Introduction
Building the skills and capability for future management responsibilities requires engaging in a more profound way of learning, equipping students with real-life experience of the concepts. In the past few weeks, I have engaged in various activities In the class that have helped me improve my levels of understanding of management and ideas and learn how they could be used in practical organization scope. In the week’s learning, I analyzed the role of leadership in conflict management and the effectiveness of good communication. I understood the different phases of teams and how to manage them effectively. The lessons on an organization’s cultures have created a deeper understanding of the sources of culture and how it benefits the organization in performance. Analyzing the different leadership frameworks, I’ve appreciated the best approaches to use in future organizations.
Similarly, knowledge of motivation theories will guide me to handle my team in the future organization better. The course involved various activities that involved analyzing cases about leadership issues. These cases helped us to be able to determine the multiple problems in the contexts given and come up with solutions while relating to the theories and knowledge from classwork. Interactive learning of management involving the practical application of cases has strengthened my ability to apply these skills in real-life management issues and my career.
Week 5 Organization Culture
Concrete Experience
The week it involved interactive learning on the organization’s cultures, its sources, and how to instill good cultures in the schools. In the class, the lecture asked us to identify the various aspects that define the culture of our university. Some members of the course gave their opinion on matters such as the design of the schools and also the language and the teaching methods. On the other hand, I was very interested in the school policy on equality and diversity management. This is one aspect that defines the school’s culture. Hence I suggested this as my point and explained why this was an essential factor in the school culture.
Reflective Observation
The university’s high performance aligns with accepting diversity and equality to guide employees and school members. These foundations have helped the school be innovative in various areas, as they can also get different people’s input. At the same time, this is how the school is able to have good lecturers like our management course lecturer since they are also attracted to the culture. At the same time, these policies have also guided the lecturers to be kind and support us as they always do in our learning.
Relevant Research
The concept of school cultures helped me understand well how cultures are formed in institutions (Groysberg et al., 2018). When I look at the school, I can identify that policies such as equality reciprocated to shared behavior among students and teachers, leading to a culture of equality. At the same time, I could understand how cultures influence high performance, innovativeness, and better teams. These could be seen in the context of our school performance. The reflection helped me realize how cultures lead to good internal and external relationships (Pisano, 2019). I identified that the school has the best lecturers and staff due to the cultures it upholds.
Active Experimentations
I learned the different ways of forming cultures which will help transform the organizations I will work with in the future for success. At the same time, the lesson led me to identify that good organizational cultures will lead to better corporate performance. Through the analysis of the school, I realized that the cultures are also helpful in addressing the external environment resources where good cultures lead to the attraction of good employees and partners. Hence, the organization needs to clearly state their cultures in their recruitment process. Finally, the lesson on the origins of cultures will help in the future in finding the areas that one can change in an organization to modify its cultures.
Week 6:Working with Teams
Concrete Experience
In this week’s discussion, we were engaged in activities that aimed at increasing our understanding of teamwork. In one of the discussions, I participated in a discussion on a case given in class of a CEO who was supposed to identify the challenges facing teams. Other classmates indicated the obvious challenges like communication and also lack of teamwork and competitive behavior. I, however, strongly believed the challenge of the organization was team management by the leadership. Hence in our group, I added that point to the list of challenges that we presented in class. Hence I participated in the group-level discussion and gave my opinion as well.
Reflective Observation
I believe that all the challenges that were affecting the organization were due to the leader’s inability to organize the teams well. the fact that one group member had solved a certain challenge, yet another team member was still struggling with it indicated there was a problem in communication. At the same time, I believe these challenges could have been avoided had the leader known how to work with the teams in the organization. As a leader, I believe being able to ensure communication could have led to better performance of the team. I also believe that if the leader understood the stage that the team was in, some of the issues could have been avoided.
Relevant Research
The case on team challenges led to reflection on the role of leaders in team building. These discussions relate to the role of teams in organizational performance, where teamwork increases the organization’s performance and innovativeness (Edmondson, 2012). At the same time, it stressed the importance of communication in team building. The case also led to a better understanding of the different stages of teams which are essential for team management. According to the case, the organization was dealing with a team at its storming stage. The behaviors of the teams to compete with each other were consistent with the teams in this stage. At the same time, there was conflict between the teams and less participation (Samson & Daft, 2012). The lesson helped me understand the different ways of handling such kind of a team as the presentation of real-life examples increased my ability to apply the knowledge.
Active Experimentations
The analysis of the case helped me learn that a lack of good team management strategies leads to low performance in the organization. the firm was performing poorly despite its capable individual efforts. I also understood the role of leaders in increasing the performance of the organization. I was able to understand that teams behave differently, and in this case, I was able to analyze the storming stage of leadership. In my application of the theories in organization, I will be able to look for aspects like cooperation issues, communication issues, and conflict to identify this stage. I will also be able to apply effective means of handling the issue, such as being encouraging to the team.
Week 7 Managing Teams
Concrete Experience
In week 7, we used both the interactive learning and also the analysis of the case, which I participated in giving my opinions where necessary. I was more vested with the analysis of the case involving the organization that changed its payment method, a decision that led to resentment of staff due to the differences in responsibilities that affected their payments. Other classmates thought that the organization’s challenge was the change in the payment system. In the class, I presented my argument that these events were an indication of a bigger challenge in the organization of leadership. My poor ability to manage teams was my contribution to the class discussion.
Reflective Observation
I believe that the current changes in the payment exposed a bigger challenge that existed in the organization. I suggest this because, with better team management, the organization is able to handle changes well. however, the fact that the new system led to staff abandoning their duties and hatred within the team suggest the leaders were not effective in their team management styles. I also believe the use of threats on staff to keep them in line was not the best way to manage the problems that were introduced by the payment system changes. I believe that the organization would have achieved better results if they had come together and combined efforts to find a lasting solution to the issues.
Relevant Research
The thought of case of resentment of team members as a result of changes relates to the role of leadership in team management. In this aspect, the concept of having emotional intelligence in team management. Management of teams requires the use of emotional intelligence and active listening to the team, which helps in understanding the best way to handle the conflict (Zhang, Chen, & Sun, 2015). Team management also involves the use of assertive means to engage the teams. hence the application of threats or aggressive methods was inappropriate for the case. At the same time, the case helped in a better understanding of concepts of team thinking (Fisher, Amabile & Pillemer, 2021). In this aspect, there are better results and success when team thinking is engaged.
Active Experimentations
The lessons on the role of leadership in managing teams were very well demonstrated in the case. I realized there was a need for emotional intelligence when dealing with conflicts in teams, especially if they affect the cohesion of teams. I also learned the importance of being assertive when handling conflicts in teams. the failure of aggressive approaches indicated that the method wasn’t effective in handling the issues in the organization. I also learned the importance of team thinking in the organization. the case showed that making decisions without consulting the team may lead to negative effects on the company. Hence the teams should be involved in issues that may affect their work and cohesion.
Week 8 Leadership principles
Concrete Experience
During week 8, I participated in class through active discussions and also by listening and internalizing the lessons from the classwork. In one of the days, I was very much interested in a case that I read to the class on a leader who was in charge of increasing the performance of the team in engineering. What caught my attention was the choice of the leader to fail to submit some of the reports to the higher management to prove their insignificance to the management. The lecturer asked us to think about which leadership style the leader used for this situation. I thought that the leader was using the situational leadership style.
Reflective Observation
After thinking about the case, I feel like there was a challenge for the top management to understand the issue that affects the organization. in their opinion, they thought it was the engineers who were unwilling to work hard. However, I believe that the management was what was hindering the performance of the staff. At the same time, I believe that the management had not understood the needs of these engineers at this point in their careers. These staff did not require more reports but required more freedom to do their work. I think there would have been higher performance if the organization had removed these reports sooner and adopted one report.
Relevant Research
The case helped in better understanding of the leadership principles and styles that are used in the organizations. it helped in understanding the need for leaders to be confident and assertive in their decision-making process (Peterson, Abramson & Stutman, 2020). These could be seen in the character of the new leader of the engineers. At the same time, I reflected on jerseys’Jerseys situation leadership theory (Frei & Morriss, 2020). The theory indicates the absence of a distant way of leading. This was seen in the unconventional method of the leader to hold reports that would have been submitted. The situation reflects different stages of leadership where the engineers were in the able and willing stage and required ;less supervision and more delegation.
Active Experimentations
The case helped me to understand the role of leaders in the organization and the characteristics of a good leader. These include being assertive in decision making, where a leader stands with the decision and is confident to present their ideas to management. At the same time, it helped in a better understanding of situational leadership and how it can be applied. The case helped me to understand that the inability to understand the stage that one’s team is in leads to less performance from the team. I realized when the teams are at the able and willing stage, according to situational theory, they should be supported and given more freedom to make decisions.
Week 9 Leadership Practices
Concrete Experience
This week, we learned leadership concepts through discussions and interaction. One of the most interesting lessons was the one where we were told to present our ideal working areas. We were supposed to give the company that we really wanted to work in and present why we made the choice. Most of my classmates felt that big companies paying well were the best places to work. When my turn came, I gave a different opinion. I presented my ideal working company to Netflix and was clear to say it wasn’t because of the payment. I informed my classmates it’s due to the working environment that the company created, which is hospitable for better performance.
Reflective Observation
I believe that my choice of Netflix was influenced by the factors that I found interesting beyond the payment. The company has a good salary, but working with a visionary team and creative brains was better than any salary. I also believe the leadership style was intriguing to me as the leader gave the staff autonomy. The employees were able to perform better with less control of the leaders. Also, there was the aspect of growth opportunities, which was a good thing for me. I knew that working in the company would lead to my talent being recognized. These aspects were better than payment, in my opinion.
Relevant Research
My choice relates to the concepts of motivation, where there are different aspects of motivation of the staff. The choice of profession based on payment is according to the reinforcement theory, which one is motivated to perform due to the rewards of actions or the fear of punishment (Bushe, 2001). However, I didn’t take the approach; hence my argument was according to Herzberg’s theory. The salaries that most classmates suggested belonged to the hygiene factor in the Herzberg theory, which was not responsible for motivation. However, my choice due to recognition and good environment were in compliance with the motivators (Salovey & Mayer, 1990). These are nonmonetary factors, and they lead to better performance in the organization.
Active Experimentations
The reflection helped in understanding how to implement strategies for motivating staff in the organization. while working in management, I learned one should focus on the motivators when designing the reward system for the teams. these should include the aspects that will improve the working environment of the organization. I learned that these factors were better than the hygiene factor in motivating the staff in the organization. At the same time, I learned that the choice of employees in working for is based mainly on hygiene factors. Therefore in the future, when designing a strategy for attracting new talent, there will be a need to communicate these factors while presenting our image to potential employees.
Conclusion
Interactive learning of management involving practical application on cases has strengthened my ability to apply these skills in real-life management issues and career. The weeks of study involved the examination of various management concepts and how they relate to organizational problems. It involved the analysis of the organization’s culture, its sources, and also its benefits to the organization. At the same time, I was able to learn about the role of leadership in managing teams and different approaches to leadership. I was able to identify the various ways of handling team conflicts and how the leader can help in addressing challenges in the organization. The lessons also reflected on the different leadership styles and how they help in improving the performance of the organization. In the end, we were able to discuss aspects of motivation and how they can help in creating a better organization. this knowledge will be helpful in the future for the growth of the organizations and success in our careers.
References
Groysberg, B., Lee, J., Price, J., & Cheng, J. (2018). The leader’s guide to corporate culture. Harvard business review, 96(1), 44-52.
Pisano, G. P. (2019). The hard truth about innovation. Harvard Business Review, 97(1), 62-71.
Edmondson, A. C. (2012). Teamwork on the Fly (Harvard Business Review). Online verfügbar unter https://hbr. org/2012/04/teamwork-on-the-fly-2, zuletzt geprüft am, 23, 2019.
Samson, D., & Daft, R. L. (2012). Management, 4th Asia Pacific edition. South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Australia.
Zhang, S. J., Chen, Y. Q., & Sun, H. (2015). Emotional intelligence, conflict management styles, and innovation performance: An empirical study of Chinese employees. International journal of conflict management.
Fisher, C., Amabile, T., & Pillemer, J. (2021). How to help (without micromanaging). Harvard Business Review, 99(1), 123-127.
Peterson, S. J., Abramson, R., & Stutman, R. K. (2020). How to develop your leadership style. Harvard Business Review, 98(6), 68-77.
Frei, F. X., & Morriss, A. (2020). Begin with trust. Harvard business review, 98(3), 112-121.
Bushe, G. R. (2001). Clear leadership : how outstanding leaders make themselves understood, cut through the mush, and help everyone get real at work (1st ed.). Davies-Black.
Salovey, P., & Mayer, J. D. (1990). Emotional intelligence. Imagination, cognition and personality, 9(3), 185-211.
write