Abstract
Contemporary organisations increasingly rely on fluid, rapidly reconfiguring team structures to address complex and time-sensitive tasks. While agile and project-based teams have been widely studied, far less attention has been paid to ephemeral teams—micro-teams that form for hours or days and dissolve before stable relational patterns emerge. This study introduces the concept of ephemeral team leadership and examines how leadership operates under conditions of extreme temporal compression and constant recomposition.
The research investigates how leaders establish rapid trust in the absence of prior relationships, how they accelerate orientation and task alignment, and how shifting team boundaries reshape leader–follower dynamics. Drawing on insights from swift trust theory and temporary systems research, the study conceptualises ephemeral teams as structurally transient units where leadership relies less on relational history and more on clarity, signalling, and procedural scaffolding.
Using a multi-method design combining field interviews, behavioural observation, and survey-based trust measures, the study explores how leaders create immediate role clarity, communicate shared intent, and establish accountability mechanisms within compressed timeframes. Attention is given to how repeated recomposition affects authority legitimacy, psychological safety, and knowledge continuity across team iterations.
The paper contributes to leadership and team research by extending theories of temporary organising beyond project-based contexts to ultra-short-lived configurations. It proposes a process model of ephemeral team leadership that explains how rapid trust formation, behavioural compression, and structured handoffs enable effective coordination despite minimal relational stability. These findings have implications for organisations operating in high-velocity environments such as digital platforms, consulting firms, crisis response units, and innovation labs.