Archive for August 2011

Leadership and Difference between Leadership and Management

Leadership is very important for all the organisations and there has been lot of research on this topic. This tutorial would be a useful assignment help for you to work on your assignments and homework related to leadership.



A simple definition of leadership is that leadership is the art of motivating a group of people to act towards achieving a common goal. Leadership is a process by which a person influences others to accomplish an objective and directs the organization in a way that makes it more cohesive and connected.





Features of leadership

  • Leadership is continuous process of behavior.
  • Leadership is a relationship between leaders and his followers.
  • Leader influence the behavior of individuals.
  • It helps the followers to attain the goals.

Difference between Leadership and Management



There are some points that create the difference between leadership and management. Some of these are:

  • Leadership deals with vision, keeping the mission in sight and with effectiveness and results whereas management deals with establishing structure and system to get those results.
  • Leadership is worked based on their personal abilities whereas management is based on delegation of authority.
  • Leadership inspires his followers to do the tasks and motivates them whereas management controls their subordinates from deviation.
  • Leadership emphasizes on transformational aspect that means it recognize the need for change, to execute the effectively. Whereas management emphasizes on transactional approach that means it focuses on routine activities, evaluating performance, making decisions.
  • Leadership can formal and informal both whereas management is formal only.

Informal and Formal Leaders



Formal leader is a member of organization who has given on the basis of his position to influence other members of organization to achieve organizational goals. Managers, directors are formal leaders in a typical organization.



An informal leader has no formal organizational authority to influence others but possesses special kills and talent to influence and lead other members of organization. Informal leaders are best candidates for future formal leaders.



Leadership Styles



Leadership styles are the patterns of behavior which a leader adopts in influencing the behavior of his followers. It is the manner and approach of providing direction, implementing plans, and motivating people.



Based on the degree on use of power, there are three leadership



Styles:



1. Autocratic Leadership: In autocratic style of leadership, a manager centralizes decision making power in him. He takes all the decisions by himself for their followers and passes orders to them. It is useful when organization needs quick decision making.



2. Democratic Leadership: In democratic style of leadership, a manager allows substantial participation of subordinates in decision making. They take the ideas and suggestions on which decisions are based. This is helpful in motivating the employees as they feel themselves as a part of the organization.



3. Free-rein Leadership: In this type of leadership complete freedom is given to subordinates. Manager depends upon the group to achieve their goals and subordinates are free to take decisions by their own.

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Directing Function of Management

Main functions of management are Planning, Organizing, Staffing and Directing. Directing as a function of management is concerned with instructing, guiding and inspiring people in the organization to achieve its objectives. It involves overseeing people at work, making provision for the necessary facilities and creating a work environment, whereby employees may perform to the best of their abilities.



Features of Directing



Below are the characteristics features of the Directing function of the management:

  • It is managerial function perform by all the managers at all levels.
  • Its function is to initiate the action in an organization.
  • Motivates the employees for better and efficient performance.
  • It is a continuous function


Principles of Direction



Harmony of Objectives: Individuals join the organization to satisfy their physiological and psychological needs. They will perform their tasks better if they feel that it will satisfy their personal goals. Therefore, management should harmonize the personal goals of employees with the organizational goals.



Unity of Command: A subordinate should get orders and instructions from one superior only. If he is made accountable to two bosses simultaneously, there will be confusion, conflict, disorder and indiscipline in the organization. Therefore, subordinate should report to one superior only.



Appropriate Techniques: The managers should use correct direction techniques to ensure efficiency of direction. The techniques used should be suitable to the superior, the subordinates and the situation.



Direct Supervision: Direction becomes more effective when there is a direct personal contact between a superior and his subordinates. Such direct contact improves the morale and commitment of employees. Therefore, wherever possible direct supervision should be used.



Democratic Leadership: This principle states that leader should give respect to the opinions and views of his subordinates. As a result of this, leaders can secure maximum output from their followers.



Follow up: Directing is a continuous process. Therefore, after issuing orders and instructions, a manager should find out whether the subordinates are working properly and what problems they are facing.



Means of Direction

There are two important means of directing



Orientation: It is the means in which new employees are introduced with working environment of the organization. Managers give direction about the work and relation with the other jobs. This is very important to align individual objectives with organisation objectives.



Issuing orders and instructions: Managers in an organization obtained orders in daily routine. And they should use proper skills and knowledge while issuing the orders. Orders that have been issued could be in oral or written form.

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Change Management

The term change refers to an alteration in a system whether physical, biological, or social. Thus, organizational change refers to an alteration in the working environment. It sets the new equilibrium between different components of the organization.



Why Change is required:



There are two forces that arises the need for change in an organization:



External Forces: Due the dynamic environment there are some forces that lie outside the organization system. These external forces need to be adopted in an organization.

Internal Forces: It is not only the change in external factors which may necessitate organizational change; any change in organization’s internal factors may also necessitate change.



There are two reasons that needs change in internal environment



1. Change in Managerial Personnel: Employees those who are working in the organization get changed due to retirement, resignation, promotion, transfer etc. And each manger has its own ideas and way of performing the job.



2. Deficiency in Existing Organization: Sometimes, change is necessary because of deficiency in the present organization system. Deficiencies may be in the form of unmanageable span of management, lack of coordination etc.



Why there is Resistance for Change



In the management of change effectively, managers have to face problem of resistance to change. People tend to resist many types of changes because new habits or sacrifices are required. If the change is minor then it does not affect much to the organization. But if the change is major, then people in the organization may often resist change in organization.



Causes of Resistance to Change



There are three factors that cause resistance to change:



Economic Factors



1. Skill Obsolescence: When new technology introduced in an organization this creates a fear of degrading the skills of people that resist change.



2. Reduced incentive Opportunity: Whenever there is change, people think that new system will lower down their incentives opportunities.



Psychological Factors



1. Status Quo: People do not want any disturbance in their existing equilibrium of life and work pattern.



2. Fear of Unknown: Change that has been introduced is unknown for the people in an organization. Lack of uncertainty creates stress in the minds of the people that resist change.



Social Factors



1. Desire to Maintain Existing Social Interaction: When there is any change, their existing social interaction is likely to be changed which people do not want.



2. Feeling of Outside Interference: Due to the interference from the outside factors, people resist change in an organization.



I hope that you will get useful information about change management and it's most important factors throw this post if you need more content about management or need assignment help then send your query at info@assignmenthelpexperts.com.

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Good Manners in Work place



Do manners matter at work? Should you really be expected to be polite all the time, or can you bend the rules in the name of efficiency or self-preservation?
When your boss calls and you're in the middle of a meeting with a colleague, you answer it. It must be important – after all, it's your boss! Never mind that your colleague and the meeting are important too, it's your boss on the phone!
Or what about when you're running behind? It's 3:50pm and the report you're preparing has to be out by 4:00pm sharp. You print it off and the paper jams in the middle of your job. There's no time to fix it so you resend the print job to another printer, but you don't go back and sort it out once your report's delivered. Instead, you just leave the jam for someone else to discover and fix. Sure, it's an inconvenience for them, but it wasn't exactly your fault that the printer jammed, was it?
You know that behaviors like this are rude. You wouldn't behave in this way outside of the office. So why do we then allow ourselves to behave inconsiderately at work?
There is a definite double standard when it comes to workplace manners. It's common to see people doing things at work they wouldn't dream of doing in a social setting. But you can't allow these behaviors to persist if you want to create and maintain a healthy work environment.
Disrespectful and discourteous behavior makes members of your team unhappy, and damages the cohesion of your team. It works against all of the efforts you make to motivate team members, and thereby raise productivity. With this in mind, there is simply no excuse for bad manners. Whether you are interacting with a person higher or lower on the corporate hierarchy, giving feedback, issuing instructions or exerting power; good manners are an absolute necessity.
To make sure your workplace is free of rude behavior requires a two-pronged approach:
  • Encouraging good manners.

  • Stamping out poor manners.

Encouraging Good Manners

Most of the time when bad manners surface at work it is unintentional. It's easy to get caught up in your own tasks and projects. People's focus gets so narrow that they forget to consider the impact that their words or actions will have on other people.
In an attempt to be efficient and productive we take a few liberties with our manners at work. Perhaps, at one time, we apologetically said, "I'm sorry, we have to stop the discussion and move onto the next point." But now we blurt out, "Next!" or "Let's get on with it, people!"
While the intention may be the same, the degree of bluntness, or even rudeness, used nowadays is unacceptable – at work or anywhere.
If good people are bruised by someone else's rudeness once too often, you risk losing them. How long is it going to take to find an equally good replacement, and bring them "up to speed"? How much is this going to cost? And what opportunities will you have lost in the meantime?
When disrespectful conduct starts surfacing throughout a company, or when it's used by executives or other key people, it can become part of the organization's culture. Poor manners can be quickly absorbed into cultural norms, especially when no one stands up and demands courteous and polite behavior.
So what can you do if rudeness is endemic within the culture of your organization?
  • In conjunction with your colleagues, focus on the problem behaviors and create a list of the behaviors that are expected within your team. Be specific so that people really understand what constitutes good manners. Depending on where the problems lie, you may want to include these items:
    • Email and Internet expectations.

    • Where people eat.

    • What people wear.

    • Meeting routines and etiquette.

    • Physical state of individual workstations.

    • Working in close quarters.

    • Communication style – tone, manner, language.

    • Use of supplies and equipment – common and co-workers' own.

    • Telephone manners.


  • Demonstrate all the appropriate behaviors in your own actions, whatever your place in the corporate hierarchy. Acting as a role model is one of the most effective means of reinforcing what is acceptable and expected.

  • Until things improve, consider adding a "Manners" heading to the agenda of your regular team meeting to emphasize and entrench the importance of change.

  • Recognize people for demonstrating polite behavior. Make a point of thanking people for turning off their cell phones before entering a meeting, or making a new pot of coffee after taking the last cup.

  • Until things improve, consider adding a manners category to your performance review process. This elevates manners to a core competency level in your organization and underpins how important it is to effective performance.

Stamping Out Bad Manners

Encouraging good manners is one side of the coin. The other requires developing mechanisms and strategies to eliminate poor manners from your workplace. When workplace manners begin to slip, it can be hard to stop the slide and regain control.
Open communication and empathy are perhaps your strongest weapons for controlling discourtesy in the office. When people stop talking or sharing their experiences and concerns, or when they stop considering how their actions make others feel, poor behavior can start to work its way into the fabric of the organization's culture.
Consider this scenario. A few jokes get passed around the company's intranet. Everyone has a good laugh. Then slowly, over time, the jokes get more and more explicit. No one says anything because nobody wants to be the one who stops all the fun. Then a harassment complaint is made, the fun comes to a screeching halt – and everyone wishes they had said something earlier to stop the inappropriate behavior.
Or you start noticing that your snacks and drinks are missing from the fridge. You don't say anything because it's just a pop or a snack-size yogurt. You don't want people to think you're cheap or a complainer so you bring a cooler to work and put it under your desk.
While the magnitudes of these issues are vastly different, what allows the situation to deteriorate is poor communication from one side and a lack of empathy from the other.
First, you have to have a workplace where there is open and honest communication. When you do, your co-workers feel comfortable voicing their concerns and there are mechanisms in place for resolving conflicts.
Along with these, people must also believe that something will done to address their concerns. They have to see that their issues are taken care of and that management is just as concerned about poor behavior as they are.
On the flip side, people must take responsibility for their actions. They must think about the impact of what they say or do has on other people and the workplace in general. Whenever you have people working together, there has to be a high level of respect and concern for others.
Some tips for creating this type of workplace include:
  • Developing a staff feedback system.

  • Clearly defining what is not acceptable in terms of appropriate workplace behavior. This should refer to the "good manners" document you create as part of the process of encouraging good manners.

  • Applying a fair and consistent discipline procedure.

  • Creating a conflict resolution process that begins with people speaking directly to one another, but where they then get progressively more outside support and assistance if a solution can't be worked out.

  • Depending on national culture, consider encouraging people to use the words "I'm sorry" or "I apologize" – and mean it.

  • Encouraging people to ask themselves, "How would the other person like to be treated in this situation?" Perhaps even put these words and phrases in prominent areas of the office as reminders to be polite and courteous.



Ask yourself if you apply a double standard to workplace manners compared with social manners. What excuses have you used to justify your lapses in manners? Do these excuses stand up to rational inspection?

Apply This to Your Life

  • Make a list of things you've done at work that have been less than polite. Reflect on these actions and set a goal for yourself to use your best manners at work and at home.

  • If there is a recent incident where you felt you were treated poorly, or you treated someone else poorly, develop a plan to resolve the issue. Communicate openly and honestly with the person and share your experiences and feelings.

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Different Performance Appraisal Methods

This blog post is about different performance appraisal methods that are used in different organizations. Performance Appraisal is the systematic evaluation of the performance of employees and to understand the abilities of a person for further growth and development. It is done to determine who needs more training, who will be promoted, demoted, transferred etc. It motivates the employees to learn and grow.





There are two methods for the performance appraisal







A. Traits Appraisal



Performance is measured on the basis of qualities of employees. Emphasis is made on quantity and quality of work done, skill, intelligence, dependability, adaptability etc. There are several variants for appraisal method.



i. Ranking Method: This is the method in which employees are ranked on the basis of more or less effective and are compared inter-personally. This method is useful when numbers of employees are less.



ii. Rating-scale Method: In this rating scale is used to measure the employees’ qualities and attributes. For example, the quality “initiative” is divided into five degrees on the scale: exceptional, above average, average, below average, and poor. Rater tick marks the one degree that he feels more suitable for the employees.



iii. Graphic scale Method: this method is similar to the rating scale method, in this degree and attributes are indicated on the graph or chart.



iv. Check-list Method: Listing of number of statements about the performance and behavior of employees. Rater verify the statement whether it applies or does not apply to the employee.



v. Critical Incidental Method: This method involves employee appraisal on the basis of events or incidents and analyze employee reactions on a particular situation.



B. Modern Methods of Performance Appraisal



There are some modern methods used for performance appraisal particularly for managerial personnel.



i. Appraisal by Results: It implies evaluation of the managerial performance in terms of objectives. In this process, appraisal to measure how managers are able to set the objectives and in how much time that can be achieved.



Features:



  1. The basis of appraisal is to measure the performance against target.
  2. It is a participative technique, as target that needs to be achieved is already discussed with the superior.
  3. It aims at developing the performance.

ii. Appraising Managers as Managers: This is the approach that is used to evaluate the performance of the managers in terms of basic functions and tasks of management.

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A new tool to improve your negotiation skills - Persuasion tool



Think about the last time you negotiated with someone. Perhaps you asked a colleague to support a new project, in return for helping them with a work task. Maybe you tried to persuade your partner to rearrange his or her schedule so you could have a night out with your friends?


Were you successful? Did you get the outcome you wanted? And do you think you used the correct approach in your negotiations?
There are many different techniques we can use in a negotiation. But we could be far more successful if we knew what approach to use, based on the skills and abilities that we already have.
In this article, we'll explore the Persuasion Tools Model. This model looks at your intuition and influencing ability, and matches this up with the approach that's likely to work best for you in negotiations. We'll also identify ways to further develop your overall negotiation skills.
Tip:
Don't just think of negotiation as something you only use in sales, or in supplier relationship management. You can use the skills and techniques we discuss in this article to develop your overall leadership and influencing skills, regardless of the role you are in.





The Persuasion Tools Model

The Persuasion Tools Model (see Figure 1 below) is based on work by the psychologist Kenneth Berrien. In his studies of applied psychology in the 1940s, he linked negotiation and persuasion style to emotional intelligence (EI).
The model can help you find the best negotiation approach to use, based on your level of intuition and your influencing capabilities. You can use the model to develop your influencing and persuasion skills, and become a better negotiator.
In this diagram, the horizontal axis represents influencing, which is a measure of your overall persuasion capability. The vertical axis represents the level of intuitionrequired when using a certain negotiation style.
The quadrants highlight negotiation approaches that may work best for you, based on your levels of intuition and your influencing skills. These approaches areemotion, logic, bargaining, and compromise.
For example, if you have a low level of intuition but you're good at influencing others, the best approach would be to use logic in a negotiation. However, if you have low intuition and are poor at influencing others, the best approach would be to use compromise.
Next, we'll look at each quadrant, and identify examples of how you might use each particular negotiation style.

Emotion

Using emotion effectively in negotiation involves understanding the emotions and feelings of the people you are negotiating with to project your influence. So you need high levels of intuition, and good influencing skills.
For example, you and a strong competitor are pitching your services to the same client. You cannot offer a better service or lower price than your competitor. However, your organization invests some of its profits in charitable projects.
So, part of your negotiations include a presentation on how some of income from this deal with be used to help your chosen charity. You use a storytelling approach, including real life examples of how your organization has benefited charities in the past, and highlight the projects that the income from this particular deal will help towards.
Obviously, using emotion in negotiation can be risky, and you need to have a good understanding of the people you are negotiating with for it to be successful. For instance, the example above wouldn't be effective for an organization that only cared about making the biggest profits. Therefore, emotion is typically used by highly skilled negotiators who have high emotional intelligence and empathy with other people.
Note:
Sometimes, the emotion quadrant in the Persuasion Tools Model is represented by "threat/emotion."



Logic

With logic, you use facts and data to make your case. You can use logic confidently if you have low intuition, but high influencing capability.
For example, you need to convince your company's executive board that it would be worth acquiring a small distribution company, instead of outsourcing that function to an external organization.
You've done a lot of research, and you rely heavily on the presentation of facts and data to make your case. You show the board exactly how long it will take to pay off the investment, and you use a computer-based model to demonstrate that faster distribution will help increase profits over the long term.

Bargaining

Bargaining is one of the easiest and most popular methods of negotiation. To bargain effectively, you don't need to have strong influencing skills. However, you do need higher levels of intuition because it can be costly to use bargaining at the wrong time, such as too soon in a negotiation.
For example, you're in negotiations with a large software firm, trying to get a lower price for a large number of software licenses for your company. Your manager has told you not to leave the negotiations until you get at least a 20 percent discount off the retail price. Once you sense that the sales representative really needs your business, you begin bargaining by asking for 30 percent off. You then go back and forth with the sales representative, bargaining for a lower price, until you both agree on a 22 percent discount.
Tip:
You can learn more about effective bargaining with our articles on Distributive Bargaining and Integrative Negotiation.



Compromise

Compromise is considered the least powerful of all the negotiating styles, and it may be all that's available to less-skilled negotiators.
For example, you've been at your current job for six months. Since you started, you've worked nights and weekends to catch up on the workload. You believe that you deserve a raise for the extra work, so you've just sat down to renegotiate your salary and compensation package with your boss.
You feel that getting a 10% raise from her might be tough, and you're prepared to settle for a lower increase if she'll increase your other benefits. In the end, you accept a lower payrise than you wanted, in return for more vacation time.

Limitations of the Persuasion Tools Model

The Persuasion Tools Model can be useful for discovering your most effective natural negotiation approach.
However, there are some limitations to the model. For example, it can be hard to measure your levels of intuition and influencing skills effectively. So it can be difficult to know what particular negotiation approaches best apply to you.
There will also be times when you'll need to use a mixture of emotion, logic, bargaining, and comprise in your negotiations. So to be an effective persuader and negotiator, you can't rely on perfecting just one of these skills.
Make sure that you supplement this model with other approaches and techniques, and interpret your conclusions with common sense.

Improving Your Negotiation Skills

It's useful for all of us, regardless of the industry we work in, to have good negotiation skills.
You can improve your levels of intuition and influencing skills by working on a wide variety of other skill areas. For example, emotional intelligence, communication skills, powers of persuasion, and information gathering.
You can also practice applying these techniques by taking our Bite-Sized Training session on Negotiation.

Key Points

The Persuasion Tools Model helps you think about which negotiation approach may work best for you. By matching your levels of intuition and influencing skills with the right approach, you'll have a better chance of a positive outcome in your negotiations.
However, there are some limitations to the model. So also focus on improving your intuitiveness, influencing skills, and overall negotiation skills. The links in this article provide a good starting point to develop those skills.

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