Management complications hence poor performance †Free Samples

Question: Why Management Complications Hence Poor Performance? Answer: Introduction Effective management does not only call for a good understanding of the organizational culture and business environment but also the effectiveness with which business purposes are communicated (Dattilio and Freeman, 2007). The various processes, levels of motivation and communication skills of the workers in an organization are all vital in influencing the organizational accomplishment (Griffin, 2009). It is therefore important for individuals to develop good personal communication skills which help one to easy relate and interact with the others not only at the place of work but within the society as a whole. Diagnostic Tools Communication Styles Questionnaire I am not good at starting conversations and dont work well with disagreements. I may be quite assertive when the facts in the conversation are contrary to my values, in such cases I exhibit poor listening skills and constantly jump in. I am interested in empowering others and support ideas but get quite assertive and emotional especially when impatient or irritated. Assertiveness Test The results of the test reveal me as self-assertive and an individual who sticks to his views and belief in personal values. I like to communicate my thoughts with clarity. I largely believe in verbal expression of ideas through emphasis on key points. I try not to be aggressive during conversations but base my responses on the attitudes of the others during the conversations. Team Work and Team Roles Inventory The results of the test indicate the following on my personal abilities: I like to embrace new chances; I also like devising new methods for the team. I fancy team work and remain open to interaction with other team members. I am not perfect at initiating ideas but find is easy coordinating them once initiated. Johari Window Questionnaire From this test, I deduced number of aspects in terms of communication. To begin with, I am cheerful and express my ideas quite confidently especially during team dynamics. I stay calm during arguments and try to discuss my facts from a more rational point of view. I face issues boldly and try to remain as organized as possible when communicating my views. The Big Five Personality Test These test brought out the following aspects on my personal communication skills. I like listening to new ideas, and feel quite comfortable around people. I also make people feel at ease and pay attention to details. However, I get irritated easily and have occasional mood swings during which I lack the necessary listening skills and may be impatient too. Identified Communication Issues From the results of the test above, it is clear that there are number of skills I may have to work on in order to be able to communicate effectively with the others. There is the aspect of easy irritation which affects my verbal skills. I get closed in when unhappy and choose to stay calm which may be interpreted as an aggressive non-verbal approach of communication. Secondly, I am not a good listener especially when not interested in the subject of discussion. I tend to jump interfering with the speaker which may lead to prejudgment and poor reception and decoding of messages. Reflection on recent professional Interactions Being a new employee in a telecommunications company there are a number of formalities which we had to be taken through as a means of developing skills and capturing the companys culture. One of these strategies involved being assigned to joined specific groups in different departments and obtaining roles to support in the new projects as introduced by the department. I was assigned the marketing department and had a lot of difficulties flowing with the team especially during the first few meetings. The team leader was quite assertive and a little too domineering which caused a lot of arguments during meetings. During such heated situations, Id simply switch off the meetings and probably fail to concentrate to the very end. Through this, I missed the discussion of the key points and had to constantly ask other team members on the next course of action. Some of the individuals found this quite irritating. I now feel I ought to have been a little more patient and gone ahead to listen t o the team speakers despite my dissatisfaction with the leaders management approaches. The second situation was during one of our company assigned field trips meant to enhance good customer relations. During these trips, the employees were assigned specific regions in which they were to find and interact with the organizations loyal and prospective customers while informing them more about the companys products and services. While some of these individuals were receptive, some of them had demeaning attitudes and barely had time for my explanations. Due to my personality, this situation easily got me irritated hence affecting my communication methods for the rest of the marketing spree. I found it hard communicating my thoughts to them verbally and clearly because I felt wronged by the poor reception. I now believe I ought to have been more flexible and adjusted to the situations based on the attitudes and approaches exhibited by each of the individuals I met. In each of these situations, my bad attitude affected effective reception of information as given out by the sp eaker. This also influenced the way I communicated my views to the other individuals. Due to the poor listening skills, I couldnt get the best out of the meetings which in turn affected my effectiveness at work especially during the implementation of the ideas discussed in the meetings because I barely grasped any. At the same time, I didnt manage to accomplish the marketing objectives due to the ease with which I get emotional and irritated especially by poor reception. It is therefore a fact worth noting that I need to work on these two aspects in addition to other skills in a bid to be better when it comes to the communication and reception of views and ideas to and from other individuals. Literature Review The reflection above reveled poor listening skills and lack of emotional control as some of the impediments to effective communication especially in a team set up. Johnason (2009) points out that teamwork involves people from different backgrounds coming together to pursue a common objective or goal. Achieving the organizational goals can be a challenge to an organization especially when the methods of communication within the team are not adequately addressed and managed. For effective operations within a business entity, it is vital for people to see beyond the space of their personal interests and hence maintain the focus on the teams objectives through appropriate communication approaches. Individual differences are among some of the main obstacles to effective teamwork (Paauwe and Boon, 2009). The details of the test reveal the possibility of a breakdown in communication when individuals choose to honor their emotions at the expense of the teams interests. Communication within a team set up ought to be approached selflessly as this alone assures effective transmission of information between individuals in an organization (Collings and Wood, 2009). Based on the model of Team works and team inventories, Klerck (2009) points out that teamwork is a vital requirement for organizational success. But effective operations within a team can be largely hampered by poor communication skills and approaches. The changing aspects of a good team demand that individuals are dedicated to use their personal skills in order to achieve the collective goals of the team. Despite the presence of struggles among the team members; the group interests should always remain the main point of focus. Embracing a positive approach from each team member is important since it enhances team performance. However, individual differences in a team largely hamper its growth and activities especially when these barriers are not eliminated through effective management skills. Assertiveness is an attribute which could be used to instill individual commitment towards organizational goals but not as a tool for dictatorship and domination by leaders. This is because suc h personalities act as obstacles to the free flow of information and poor reception. The poor reception at the departmental meetings was a result of wrong attitude to the speakers due to their communication methods. Consequently, team building would be an essential measure through which understanding between individuals could be enhanced leading to better communication. Trevisani (2016) through the chaos theory of management points some of the challenges to effective communication as a result of diversity at the workplace environment. As posited by this theory, an organization is vulnerable to various changes which at times complicate its operations. Diversity implies different personalities and hence variations in approaches to communication. Misunderstandings, prejudgment and wrong reception is likely to occur which elongates essential processes such as decision making (Grace and Cohen, 2004). This aspect was evident in our departmental meetings where individuals could argue for hours on end due to lack of effective communication. In order to deal with the communication challenges associated with complex groups within organizations, it is vital for the management to establish the best strategies that would ensure a free flow in information from one party to another (Roux, 2007). Depending on the nature of the team, the organization can choose the most appropriate communication method for instance the use of online media or written communication which is both speedy and convenient. As noted by Merkle (2015), that a team, especially in an organization, is often characterized by differences in personalities. While some of these behaviors strengthen of a team, others serve as an obstacle to the free flow of information hence easy communication. Individuals who listen keenly and talk well with others in a group are able to stay constructive. However, those with bad personalities like; bad temperaments, laziness and those who get easily emotional and irritated are likely have challenges communicating effectively with others (Mark, 2014). Through the use of various diagnostic tools, the individual capabilities in terms of communication can be identified and hence developed in order to improve the quality of professional and formal interactions between people within the business. Despite the presences, the good attributes about individuals in a team can be established and nurtured through adequate exposure and personal commitment to improvement (Daft and Armstrong, 20 09). In a nut shell, the management style ought to work on enhancing good communication skills while eliminating the challenges as much as possible. According Dobbin (2012) while basing his argument on the systems management theory, differences in alignments in a team is what basically describes the organizational structure. He notes that an effective system is supported by active small groups each of which are driven by specific goals and objectives. For these teams to be effective there is an inevitable need for proper communication. A team consists of borders caused by, age, personality differences, gender, ethnic backgrounds as well as sexual orientations. Despite the differences, it is important to come up with a common ground of management to enhance communication (Posey, 2012). According to the contingency theory of management, there is need for proper cognitive skills when addressing individuals in an organization as this enhances communication and proper team performance. It would therefore be important to recognize and examine the individual personalities before coming up with the best communication approaches meant to elicit positive reception from the target audience (Jarvenpaa and Leidner, 2009). The aspect of team work and an appropriate environment where team members can express their views is highly encouraged in such cases. Through these activities, the individual strengths and weaknesses in terms of communication can be noted which in turn enables the managers to use the right strategies to enhance communication within the organization. Action Plan The outcome of the diagnostic tools revealed two major areas in which I need to make adjustments in order to be better in terms of communication. First of all, bad tempers and ease of irritation affect my verbal skills and at times may cause prejudgment which hinders effective communication. Secondly, I am a poor listener in some situation which may affect my reception to the message being transmitted. In order to deal with these issues plan to enhance my skills in communication through reading extensive literature in addition to continuous practice. The plan would also involve consistent interaction with people from different backgrounds through conferences, meeting and exhibitions. The plan shall also involve studying the changes that take place in communication approaches based on the differences in age, educational achievements, religion and gender just to mention but few. This shall be done for a period of 30 days. This could be achieved by pursuing specific course like a diploma in communication within organizations. A thorough study of the different categories of communication approaches shall be undertaken during this period to establish the varying communication cultures and trends as one moves from one region to another. The plan shall also involve the use of personal studies, reading of literature and research tools like questionnaire and direct interviews to interaction with members of different cultural backgrounds within a period of 1 month. During this period, I shall also attend various educative conferences and meetings as this would also be crucial in developing my skills when it comes to communicating with people. This shall be done for a period of two months. It shall be achieved through participation in activities involving teams and groups. Good communication requires a good understanding of the person(s) with whom one is interacting. By taking part in a number of activities involving teams and groups, it would be possible to learn from the different personalities and hence develop the necessary skills for dealing with each of these individuals. The main objective of this plan would be to register an improvement in terms of communication especially with reference to the two issues identified from the results of the diagnostic tools. For the remaining two months within the 6 month period, these outcomes shall be examined in order to note a possible improvement and the need for more adjustment. At the end of the pe riod, a self-evaluation shall be conducted in a bid to note any improvements and hence focus on further strategies aimed at perfecting my communication skills. Action Plan Summary TASK START DATE DURATION END DATE REMARKS (Achieved/Not achieved) Studying Communication styles across cultures 1st June 30 days 30th June Literature Reading 1st July 30 days 31st July Attending Conferences and meetings 1st August 2 months 30th Sep Evaluation of learned Skills 1st Oct 2 months 30th Nov Conclusion The report comprised an analysis of personal communication skills with reference to various diagnostic tools. The tools included: the Johari window, Big five personality test, communication styles questionnaires, assertiveness questionnaires and the Team work and team roles inventory model. From the tests, it was possible to deduce the two areas in which improvement was required. The issues involved poor control of emotions leading to poor listening skills as well as poor listening skills. Through commitment to the action plan, an improvement is likely to be registered with reference to the challenges identified. References Argenti, P. and Beck, K. (2005) The strategic communication imperative. MIT Sloan Management Review, 46(1), pp. 8389. Braisby, A. and Gellatly, A. (2012).Cognitive Psychology. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Collings, D. and Wood, G. (2009) Human resource management. London: Routledge. Daft, R. and Armstrong, G. (2009) Organization Theory and Design. Toronto: Nelson. Dattilio, M. and Freeman, A. (2007) Cognitive-Behavioral Strategies in Crisis Intervention (3rd ed.). New York: The Guilford Press Dobbin, F. (2012) The Rise of Bureaucracy. Cambridge, MA: Havard University Press. Grace, D. and Cohen, S. (2004) Business Ethics: Problems and Cases. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Griffin, R. (2009) Principles of Management. 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