Development in an Organizational Context - Essay Example

of the of the Concerned 24 May Development In an organizational context, development refers to the concerted effort on the part of all the concerned personnel to assure the success, profitability and viability of an organization (Rampensad 2004, p. 44). This in turn requires a sincere and complex educational and attitudinal effort on the part of the personnel to modify and tailor ones attitudes, beliefs and values in a way that enable the organization to adapt to and accommodate the emerging changes and challenges in term of technology, customer aspirations, altering market trends, ongoing economic cycles and the very process of change itself (Rampensad 2005, p. 47). Thus development in an organizational context is dependent on some key theoretical aspects like: a) Leadership The main crux of any leadership effort is to motivate people to aspire to achieve a common goal and to extend to them the skills and the attributes that could make them work collectively as a team (Rost 1993, p. 39). A leader always has the ability and the potential to gets things done by others through following the right strategy and attitude. However, such attitude ought to rely predominantly on a feeling of respect for and trust on others and must avoid as far as possible, resorting to fear and submission (Rost 1993, p. 42). Hence, respect and mutual trust are the key elements of leadership. b) Motivation It is very common to come across the reality that varied personnel constituting an organizational team tend to have diverse purposes, goals and aspirations (Mackay 2007, p. 24). Not to say that the eventual success of any project is predominantly dependant on the collective commitment of all the team members to the envisaged goal. This is mostly a direct function of their levels of motivation. Motivation in an organizational context is a two pronged process. On the one side it involves creating the right environment to achieve the project objectives (Mackay 2007, p. 19). On the other side it is about designing a strategy that offers optimal satisfaction to all the team members engaged in a project (Mackay 2007, p. 19). c) Team Building Team building in its ultimate context is the ability to enable a group of individuals to be bound by a common sense of purpose, thereby extending maximum cooperation to the respective group members, the organizational leadership, the diverse stakeholders associated with the organization and the organizational administration (Lantz 2007, p. 12). Teamwork is always the final outcome of good team building and effective leadership. Team building efforts comprise of varied tasks like defining goals and targets, extending and establishing leadership, management of conflicts, and motivating the respective team members (Lantz 2007). Team building also consists of processes like encouraging the interpersonal behaviour that aids effective communication and negotiating the roles ascribed to respective team members and establishing the procedures that go with them (Lantz 2007). It goes without saying that the team building efforts in an organization are certainly bolstered by the ability of a team leader to solicit the backing and support of the top management. Team building is also to a great extent dependant on the ability of a team leader to come out with appropriate reward systems. d) Communication Most of the experts consider communication to be the single most important factor that could make or mar the eventual success of any project (Harris 1993). The success of a project to a great extent relies on the effective communication between team members, between team members and the leadership, and between a team and the diverse stakeholders associated with a project (Harris 1993). A hassle free and open communication is the way to success and achievement. Proper communication is the one potent way to better and improve professional relationships between the varied team members. Hence, a team leader ought to learn about the varied communication aspects of the respective team members like their personality types, relationships with eachother, cultural issues and aspirations (Harris 1993, p. 329). A team leader needs to be conversant with the varied communication channels existing in an organization and all the possible ways information could be communicated to the individual team members (Harris 1993, p. 332). e) Political and Cultural Awareness In any organization it is common to come across organizational politics owing to diversity in the cultural background, personality types, and expectations of the people working in it (Al-Lamki 2002). Skilful and apt understanding of organizational politics certainly aids a manager (Fairholm 1993). Contemporary organizations function in a global context. Hence, it is also imperative for a leader to be aware of the cultural nuances associated with the respective team members. This to grow and progress in an organizational context, an aspiring manager needs to have an attitude of learning and understanding towards the key theoretical aspects discussed above. 2) Much before embarking on my venture into the realm of higher education, I used to give a serious thought about the abilities, qualities and skills that I need to develop to be a successful manager and leader. When I entered the domain of higher education, I came across several theoretical inputs and views. In most cases these theoretical views were insightful and enlightening. However, sometimes I found them to be confusing and contradictory. It was then I decided that though I will extend all the sincere effort and dedication to my professional education, yet my endeavour would always be to reduce the theoretical inputs I come across into some self evident and logical premises that are well corroborated by common sense. My efforts in that context led me to some sound conclusions, which if pursued with hard work and commitment will make me into a successful and skilled professional. Some of the salient premises I came across in the self development journey are: a) Starting Early I realized very early in my efforts to be s successful professional that it always pays to start early. Self development cannot be achieved in a day. It requires persistent and long term effort. An early start enables an aspiring manager to understand and internalize the theoretical inputs one comes across in one’s academic career. This approach not only consolidates the adopted values and approaches over a period of time, but at a later stage helps a professional build upon them in the light of the professional experiences and inputs one comes across. b) Opting for Small Steps The aptitude to break a big goal into small and easily manageable tasks pays rich dividends in the academic and professional life (Richman 2002). The biggest ability in a leader is to have the right mental attitude. Big projects do often give way to stress and have the potential to intimidate and scare even the best of professionals. However, once a big task is segmented into small sub goals, it takes away the unnecessary stress and ushers in the right mental attitude and zeal. Pursuing the small and easily manageable goals, while keeping the end results in mind, leads to big achievements and accomplishments. c) Learning from other People’s Experience Ability and inclination to learn from other people’s experience is the shortest and easiest way to success and achievement. This fact could be interpreted in varied ways. Irrespective of one’s academic background, a person is required to learn much when one joins an organization as a professional. There exist many practical aspects of a job that are not readily accessible to a newcomer. So it always pays to look for mentors who are willing to share their experience and knowledge with their subordinates (Masquardet & Loan 2006). The other thing is that trying to learn by making mistakes is a risky and costly approach towards career development. So, it is always more pragmatic to look at and analyze the mistakes made by others and to learn the appropriate lessons from them. d) Acceptance for Change A few decades ago the global business environment was different. Businesses and corporations were most of the times confined to local territories and were mostly susceptible to alterations in the national consumer preferences, market scenarios and economic cycles. Contemporary business environment is all about change. The contemporary corporations operate at a global scale and hence are always vulnerable to the changes taking place in the local and foreign markets and economies. Though it pays to be accepting of change, yet, it is a skill that takes a long time to be mastered (Flanagan 1990). Change is inevitably and always accompanied by a measure of uncertainty and there are very few courses and business schools that teach a person how to live with uncertainty (Flanagan 1990). However, persistent practice backed by a sound theoretical background eventually teaches a professional to be comfortable with change. e) Power of Intentions This is something that I learnt at a very early stage in my life that intentions do always play a pivotal role in determining the end results. So the purpose of all my academic endeavour and hard work is to facilitate me with the necessary knowledge and insight required to retain a confident and positive mental attitude under all situations and circumstances. The above mentioned skills and aptitudes do play a crucial role in assuring the desirable employment and career. Still, keeping an open mind that is accommodating of new knowledge and experiences, paves the way for continual development and growth. Reference List Al-Lamki, Salma 2002, ‘Orientation: the Essential Ingredient in Cross Cultural Management’, International Journal of Management, Vol. 19, no. 4, pp. 568-572. Fairholm, Gilbert 1993, Organizational Power Politics, Praeger, Westport, CT. Flanagan, Catherine 1990, People and Change, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ. Harris, Thomas E 1993, Applied Organizational Communication, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Hillsdale, NJ. Lantz, Gayle 2007, ‘Team Building Blocks and Breakthroughs’, Human Resource Planning, Vol. 30, no. 2, pp. 12-14. Mackay, Adrian 2007, Motivation, Ability and Confidence Building in People, Butterworth- Heinemann, Amsterdam. Masquardet, Michael J & Loan, Peter 2006, The Manager as Mentor, Praeger, Westport, CT. Rampensad, Hubert K 2004, ‘Learning and Unlearning in Accordance with Organizational Change’, Organization Development Journal, Vol. 22, no. 4, pp. 43-48. Richman, Larry 2002, Project Management Step-by-Step, AMACOM, New York. Rost, C Joseph 1993, Leadership for the 21st Century, Praeger, Westport, CT. Read More