OB+Assignment+2

2. The late management guru Peter Drucker said, “The now-fashionable team in which everybody works with everybody on everything from the beginning rapidly is becoming a disappointment.” Discuss three problems associated with teams. Three Team Problems : A good team propels organizations to undreamt-of success. A bad team makes every flaw worse. Poor team development aggravates every inefficiency and error to the point where it can destroy your business. The Experience Group specializes in not only fine tuning good teams into better ones, but helping teams with problems surpass their difficulties with innovative team development activities. Here are three issues the company has identified in many business teams – and ways to fix each of them. Problem1: Destructive Cliques Cliques are actually a sign of improved team cohesion, but they also have issues that can easily make them non-productive. The main problem is that a destructive clique will exclude outsiders even when they’re a vital part of team business, and can band together against other cliques and levels in the company’s hierarchy. At its worst, a destructive clique develops its own “in-clique” procedures that it conceals from other groups. Even if these work, they’ll eventually cause dysfunctions, because they force management to make decisions based on the wrong assumptions. Solution: Remix the Team You want to spread the good parts of a clique around, but get rid of the closed social environment, so assign a mix of clique members and outsiders to projects. You might be tempted to break up the clique completely, but remember that you want members to share their talents. Encourage them to share their positive internal habits and let small pairs in the clique share tasks. Remixing should also include a selfevaluation process so that everyone can share what they’ve learned. Use the results to address the clique’s concerns without letting it operate as an isolated unit. Problem2: Distrust of Leadership Every manager wants to be liked, but his or her responsibilities include unpleasant duties and of course, power over the team. It’s very easy to fall into a position where the team dislikes and distrusts management. This problem gets worse when managers operate through very formal channels for everything from quality assurance to morale building. It puts the procedure, not the manager, at the front of everyone’s mind, devaluing them as a human being. Many organizations are resigned to this as a fact of life, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Solution: Empathetic, Dynamic Management As a manager, reestablish your human qualities first. Acknowledge that necessary formal processes are never perfect – but that they’re still necessary. Like the team, you’re balancing personal and organizational needs. To but yourself before the process, try to supplement formal tasks with informal contact. Don’t try to “make friends” in some forced fashion or undermine your own authority. For

example, if you’re working through a quality assurance process supplement it with an informal chat about what QA’s larger goals are, what information needs to be noted, and how the current process came to be. Problem3: Inconsistent Results Once you build an effective team it’s easy to get caught up in its efforts. After all, a good team makes work fun and absorbing, bringing the psychological “flow” state into things. Unfortunately, that can increase opportunities to flow in the wrong direction, where innovation gets explored for its own sake instead of to fulfill concrete goals. If you step in and apply managerial force, you can dampen team morale or transform it into a destructive clique, as members “wall off” the processes they like from wider scrutiny. Solution: Directed Self-Assessment To bring the team back to earth without fostering an “us versus them mentality” ask members to assess themselves according to well-defined goals. This provides a gentle reminder that the team is expected to meet specific objectives without attacking its methods. When the team discovers issues and room for improvement, ask them to drill down into specifics. That way, future team and management action feels like collaboration, not an impositio

3.What can organizations do to reduce management resistance to self directed work teams? How do self directed work teams differ from conventional teams? Change is inevitable, but it can also be uncomfortable. Because it is uncomfortable, most people tend to resist change. One of the most important responsibilities of an effective leader is to reduce people’s resistance to change in order to promote growth in the organization. Techniques for reducing management resistance to self directed work teams 1.Education : This can be done by one-to-one discussions, group meetings, or reports. It is critical that employees know how the change will affect the organization. 2.Participation: Allow those who oppose to the change to provide their ideas in the decision making process. This can help employees show that they have expertise to make meaningful contributions. Employee involvement can reduce the resistance to change and perhaps increase motivation while accomplishing task. 3.Facilitation: Provide skills training, or paid leave of absence. Although this technique can be time consuming and expensive, it will provide the employee with a greater feeling of worth within the company.

4.SupportProvide supportive efforts such as counseling or therapy, new skills training. Allow the employee to know that someone is there to help them and that they are not alone while coping with change. 5.Manipulation: This is a method of influencing employees by twisting or distorting certain facts, withholding damaging information, or creating false rumors. This method is inexpensive and when used ethically, it can be an easy way to gain support from resistors. 6.Co-optation: This is a strategy of manipulation and participation. Influence the employee to feel that he/she is part of a group effort to increase the employees desire to succeed. 7.Selecting People Who Accept Change: The ability to accept and adapt to change can be found in an employee’s personality. People who are open to experience and challenges can be beneficial to an organizations future. 8.Coercion: Using direct threats or forces to change an employee’s attitude and increase motivation. A threat to terminate an employee’s job can open the employee’s eyes to see that they must work harder to keep their desired position within an organization. 9.Recognition: Give credit where credit is due. Recognition from a person of higher authority can increase an employee’s condition of worth and thus possibly leading to the employee accepting new challenges to gain further recognition. 10.Communication: Communicate with employees to see the logic of change. This is appropriate if resistance is contributed to misinformation or poor communication. How do self directed work teams differ from conventional teams? 1. SDWT complete an entire piece of work, whether it's a product, a service, or part of a large product of service. 2. The team -not supervisors- assigns tasks that individual team members perform. In other words, the team plans, organizes, and controls work activates with little or no direct involvement of a higher status supervisor.

3. SDWT control most work inputs, flow, and output. "Have total authority on every aspect of business and make all decisions " 4. SDWT are responsible for correction work flow problems as they occur. On other words, the teams maintain their own quality and logistical control. 5. SDWT receive team-level feedback and rewards. This recognizes and reinforces the fact that the team - not individuals - is responsible for the work, although team members may also receive individual feedback and rewards.

4.Corporate and employee blogs might become increasingly popular over the next few years. What are the advantages and disadvantages of this communication medium? What is a Blog? Blog is a type of website, usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in reverse-chronological order. A blog can also be a shared online journal where people can post daily entries about their personal experiences and hobbies. Corporate and employee are massively changing their entertainment and information consumption needs by shifting their direction from traditional media to the new web space. Among other media resources on the internet, blogs have become one of the easiest, cheapest, fastest publishing tools ever invented. They are sort of frequently updated journals that mix personal opinion and daily life observations with latest news. Other than this they allow readers to contribute their thoughts and voice their opinions whenever they want. Blogging is a technological possibility. A facility offered for sharing of information and comments over the net. There are many types of blogs like; personal, genre, corporate and media. A detailed analysis into the benefits and drawbacks of a blog site will not only help you understand it much better but also use it more effectively and efficiently. Conversations on blogs have a life of their own. They tend to move in unexpected directions and fluctuate unpredictably in volume. Whether it's about the most hyped iPhone or the new Google's Android, the bloggers just ignite the topic and take it to the heights of fame These unplanned or planned conversational surges are the main reason behind the popularity of blogosphere. Advantages of Blogs way of communication: 1.

Blog sites can be developed with the help of simple procedures.

2. A blog post goes public, in other words, it can be accessed and read by almost everyone who have an access to internet. 3.

The usage of blogs are very convenient, hence people tend to use them more frequently.

4. Students tend to improve their writing skills as blog articles should be reasonably good enough and free grammatical mistakes. 5.

Students get into the habit of writing, which helps them in all their future endeavors.

6. Blog sites used as online class forums enables students with various personalities to participate in a discussion far more effectively than they can otherwise. 7. Individuals learn to express their opinions and exchange their views on topics of common interest, which not only keeps them updated but also effective contributor’s of new ideas. 8. Individuals get a chance to read other blogs, which indirectly helps them to improve upon their skill of writing. 9. Instructors of online classes get an opportunity to know what students feel about the class and its presentation quality and help to find ways to improve upon drawbacks if any. 10. It is place for students and individuals to share their articles and opinions with people outside their community. Disadvantages of Blogs way of communication: It involves a lot of time to update and post an entry on the blog site 1. Regular writing may give rise to slangs and sloppy way of writing spoiling the quality of proper usage of language. 2. One major drawback is that not all information can be shared on blog sites. Hence may not be useful for everyone. 3.

The need to have a computer may not be feasible for everyone.

4. Individuals and students may have reluctance is getting used to the technological advancements. 5. Blogging cannot be thrusted upon students who are hardly interested in reading and replying to the post. 6. Blogging on day to day issues is different from writing on the subject. Hence it may not be a practical idea to force them to do it. 7. We were talking individual blogs linked to the groups website, while it is good for students to have their own blog sites, remember not all may be able to participate, unless, all the comments are seen in one common blogging site. 8.

There is no confidentiality as it is a public forum.

9.

It can no way be related to conversation, as there is always a time gap in the replies received.

10.

It is not suited for issues requiring immediate solution.

11. Blogs create a sense of students competing with each just for posting entries. The fear of students getting diverted away from the subject is an issue of concern. 12. The moment students open to the web; it is not just the blogging site that they can have access to. The whole world of information is before them, hence there is every chance that they may get diverted away from the discussion.

5.Find two newspaper ads for management or executive positions. What leadership competencies are mentioned in these ads? If you were on the selection panel, what methods would you use to identify these competencies in job applicants? Leadership Competencies a organization expect for a management or executive position: Leading Change Ability to bring about strategic change, internally and externally, to meet organizational goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to establish an organization and to implement it in a continuously changing environment. Leading People Ability to lead people in accomplishing the organization's vision, mission and goals. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to provide an inclusive workplace that fosters the development of others, faciliates cooperation and teamwork, and supports constructive resolution of conflicts. Business Acumen Ability to manage human, financial, and information resources strategically. Results Driven Ability to meet organizational goals and customer expectations. Inherent to this ECQ is the ability to make decisions that produce high-quality results by applying technical knowledge, analyzing problems, and calculating risks. Building Coalitions Ability to build coalitions internally and with other Federal agencies, State and local governments, nonprofit and private sector organizations, foreign governments, or international organizations to achieve common goals. Fundamental Competencies

These competencies are the foundation for success in each of the Executive Core Qualifications. Best methods of Hiring Employees to overcome competencies in job applicants • Look for a matching skill set but not necessarily a matching product set. As an example, you can hire a product manager who has launched enterprise products for your web-based applications. The skill set is the same. • Look for good writing and communication skills – this is a must – and their samples and experience don't necessarily have to be in your industry. • Look for instances where the marketer has been in the same environment as your company, whether start-up or mature market, experience matters. • Make sure your candidate has sold a product that has the same sales cycle that you have. Don't hire a base-hitter when you need a home-run guy or vice versa. •

Make sure the candidate has carried a quota and is comfortable with hitting the numbers.

• If you have an inside sales job, hire an inside sales person; if an outside job, hire an outside person. These two usually don't cross. They are different jobs. • Look to see that the candidate has been in an environment that is fairly similar to yours. If you're a start-up company, you may not want that IBM guy – the cultures are just too different. Remember Two Things When Hiring Sales and Marketing Employees: Smart and Gut Above all, look for smart and trust your gut. Smart people will pick up product knowledge quickly. They'll "click into" your company and your culture. They'll instinctively know what to do to make the transition and segue their skill set into your company.