Principles of Management: Final Exam

How to have a Candid Conversation.

Having a Candid Conversation: -Share your facts - describe the facts of the situation or your observations. -Tell your story - share your conclusions. . . It looks like. -Encourage them to share their views and listen. -Talk tentatively - Perhaps, I'm beginning to wonder, In my opinion.

Describe techniques for communicating with candor.

Supportive communication decreases defensiveness and enhances communication between parties in disagreements. Techniques to Support Candid Communication 1) Focus on the problem and not the person. 2) Verbal and nonverbal communication match. 3) Stick to facts rather than judgments. 4) Communicate your respect for the other party. 5) Both parties should have the opportunity to speak -Listen actively. 6) Own your viewpoint - Use "I' and "me" rather than "we" or "they"

Explain the business case for diversity in organizations.

-Improved financial performance. (35% more likely to outperform bottom quartile) -Increased understanding of the marketplace. -Enhanced breadth of understanding in leadership positions. -Increased quality of team problem solving. -Reduced costs associated with high turnover, absenteeism, and lawsuits.

Describe nonverbal cues and the importance of nonverbal cues in communication.

-Most nonverbal communication is unconscious or subconscious. -Some nonverbal cues include: Gestures, Facial expressions, Voice tones, and Use of space. -If verbal and nonverbal message is contradictory, receiver gives more weight to nonverbal cues.

Describe formal organizational communications.

-Reflect the organization's formal structure. -Identifies individuals who are responsible for passing along information. -Identifies the individuals who should receive work-related information. -Organizational structure should fit communication needs. -Minor to severe consequences for ignoring formal channels.

Describe the five stages of team development.

1) Forming: "break the ice" Leader: facilitates social interchanges. 2) Storming: conflict Leader: surfaces differences. 3) Norming: establishment of order and cohesion Leader: help clarify team roles, norms, and values 4) Performing: problem solving Leader: facilitate task accomplishments 5) Adjourning: task completion Leader: signify completion

Describe the steps in developing a diversity and inclusion initiative.

1) Provide strong leadership. -Commitment of leadership to diversity. 2) Assess the situation. -Current demographics of Workforce. -Surveys of employees to identify problems. 3) Provide diversity training and education. -Raising awareness of cultural differences. 4) Change culture and management systems: -Expanding scope of recruitment for targeted groups. -Work with training institutions to develop needed skills in targeted groups. -Develop work-life balance programs. -Develop inclusive career paths. -Form support groups for targeted populations. 5) Evaluate the program

Describe informal organizational communications and elements of informal communication networks (social networks) their importance for management.

-Coexists with formal communication channels. -Develops through interpersonal activities of organization members. -Used for both work-related and non-work information. -Primary way in which work gets accomplished. -Tend to operate in lateral direction within company rather than upward or downward. Who do you talk with frequently? Who do you go to for advice on technical matters? Who do you trust to talk about sensitive organizational issues? Things to look for in communication networks: Departments with few links to other groups. Holes - people who should have ties but do not. Groups which communicate among themselves but little with others. People who have more contacts across the organization have greater influence and get more accomplished. Managers need to be aware of informal communication networks and be sure they are in sync with company goals.

The 5 contributions teams make for higher organizational performance.

-Creativity -Quality -Speed -Production / Lower Costs -Employee satisfaction

Describe the 5 Characteristics and 5 Dysfunctions of effective teams.

5 Characteristics (5 Dysfunctions): -Trust: members trust one another on a deep emotional level. (lack of trust) -Healthy conflict: members feel comfortable disagreeing and challenging one another while trying to find the best solution. (fear of conflict) -Commitment: because all ideas are put on the table, people can achieve genuine buy-in for important goals and decisions. (lack of commitment) -Accountability: members hold one another accountable rather than relying on managers as the source of accountability. (avoidance of accountability) -Results oriented: individual members set aside personal agendas and focus on what's best for the team. (inattention to results)

Explain the difference between groups and teams.

A group is a collection of individuals who coordinate their efforts, while a team is a group of people who share a common purpose. -Group: Individual goals, individual accountability, and individual success or failure. -Group Advantages: Great for efficiency and focus on individual growth. -Group Disadvantages: Can alienate individuals and lack organizational goals. -Team: Shared goals, individual goals, individual and mutual accountability, and collective success or failure. -Team Advantages: Focus on collaboration and better for problem solving. -Team Disadvantages: May lack individual growth and sometimes struggle with efficiency.

Explain the keys to effective listening.

About 75% of effective communication is listening -grasping both facts and feelings to interpret the meaning of a message. Listen Actively - maintain eye contact, show that you are listening attentively. (nodding, encouraging statements) Resist Distractions - concentrates on sender and message, overlooks delivery errors. Find Areas of Interest - does not tune out dry or difficult subject, looks for knowledge to be gained. Ask Questions and Reflect Message - summarize message to confirm meaning, reflect feelings as well. Hold Your Fire - avoid evaluating message until it is complete.

Explain some of the problems with diversity which must be managed.

Bringing people of different backgrounds together can: -Result in greater conflict because of different opinions and ideas. -Increase misunderstandings because of differences in culture and communication.

Understand the role of conflict within teams and techniques to manage conflict.

Conflict can occur as a result of competition for resources and communication breakdowns. -Conflicts centered around interpersonal relationships are dysfunctional and hinder performance. -Moderate levels of conflict focused on goals of work and how the work gets done are functional and can be productive. Techniques to manage conflict are: -Establish common or superordinate goals. -Develop multiple alternatives - more information. -Bargain/Negotiate - Compromise. -Insist that results be based on objective standards.

Define traditional concept of diversity and compare with the concept of organizational inclusion.

Diversity means having a workforce comprised of employees which differ in terms of: -Race, Disability, Gender, Nationality, Age, and Religion The concept of inclusion goes beyond representation of different groups but includes an employee's perception that: -The employee receives fair treatment and respect. Equal treatment in areas such as pay and opportunities -non-discrimination -The employee feels valued and appreciated. Has a voice in decision-making and belongs to the group. (formal and informal networks)

Identify key barriers to effective communication including organizational level.

Factors which can Interfere with Communication: At the Interpersonal Level, Nonverbal Cues, Language, Emotion, Individual Differences, Selective Perception, and Frame of Reference. At the Organizational Level: Level of Individuals in Organization (Executive vs. Junior member) and Functional Differences in Organization (Engineering vs. Marketing).

Status of employees and differences in communication patterns for high- or low- context cultures.

In low-context cultures: Communication primarily takes place through the words of the message and not so much on situational cues. (Low-context cultures include United States, Germany, Canada, and Scandinavian countries) In high-context cultures: The words of the message are only a part of the communication and the words may not be as important as how things are said. Nonverbal cues, status, relationships and history provide cues to meaning. (High-context cultures include Asian - Japan, China, South Korea, Arab - Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Mexico, and France)

Explain why communication is essential for effective management and describe the basic model of communication.

Language (both oral and written) is used to convey meaning. -Oral communication is flexible and difficult to ignore but is subject to misinterpretation and having no record unless recorded. -Written communication is more precise and has a less chance of misinterpretation but is less flexible and easier to ignore.

Define team norms and explain how norms are developed.

Team Norms are informal standards that guide the behavior of individual members. -Established for important issues. -Some apply only to certain members. -Vary in degree of acceptance. -Vary in how much deviation members are permitted. Norms are developed through: -Shared critical events. -Those first behaviors which occur often set a precedent. -Members who bring norms from other groups to the new group. -Initiate norms with explicit statements to the group.

Explain the hierarchy of channel richness and the guidelines for selecting the appropriate channel for your message.

The guidelines for selecting the appropriate channel for your message are: Personal-impersonal nature, Availability of multiple cues (verbal, nonverbal, graphs), and Availability for rapid two-way feedback.

Explain team characteristics impact on effective team functioning: a) Size and Diversity b) Member Roles c) Cohesiveness and its relationship to Groupthink.

a) Size: teams of 3 to 6 members are associated with good team performance and teams of 12 or more tend to have more disagreements and tend to form subgroups. (social loafing and difficulties scheduling and coordination) Diversity: differences in skills, race, gender, ethnicity, or age. Teams more diverse often have higher levels of creativity and innovation, but have more difficulty in communication and conflicts at the beginning. b) Member Roles: The expected behavior of an individual in a given position. -Task specialist role - spend time and energy helping the team reach its goal. (initiate ideas) -Socioemotional role - support team members' emotional needs. (compromise and encourage) -Role conflict - individuals have more than one role with different expected behaviors. -Role ambiguity - individual is unsure of what is expected. c) Cohesiveness and its relationship to Groupthink. Cohesiveness is defined as the extent to which members are attracted to the team and motivated to remain in it. Members of highly cohesive teams are committed to team activities, attend meetings, and are happy when the team succeeds. (high cohesiveness is normally considered an attractive feature of teams) Members of less cohesive teams are less concerned about the team's welfare. Cohesion does not automatically lead to Groupthink but it makes a group more vulnerable when it is at the forefront of group decision making.