Bahran Asrat (PhD)Abebaw Bekele2024-01-292024-01-292023-10https://etd.aau.edu.et/handle/123456789/1558Teams operating in high-risk fields have distinct, often covert, characteristics influenced by the nature of their task, their hazardous and unforgiving operating environments, and the ambiguous ways in which clues to a crisis often emerge. Health care teams are among the high-risk operating teams, especially in the time of pandemics, like COVID-19. An explanative research design, with mixed approach was used in this study. The study area was Eka Kotebe General Hospital and COVID-19 frontline health professionals were used as study population. Adopted data collection tools on collective leadership, work engagement, psychological safety and organizational citizenship behavior were used to collect the quantitative data. Key informants were interviewed on the changes during the pandemic, as the qualitative part. This study included 242 participants, among which 60.7% of them were males. The mean age of participants with SD was 30.2 years. The healthcare professionals demonstrate effective planning, problem-solving, and support within their teams, though proactive problem identification could be enhanced. Work engagement was positive, with a need to improve perceptions of physical vitality. Psychological safety was high, except for speaking up about colleagues' mistakes. Overall, employees exhibit positive Organizational Citizenship Behaviors and collective leadership. Regression analysis reveals work engagement, and psychological safety as influencing factors on Organizational Citizenship Behavior and Collective Leadership. Encouraging psychological safety, work engagement, and addressing specific areas for growth can enhance team dynamics, organizational citizenship behavior and collective leadership. Additionally, qualitative findings highlight positive changes during the COVID-19 response and the potential for sustainability with proper support. For the future, conducting longitudinal studies to track the evolution of teamwork dynamics during extended crisis situations is recommendeden-USProject TeamsThesis