Teambuilding and Communication - Essay Example

? Leadership, Teambuilding, and communication Leadership, Teambuilding, and communication Leaders especially managers are highly crucial assets in any company. One of excellent characteristic of a good manager is not only being able to manage others but also to inspire them on how to work hard in order to meet the set goals of the company. Therefore, leadership management is the capability managers to use leadership skills in their management departments. Many people claim that it is a difficult task being a leader and a manager. They argue that these are two different jobs claiming that managers’ role is to ensure that work is perfect by emphasizing rules and regulations of the company are adhered to and making necessary decisions. On the other hand, leaders work hand in hand with others to achieve objectives of the company. However, by combining these two aspects, it is possible to help employees overcome the challenges they face and increase the company’s production (Northouse, 2010). This study will use Wells Fargo Company as a sample company to explain the importance of good leadership and management skills towards company’s production. Wells Fargo is American international banking and financial institution, which operates around the world. This company is ranked the fourth largest bank in America. The Company has highly qualified managers with good management skills thus increasing the production of the company. These good management skills also enable the company to attract and maintain more customers. Good leadership skills also ensure employees experience a favorable working environment hence enabling the company retains highly qualified employees. Leadership theories Leadership interest increased during early twentieth century, and this led to the realization of leadership theories. These theories are into two categories. The first category is early leadership theories focus on the qualities distinguishing leaders and followers while the second category, which are subsequent theories, focus on variables such as situational factors and skills. The followings are some of the major theories used by many companies like Wells Fargo to ensure good leadership in achieving the goals of the company. Great Man Theories The great man theories assume that good leadership skills are inherent thus great leaders are bone but not made. These theories portray that good leaders are heroic, mythic, and have the destiny to rise to leadership when requested. The term “great men” was important because during the twentieth century leadership was mainly associated with men especially in military forces. According to methodologies of some of the world’s famous leaders, the great man theories contributes to the idea that people with great leadership skills are bone and not made. Many researches show that people with good leadership skills seem to emerge magically to lead and control other workers to success. Many people today support these theories claiming that prominent leaders inherit the good qualities and personalities, which make them perfect leaders. Trait Theories Trait theories are similar to great men theories because they assume that people inherit certain leadership skills and traits to make them better fitting to management. Trait Theories seem to be confusing because if certain traits are the key feature of leadership, then where do we place those people who posses these traits but are not leaders. Unlike other theories, trait theories focus on differences between individuals personalities. Trait theories define the uniqueness in individual personality as a combination and interaction of various traits. Classification of individual traits is in three levels namely Cardinal traits, Central traits, and Secondary traits. Contingency Theories Contingency theories of leadership concentrate on certain leadership variables relating to the environment that determine which form of leadership is paramount for the situation. These theories claim that each leadership style is best for a particular situation. The success of a particular company depends on good leadership traits, qualities, and the situation aspects (Lussier & Achua, 2010). Situational theories Situational Theories support that leaders determine the leadership skills they should use depending on the situational variables. Different styles of leadership are best applicable in certain decision-making. Authoritative style of leadership might be appropriate in a situation where leaders are more experienced while democratic style is appropriate in situations where the workers are more knowledgeable and experienced than the managers. Behavioral Theories Behavioral theories of leadership base its arguments against the belief that leaders are bone not made. Depending on the leader’s behavior, these leadership theories focus on the actions and not mental qualities of leaders. According to behavioral theories, managers acquire good leadership skills through learning in school and observations. These theories also argue that leaders’ behaviors are measurable, trainable, and changeable. Leaders can also acquire behaviors through conditioning (Lussier & Achua, 2010). There are two types of conditioning, which include classical conditioning and operant conditioning. Participative Theories These theories suggest that a perfect leadership form is one that takes into account participation and actions of others. Such leaders encourage the subordinate stuff members to participate and contribute an idea, which makes them feel committed to the decision-making procedure. In participative theories, managers have the right to allow contribution of others in the decision-making process. Management Theories Another name of management theories is transactional theories, which focuses on the organization’s performance. Companies like Wells Fargo use these theories to manage their employee’s performance (Lussier & Achua, 2010). The successful employees are receiving rewards from the management, and when they fail, they receive punishments or warning. Therefore, management theories base management on a system of rewarding and punishing. Relationship Theories Relationship theories are also called transformational theories and focus on the relationship established between leaders and other workers. Leaders who make use of these theories motivate and inspire the followers by helping them to realize the importance of good performance. Such leaders concentrate mainly on performance of the workers, and ensure that workers fulfill their potential. People believe that these leaders posses good ethical and moral standards. Profile of one of the ideal leaders in Wells Fargo Company Name: Patricia R. Callahan Company: Wells Fargo Company Role: Senior Executive Vice President Chief Administrative Officer Qualities: Senior Executive Vice President Patricia R. Callahan is the Chief Administrative Officer who manages the corporate communications, social responsibilities, marketing, government relationship, and human resource corporation. She manages the company’s production, communication skills, standing management, customers’ management, and workers development abilities. Additionally, Patricia R. Callahan successfully gave strategic instructions for the amalgamation of Wells Fargo and Wachovia Corporation making her to be the successful leader who led to the largest banking merger in American history. She began are banking career as operations, and finance manager at Crocker National Bank. Patricia later got promoted to senior vice president and corporation services. She remained in this position until Crocker merged with Wells Fargo when she became the wholesale and systems manager and took part in the company’s corporate responsibility committee. Patricia is particularly competent advisor of Wells Fargo committee and board of director’s member of marine center in California. Wells Fargo Organizational stressors Many challenges that affect employees in Wells Fargo Company are resulting from high competition, lack of time, uncontrollable factors, continuous technology improvements, conflicts from company’s stakeholders, and greater uncertainty. These challenges lead to a higher job stress. In order for Wells Fargo managers to pursuit organizational excellence, they experience a task of working under stressful environment. Those highly affected are the managers in the technology department sector who experience high stress. Working under stressful environment make, many employees resign and seek for new jobs. The company suffers a lot because it ends up losing highly competent and skilled personnel hence affecting the company’s performance. In many cases, stress is a distracted body response towards a certain demand. Stress is the reaction towards anything that people think to be a threat. It is also a dynamic circumstance in which individuals experience either opportunity, constraints, or demand associated with what he desires and for which the outcomes are assumed important. Organizational factors highly induce job stress for many employees at the workplace. Such factors are organizational stressors since they act as mediators that cause various stress reactions. The organizational factors that trigger stress in the company include conflict, blocked career, alienation, overworking, and non-conducive work environment. Role conflict seems to have a positive relationship to stress at work. This is because when an employee has more than two duties to accomplish, which are different from one another, they probably encounter a lot of job stress. Additionally, employees feel uncertain for their future in the company when they realize that they lack the required career qualification. This in turn, gives the employees a lot of stress. Lastly, alienation in the work place causes stress among employees. Employees feel alienated when left to work on their own. Working under pressure and stress affects the performance of employees and the overall outcome of the company. From the management point of view, employing companies like Wells Fargo need to determine and work on the factors that act as job stressors. In order to regulate tress among workers and managers, companies should communicate their expectations, provide promotion opportunities, and build effective and functional work teams. Critical elements for effective group and work team performance Leadership Every team in Wells Fargo Company should have a competent leader who is able to inspire its members on the company’s mission, purpose, and objectives. Effective leadership in the company will be an influential factor for success and positive results in the company’s outcomes (Sadler, 2003). These team leaders will be responsible for influencing the team members to have full commitment in their work and personal accountability. The team leaders should ensure that other workers enjoy favorable working environment where they can freely interact and work. Shared Vision A shared vision focuses on practical concepts such as daily problems, new working equipments, notions, and developments in certain fields. In order to establish a shared vision, one must identify related objective that makes a strong impact for change. The identified goal must be more complex and contains challenges, appeal to individual pride, and a sense of comradely. This goal becomes a perfect vision if only all this effectively done. Attitudes and commitment The desire of a team to be successful comes through having a shared attitudes and commitment. These attitudes and commitments can be both dominant and supporting because if team members believe that they are capable of doing a certain task they definitely do it, and they think they cannot, they are right. Team members are required to have attitudes and commitments to enable the get through complex obstacles, which emerge. On the other hand, obstacles affect a team that does not have such attitudes and commitments. Mutual trust Mutual trust is the most significant component for a team to be successful. Mutual trust encourages team members to involve themselves into an open debate and participate in decision making resulting to success. It is easier for a team to establish mutual trust than maintain it. Therefore, establishing high levels of mutual trust requires team members to have openness that enable them understand the behaviors of the each other (Sadler, 2003). Having an open debate allows team members to generate a strong bond and a sense of trust among them. Sources of conflict and their solutions United groups experience conflict challenges, but there is a difference between teams, which collapses and one that holds its unity because the united team will continue with its operations despite the challenges. Solving a conflict is difficult for a face-to-face team but remote teams experience more challenges (Sadler, 2003). For instance, remote teams use a form of communication, which text-based. There is a possibility of misunderstanding these text-based messages although many people think that they are good in interpreting a text message. Another conflict that affects workers is time indifferences. This is because team members are not always available whenever needed; therefore, scheduling phone calls, conferences and other conversations need a lot of planning. Fortunately, there are various methods, which managers should use to minimize these conflicts. Unreliable technology is one common cause of conflict is unreliable technology, which results from malfunctioning of the technological equipments. Unexpected equipment failure may occur although workers can have backups, which make them continue with their job under little interruption. As a result, conflict may occur when technological devices’ malfunctions become the excuse of not working effectively. Secondly, Conflicts may arose due loafers who do not like contributing much in their work. Their lack of participation may cause many effects to other employees. Another factor contributing to conflicts is negative feedback. Negative feedbacks may cause stress to employees within a remote team especially when done through text messaging or emails. These feedbacks are either substantial or indirect disagreements. References Gold, J., Thorpe, R., & Mumford, A. (2010). Gower handbook of leadership and management development. Burlington, VT: Gower. Lussier, R. N., & Achua, C. F. (2010). Leadership: Theory, application, skill development. Australia: SouthWestern/Cengage Learning. Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. Sadler, P. (2003). Leadership. London: Kogan Page Ltd. Read More