It is upon the leaders and managers to have an unusual ability to apply substantial energy in the organisations today. Their position gives them mandate to inspire the operations and processes that occur in the workplace as well as the lives of the employees. A leader's opinion concerning a specific challenge affects the progress of an organisation and its overall performance. It is therefore essential to have a clear understanding of how a leader's attitudes, behaviours, and actions affect the team's performance. It is never easy to make the whole team work efficiently, and this is the step that many leaders fail by ignoring the primary aspects of team building, as they rush to achieve goals. However, a leader’s actions in t first week considerably on the final delivery of results by the team. Regardless of whether it is a new or an existing ta team, it is vital to secure some time and energy in ensuring that the team you are handling works effectively in achieving your goals.
According to the movement which emphasises on doing the right thing, it is advisable to focus on those elements in our lives which help us to grow positively and makes progress. Concerning this theory, scholars keep evaluating the effect of the Psychological capital in organisations which encompasses several psychological resources such as hope, optimism, efficacy, and resilience. Hope refers to the aspect of believing that one can persevere towards specific objectives and get ways to achieve them. Confidence, on the other hand, entails having a generally positive attitude towards work and its potential success. Efficacy refers to the efforts that the team puts to achieve specific goals. Lastly, resilience is the ability to get back on track after failure or adversity.
I have been assigned a front line management position of team leader of the distribution and warehousing which is quite a complex task to handle. In several ways, the team will be affected by the change, and this will affect their overall performance. However, there are several issues that I am putting in place to ensure that I meet the objectives of the organisations and revive the productivity of the organisation which is the main reason for my appointment. Additionally, I am addressing the five problems which are hindering the team from moving forward through four main aspects which are cooperation, positivity, relationships and team building.
Positivity
Leader positivity is directly associated with the behaviour of the members of a team. From recent research, leader positivity has been proved to be dynamic, and it has been discovered that leader psychological capital influences the follower mental capital as well as the overall performance of the organisation. Positivity in the workplace can be contagious whereby the leaders help in shaping the attitudes, behaviours, and actions of the team members through generating strategies that imply high levels of psychological resources such as hope, resilience, optimism, and efficacy. I must strengthen my mental resources and exhibit outward positivity accompanied by behaviour models when interacting with employees. This is a strategy that can turn things around by enhancing achievement of outcomes and well-being of every individual in the workplace.
There are possible implications of positivity flexing by the leaders, one of them being leader selection and development whereby organisational can examine the psychological resources which are owned by candidates managing the work of others. Moreover, leaders' training opportunities involve some of the resources while interacting with other members of the team. Goal setting is the second implication whereby leaders with high levels of psychological resources are in a position to set challenging and tough goals and have high motivation to achieve them. The other effect is the issue of problem management which involves behaving in ways that show a positive attitude when faced with challenges. The followers look at my general conduct as the leader and follow my footsteps. Giving feedback on the performance of each member of the team is another way to enhance positivity which I can utilise to come up with the required resources. Recognizing accomplishments, maintains energy, promotes self-efficacy and builds confidence.
Development of Psychological capital by both the leader and the followers also helps the leaders to be robust role models in their performance of duties. Another essential aspect is knowing each other which involves recognising my team members and encouraging them to take their time to know each other. This can be done by holding meetings that include team building activities where the leaders get updated on the well-being and progress of each person in the team. The team members can share their experiences both worst and best. Sharing the positive and negative dynamics helps the members to clearly understand what type of behaviour and attitude is expected of them and what to avoid. Explaining what I stand for to my group members is another positivity enhancement factor. This involves utilising my interacting opportunities with my team members to showcase my values as well as elaborating on the reason why I made certain decisions and performance. It is also healthy to talk to the team about what criteria I will be applying to assess my team's performance both at the individual and the collective level. By talking to them about my goals and mission, they will be convinced about my commitment to a healthy and transparent mission to achieve the organisational goals.
As a leader, it is imperative to give an explanation to my team about how they are supposed to work especially when new members are joining the team. It is not advisable to assume that the existing members will explain how the organisation works for the newbies. If the leader does not clarify on the critical issues affecting their functioning in the organisation, they risk having employees who feel out of place, have low self-esteem and cannot contribute in any decision making processes. Another milestone is ensuring that there are set and defined goals which are well known by the entire team. I have to set achievable and ambitious goals with the contribution of the team members, which can only be achieved by defining what the organisation wants to achieve and what strategies or methods are being employed to achieve those objectives. Setting the goals makes decision making for the group easier and makes all team members accountable for their achievement which gives them a positive attitude and the zeal to work towards achieving them.
Keeping your door open is another issue that needs to be incorporated into this organisation. This involves having numerous check-ins, more structure, and touch points at the beginning through holding big meetings, emails, progress reports and one on ones. These activities may vary from team to team as well as manager to manager but are essential in enhancing a positive working environment. Scoring an early win is the last strategy which involves keeping a close look at the problems that arise in the organisation and finding quick, efficient solutions to them. Excellent tracking of the issues arising and seeking answers to these problems shows that the leader is connecting and learning but most importantly gives momentum to the team which enhances goodwill. However, there are basic principles that are essential when trying to improve positivity in an organisation which comprises the do's and does don'ts. One of them is making myself clear when making decisions and in the manner in which I evaluate the progress of the team. Secondly, it is vital to encourage members of the team to communicate and connect to avoid misunderstandings and poor results.
Additionally, as a leader, I can inspire the team by looking for roadblocks and grievances and find ways to fix them. One of the things to avoid is to try to accomplish tasks on my own with the team involvement and to make assumptions that the team members are aware of how the management team works. Further, it is not advisable to fear to communicate on time since this can slow down the overall team's performance.
Team Building
Building the group and developing it up to a productive level involves substantial effort through following the techniques and procedures that best suit this development. Team development involves five main stages, the first one being forming whereby the group members start coming together and are anxious and uncertain. Members tend to be careful with their behaviour due to the desire to be accepted by other group members. The second stage is the storming stage which entails conflicts and competition because the group members now have a full understanding of their tasks and start to focus on the essential issues around them. Thirdly is the norming stage which involves a great deal of knowledge of one another's experiences, skills, and talents as well as appreciating each other's contribution to the group. They develop a high sense of the community as they remain focused on the group's objectives and goals.
The fourth stage is performing whereby hard work becomes a priority without friction to the achievement of goals. As a leader, I can delegate most of my work as I concentrate on developing my team. Adjourning is the last stage which I hope my team will eventually reach here. The scene is difficult for members who prefer close working relationships with colleagues and routine, especially that their future may seem uncertain. Creating a conducive environment for the development of these qualities may involve various strategies. The first strategy is to lay out team goals and priorities. This is the step which is concerned with the characteristics of clear goals whereby the team needs a clear understanding of their contributions to the achievement of the team goals. There should be the establishment of team priorities so that members clearly understand where and when to give additional help if it's required. It is upon the individuals to understand the impact of their smart personal goals on the goals and how supporting the team goals supports their personal goals too. In this case, it is vital to have excellent communication skills to have the goals written and that members are aware of the effects of performances on team goals and others ‘performance.
Selecting team members carefully is the next step to put into consideration which is determined by three aspects, individualism, a degree of diversity and the average level of experience and ability. In ordinary cases, some of the members will make better team members than others even though everyone can gradually be comfortable in a team. With determination and commitment, everyone in the group is capable of producing a good team member maintain a healthy and positive relationship with the others. Every team will comprise of individualists and collectivists. Individualists tend to focus on their work and undertakes tasks independently while collectivists work together as a team.
Despite having different work perspectives, it is essential to have a balance to enhance secure distribution of work having high expectations of the tasks being done. In this case, new employees are required to join hands with the experienced team members to become fully incorporated into the group. Selection should also be based on skills and leadership abilities. The third issue is team diversity which deals with the combination of people from different cultures, races, gender and skills working together. Variety in a team acts as a good defence fighting against groupthink because of a different outward image as well as a belief system which is a challenge to conventional assumptions. Once I have a fully developed team, I expect the team to be perfect if they have these characteristics.
Characteristics of an Effective Team
One of the most critical aspects of a team is having clarity of purpose. The goals and objectives of the group are clearly defined, and the team works together to achieve them, as I keep reminding the group of each contribution to the success of the team. Secondly, there should be excellent and open communication between the leader and the team which keeps them focused, motivated and informed. Some part of the communication process entails having standard business protocols and procedures. Having a decisive role for conflict is another aspect which is vital for sound decision making and problem-solving in a team.
Accountability and commitment is another aspect in which each team member must take into account. Each makes sure that they clearly understand their roles and are responsible for their actions and always inform the management about any issues arising. The other aspect is shared leadership whereby useful team members are willing to take up leadership roles when appropriate which improves the morale and performance of the team. Lastly, there is need to have favourable group dynamics which means having healthy interpersonal relationships that contribute to the secure building of trust, acceptance, honesty, and respect. Favourable group dynamics will effectively solve any arising conflicts in the team.
Enhancing cooperation in the Workplace
Every organisation needs to have a cooperative team to achieve its objectives and reap the best out of every individual in the organisation. In my team lack of cooperation is one of the key factors which has been identified as a cause of poor overall performance in the organisation. First, as a leader, I recognise that teamwork should be part of the organisation's culture. It is upon the management of the firm to cooperate and ensure that the stuff works as a team too to achieve the goals of the organisation more effectively and on time. To enhance collaboration, the leaders will provide that there is an open working environment which gives the employees a chance to air out their views. Teamwork and cooperation are the backbones of the mission and vision of the organisation. Provision of the right resources that workers need to undertake their tasks is another milestone that helps them work in collaboration harmoniously.
By providing the necessary resources that are required for the team to perform to the targeted standards, there is proper communication between the employees and the stuff which maintains good relations. These resources include workspaces which are comfortable and satisfying to work in as well as video conferencing for employees who are in distant locations. One of the modern techniques being used today is the issue of online collaboration whereby the team can effectively pass their information to each other and the stuff too. Tools such as slack give the employees a chance to communicate across various departments which is one of the critical tools that help to improve collaboration. Another way of enhancing cooperation is by training employees and have continuous learning whereby the organisation acknowledges that not every employee can be able to work in a team and therefore the management invests on the teamwork skills of the employees.
Other specific skills such as the ability to effectively communicate with colleagues are taken into special consideration. For instance, employees can be taken into a workshop where they can they can acquire better communication skills and confidence through public speaking. Public speaking will bring them together if it is done as a group and will improve on their ability to bring together various points into meaningful statements. Socializing outside the workplace is another pillar of cooperation in an organisation. When working in the office, there is hardly enough time for the employees to bond because they are all committed to complete their tasks at an individual level. It is, therefore, crucial to set time for the team to bond and interact outside the office by organising joint activities which bring them together. The events may comprise of having an ordinary lunch, participating in a communal event or watching a movie together. Such activities play a prominent role in breaking office barriers and significantly improve collaborations as it makes co-workers feel more comfortable with each other and therefore build trust.
Every organisation needs to have everyone in the organisation on track by making them aware of the set roles and expectations which makes collaborations a natural and natural process. Once each of the employees understands their positions, it is easy for them to have an understanding of the broader picture and how they fit in. It is also crucial that my management and I set clear goals and expectations that require the team to work together bearing in mind, the goals and objectives they are expected to accomplish. Moreover, it is upon the organisation to keep a close look at the individual talents of every employee for purposes of placing them in positions which best suit their skills and abilities. Identification of one's talents and strengths is essential in forming groups to work with because each needs to be placed with people who can complement one's abilities.
Once every member clearly understands their role, they are likely to be more productive and produce results above the organisation’s expectations. Conflicts have been known to be the primary cause of low productivity in the organisation. Each organisation should give a chance for the employees to speak up their minds and concerns without bearing any consequences. They should have an opportunity to suggest solutions to various problems arising in the organisation. It is possible to have a collaborative team if they have faith that the team leader will settle their disputes and return everything to normal.
Enhancing good relationships in the workplace
Good connections at the workplace ensure that work is done on time and that members join hands in helping each other to grow positively and contribute massively to the organisation's success. One of the most common ways of enhancing the excellent relationship between theme and my team members is communicating what I expect of them both as a group and at the individual level so that each of them is aware of their talents and capabilities. It is vital to assign tasks to them and evaluate their performance by commending them for their efforts as well as recognising their strengths. The second technique is by showing my team that I am accountable to my superiors and the team too and therefore I serve as a role model by doing my best in all tasks all the time and expect the same form them. By acting as a perfect example, they will learn to trust me and work together to meet my standards and promptly accomplish the assigned tasks. It is crucial to recognise the work performed by my team by observing the positive things done by each every day while assisting them to rectify their mistakes.
Team relationships can also be enhanced through encouraging the recognition of each other's strengths, for instance during morning meetings; each member can be given an opportunity to a business trait that they recognise in the person seated next to them. By listening to the comments made by the team members about each other without judging, I can take my time to resolve it before it gets worse quickly. Reflecting on my personal life also helps me to be easy to approach by the team members, and it encourages them to do the same. Further, building positive relationships outside the office is another tip that can increase bonding and interact with the employees and the management. This can be done by having activities such as team building, sports, celebrating their special days and others. In facilitating this, it is imperative to inquire on what kind of celebrations are of much importance to them.
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Project 2
IMPLEMENT CONTINOUS IMPROVEMENT
Part A
Q1 Benchmarking is the process of comparing the cost, cycle time, productivity, or quality of a specific process or method to another that is widely considered to be an industry standard or best practice
Answer
true
Q2 There are eight quality management principles for the quality management system standards of the ISO 9000:2000 and ISO 9000:2008. Name Four (4).
Answer
1. customer focus –this can be established by the organisation in efforts to understand the customers' needs and expectations
2. Leadership-success in an organisation comes as a result of efforts of the leaders to maintain an excellent internal business environment from which the employees can be able to achieve the unified objectives of the organisation.
3. Involvement of people-Retaining employees and motivating them to continually develop their skills as well as encouraging engagement by recognising achievements significantly contribute to the success of an organisation.
4. Process approach- Performance is improved when leaders control output and input processes in an organisation.
Q3) B_____ p________ is closely related to benchmarking. It is the process of identifying, through research, the best way of doing something.
Answer: business planning
Q4) ____________ ______________ systems include any methods—formal or informal—that are designed to bring gradual yet continuous improvement to the way an activity or process is undertaken through a process of constant review.
Answer: continuous improvement systems
Q5) the following are all principles of change management except:
a) At all times involve and agree to support from people
b) Understand where you/the organisation is at the moment
c) Understand where you want to be, when, why, and what the measures will be for having got there
d) People affected by the change do not need to agree with or understand
e) Communicate, involve, enable and facilitate involvement from people, as early and openly and as thoroughly as is possible
Answer: People affected by the change do not need to agree with or understand.
PART B – PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES ACTIVITY 1– Activity Type; Task Resources: Access to appropriate documentation and resources typically used in the workplace. Conditions: Workplace or simulated workplace Instructions: You may use a recent or current Continuous Improvement Process you have developed in your current workplace or the scenario provided below. 1. Develop a small continuous improvement plan to improve customer service within an organisation. 2. Include the following techniques in your program: a) Implementation of a quality system b) Evaluations and monitoring of effectiveness c) Modifications and improvements to systems, processes, services, and products. 3. Formulate and communicate your recommendations to the customer service staff who have a role in their development and implementation
Answer: Continuous Improvement Plan for Customer Service
Every organisation needs to have excellent customer service in their internal environment to achieve its objectives. A continuous improvement plan as below would be helpful in maintaining the productivity of the organisation
1. Identify the types of customers and where to investigate
2. Conduct regular customer satisfaction interviews both internal and external
3. Evaluate the present performance state of every process of the customer service.
4. Consider all customer service processes which require improvement.
5. Conduct benchmarks against other companies with excellent customer service.
6. Spot the opportunities for advancement for every customer service process.
7. Come up with an implementation plan
8. Design a 6-month measurement of performance and improvement plan.
9. Occasionally conduct continuous customer satisfaction surveys.
10. Maintain an ongoing improvement culture for the organisation.
ACTIVITY 2 – Activity Type; Task Observation Third Party Reports Verbal questioning Portfolio Case Study Role Play Resources: Access to appropriate documentation and resources typically used in the workplace. Conditions: Workplace or simulated workplace Instructions: 1. Choose a task from your current workplace or simulated workplace. 2. Write down the existing procedure for completing the work. 3. Use your innovation skills to redesign the process to increase the efficiency of the task. 4. Take any quality or legal issues into account.
Answer: Project management procedure
1. Governance –Governance ensures that the projected is completed according to the ANU acceptable standards.
2. Project approval and startup-This is the stage that builds the project’s foundation after the problem is defined and objectives to be achieved are set.
3. Planning –this determines the actions to be taken in the execution of the project.
4. Execution –The manager of the project manages the risks, follows the budget and notifies the budget.
5. Close-This is the phase whereby a formal closure of the project’s delivery component is done.
6. Post Implementation Review- The outputs from the project are incorporated into the organisation to ensure they bring out the targeted business outcomes.
Creative skills in project management
There are three main steps which can lead to unique project management in an organisation.
Adopting project management strategies from other organisations with similar products and services which allows developers and programmers to test the versions of their products and make the necessary changes
Build in time to do experiments and give time for failure-This important in building an innovation culture.
Taking your management out of project management-This is one of the strategies that enhance collaborations and communication in an organisation.
PART C
PROJECT -Project Type; Portfolio; Project Resources: Access to appropriate documentation and resources typically used in the workplace. Conditions: Workplace or simulated workplace Instructions: You may use a recent or current Continuous Improvement Plan you have developed in your current workplace or the scenario provided below. 1. Create a continuous improvement plan. 2. Research an organisation that is committed to, and has implemented an ongoing improvement program OR find out more about your own organisation's ongoing improvement efforts. 3. Describe the systems, processes and supporting tools that are in place to help the program have the positive impact it should on organisational performance. 4. Explain what policies or practices could improve the effectiveness of your team. 5. Include any ideas you have (big or small) including formal and informal processes, different management techniques, changes to organisational structure, team building activities, communication tools, etc. 6. Explain how you will implement your plan. 7. Explain how you plan to obtain feedback and input from your team regarding the new continuous improvement processes 8. Explain what systems you will put in place to encourage and support staff to participate in the decision-making process and participates in the ongoing improvement process. 9. Explain how you see mentoring and coaching working as a management style that will assist in the effective implementation of these processes. 10. Describe what method you would implement to ensure that team members are informed of savings and productivity/service improvements in achieving the plan. 11. Create a plan to monitor the activities, progress monitor and review performance. 12. Identify existing organisation systems and technology that will help with this task. 13. Identify at least two ways the organisation's policies for planning and operations could be improved. 14. Explain how documentation processes will help you and your team identify further opportunities for improvement. 15. Explain how you manage the process of recommending changes to methods and systems (either within your organisation or organisation-wide). 16. Explain how records, reports, and recommendation information will be collected and captured.
1) Answer: Continuous Improvement Plan
1. A continuous improvement plan in every organisation involves various stages
2. Identification of improvement opportunities-this consists in evaluating the process and selecting a challenge or a problem.
3. Analyze-This involves digging into the cause of the problem
4. Take action-Involves implementing actions that give solutions to the problem.
5. Study results-involves confirmation of actions to achieve the objectives.
6. Standardize solutions-Aims at maintaining the improved performance level
7. Plan for the future-Look for plans to solve any other existing problems as well as examining the effectiveness of the team set for potential improvement.
Strategies that have led to the effectiveness of the Continuous Improvement Plan at the DNV healthcare
1. Leadership that walks the talk-this means that the leaders need to exhibit behaviours that show their support for the initiative and which other employees should seek to emulate
2. Focusing on fire prevention than firefighting-This means foreseeing the problems that are likely to arise in the organisation and finding suitable solutions to them.
3. The constancy of purpose-Changes needs to maintain momentum to prevent them from reaching a halt or resistance.
4. A shift to long-term mindset-The Company needs to focus on the long-term effects of all the operation
Strategies to improve the effectiveness of the team
1. Cohesiveness-This promotes individual commitment and zeal to strive in achieving the organisational goals.
2. Communication-In order to achieve common goals of the organisation, a team needs to have effective communication.
3. Groupthink-Refers to the aspect of making decisions causing suppression of opposing viewpoints to maintain group harmony.
4. Homogeneity- The leader needs to understand the similarities and differences between the employees.
5. Role Identity-Each member needs to be aware of their different roles to help in combining efforts for the achievement of the goals.
How to Implement the Plan
1. Top management commitment-The team's executives need to embrace their roles such as the formulation of policies, leading a committee, monitoring implementation and providing resources.
2. Training and Education Program-This help in building skills and abilities which promote a competitive advantage for the organisation.
3. Clear long-term plan-Understanding the long-term strategy helps in deciding what operations deserve the priority.
4. Rewards and recognition-They motivate the stuff and give an opportunity to share innovative ideas
5. Develop an ownership mindset-This involves full participation of every individual and empowering them to increase the chances of success.
Strategies for Obtaining Feedback from the Team
1. Clarify the objective-The team needs to understand the purpose of the whole plan so that they are in a position to give feedback on what needs to be improved or corrected.
2. Nurturing new ideas-Encouraging the stuff contribution by asking for innovative ideas will encourage them to consistently give feedback about the current state of the organisation's performance.
3. Provide positive Reinforcement-Giving negative feedback to the employees discourages them to contribute to the success of the firm. It is therefore noble for the management to continually maintain a positive reinforcement for the team.
How to encourage Staff to participate in Decision Making
Some ways can be used to encourage the staff involvement in decision making
1. Management involvement-the team is motivated by seeing that the management is involved and committed to the decision making process.
2. Positive Feedback-it is essential to continually give positive feedback to the team as well as recognising their excellent performance and efforts.
3. Employee Suggestion Programme-All suggestions and feedbacks from employees need to be followed up after which an immediate response is given to the employee who submitted the suggestion
4. Celebrate quick wins and communicate end goal-The management needs to keep everyone on board in case there is a change program, to enhance aiming for good results.
5. 5. Performance-Based Economic Incentives-one of the motivating factors for this is the ability to improve the standards of their living. Rewarding employees reinforces their behaviour and creates a role model for low performing employees to follow.
Coaching and Mentoring for Effective Implementation of the Plan
Coaching and mentoring the executive team of an org
