Reflections on Grouping individuals and teamwork
Teams have emerged as one of the most important entities within the organizational structure of the various business enterprises of the contemporary times (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015). This not only helps the organizations to segregate the kind of work that it needs to complete but at the same time the system of teams ensures the fact that the delegation of tasks is done as per the expertise of the team members (Hajro, Gibson & Pudelko, 2017). This in turn not only facilitates the enhancement of the individual productivity of the workers but also ensures the growth of the overall organization as well (Rodríguez-Sánchez et al., 2017).
The organization that I work for currently has various teams within its framework to ensure the fact that the right kind of work is allocated to the right kind of individuals. I would like to say in this context that normally I like to work in teams and as a matter of fact collective kind of work rather than individualistic kind of work is much more appealing for me. Thus, I try to utilize this particular opportunity afforded by our organization as a means to improve my production in the organization and also to contribute in a meaningful manner towards the growth of the organization. Furthermore, I would like to say that working in a team has actually improved the level of my performance in a positive manner. I would like to point out at this juncture that the members of my team at the workplace are not only helpful but supportive as well. They not only help me in the completion of my job roles but at the same time motivate me to complete the difficult tasks. Moreover, the friendly competition which exists within the team provides me to give my best effort and do my work in an effective manner. In addition to these, the congenial working environment which exists within the team has also helped me in a substantial manner to improve my performance.
As per Hertzberg’s Dual Factor Theory, within an organization there are positive and negative which affects not only motivates the workers but also impacts their performance (Katzenbach & Smith, 2015). In this regard, I would like to say that there are positive as well as negative factors within out team which impacts my performance. The factor within the team which I find has a positive impact on my performance and also motivation level is the congenial work environment which exists within the team and also the high level of engagement which exists among the team members. On the other hand, the negative factor which affects my motivation and also performance is the division of power within the team. For example, some of the senior members although they perform the same kind of work that I do are entitled to various kinds of benefits which are not being provided to me. I find this really unfair and at times this de-motivates in a substantial manner and in-turn affects my productivity.
Positive and negative factors impacting performance
The team leader and also the organization in order to mitigate the adverse effects of this negative factor needs to ensure the fact that the employees performing the same kind of job roles are entitled to the same kind of benefits and perks. I am of the viewpoint that this is not only likely to help the organization to address the grievances of the employees but at the same time will help them to perform in a much better manner. However, the effective implementation of this would require an ardent effort from not only the team leader but also from the management team and also the HR of the organization.
References
Hajro, A., Gibson, C. B., & Pudelko, M. (2017). Knowledge exchange processes in multicultural teams: Linking organizational diversity climates to teams’ effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 60(1), 345-372.
Katzenbach, J. R., & Smith, D. K. (2015). The wisdom of teams: Creating the high-performance organization. Harvard Business Review Press.
Rodríguez-Sánchez, A. M., Devloo, T., Rico, R., Salanova, M., & Anseel, F. (2017). What Makes creative teams tick? Cohesion, engagement, and performance across creativity tasks: A Three-wave study. Group & Organization Management, 42(4), 521-547.
The notion of organizational change has gained a substantial amount of prominence in the recent times and is being extensively used by the various organizations for the integration of the kind of necessary which are likely to help it to improve its business performance (Elsmore, 2017). These changes can be at the personal level like the changing of the teams of the some of the employees of the organization so as to do justice to their expertise or talent or something large like changing the model of business itself (Lozano, Nummert & Ceulemans, 2016). However, in all these changes that the organizations undertake the support of the employees is very important (Georgalis et al., 2015).
The organization that I work for recently underwent a change wherein some of the employees were shifted from one team to another. This was done primarily with the intention of improving the job productivity of these employees since the management team of the organization felt that the employees would be able to contribute towards the growth and the profitability of the organization in a much effective manner if they are a part of other teams. Through this process of change I was shifted to another team wherein I am required to perform different kind of job role than the one which I am performing currently. To be honest this change was not an easy one for me since I had a conform level with my previous team and also I used to get a substantial amount of support from my ex-teammates. It is obvious that I would try to resist this change and as a matter of fact I even approached the manager of the organization to convince him other. However, it was of no use and I was told that the decision has already been finalized and they cannot modify it.
Importance of employee support during organizational change
This change that the organization undertook had a significant effect on the culture which is being followed within the organization. As a matter of fact, it completely changed the existing status-quo of the organization and thus it was seen that the people of the organization were reacting in a manner that was totally unlike them. This not only affected the engagement level of the different employees of the organization but at the same time it affected the organizational culture of the organization itself. However, after the phase of intense resistance now is the time when the acceptance of the change is starting to creep in and the employees of the organization are getting comfortable with the new status-quo of the organization.
The primary strength of the approach which was taken for the implementation of the above change was the fact that the organization taking the help of Lewin’s model of change management tried to explain the necessity of the change which was been done and also the likely benefits of the effective implementation of such a change. Thus, the employees were not only informed about the change but at the same time they were provided adequate amount of time to grasp the change as well. The weakness of the process was the fact that the decision as well as the approach was the fact that the decision failed to take into effective consideration the perspective of the employees for the decision. I am personally of the viewpoint that the process would have been much smooth and also effective had the perspectives of the employees being incorporated in the decision. Thus, I am of the opinion that in case of similar kind of scenarios in the future the organization would be able to implement the changes in a much better manner if they not only take the perspectives of the employees into consideration but also their opinion as well.
References
Elsmore, P. (2017). Organisational Culture: Organisational Change?: Organisational Change?. Routledge.
Georgalis, J., Samaratunge, R., Kimberley, N., & Lu, Y. (2015). Change process characteristics and resistance to organisational change: The role of employee perceptions of justice. Australian Journal of Management, 40(1), 89-113.
Lozano, R., Nummert, B., & Ceulemans, K. (2016). Elucidating the relationship between sustainability reporting and organisational change management for sustainability. Journal of cleaner production, 125, 168-188.
The dynamicity of the modern business world has made it imperative for the organizations to use the machinery of effective leadership (Aktas, Gelfand & Hanges, 2016). The machinery of effective leadership is especially beneficial for the various teams and smaller groups (Sethuraman & Suresh, 2014). Furthermore, recent research works and industry analysis have shown that the various effective leaders are required to have diverse attributes like ability to influence the behavior of the subordinates so that they are being able to achieve the target that has been provided to them, critical decision making, the ability to deliver results, ability to adapt, take the help of innovations, analyze information, communication skills and others (Reeves, 2016). The focus of the various organizations on the aspect of performance and results has contributed in a substantial manner towards the emergence of this style of leadership in the recent times (Aktas, Gelfand & Hanges, 2016).
Effect of change on organizational culture
The organization that I work for takes the help of this style of leadership for the process of leading the different workers. Furthermore, the various team leaders are also required to take the help of this particular style for the process of influencing the behavior of the employees in the most effective manner. For example, our team leader regular tries to motivate the team members and when he finds that any of the team members feeling low or de-motivates he actively takes the initiative to approach the individual and find out the root cause of the problem and if possible at the same time provides the required solutions as well. In addition to this, I would like to say that out team leader has fairly developed decision making ability and during the process of decision making not only takes into effective consideration the perspective of the organization but also the perspective of the team mates as well. More importantly, the team leader tries to foster the kind of environment within the team which encourages the team mates to take the help of various innovations for the performance of their normal or routine job roles. Thus, I am of the viewpoint that the organization in which I work to a great extent tries to follow the style of effective leadership.
I would also like to say that within the framework of our and the leadership style that is being followed by our team leader there is no discrepancy between the “between the leadership behaviour that is rewarded, and the behaviour that is needed”. This is because of the fact that the leadership style which is being followed by our team leader is not only being able to meet the individual needs of the different members of the team but at the same time is able to deliver the kind of results that is on par with the expectations of the organisation as well Furthermore, I would like to say that the leadership style followed by our team leaders had a positive impact on me and as a matter of fact it has contributed in a substantial manner towards my improvement within the organisation. The leader has at the same time has taught me the importance of the use of effective communication, the use of innovation for the completion of routine tasks, critical decision making and others. These skills and knowledge that I have gained from my leader has in turn lead to the development of my own leadership style as well. However, at the same time, I feel that the effective use of the skill of emotional intelligence will help me to manage the different members of my team in a much effective manner and will also help me to become an effective leader.
Strengths and weaknesses of the approach taken for change management
Reference
Aktas, M., Gelfand, M. J., & Hanges, P. J. (2016). Cultural tightness–looseness and perceptions of effective leadership. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 47(2), 294-309.
Reeves, D. B. (2016). From leading to succeeding: The seven elements of effective leadership in education. Bloomington: Solution Tree Press.
Sethuraman, K., & Suresh, J. (2014). Effective leadership styles. International Business Research, 7(9), 165.
The increasing amount of workload that the employees of the present times need to handle is increasingly affecting the mental health of these individuals and thereby their normal lifecycle (Moen et al., 2016). Furthermore, this workload stress is at the same time adversely affecting the quality of the work that these employees perform and it is seen that every year these individuals end up spending a substantial amount of their earning on various kinds of counseling sessions (Gerber et al., 2014). In this regard, the concept of employee wellbeing has gained prominence and the various organizations of the contemporary times are needed to ensure that the amount of work that the employees are not overburdening them and at the same time is not affecting their mental health (Siegrist & Li, 2016).
There are various possible workplace conditions linked to employees’ stress that I observed in my workplace. Firstly, I would like to say that the employees are given a much larger volume of work than it is possible for them to handle them in a single day and thus these individuals often have to work outside of their shift hours. This actually puts a lot of stress on the employees and to a great extent disrupts their work-life balance as well. In addition to this, the resources which are available to the employees for the completion of their work are also limited and this adds to the high level of stress faced by them. Another factor which I personally feel adversely affects the mental health of the employees and thereby contributes to the high level of stress felt by them is the lack of appreciation or rewards that they get for putting in the hard effort for the sake of the comfort of the comfort. It is true that the company offers the employees a very lucrative salary yet there is a lack of appreciation for the employees and this not only de-motivates the employees but adds to the high level of mental stress faced by them as well.
I would like to say that the high level of stress that I experience at work is not only adversely affecting my mental but at the same time my personal life as well. For example, the high level of stress that I face at work actually makes it difficult for me to give the kind of emotional support that I am actually required to provide to my family members. Furthermore, the high level of stress that I am facing at the same time is affecting the quality of work that I am doing currently.
The organization has come up with various kinds of measures for the mitigation of the high level of stress faced by the employees. For example, the organization has taken the initiative to organize yoga sessions thrice a week so that the employees can feel a bit less stressed out. In addition to this, the organization every month arranges a social event wherein all the employees of the organization along with their family members gets the opportunity to relax and relieve the work related stress that they face. Along with these, the organization at the same time is trying to increase the level of engagement among the employees so that they are being able to relieve the work related stress that they face within the office premises itself and this does not affects their personal life. I would like to say that these measures have shown a substantial amount of success in the recent times since it is seen that the employees of the organization are not easily irritable as before and also they are being able to handle work stress and also the work load in a much effective manner. The organization along with the measures that it is following currently can also take the help of various kinds of counseling sessions wherein they can provide free counseling to the employees. This will help the organization to relieve the stress of the employees in a meaningful manner.
References
Gerber, M., Jonsdottir, I. H., Lindwall, M., & Ahlborg Jr, G. (2014). Physical activity in employees with differing occupational stress and mental health profiles: A latent profile analysis. Psychology of Sport and Exercise, 15(6), 649-658.
Moen, P., Kelly, E. L., Fan, W., Lee, S. R., Almeida, D., Kossek, E. E., & Buxton, O. M. (2016). Does a flexibility/support organizational initiative improve high-tech employees’ well-being? Evidence from the work, family, and health network. American Sociological Review, 81(1), 134-164.
Siegrist, J., & Li, J. (2016). Associations of extrinsic and intrinsic components of work stress with health: a systematic review of evidence on the effort-reward imbalance model. International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(4), 432.