Communication Aspects, Personality and Leadership Styles Used in Management - Research Paper Example

?Communication Aspects, Personality and Leadership Styles used in Management The success of every organization depends on the effectiveness of its management. In order to deliver quality management, it is important that managers apply the correct management style and use the most appropriate communication styles. They should also have an insight of the personalities of every employee. This information is very essential in conducting employee placements into various work positions. There is need to help individuals in management positions improve their level of effectiveness and guide those who are beginning their leadership roles. The aim of this paper is to explain the main management and leadership styles that can be utilized in by managers in their efforts to deliver effective management. The paper explains how managers can bridge the gap between upper management and front line workers by enhancing communication. It also shows how managers should work towards the attainment of big five personality dimensions and other critical leadership skills. Management styles There are four main management styles that can be applied by managers depending on the specific environments. These are the autocrat, benevolent autocrat, participatory democrat and consultative democrat. An autocrat type of manager is one that manages by telling others what to do and how to do it. This type of a manager has minimum confidence on their subordinates and most often, they do not trust them. This type of leadership is not the best for an industrial or a business environment because it results to ill treatment of workers. Workers will be treatment as automations instead of human beings with natural limitations. As the organization expands, the freedom of workers to make decision without approval reduces and so does shared ideas. The final result of this management style is high turn-over rates (Montana and Bruce, 2008). A benevolent autocrat type of manager pictures themselves as a father figure whose role is to make important decisions then they look for ways to convince their subordinates to join them in following them. Sometimes, these managers allow subordinates to make minor decisions within the limits hey set for them. In this type of management, rewards and punishments are used to motivate employees From its name, a consultative democrat is a type of manager who consults with their subordinates. Montana and Bruce (2008) explains that these types of managers have trust and confidence in their employees and this drives them to consult with them. Before making decisions, such managers always get the views of the employees on it. However, they are the ones with a final say when it comes making the actual decision. Slightly different from a consultative democrat, a participatory democrat is a type of manager who allows employees to have an active role in decision-making. They share with them the decision-making process because they have full trust and confidence in them. Whenever there is an issue or a decision to be made, the manager invites all the stakeholders so that they can discuss. The final decision represents the views of the majority. Leadership styles in management The main role of a leader is to ensure the accomplishment of a common task by enlisting aid and support from others. This is a process of social influence. The most common leadership styles are authoritative, democratic, afflictive and coaching. In authoritative leadership style, there total centralization of decision-making powers. Authoritative leaders do not welcome initiatives or suggestions from their subordinates and because of this, decision-making is quick and unilateral. However, it gives managers a very string motivation while demoralizing their subordinates. In democratic or participative type of leadership, group decision-making is favored. This is seen where such leaders consult with the group before giving instructions. This means their decisional are not unilateral. Through this, such leaders motivate their groups effectively and positively hence it is easily for them to win the cooperation of their subordinates. Montana and Bruce (2008) explains that an affiliative type of leadership create a warm and friendly environment. This type of leadership recognizes the emotional needs of each team member. It makes team members to feel valued not just as workers, but as individuals. The leaders therefore more emphasis on meeting emotional needs of members as compared to standards, task directions and goals. At all times, affliative leaders avoid confrontation arising from task performance. Instead, they always seek for opportunities for positive feedback. A coaching leader is one who links wants to the organizational goals. They help their team members to find strengths and weaknesses through the holding of long conversations focus beyond their workplace. They also apply these advices to the actual career aspirations and actions hence is suitable where workers need to develop long-term capabilities. This type of leaders is effective in demonstrating justifiable faith and delegating challenging assignments (Montana and Bruce, 2008). Communication aspects in management For effective performance of tasks, a management needs to utilize procedural communication. This is communication related to carrying out a task. It includes applying certain steps, giving instructions for completion of tasks. Technical Communication is related to the utilization of equipment, machines, tools and technology. In an organization, systems communication is utilized for understanding and interaction. Systems Communication include processes, procedures and systems-related texts. Personal communication is used for expressing personal goals or identity. these include opinions, goals, knowledge and analysis of financial status. Cooperative Communication is important in understanding how a group functions. This includes roles of members and establishing cooperative relationships between members. (Australian Government, 2008). For good communication, there should be a good communication plan indicating what is to be said, whom to say it to and how to say it. The sequence of creating a communication plan begins by setting realistic goals, identifying the audience, assessing information needs among target audience, identify sources of information and identification of methods and media available. This is followed by identifying key messages, or marketing tools, identifying key events or deliverables, encouraging feedback and finally, defining a process of updating the communication plant. In order to attain the highest levels of team effectiveness, mangers should be able to train their teams on how to make clear and confident communication. This will enable them to develop each other by expressing and sharing their ideas and opinions. Skills to be acquired include issues relates to proper voice tone, body language, maintaining confidence among others. Fundamental skills for understanding Big 5 personalities The five dimensions of personality or broad domains that are used to describe human personality are agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism and openness. Agreeableness refers to a tendency to become cooperative and companionate towards others rather than being antagonistic and suspicious. Agreeable persons have an optimistic perception of human nature hence they easily get along with others. They can also compromise their interests for the sake of others. On the converse, disagreeable persons value their self-interest more than getting along with others. Due to lack of trust, they get skeptical about the motives of other people and this makes them to be uncooperative, suspicious and unfriendly. Conscientiousness is a tendency to act dutifully, demonstrate show self-discipline and aim for achievement against external expectations or measures. Such persons exhibit a preference for planned behavior rather than spontaneous behavior (Barrick and Mount, 1991). Extraversion is marked by surgency, positive emotions and the tendency to seek for stimulation and the company of others. Extroverts are action-oriented people who enjoy being with others and tend to be enthusiastic. On the other hand, introverts have low levels of activity and social exuberance. They could be very active and energetic but simply not social. Neuroticism refers to the tendency to experience emotions that are not positive for example anxiety, depression and anger. Such persons are vulnerable to stress and emotionally reactive hence they are prone to emotional instability. Openness is a general appreciation for adventure, unusual ideas, art, emotion, imagination and curiosity. This trait differentiates persons who are imaginative people from those who are conventional and down-to-earth (Barrick and Mount, 1991). Leadership skills for empowering staff It is important for leaders to empower workers and create similar organizations for purposes of delegation of duties and to achieve employee autonomy. In order to achieve this, leaders should give power to individuals who have demonstrated a satisfactory capacity to handle responsibilities. They should be allowed to accomplish their assigned jobs on their own. Individuals should also be allowed to enjoy some levels the discretion and autonomy over their resources and tasks. This means leaders should avoid unnecessary supervision. Gierden (2008) states that leaders should create a favorable work environment in which employees are encouraged to grow their skills. This could entail giving room for employee initiatives and innovations, utilization of personal problem solving skills and assigning them challenging but motivating tasks. Leader should avoid guessing the decisions and ideas of employees unless it is unavoidable. This will boost their confidence and encourage them to willfully share their ideas with them. In all these, the mangers should ensure they are a role model for the employees. Increasing communication between team members Middle managers act as a pipeline between the organization’s upper management and the organization’s frontline staff. This means an organization should always empower its middle managers in order to ensure that that communication through this important pipeline remains open in both directions. This is done through supervisory skills, human service organizations and basic leadership. This will enable them to order to remain equally credible to those above and below them (Burack-Weiss and Barbara, 2008). People working as teams may not be stationed in one place. This means modes of communication like E-mail communication should be used in order to enhance communication in several locations. E-mail communication ensures all members of a given team have the same documentation due to the ease of sending them email. Conclusion An effective leadership and management style is one sure way of achieving prosperity in an organization. If a management style is applied in the inappropriate environment, the result will be discontent in the organization, lack of a forward path or a slow growth. Effective communication also has a big role to play in the achievement of success in an organization. When communication is allowed to flow uninterrupted, organizational performance improves remarkably hence organizational managers have to increase communication between team members. It is important for organizations to empower their employees because empowered increases employee willingness to take responsibilities. References Australian Government (2008). “Australian Core Skills Framework: Aspects of Communication.”. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Online: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/LitandNum/ACSF/about/Pages/communicationAspects.aspx. Viewed on 22nd July, 2011. Barrick, M. and Mount, M. (1991). "The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis". Personnel Psychology (44) pp 1–26. Burack-Weiss, A and Barbara, S. (2008). Success of Middle Management Depends on Upper Management. Online: http://magazine.alliance1.org/content/ecsgforum/fall08/success-middle-management-depends-upper-management Gierden,C. (2008). Empowering the People in Your Organization. Online: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2154/Empowering-the-People-in-Your-Organization.html. Viewed on 22nd July, 2011. Montana, P. and Bruce, C. (2008) Management: Leadership and Theory. (4th Ed). New York. Barron's Educational Series, Inc. Annotated Bibliography Australian Government (2008). “Australian Core Skills Framework: Aspects of Communication.”. Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations. Online: http://www.deewr.gov.au/Skills/Programs/LitandNum/ACSF/about/Pages/communicationAspects.aspx This article lists and explains five aspects of communication as part of the Australian core skills framework (ACSF). These are procedural communication for task performance, personal communication self expression/expressing identity, cooperative communication for understanding interacting in groups, technical communication for the utilization of technology and tools and systems communication understanding interacting in organizations. Barrick, M. Mount, M. (1991). "The Big Five Personality Dimensions and Job Performance: A Meta-Analysis". Personnel Psychology (44) pp 1–26. This journal lists and explains five dimensions of personality or broad domains that are used to describe human personality. The five factors discussed in the journal are agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism and openness. The author gives a good illustration of the personalities of persons holding these traits and those that do not have. The author also explains the use of each of these traits, for example, they state that openness differentiates persons who are imaginative people from those who are conventional and down-to-earth while neuroticism shows various reactions and attitudes towards social harmony. Burack-Weiss, A and Barbara, S. (2008). Success of Middle Management Depends on Upper Management. Online: http://magazine.alliance1.org/content/ecsgforum/fall08/success-middle-management-depends-upper-management. This article begins by acknowledging that middle managers play have a critical responsibility of providing a pipeline between the organization’s upper management and its frontline staff. It then explains how middle managers should be empowered in order to remain equally credible to those above and below them. Gierden,C. (2008). Empowering the People in Your Organization. Online: http://www.evancarmichael.com/Leadership/2154/Empowering-the-People-in-Your-Organization.html This article describes the ways in which managers or leaders of organizations can empower people within their organizations. The article gives three main approaches to this. These are, giving employees discretion and autonomy in their tasks, giving them power to complete their assigned duties and create a favorable work environment in which employees are encouraged to grow their skills. Montana, P. and Bruce, C. (2008) Management: Leadership and Theory, Barron's Educational Series, Inc., Hauppauge, New York, 4th English edition. This book outlines and explores the various management and leadership styles that can be applied in various environmental settings. The authors achieve this by giving a detailed explanation of the characteristics of leaders who use the various leadership and management styles. He book also explains their resultant leadership/management-employee relationship and the impact of these styles on employee attitudes and performance. Read More