PM Quiz 1

What is micromanagement? Consider a time when you were micromanaged. How did this make you feel?

Micromanagement is when managers who attempt to control every single behavior of others. When I was micromanaged I felt stressed out and worthless.

According to Skinner, "mentalistic explanations explain ___________." What does this mean?

Nothing. This means that it explains nothing to say that a person is "lazy", "unmotivated" or "passive-aggressive". These explanations require interpretations of the actions of performers.

"These PM principles work whether the performer is the president of the company or the custodian...." What does this mean? Do the principles of PM work only top down from managers to his supervisees?

PM can improve anyones performance and its principles don't need to be applied top down.

What is "performance"? What is the relation between behavior and performance

Performance consists of a situation, one or more behaviors, tasks, and results, which are combined to produce a specific accomplishment.

How does PM deal with thoughts and feelings?

Performance management and the science from which it is derived do not deny thoughts and feelings but consider them just more behavior to be explained. Methods used to study and understand overt behavior applies to private behavior as well. The difference is that the only person who can use those methods on internal thoughts and feelings is the individual who has them.

Be able to define science and explain how it relates to PM.

Science is a systematic approach to the understanding of natural phenomena. The science of PM seeks to systematically examine behaviors occurring in the workplace to better understand how to change and improve them.

What role does fault play in PM? Why is that problematic?

Some employees are turned off by the term behavior because it indicates that employees are at fault. But actually, this approach relieves the individual of fault and places fault , or the causes of behavior , on the environment in general. This is problematic because it turns employees off to any changes or observations necessary to carry out a PM intervention.

How is success in business measured? What is the business in an ABA agency and what would success be in ABA?

Success in business is defined by an organization's ability to produce results. The success of an ABA business would be increasing desired behaviors and decreasing undesired behaviors in clients.

Explain this in your own words, "You do not manage the bottom line; you manage the processes that create it..."

The bottom line is the measurable result of the behaviors and the results. Therefore, you look at the intervention that is put into place to ultimately change behavior and the results.

What did Dr. Odiorne do to change the behavior of the vice president? What is the point of this example?

The president specifically told Dr. Odiorne to not tell the the vice president what he expected of him. So Dr. Odiorne left the notecard with the president's expectations of the vice president unattended on purpose so the vice president could look at it. The president was impressed with the vice president's ability to meet his expectations after that. The point of this example is that good managers do not put someone in a situation where they have to use trial and error to figure out what they are doing right or wrong. You should be clear with your expectations.

When might business NOT be related to behavior? Is this possible?

There are always behaviors that are under control of the workers. Therefore business always has relations with their behaviors. However, sometimes the system is out of control, but even in this situation there are always behaviors under the control of the worker.

"Organizations can only increase value through the behavior of employees." What does this mean?

This means that the results come from the behavior of the employees because they are the one's performing the behavior that will ultimately increase or decrease the value of the organization.

How does a proactive manager work?

To be a proactive manager, you must define the results that you need and then determine the behaviors that will produce those results. Then you manage those behaviors as they occur. If you do so consistently and systematically you will know the results before you see the report.

What is the goal of Performance Management?

To bring out the best in people while generating the highest value for the organization.

What does it mean to change someone's thoughts and feelings? What is really being changed? How?

Trying to solve a business problem by trying to change thoughts and feelings is inefficient and intrusive approach to changing performance. It is much more productive to change behaviors that would result in different thoughts and feelings. The best way to change someone's feeling or thoughts is to change their behavior by doing things that lead to positive outcomes (laughing or smiling).

Think about your current or past workplaces. Has PM been emphasized?

When I worked at McDonalds it was the worst experience ever they yelled at us and expected us to be able to do everything with minimal training. There wasn't a single person assigned to train us so they had no clue what we knew or didn't know. There was no system in place for learning but they did have 20+ machines that were very efficient if you knew how to work them. It could also end in disaster though if you don't see the drinks come out in time in spills and I couldn't make a cone to save my life. Way too many variations of tasks for people to be responsible for, it would have been better if the responsibilities were more divided.

How can someone's values be reflected in his/her performance? Many companies have their own set of "values". Describe ways in which a company can encourage these values to be evident in the work they require of employees.

A value is not a behavior; it is a group of behaviors defined by their impact on the observer (i.e he is hardworking, everything gets done on time). Companies can encourage their values by actively managing the behavior which they describe and creating behavior based values and missions.

What does, "All organizational results are the products of human behavior" mean? What is wrong with managing by results?

Every result is produced by someone doing something. If you want to improve results, you must first get the employees to change what they are doing. Managing by results is reactive approach and is very inefficient in the long run.

Say you are a consultant asked to help Kathy, a restaurant manager. Her primary concern is customer service of her wait staff. Identify the types of dependent variables/behaviors that might be of interest to investigate or collect data on.

How often the waiters visit their tables and how often the staff smiles (provided with an operational definition).

How is the word result used in PM?

A result refers to the outcome of a process you design to convert inputs into outputs.

"Common sense solutions only require living" By this definition describe how common sense violates our 7 dimensions of ABA.

1. Generalization: Common sense won't guarantee generalization,meaning that the skills/behavior will NOT occur in environments other than where they were discretely taught. 2. Effective: Common sense interventions are NOT monitored to evaluate the impact on the target behavior. 3. Technological: Common sense procedures are NOT described clearly and concisely so that other may implement accurately 4. Applied: People's common sense solutions may fail to select socially significant behaviors. 5. Conceptually Systematic: Common sense interventions are NOT consistent with principles demonstrated in the literature. 6. Analytic: Common sense decisions are NOT data based. 7. Behavior: Common sense does NOT look at observable and measurable behaviors to target and measure.

Make a list of characteristics of a person you respect. Draw a line down the center of the page and list the specific behaviors that person engages in that reflect the characteristics.

1. Hard working 2. Responsible 3. Team player __________________________________ 1. Gets there work done before their deadlines and does more than is asked of them. 2. Is on time for work and brings issues to their bosses attention. 3. Listens to others ideas and asks them questions. Compliments their ideas and uses them (awarding that individual credit).

Discuss the main points they make in the "Misreading Cause and Effect" section.

Correlation does not equal causation. Just because two things are associated over time does not mean that one caused the other. Determining the causes of behavior is a primary goal of the science of behavior analysis because determining such causes allows development of reliably effective interventions for the workplace. In BA there are two primary ways of determining cause and effect: they are reversal and multiple-baseline research designs

Summarize what we should do instead to deal with behavior.

Create a positive environment that employees enjoy. Be clear with our expectations and reinforce the behaviors we want to see. Use your Dale Carnegie skills when giving constructive criticism, Start with positives first.

How do you think Managers typically describe performance problems? Can you think of something a manager has said in your presence that you remember? Do BCBA managers use the same kind of language?

Blaming the employees laziness or lack of skill. I was really sick runny nose once and worked in food service and tried to call off and they told me that is okay don't be lazy. I told them my nose was running and they said that is okay you can still do drive thru. BCBA managers are a lot more reinforcing and "understanding". I called out sick one time with my assistantship and they gave me zero grief over it.

A common mistake is to assume that changing work behavior is merely the responsibility of the employee. Describe how the behavior of a manager influences the results an employee produces.

Company owners, managers and supervisors can design environments where employees are effective, efficient and enjoy their work.

Do you think you use PM (or Dale Carnegie skills) in your personal life? Give examples. How might using some tools of PM help you be a better student?

I have used my Dale Carnegie skills with customers when I did credit counseling for people filing for bankruptcy. I listened to their frustrations and even when they were mad at me I was "empathetic" (saying so sorry for your loss, thank you for sharing this information with me, etc.). Dale Carnegie skills also have helped me with my work relations I believe, everyone is always nice to me and I am nice to them. PM will help me become a better student because I will learn strategies of how to reinforce myself to do my work. For instance, Saturday I read four chapters for my classes before having fun with friends.

What are the 4 common ways of "knowing"? Is PM common sense? Many managers think reinforcement and behavioral principles are common sense, are they really?

I. Authority -Believing something is true because an authority says it is. II. Agreement -Several people coming up with the same answer and feeling that we now "know". III. Personal Experience -Thinking that things that if things worked for us we will know know how they work for others. IV. Science -Knowing based on experimentation and replication. PM, reinforcement and behavioral principles are not common sense.

Describe what behavior is NOT in business.

I. Generalities are not behavior - terms such as monitoring, selling, checking, etc and employee characteristics such as professionalism, creativity, etc. are not measurable and observable. Giving clear, direct instruction is key. II. Attitudes are not behavior - descriptions such as safety "conscious" are difficult to work with because they are assumed to come from a "state of mind". They refer to a vast collection of tasks and behaviors. Terms and phrases denoting attitudes always fail the measurability and activity criteria for behavior. III. States are not behavior - A state is a static condition that exists as a result of behavior. States do not require action. IV. Values are not behavior - Articulating mission, vision and values has had little impact on behavior in most organizations.

Describe Deming's 4 M's, and how does his research into quality relate to PM?

I. Materials - can refer to the tools used in service organizations such as training materials or forms of addressing customer needs or other internal materials that are provided to do the job right. II. Machinery - refers to machines, work tools used in service organizations such as a telephone or the computer III. Methods - initiatives and work methods, complete with slogans and distinct steps. IV. Manpower - employees? (control variability, meaning they would all have same skill and knowledge of their job) Most companies try to make improvements by making changes to the first 3 M's (materials, machinery and methods). They avoid making changes to manpower which can serve real benefit.

PM brings significant value to organizations, describe each of the seven values

I. PM is practical and it works. It is not an abstract theory, it is a set of specific actions for increasing desired performance. Average improvement with PM applications is 69%. II. PM produces short-term as well as long-term results. If you do the right things you will in many cases see results immediately. Once the applications of PM are mastered they are so successful that they become habitual and so positive that they become the only way to manage performance, More importantly the results last. III. PM requires no formal psychological training. Because the science of behavior starts with the here and now, managers do not need to pry into people's private lives or their personal histories in order to create a workplace that brings out the best in them. IV. PM is a system for maximizing all kinds of performance. The principles of PM are applicable to behavior wherever it occurs and applies to people no matter where they work or what they do. V. PM creates an enjoyable place in which to work. If you are doing something you enjoy, you are more likely to perform better than if you don't like what you are doing. VI. PM can be used to enhance relationships at work, at home, and in the community. Many managers have been convinced of the power of the approach by first applying PM to a difficult problem at home. VII. PM is an open system. There is no need to keep the plans secret because primarily positive methods for changing the person's performance are used.

What challenges do businesses suffer today (consider the discussion of Company A and Company B). How could PM help?

In Company A an intervention worked well and the same intervention in Company B failed. There were differences in upper management support, differences in business conditions and differences in personnel. Most businesses enter into activities with a hope that they have control of all the relevant conditions necessary for success.