Leadership, Teambuilding and Communication - Assignment Example

Leadership, Teambuilding and Communication Tony Webb Dr. Linda Harris BUS 322 - Organizational Behavior June (day) Contents Answer 3 Answer 2 4 Answer 3 5 Answer 4 6 Answer 5 8 References 10 1. Examine traditional, contemporary, and emerging leadership theories and interpersonal forms of power. Answer 1 Leadership is associated with many theories ranging from traditional to contemporary and emerging. As Nelson and Quick (2013, p. 193) stated, “Leadership in organizations is the process of guiding and directing the behavior of people in the work environment.” A common leadership theory used is traditional theory, where leadership styles of individuals are identified. The three major behavioral styles of leadership are democratic, autocratic and laissaz-faire. When a leader uses intimidation or coercion in order to achieve goals, it is known as autocratic style. While an autocratic style might have negative influence on followers, implemented properly, it can create significant positive change (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). On the other hand, democratic leaders are those who collaborate with workers and employees encouraging mutual cooperation. The company chosen for research is Microsoft and the leader chosen is Bill Gates. a) The major leadership style followed by Bill Gates is autocratic; however, this style has exemplified his ability to lead. Bill Gates is a transformational leader with expert knowledge and charisma. He has been able to successfully move Microsoft in the upward direction with his vision and long-term goals. Even after giving operational powers to his successors, Bill Gates still enjoys unlimited authority because of his industry vision and has exhibited many autocratic leadership styles (McFarland, Senn & Childress, 1994). He used legitimate power of position in order to influence organizational tactics or strategies. For instance, while dealing with top management, position power was utilized for pushing his recommendation. Similarly, he used reward power to influence and motivate his employees. His social network has been wide and diverse, helping him to communicate among similar industry peers with leveled influence. b) Though Bill Gates never entirely implemented or used autocratic leadership styles such as, coercion, yet he was able to guide Microsoft towards success. Bill Gates is a visionary and has properly utilized all resources of the company in order to change his vision into reality. In the electronics and personal computer industry, various situations arise that require urgent actions and in these situations, Bill Gates has proved to be an effective leader by applying autocratic style. Also, this style is more effective when the leader is knowledgeable, experienced and competitive so that quick solutions are devised during emergencies as well as during crisis situations. Rational persuasion and pressure exerted by him has been so far successful in establishing discipline, even in its innovation strategies. By increasing competition and aggression among employees, Bill Gates was able to enhance overall performance of the company as well as increase turnover rates (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). 2. Based on your research, analyze the organizational stressors and determine their likely impact on organizational performance Answer 2 Any organizational element or situation resulting in individual stress and in turn influencing organizational performance can be termed as organizational stressor. Stressors generally disrupt smooth flow of operations, slow down their effectiveness, impact enthusiasm, creative thinking and commitment in a negative manner, distort workers relationships and make day to day activities difficult for management and employees (Walonick, 1993; Cooper, 1998). Task Demand: In organizational terms, task demand is a situation where an individual or a group is required to solve a pending work with special effort. In case there is a lack of trained professionals, task demand can cause stress among individuals associated with the task. The attributes of task demand include long working hours and tough work situations (Walonick, 1993). In order to reduce stressors while completion of task demands, it is important to formulate a problem and define its depth or acuteness. Once the skills needed to solve a task are identified, specialists are selected with requisite skills, thereby restoring organizational performance. Role demands: Role demand basically implies the job role and responsibilities associated. Role demand can create organizational stressors on event of a conflict or ambiguity in terms of roles, occurring during organizational change, recruitment, promotion and transfer. Stressors related to role demand can be minimized through activities such as, training, improving working conditions, mentoring the distressed employee as well as providing employees with opportunities for social contact, variety, coherence and cooperation among different working departments and functions (Walonick, 1993). Physical Demand: Physical demands in an organization include external stressors providing a good physical environment to work. Many working conditions in organization can result in organizational stressors such as, excessive noise or poor lighting, poor quality of work, too little or excessive work, minimalistic diversity, extreme temperature and unhygienic work environment. In order to reduce organizational stressors for physical demand, leaders can conduct meetings wherein the issues faced by majority of employees will be solved with immediate effect. Following that, problems associated with individual issues can be resolved in accordance with available resources within the company (Walonick, 1993). Interpersonal demands: Interpersonal demands are organizational stressors related with relationship characteristics, where individuals confront others in an organization. These include group pressure, leadership and personality style. A lack of interpersonal demands can result in stressors among employees in an organization. Career related concerns, poor relationships, family and financial concerns, lack of career advancement and job security affect interpersonal demands within an individual. Providing leadership trainings as well as career development seminars can help in minimizing interpersonal stress (Walonick, 1993). 3. Analyze critical elements for effective group and work team performance to determine the steps you would tale to develop an effective team or work group within the company you researched. Answer 3 In order to effectively manage work team and group performance, it is important to understand tactics or factors that bind members within a group or team and then utilize those to unite the group or team, thereby enhancing overall performance. Microsoft has been known as one of the most innovative and creative brands across the globe. Clearly, conflict in areas such as, creativity, innovation and futuristic ideas, are common in groups and teams. In order to develop these creative but volatile teams, five effective steps have been suggested. 1. The first step is creating effective leadership. Effective leadership will ensure all members’ focus on a single purpose, goal and mission. Effective leaders such as, Bill Gates, are responsible for instilling commitment in the team as well as taking responsibility and accountability for the team. 2. The second step is to establish a shared vision among group or team members. It is essential to establish a shared vision among team or group members for long-term focus and smooth operation. This will help in concentrating upon practical aspects such as, new tools, ideas, recent developments, daily problems as well as meeting deadlines. 3. The third step is to establish commitment and attitude within team or group members by way of creating a common visualization of the project or task. This will help to frame group members’ activities and actions in the same direction and with same attitude and commitment. Attitude and commitment can also be set through regular motivations and incentives by the leaders. 4. The fourth step is to create mutual trust within the organization, which is one of the critical elements for a successful team. By instilling trust, leaders will be able to engage group members in decision making and open debate with minimum conflict. Mutual trust also leads to teams, which are self-directed and help each other for successfully completing the projects. 5. The fifth step is effective team collaboration. As team members are actively engaged and involved in work, it is important that they are mentally and emotionally connected. As such, collaboration within and among teams is necessary so that each team reaches the defined goals. By supporting each others, collaborative teams ensure greater value to overall project. 4. Identify potential sources of conflict within the group or work team. Evaluate the five conflict management styles and explain the most appropriate one for the potential sources of conflict described above. Answer 4 Occurrence of conflicts is inevitable within a work team or group. Nonetheless, few of the common and most occurring sources of conflicts are as follows; 1. Using common resources: This is the most common conflict source while working with a big team. Here, different departments and teams have separate strategies for resource utilizations, benefitting their own department or team objectives. 2. Perceived violation of trust and faith: Such violation results in diminishing confidence among team members as well as negative emotional response leading to frequent conflicts. 3. Individual expectations and need: These can be related to work pattern, objective accomplishment, individual benefits like, learning and career advancement. For instance, two members might be competing for the best performer award and subsequently engage in conflicts. 4. Increasing workload: Rise in workload of team or individual can also create conflicts. Some team members might perceive the extra workload as unethical, immoral or impractical and refuse to cooperate, resulting in conflicts (Lyne, et al., 2000). The five conflict management styles have been summarized as follows; 1. Accommodating: Accommodating style indicates high degree cooperation. Even so, this cooperation can be at the expense of the leader or team members and may go against goals, desired outcomes and objectives of a particular employee or employees. 2. Avoiding: Avoiding management style refers to total avoidance of the issue. This style is followed in case of trivial issues or where the chance of objective completion is minimal. Yet, it is generally not fit for long-term team building. 3. Collaborating style: Here, a win-win paradigm is followed. This serves as a suitable approach in complex situations or scenarios, where a novel solution is required. This approach considers the bigger picture and ensures room for every idea. 4. Competing: It is a win-lose approach. Here, the only objective is completion of goals with or without cooperation of other parties. It is appropriate in case of emergencies, time-bound issues or when people are ready to support the conflict management style. 5. Compromising: It is a lose-lose approach, requiring moderate cooperation and assertiveness. It is applicable where temporary solutions are required. Clearly, the above sources of conflict describe the need for proper leadership; mentoring, time-management and pointing out the bigger picture to team members. Hence, a collaborative conflict management style will be appropriate for resolving the above issues. For instance, when team members are given with extra work load, conflicts occur within teams. Nevertheless, with proper training and meetings with the leaders and members of other teams, a bigger picture can be communicated within conflicting teams. Similarly, with establishment of trust and faith among team members as well as a collaborative environment, members will be able to achieve shared vision and understanding. To satisfy personal needs and expectations of the group members, objectives and challenges can be reframed in a collaborative environment. Thus, it can be said that above team conflicts can be resolved by applying collaborative style of conflict management. 5. Determine potential barriers to communication, how these barriers may impact group and work team performance. Provide two recommendations for addressing them. Answer 5 Seven common communication barriers have been identified. Physical barriers include closed door and wide gap between two or more communicators. Perceptual barriers are internal barriers occurring when a person have pre-conceived notion regarding another person within a team. Perceptual barriers can alienate group members from each other. Apart from that, other barriers are related to language, gender, culture, emotions and interpersonal aspects. Communication barriers can slow down the flow of information from own department to another or from one team to other. This can impede completion of tasks. Similarly, communication barriers can affect the mission and vision of an organization due to varying perceptions and cultures. Difference in language or lack of a common communication language can also block free flow of information. In many teams, lack of diversity in terms of culture and gender can result in mediocre results with limited creativity or innovation. In order to overcome communication barriers, first step is to establish a collaborative style of management. It has been seen that majority of conflicts occur due to communication barriers such as, language and cultural. To solve this, first leaders should establish a common communication language, which is accepted and understood by all members of the group. The second recommendation can be creating a collaborative culture within a group. This can be achieved by internal discussion about acceptable and unacceptable activities, attitudes and behavior among different cultures and accepting as well as collaborating with different cultures within teams or groups. References Cooper, C. L. (1998). Theories of Organizational Stress. New York: Oxford University Press, Inc. Kouzes, J., & Posner, B. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). San Francisco, CA US: Jossey-Bass. Lyne, K.D., Barrett, P.T., Williams, C. & Coaley, K. (2000). A psychometric evaluation of the occupational stress indicator. Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, 73, 195–220. McFarland, L. J., Senn, L. E. & Childress, J. R. (1994). 21st century leadership. Dialogues with 100 top leaders. New York: The Leadership Press. Walonick, D.S. (1993). Causes and Cures of Stress in Organizations. Retrieved from http://www.statpac.org/walonick/organizational-stress.htm Read More