Organizational Transformation in Practice - Assignment Example

?This article will be highlighting my personal experience while working in the team dynamics. It enlightens the importance of group dynamics and how the group dynamics can improve or reduce the individual’s performance while working in the team. Moreover, it will explain the importance of a leader in the group, and how his role influences the team members’ performance. The main idea of the assignment is to highlight the impact of change management and how to manage change management effectively and efficiently in a group. Problem & context The aim of the project assigned to us was to study the impact of cultural diversity in the group dynamics of a multinational organization. The task requirement was to attempt the project in the light of the lectures and seminars attended on the subject matter within a period of 2 months. The project was to be done in groups that were made by random selection of people; meaning they were made by the instructor and not according to our will in order to ensure an even distribution so that all individuals of the same calibre do not form a single group. In my case, a group of six members were formed; two of which were friends already, while the rest of us barely knew each other. Moreover, the team leader assigned was a female. The main challenge was to cope and keep pace with the team members and complete the assigned task within time. Performing projects within the given time constraint had never been an issue for me, but what really served as a challenge for me while working on this particular project was the aspect of working with a team that were I was not entirely familiar with. And this aspect of learning how to deal with people I don’t know, which is especially crucial when it comes to team tasks, is precisely the most valuable thing that I take away from this experience. Self-Awareness Despite being a fairly social person, it has always been hard for me to adjust to new people. I always need some time to get comfortable while interacting with people I don’t know. So, during the first few weeks I felt very uncomfortable working with new team. Although, I have a friendly personality, but still I needed some time and space to get along with the new members. The group kicked off the work with small tasks such as role plays and brainstorming exercises; which encouraged us to speak up and to share our view points. These exercise helped us understand and get to know each other. But still the major task was yet to be done. Later, in third week we were directed to start thinking about a Multinational Company that we, as a group would choose for the project. This proved to be quite a difficult stage for all the team members as this is where conflicts started to arise because everyone had his separate opinions. I noticed that some of my team members were reluctant to share their viewpoint, while some members kept on bombarding their ideas. The most enthusiastic of the lot in giving their inputs were the two members that were friends already and who were of the view that the group should consider Red Cross for the study at hand. At that stage, I personally felt that those two friends were quite strong in our group due to their affiliation as the rest of us had still not opened up to each other and were therefore, a little hesitant at these initial stages of work. So, my leader asked every member to give their best shot regarding the company, which they thought was the best. Although, I did not like the company that was chosen for our study, but still I had to accept it as I was working in a team, the aspect of which can be related to the term referred to as “Change Management Iceberg” by Wilfred Kruger (Kruger, n.d.). Moreover, the most difficult tasks for me were: group working, and practical implication of applying knowledge and theories to the assigned task. I was able to deal with these two aspects only through talking myself into believing that it’s never too late to learn new skills be it human or technical, and by taking every aspect of that whole project as a learning experience. Evaluation We are pretty much aware of the fact that working in a team is not at all an easy task. While working in the team, leader plays a critical role. My previous perception of the leader’s role was as such that I considered that it’s the leader’s responsibility to bring all the members to equal footing and take all of them together. In my view, our leader fulfilled that perception of mine to quite an extent. I believe that in accordance to the leadership styles defined by Kurt Lewin (Harris, 2006); our leader had more of a democratic rather than an autocratic style, considering how she had empowered all the members of the group by encouraging everyone to participate through creative and innovative inputs. She motivated all of us to speak and share our ideas with other team members, which greatly boosted our confidence and interest for the task. This aspect can also be elaborated in terms of views of Riggle (2007), who suggest that democratic leadership style is directly related to the increased job satisfaction and productivity of the followers. Moreover, it was my observation that diversity in any group task always serves as a stimulus to conflicts based on difference of opinions. So was the case with our group as we had three members from an African American ethnicity, while the other three were natives. Then, there was further difference of personalities as some were introverts, while others were fairly social extroverts and energetic. In addition to that, some group members had professional experience while others did not. All of this led to quite a difference of opinions over the course of doing this project. What really brought us all together, despite all our differences, was our leader. She had a very adaptable personality. When faced with this issue of differences among the group members, she tried to bridge the gap by creating a comfortable learning environment for everyone. She made a point of giving equal opportunity to all the members in terms of expressing their views and never stressed out or imposed her tension on the team members. This factor of adaptability in her dealing is in accordance to the transformational theory which suggests that the leader should adjust him/her self in accordance to the situation. One of the major issues that the all the members, as a group, had to deal with was to decide upon an organization for the study at hand. The discussion regarding this started off quite aggressively, with everyone having their own ideas for organizations, or simply having bad opinions about the suggestions of the other group members. With further discussion however, all the alternatives were evaluated for their pros and cons and the list was short listed accordingly through mutual consensus. At the end, it all boiled down to one organization and Red Cross was chosen as the company for the study. Having resolved this major issue, the rest of the study went surprisingly very smoothly in the guidance of our group leader that led us all in a very systematic manner. The company we chose was Red Cross; it is an international humanitarian organization working for protecting human life and health. The organization is working internationally with diverse group of people irrespective of gender, nationality, ethnicity and religion. So, the organizational culture is more dynamic and diverse and moreover difficult to manage. Moreover, the leadership style in Red Cross organization is more democratic, which means that it favors and appreciates equal involvement from the employees. In this way, the members feel involved and participate in making decisions and at times good decisions and ideas are given by the team members which are later combined to give optimal solutions. The manager or team leader makes the final decision with the team’s consensus. Analysis When we are working as a team, we come across many situations, some collaborating some devastating. So, in such scenarios we have to think rationally. The things that I have learned from this eight week assignment include the importance of change management and the critical role of a leader in team dynamic. At first, I myself was reluctant to adjust in the team, probably because I thought I have an introvert personality, and also because I am slightly pessimistic and always keep aloof when my surrounding changes. Working with people belonging to different ethnicity was hard for me, as I had never experienced such group dynamics. But, with passage of time, I tried to mold my personality in accordance to the situation. Later, I realized that there is no other way out; I had to make my contribution while working in a team in order to accomplish the task. The challenging part of this task was that all group members were supposed to make their contribution through critical thinking and emotional intelligence during the brainstorming phase. Every member had to come up with some creative and innovative ideas regarding managing team. One of the members said that we could opt for ‘role play’ to increase our understanding; while another member said that we could show a video or movie regarding the team dynamics. This is where the aspect of diversity in a group truly shows its effective ability to come up with out of the box ideas and that is exactly what served as a plus for our group. Tuckman has rightly presented the group development theory, which focuses on the five stages in group development that are: forming, storming, norming, performing and transforming stages (Martin, 2006). According to this theory, at first groups are formed, they interact with each other; then they face several conflicts, which are considered to be the key indicator of the group’s success; and later the group tries to emerge out of the conflict and starts working altogether as a team, in order to achieve their goal. Moreover, Maslow (1954) has clearly defined five levels of need, known as the Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. According to this theory, the lower level needs of an individual are first met which are social, safety, and psychology needs. Later on the higher orders needs are to be fulfilled which include esteem needs and self-actualization. Maslow says that in order to keep employees motivated, the leader has to keep record of its team members, where do they fall in hierarchy of needs, and then motivate them accordingly (Burke, 2010). For instance, if I have reached up to my social needs, the next need to be fulfilled is the self-esteem, so anything that will help me reach this needs level, will act as a motivator for me. So, it is basically the leader’s duty to study every member and motivate them according to their needs. Action plan Today, the world we are living in is continuously changing, so in order to maintain a competitive edge over others, we have to change and update our skills. Change management is considered to be the most flourishing department in today’s world. It is now considered to be the key ingredient for an organization’s success (Hiatt & Creasey, 2003). What I have learnt from this experience is that if the leader possesses expertise in change management, then he can not only manage the resistance but can also prevent this resistance in the first place. In addition to that, I have also learnt that this factor of change management needs to be incorporated in all that aspire to succeed in their professional circle and hence, that is one aspect that I would make a particular point to continuously work on. Moreover, this experience also serves as a testimony to the fact that intimidation, in other words Theory X of McGregor, is no longer an effective policy. The views of the people in this age and time are changing. Instead of considering people as being inherently lazy and using force to get things done, as is suggested by Theory X, Theory Y considers people as being self motivated requiring just the stimulus of end results. This aspect is exactly what our team leader capitalized upon and hence, was able to motivate the team members. Hence, one can say that motivation is quite an effective tool for getting and doing things right and therefore this aspect would always be incorporated in my future projects as well. Moreover, it is the leader’s role and responsibility to bring about personal change and development for his followers. According to Vroom and Lawler’s expectancy theory, individuals are motivated when they know that their behaviors are linked to rewards (Hiatt & Creasey, 2003). So, in order to change a behavior, the leader has to attach rewards to the desired outcome or behavior. The simple words of recognition and appreciation can also motivate an individual. So, my team leader declared that whosoever will perform consistently throughout the assignment, will be awarded the title “The most consistent performer”. This title was a huge motivator for me and the other group members, and hence, we all tried our level best to complete the assigned task. On another note, personal development refers to enhancing competency development, team work, and career development. There are various techniques which can help the group members in managing change, (1): listen to yourself, which means that always listen and put forward your thoughts to others, (2); focus on few action at a time: always make small steps to achieve the goals rather than taking few large leap, (3): give yourself time to manage change, according to a theory a person takes 21 days to adapt to new habit and same duration to get rid of it, (4): review you action plan daily, reviewing and revising your plan on daily basis will help us keep a record (Scott & Jaffe, 2004). When I was assigned this group with which I had to work for the next 8 weeks, I was quite disturbed and reluctant. And indeed, after reviewing the task continuously and giving it sometime, I realized that this task will increase my thought process, and will contribute to my personal development. Many conceptual frameworks are given regarding the organizational change and personal development. Tichy’s TPC framework has gained considerable attention in organizational development. This model highlights the importance of three elements which are necessary in strategically managing the change decision throughout the organization. The three elements are technical, political and cultural decisions (Sharma, 2006). For instance, when the group members were to be chosen randomly, it was obvious that the members will show resistance; here the leader is expected to be vigilant and proactive to respond to the members’ queries. Our leader dealt with the situation very effectively; she provided us the reasons why the groups were made randomly. Future implication In every field and aspect of life, we will find the leader’s role being played by someone. If we look in our homes, our father is playing a leader’s role; in offices we have CEOs who are leading the organizations. Similarly, our government and our country also have a leader that directs the followers. So, literature and history is filled with numerous examples, where the importance of leaders has been highlighted. Continuous increase in competition is increasing the significance of a leader’s role. Today, increased competition has resulted in unethical and illegal copying of the competitor’s products, policies, and even the organizational structure. The only thing the competitor’s cannot replicate is the human resource, and in order to gain maximum benefit from its human resource, an organization has to manage it effectively and efficiently, which can be accomplished by the leaders. The effective leadership has several critical roles that will directly influence the organization’s growth and performance. Moreover, there are other roles that are to be performed by leader, which have long term focus such as succession planning. Conclusion I believe if I had to face similar situation, I would be in a better position to deal with it. These 8 weeks have completely changed my way of thinking and personality. I have become more adaptable and flexible towards situations involving team work and collaborative decision making. Besides, I have gained experience of working with people belonging to different ethnicities and nationalities. Moreover, Freud has provided us the underlying cause that hinders team growth, which is the “repression paradigm”. If only the leader can overcome the group members’ repression, only then the team leader can get the maximum benefit out of its team (Gendlin, 1964). Furthermore, the overall team performance is based on both the members’ and the leader’s role in a group. So, the leader and team members both have to put equal input and have to negotiate and collaborate when working towards decision-making. I believe that if at any time of my life I have to deal with a similar situation, due to the invaluable experience I gained, I will certainly be more vigilant and confident in handling the situation in a much better way. References 1. Gendlin, E.T., 1964. A theory of Personality Change. New York: John Wiley & Sons 2. Gunn, S.B., 2009. The Essential Management Toolbox: Tools, Models and Notes for Managers and Consultants. John Wiley and Sons. 3. Harris, D., 2006. CIMA Learning System 2007 Integrated Management. Britain: Butterworth-Heinemann, pp. 338. 4. Hiatt, J. & Creasey, T.J., 2003. Change management: the people side of change. USA: Prosci 5. Kruger, W. Change iceberg. . [Online] Available at [Accessed on 2nd April 2011]. 6. Martin, B., 2006. Outdoor leadership: theory and practice. USA: Human Kinetics, 2006 7. Mills. D.Q., 2005. The Importance of Leadership: How to Lead, How to Live. 8. Riggle, R. J., 2007. The impact of organizational climate variables of perceived organizational support, workplace isolation, and ethical climate on salesperson psychological and behavioral work outcomes. University of South Florida: ProQuest. 9. Scott, C.D. & Jaffe, D.T., 2004. Managing personal change: moving through personal transition. Axzo Press. 10. Sharma, R.R., 2006. Change Management. New Delhi: Tata McGraw-Hill Education, pp. 73. Read More