Managers and Work Relationships - Competitiveness and Conflict Resolution - Coursework Example

MANAGERS AND WORK RELATIONSHIPS COMPETITIVENESS AND CONFLICT RESOLUTION Table of contents Section 1 Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………..3 Section II Incidence analysis…………………………………………………………………………………6 Analysis of the incidents…………………………………………………………………………..7 Analysis in relation to the theories……………………………………………………………...…8 Section III Self diagnosis…………………………………………………………...…………………………9 Section IV Development plan………………………………………………………………………………..12 Conclusions………………………………………………………………………………………15 Appendices……………………………………………………………………………………….16 References………………………………………………………………………………………..24 Section 1 Introduction Within the workplace there are many competencies that are required by the managers and employees to be exhibited so that the employees and the managers develop a strong relationship among each other. The competencies not only help the managers and the employees to get along with each other but it helps to develop a better understanding of the ways to develop a comfortable environment to work with each other. There are five main competencies required at the workplace (Topchik 10). These include; 1. Resources. Managers at the workplace need to allocate proper resources through appropriate identification. The resources are inclusive of time, money, the facilities required at the workplace and the human resources. These are the resources that need to be managed properly (Cloke 14). 2. Interpersonal relationships need to be understood being the team leader, as a team member, being a negotiator and the manager should be able to teach the other employees the skills in a better manner. 3. Acquiring the information and making the proper use of the information is one of the main competencies required at the workplace (Ashkanasy 15). 4. Proper systems need to be implemented that understand the complex interrelationships within the working environment and is able to evaluate the performance of the employees. 5. The integration of the technology at the workplace increases the competence level so the proper management of the technology is thereby needed (Smith 10). Workplace competencies are one factor that can have a positive control on the inter personal relationships that exist within the workplace. The relationships are the vital part to be seen within the workplace as work in the workplace runs smoothly when the interrelationships are smoother. The conflicts are the main crisis that is to be avoided in any workplace. The managers at the workplace are the ones who must be having the competency level to deal with the conflicts that occur between the employees within the workplace (Deutsch 10). Many kinds of conflicts arise within the workplace where the main reason can be mismanagement of the managers. For the resolution of the conflicts there are resolution skills that are required at the managerial level that include active listening skills that helps in understanding the reason of conflict and being polite in replying. For the managers, understanding and not being hostile is the key to success in managing the workplace conflicts (Sherman 11). Section II Incidence analysis Identification of the incidents a. Incidence number 1 The first kind of conflict that had been noticed was over the responsibility issues pointing out to who should do what (Cohen 25). This is usually exemplified as the conflict of turfs. In this case the aggression in conflict is because of the reason that the responsibilities are not properly being understood by the employees thereby leading to these kind of conflicts (Menz 20). b. Incidence number 2 The second kind of the conflict noticed at the workplace included the policy-making issues where the aggression had been seen at the point of remaking of erroneous policies that had not been seen to be satisfactory by the employees (Gramberg 25). The discussion between the manager and the employee was related to the fact that the employee demanded that the policies need to be changed in that particular work environment. Analysis of the incidents The behavioral analysis Both of the incidents at the workplace are in demand of proper resolution by the mangers at the workplace thereby the responsibility is on managers that they need to decide a resolution for the conflicts that have raised so that these kinds of the conflicts are properly avoided in the future (McClure 10). In both of the events, aggression has been a part of conflicts because of the confusions, as the responsibilities have not been made clearer to the employees. It is inclusive of the mismanagement shown by the higher authorities. The conflicts seemed to have heightened, as managers at the workplace seemed to be ignorant of the situation (Masters 22). Analysis in relation to the theories The basic responsibility that is to be dealt in a proper manner by the authorities at the workplace is to make the employees realize their responsibilities in a detailed manner so that the work runs in an organized manner (Harrison 25). This can avoid any conflicts that might arise in the future regarding the responsibility matters as the employees will be aware of the responsibilities that they are answerable about. This is the fact that shows that management had been ignorant in showing the competency in case of maintaining the interpersonal relationships at the workplace (Martin 20). The start of the better maintenance of the interpersonal relationships at the workplace begins by making the employees realize their responsibilities as well as they should be aware of the others’ circle of responsibilities thereby the conflict do not arise to create problems in the inter personal relationships in the workplace (Langan-Fox 20). The policymaking includes the allocation of the resources as time and money so that the employees at the workplace are satisfied by the policies designed by the higher authorities. The competitiveness requires the managers that any policy making and decisions should be shared with the employees in a proper manner welcoming the suggestions from the employees thereby changing the policies as required and as possibility welcomes (Kavanagh 25). In this case the competitiveness has not been shown in a proper manner. In both of the incidences the managers are the ones who should be realizing their competitiveness being lower as required in engaging the employees in decision-making as well as in responsibility layout (Kramer 22). Section III Self diagnosis The incidences that have arose at the workplace have been because of lesser competitive level being exhibited by the mangers at the workplace as interpersonal relationships have not been kept in mind when decision making and policy making had been done. I being at the manager’s position require me to have a lot of responsibility. With this post the need to recognize the competitiveness has to be realized and it needs to be implemented in proper manners at the workplace (Johnson 10). The competency level needs to be monitored and that needs an analysis and the analysis can be carried out in three ways. The points that need to analyzed in the self case are the level of the competencies and second being the use of competencies in avoiding and resolving the conflicts at the workplace (Jones 20). The two points need to be judged by using three analytical tools that include the personal interviews with the employees, the gathering discussion so as to welcome the group suggestions and the questionnaire survey within the workplace. a. The questionnaire approach Analysis of the self-competitiveness and ability to avoid the future conflicts is to be analyzed in detailed manner by the help of the questionnaire. The questions in the questionnaire will be designed in such a way that each and every employee at the workplace feels welcomed to answer the questions in an anonymous way. The questionnaire will be covering both of the important areas of the subject and the questions will have a break up such that every aspect of the two subjects is measured in detail. b. Individual interview approach The employees will be made to talk on the two major subjects that need to be understood in a proper manner. The employees will be welcomed to talk about the weaknesses that they feel exist in the workplace which might be responsible for the creation of any conflicts in the future either among the employees or between the mangers and the employees. In addition to this the suggestions from the employees at the individual level shall be welcomed so that the ideology of the employees can be understood regarding the required changes in the workplace. c. Group discussion The workplace cannot be complete without the group discussions or the meetings that frequently take place. In this case the employees shall be gathered at one place and the two major subjects shall be discussed. This will help in gathering a group opinion of the employees regarding the level of the managerial competitiveness and the abilities being shown by the managerial employers in dealing and avoiding the conflicts in the workplace. The group opinion can be reflective of the employees’ common needs and the requirements to be implemented that they need in order to feel being listened as the employees need to be listened to by their higher authorities. Questionnaire and the results of discussion are in the appendices. Section IV Development plan The responses from the questionnaires and the interviews will be the foundation for the development and implementation plan. The developmental plan includes implementation of the changes that are needed at the workplace keeping in mind the fact that the managers achieve the proper competitiveness level and the possibility of any possible conflicts arising in the future is avoided. The conflicts that are noticed in the workplace need to be dealt in a proper and an organized manner. For that an action plan is needed so as the conflicts are avoided and controlled from the first step. The requirements that are made by the employees are taken into consideration for designing the action plan. For this purpose answers from the questionnaire are to be taken into account to see what the employees feel about the level of the competiveness being shown by the managers at various levels. The answers from the questionnaire will be reflecting the satisfaction level of the employees at the workplace where employees will be answering the questions in relation to level of competitiveness being shown by the managers and the practical implementation of competitiveness to avoid any conflicts among the employees as well as between the manger and the employees. The results from the questions shall be aligned in the manner that shows the satisfaction level and the unsatisfied level of the employees owing to the competitive level and the abilities of the managers to solve the conflicts. The changes that are needed at the managerial behavioral level shall be reflective by the answers provided by the questionnaires and these are the changes that will be tried to be implemented in the future. The decisions that are made regarding the changes that are needed to be made the most at the workplace will be made by including the managers as well as the employees who have been helpful in giving their responses. This will help in the betterment to be assured at the workplace. In addition to this the implemented changes shall be informed to the employees with the proper involvement of the employees so that the feel of being involved with the mangers is felt at the employee level thus being successful in achieving the better inter personal relationships. This will help in implementing the changes in the work environment with the consent of not only the managers but also the employees at the workplace. Conclusions Organizations and the firms other than having aims and goals related to the success of the firms in the markets are also concerned about the work environment that they provide to the employees. The employees are always expected to reflect the level best professionalism and responsibilities in relation to their work however this has to be understood that the way an employee or the employees behave within the work environment depends on the managerial behavior being shown. The competitiveness level of the mangers reflects the professionalism being shown by the managers in this case. The competitiveness level not only helps the managers to create the professional and an organized working environment for the employees but this helps in the avoiding the future conflicts that might arise in the future between the employees and the managers and also among the employees. This issue is in needs of the proper understanding by the managers that the employees should be made aware of their responsibilities so no responsibility conflicts arise. The second important thing being that the employees should be involved in decision-making and the policy making by the managers. Appendices First tool: Questionnaires Second tool: Individual employee interview Third tool: Group Employee and Managerial discussion First tool Topic 1: Competitiveness 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree agree Strongly agree For answering mention the numeral in front of the choices given. Question number 1: what from the following do you think is most needed in the work environment? a. Time and money b. Facilities c. Human resources d. Inter personal relationships including those with the higher authorities Question number 2: do you think all of the above mentioned level of competitiveness is being shown by your higher authorities? Question number 3: are you satisfied with the level of competitiveness being shown by your higher authorities? Question number 4: which one competitive level do you think is strongly lacking in the higher authorities? Answer as the choice given in the first question followed by the numeral as a 3. Question number 5: do you agree that the competitiveness level has a role in creating an organized and a peaceful work environment? Question number 6: how much do you agree to the existence of better inter personal relationships within your work environment? Question number 7: do you agree that any new policies and decision making is being done by involving all the employees? Suggestions Topic 2: Resolution of Conflicts 1 2 3 4 5 Strongly disagree Disagree Neither agree nor disagree agree Strongly agree For answering mention the numeral in front of the choices given. Question number 1: do you have any conflicts with the neighboring employees? Question number 2: do you blame the managers for the rise of the conflicts? Question number 3: what kinds of conflicts have been arising in the past 12 months within the neighboring employees? a. Policies at the workplace b. Responsibility issues Question number 4: do you see any approach from the managers in dealing with the conflicts? Question number 5: do you feel that the managers are acting appropriately in reaching to the root of the rise of the conflicts? Question number 6: do you agree that the rise of the conflict is because of the lower competitive level f of the managers? Question number 6: do you think that by improving the competitiveness, the mangers can be successful in avoiding any future conflicts? Suggestions Responses Topic 1 Managerial Competitiveness level The number of the employees that participated in the analysis had been 40. The results are represented in the percentage of positive response that each question got. First tool 1. Results topic 1 Question number 1: 70%: interpersonal relationships 20%: time and money 10%: other options Question number 2: 65% showed negative response 15% were neither satisfied nor unsatisfied 10% were completely satisfied Question number 3: 65% showed negative response 15% were neither satisfied nor unsatisfied 10% were completely satisfied Question number 4: 80% completely agreed 10% neither agreed nor disagreed 10% disagreed and gave human resources as an option. Question number 5: 80% completely agreed 20% neither agreed nor disagreed Question number 6: 80% were in disagreement of the existence of the relationships 20% agreed to the existence of inter personal relationships Question number 7: 90% employees were in agreement 10% showed medium responses Second tool Individual interviews 85% of the employees were; 1. Dissatisfied with the policies being implemented at the work place 2. Had conflicts related to the policies implementation 3. Thought that there is a need of change at the managerial level 4. Thought that the level of competition exhibited by the managers has not been well enough. 15% of the employees had been satisfied with the policies and the competitiveness level at the managerial level. Third tool Discussion at the employee gathering 90% of the employees agreed to change the polices as the main factor was the addition of the incentives for the better performance. 5% of the employees discussed that the human resources need to be changed. 5% of the employees discussed that the human resources need to be changed. Responses Topic 2 Ability to resolve the conflicts First tool Questionnaire Results Question number 1: 60% were in agreement of having conflicts . 30% were in median level of response 10% said they were in peaceful relationships with the neighboring employees. Question number 2: 90% of the employees gave a positive response 10% of the employees were in agreement nor disagreement. Question number 3: 75% of the employees agreed with the conflicts being at the policy issues 25% of the employees were in agreement with the responsibility issues. Question number 4 60% were in agreement 25% in disagreement 15% with median level response Question number 5 60% were in agreement 30% in disagreement Question number 6 89% agreed 11% disagreed Second tool Individual interviews 85% of the employees were in agreement of having conflicts related to the policies implementation . 15% of the employees had been satisfied with the care shown by the managers in solving the conflicts. Third tool Discussion at the employee gathering 75% of the employees agreed that the interpersonal relationships need betterment. 20% of the employees discussed that the managerial intrusion is needed to solve the conflicts. 5% agreed that the managers had to relook at their competitiveness. References Ashkanasy, Neal., and Härtel, Charmine. Emotions in the workplace: research, theory, and practice. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2000 Cloke, Ken., Goldsmith, Joan., and Bennis, Warren. 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