Group-based mediational leadership in an online project team context

Mediational leadership focuses on facilitating decision-making and relationship management within a group. This study examined how mediational action could be practiced collaboratively in a multi-group online project team environment to provide expert leadership on a critical task. Data included email archives, questionnaires from group members involved in coding, and participant-observation standpoints provided by the authors. Finding showed the expert leaders group was approached for assistance both directly and by looping inquiries through the group's designated nominal leader. Both types of connectivity to the group appeared effective in providing expert recommendations. The climate of the group also indicated it functioned effectively as a site of mediational action. Thus, a collaborative model like mediational leadership could prove inefficient for certain CSCW groups or teams due the amount of time involved in interaction