Professional and Personal Efficiency - Case Study Example

Introduction

We are all part of an organization whether directly or indirectly. Organizational behavior (OB) can be defined as the study which analyzes how human beings interact with one another when in groups. The main reason for this study is to try and build more reputable business organizations with a strong foundation. The study can involve a group or a single individual. There are topics such as diversity, team effectiveness and motivation in group behavior, which will be discussed throughout the paper.

How people work in an organization is mainly influenced by diversity. It is good to appreciate the fact that diversity brings about increased capability and competitiveness of the organizations. Even though it seems difficult to understand the diversity of human beings, it is very crucial for the welfare of organizational behavior.

Motivation is a core thing in groups. It is an inner force that one has to do something. It can also be referred to as desire. The motivation that the workers in an organization have, profoundly determines the success of the team. All team mates require motivation so that they can have the energy and persistence to attain a particular goal. Without motivation then there will be no progress in an organization hence poor relations in the society.

Sometimes it becomes difficult to achieve what we want on our own. Teamwork is imperative when the members have the aim to achieve the same goal. It is not an easy thing to work as a team. It requires members who are actively working together. Commitment is imperative to ensure the success of an organization. The performance of a team is expected to be very high if all the members are well coordinated.

Diversity

People are different and have various methods of approaching issues. We can compare how people have similar and different traits. It is called individual indifferences. It helps a lot in organizations because it creates diversity in the workforce. Diversity can be classified into deep level diversity and surface-level diversity (Wagner III & Hollenbeck, 2014). Deep-level diversity involves the differences in individuals attributes. They cannot be physically seen and takes a lot of time to understand. The surface-level diversity entails the attributes that are visible such as age and sex.

In the workplaces, we have diversity issues which affect the welfare of organizations. We have race and the ethnic groups to which the employees belong, as well as gender, age, sexual orientation and abilities. All these factors affect the setup of an organization. Some employers may prefer the people belonging to a particular kind of race and discriminate others. Others may prefer a specific gender and age group. In organizations, the young people tend to feel that the elder adults are not as working as they are because of their behavior or dressing code. People from different age groups should be able to work together in a peaceful manner.

In my experiences, I have realized that organizations can recruit diverse individuals, but there is always a problem when it comes to retaining them. Due to diversity, some of the employees may not feel welcome in the organization. For example people with disabilities may feel that they are not supposed to work together with the other people. Some may be disqualified in job interviews due to their disabilities.

Learning is a continuing activity that occurs all the time in our daily lives. It’s nice to know that we cannot all be the same. We have different traits, personalities; we are not all of the same age, and we also come from the various ethnic groups. Understanding this will help in transforming learning. We will not find it difficult accepting people for who they are. The working environment will, therefore, be conducive for all employees.

Understanding diversity will greatly enhance my professional and personal effectiveness. I will have a better understanding and appreciation of everyone whether in learning institutions or workplaces. I can now manage an organization with diverse individuals and make them feel comfortable in their working areas. I will have a better understanding of myself and know that we were all created differently hence we are all expected to be diverse.

Motivation

These are forces that determine the persistence or level of work than an individual can perform. These forces can be external or internal. These are incentives that encourage us to put more effort into whatever we are doing. In an organization, motivation is the key thing. It is responsible for controlling, maintaining and reenergizing the behavior of the workers in an organization (Pinder, 2014). Without it, then all the members of a group will be discouraged to perform their expected tasks. The higher the motivation, the higher the level of productivity. Motivation seems like a simple thing theoretically, but when it comes to application, it becomes the most difficult thing.

We have different theories of motivation. Motivation theories are concepts that try to explain the actuation of the success in human behavior. These approaches can be divided into two; the content ideas and the process theories. Content theories explain the needs that an individual require that may lead to their behavior motivation. These theories explain the ways that people display in their workplaces. They include;

• Maslow's Hierarchy of needs theory

Abraham Maslow is the psychologist who came up with the theory. The theory says that human beings have needs which can be ranked in a hierarchal manner. All people have basic needs which need to be satisfied. The argument shows that once a certain need is satisfied, then it stops serving as a motivator. The needs are ranked from the least important to the most important (Uhl-Bien et al., 2013). Human beings first satisfy the physiological needs, then the safety needs to be followed by the social needs then the esteem needs and finally the self-actualization needs.

• ERG Theory: this motivation theory was developed by a man named y Clayton Alderfer.
• Two-factor theory: the theory was designed by Fredrick Herzberg
• Acquired needs theory. It was prepared by a psychologist known as David I. McClelland.

The other category of motivation theories is the process theories of motivation. In this group we have:

• Equity theory.
• Expectancy theory.
• Reinforcement theory

These theories can show the managers what the employees need and their expectations. They are therefor able to determine the behavior of the members of an organization. The theories also indicate that employees usually respond when they feel that their working conditions are unfair to them. Organization members can learn from the consequences and adopt behaviors that lead to positive results.

I believe that outside forces that motivate people whether in their workplace or learning institutions are crucial. I have realized that paying employees a right amount of salary acts as a motivation. This motivation, in turn, results in high yields of an organization. We have to motivate all employees and treat them in a fair way so that the progress of an organization can improve.

Having the basic knowledge about motivation can help both the learners and the tutors to transform learning in a positive way. The students who achieve good grades should be motivation both at home and at school. This will ensure that they are putting more effort to make better grades and get more rewards. Rewarding the learners is also a way of preparing them in the real world life where pay and performance go hand in hand. Without performance then you get no pay.

Through motivation, I will be able to work even harder to achieve individual goals. We all require incentives to feel appreciated and to produce more. I believe that to achieve a higher level of success; I will need motivation either from an individual or an organization. The concept of motivation helps in keeping the employees on toes; they know that they are expecting something good when they perform a useful task

Team effectiveness

The effectiveness of a team in an organization always determines the outcomes of the group. Team effectiveness ensures that the duties are performed in the correct way, all the members are satisfied with their position and work, the yields of the organization are high, and there is the viability of the team. Considering performing duties in the correct way, an active team produces both quality and great results than expected (Cummings & Worley, 2014). They can meet their daily target. All the members should be satisfied in that their participation in the organization is significant and they can respond to their personal needs. To determine whether a team is viable, we should analyze the capability of the members working together. They should all look forward to accomplishing the future tasks when they are done with the current jobs. Factors to consider when forming a team include; the work that the team is to perform, the composition of the team and the size of the team (Wagner III & Hollenbeck, 2014). The duties that the team is performing should be well defined so that the members can find it easy to accomplish. The work should be similar to avoid complexity. When considering the team composition, we should check on the abilities, skills and the personalities of the team members. Right members must be on the team to ensure team effectiveness. The size of the group depends on the task to be accomplished. A large work requires a large team and vice versa.

In my experiences, I have discovered that teamwork can be both challenging and efficient. Not all teams can coordinate themselves in a proper manner. Some teams end up not achieving the primary goals that led to the forming of the team. It is true that too many cooks spoil the broth, but we cannot always apply this when it comes to organizations. We must set realistic goals that are attainable. The members should also have the same interests to ensure success.

Applying the concept of team effectiveness in learning, we can make sure success for all the learners. Learning enhances progress in the workplace and the increases the performance of organizations. Creating awareness about the importance of teamwork would be my first step to take in transferring learning. The leader of the team must ensure that the team is well coordinated. The negative attitude that some people possess concerning teamwork should change to enable team effectiveness ion organizations.

Learning about team effectiveness will not only change my personal life but the community as a whole. People in the community will be able to freely share their ideas and form effective teams based on their goals. The right members will be selected, and the group task will be well performed.

Conclusion

Diversity, motivation, and team effectiveness are important concepts in organization behavior. Having team members who have different views, different personalities, traits, and characteristics are a sign of success in the organization. We have to accept people for who they are. All teams are expected to have diverse individuals and should provide a healthy working environment for the employees to feel comfortable.

Motivation ensures the success of an organization. Without motivation then employees will lack the incentives to work harder. We need those external forces that make us work extra more challenging. Theories of motivation are crucial because they explain the behaviors that people display in their workplaces. We have to understand these principles so that we can understand the personalities of other people. Teamwork always leads to high yields as long as we have the right individuals in the team. Even though it’s hard to maintain a team, it is the best thing that an organization can have to ensure achievement of goals.