, Shara K.
Issue Date
2024
Volume
Issue
Type
Thesis
Language
en_US
Keywords
Agile Leadership , Complex Challenges , Covid-19 , Higher Education , Phenomenological Qualitative Study , Student Affairs
Alternative Title
Abstract
In March 2020, the global COVID-19 pandemic created complex and time-sensitive challenges for colleges and universities that temporarily closed campuses and restricted access to students and personnel. Given the pandemic's magnitude, there was no roadmap to resolve these challenges. Leaders drew on experience, training, and a variety of leadership perspectives. One approach, agile leadership, developed in a business environment in response to high-pressure, complex challenges. Participants in this study described pressure from the need to make significant time-sensitive decisions, modify existing policies or practices, or create something new, collaborate in unfamiliar ways with other departments and functions, and rely on unfamiliar technology.This phenomenological qualitative research aimed to identify processes, practices, policies, and strategies through interviews with eleven university student affairs directors or managers who reported using or observing in their organizations to address challenges consistent with agile leadership principles. They particularly recounted practices that are consistent with agile principles: the pressure to pivot from what they were used to doing, the development and use of a variety of communication tools to engage in a timely way with a wide array of stakeholders and approaches to adapting or creating policies and procedures to operate within the pandemic limitations. The findings of this study reveal four significant themes: (1) addressing urgency for quick decision-making, (2) prioritizing technology accommodations, (3) coordinating responses with internal and external stakeholders, and (4) integrating agile into other leadership perspectives. The results contribute to the limited research on agile leadership behaviors. This study offers a proposed solution to the contemporary challenges delineated within the study and identifies implications and solutions for further research.
Description
2024
Citation
Publisher
Creighton University
License
Copyright is retained by the Author.
A non-exclusive distribution right is granted to Creighton University and to ProQuest following the publishing model selected above.