A520.9.3.RB Course Reflection

A520.9.3.RB – Course Reflections

Over the last 9 weeks I have studied a vast number of leadership principles and concepts.  Some of the concepts and ideas which I found interesting or valuable as a leader.  To begin with we looked at how we evaluate ourselves.  To me this was important because the workforce whether you are in the military or work in the fast food industry will be diverse and have different values and cultures.  Whetten and Cameron discuss how if you as a leader do not have a good understanding of your self-awareness than you will struggle when dealing with the differences of others.    They quote Erich Fromm who stated “hatred against oneself is inseparable from hatred against others (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, p45).”  Knowing what makes you tick will help you as a leader when dealing with others.

Next we touched on managing stress and problem solving which are important for any leader and manager.  The amount of work leaders are expected to produce and the amount of pressure most people put on themselves to succeed are going to lead to stress.  Learning different coping strategies and how to manage your stress is vital for your health and well-being.  The text states individuals are better off if they can eliminate harmful stressors thus reducing the potential negative effects of stressors (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, p 92).  I think that problem solving is very important when it comes to dealing with stress as well.  Leaders and managers spend a good majority of their time dealing with problems.  It is only a matter of time before these problems will start to lead to stress for the leader.  A leader who can handle problems is more apt to feel less stress than those who have a hard time when problems arise.

Another important thing I took from this course was the personal reflection time.  The video we watched (Puddicombe, 2012) made me realize that taking time for yourself is very important.  In the hectic and busy work environment it is important for many reasons to take time to decompress and reduce your stress level.  I put a considerable amount of pressure on myself to try to be able to do everything for everyone both at work and home.  This normally leads to me feeling overwhelmed and a bit stressed.  Knowing my limits and when I need to take a moment to just breathe is very beneficial.  I like to do this early in the morning while everyone in my house is still asleep.  This allows for no distractions and it is very peaceful and quite. 

The biggest take away for me in this course however, was the empowerment and motivation sections.  I feels these two areas may be the most powerful any leader or manager can use in today’s workforce.  The main reason for me I feel empowerment is so important is because it creates meaning for people.  Whetten and Cameron state that value will help people have purpose or value the outcome of the activity they are involved in (2016). Having meaning also affords people with a sense of purpose, passion, and enthusiasm for the task they are involved in. people who have meaning in their work are going to do things for more than just pay.  They will feel more apt to do their work and do it well.  Meaning is a powerful thing and can create valuable results within your organization.

Empowerment and value will go hand in hand with why I feel motivation is a powerful tool.  The challenge with motivation however, is that different things motivate different people.  As a leader you need to observe and identify these differences in your people.  According to Leadership-Central.com article (2016) there are several benefits of motivation in the workplace. First off you get increased quality in you products. Another benefit of motivated works is reduced turn over. Motivated workers like to come to work and will continue to do so until they are no longer motivated.  Having motivated workers helps keep your speed to market up.  Motivated workers will continue to keep the product new and up to date to keep the customers coming back for more.  Motivation helps keep product value high.  Motivated workers will produce quality product which consumers like and will continually produce this higher quality product. Finally motivated workers are happy people who in turn make people happy which makes society better overall.  So as you can see along with empowerment motivation is a very powerful and important tool for leaders.

During one of the final discussion posts for this course Dr. Rietsema posted a very interesting question.  He asked if personnel who graduate with the degree in leadership should be experts in leadership.  After reflect over some of the important topics and things that I am going to remember from this course I think the answer to this question is no.  I do not think that any degree will instantly make you an expert in any field.  No matter the grades or awards you may win during you degree completion.  I believe if you ask anyone whether doctor, lawyer, engineer, or psychologist and they will tell you that the degree does not make you an expert.  My opinion is that time in the field and experience are going to be the things that make you the expert.  Having completed this degree will put some (cliché as this sounds) tools in your tool box for when you enter the workforce and promote into leadership or management positions.  Using these tools and developing your skills are what is going to make you and expert.    

 

Puddicombe, A. (2012). All it Takes is 10 Mindful Minutes. TEDtalk. Retrieved from:

https://erau.instructure.com/courses/57520/assignments/905637?module_item_id=2904243

Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,

        9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

Importance Of Motivation. (2016). [Data file]. retrieved from:

         http://www.leadership-central.com/importance-of-motivation.html#axzz4bAUyNCtJ

 

A520.8.3.RB - Team Roles

A team can be described as a group of individuals organized to work together to accomplish an objective (Westcott & Duffy, 2014). Teams can also be described as a small number of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose. Teams can also be a group of two or more people who are equally accountable for the accomplishment of a task and specific performance goals.  No matter the definition two main concepts are present.  First multiple personnel, and second working toward the accomplishment of specific goals or tasks.  Within teams there are two main types of goals which exist.  They are task-facilitating roles and relationship building roles (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).  These goals focus on enhancing team performance.  Both types of roles are important however, it is difficult for members of a team to exhibit both types of goals equally.  Team members tend to favor one or the other while participating in team activities.  There are several different roles a task-facilitator can fill.  These roles include: direction giving, information seeking, information giving, elaborating, urging, monitoring, process analyzing, reality testing, enforcing, and summarizing.  These different roles all tend to focus on accomplishment of the mission or objective.  They are the roles which drive a team forward.  Task-facilitators help teams become more efficient and effective.  If a team lacks a task-facilitator they tend to take longer as well as lose focus easily.  The flip side of this is relationship-building roles.  These roles focus on the interpersonal aspects of teamwork.  Personnel who fill these roles tend to help others feel good about themselves as well as others on the team.  They tend to enjoy the work the team is trying to accomplish and create and maintain a tension free environment.  Some of the relationship-building roles include: supporting roles, harmonizing, tension relieving, confronting, energizing, developing, consensus building, and empathizing.  Those who fill these types of roles in a team make the work more enjoyable.  They are humorous and create great chemistry within the team.  These people are attractive (not in a physical sense) to be around and people tend to follow them.  They create a collaborative environment where team members try harder and normally come to consensus easier.  

These two different roles are both equally important to a team accomplishing its mission or goals.  To begin with task-facilitator roles help keep the train moving forward.  If there is nobody on the team who fills these roles then you may never get to your desired outcome.  Whetten and Cameron state that task-facilitator roles are important when your team is slow to progress towards its goal, the team has a hard time staying on task or is deflected easily, when time is a factor and things need to be accomplished by a certain time, when the task is complex or ambiguous, and when everyone seems to be doing their own thing and nobody is moving the team forward (2016).  Relationship building roles are important because of the human factor.  Anytime you have people working together there is the possibility of conflict.  Those who focus on these types of roles have empathy and incorporate humor and support into the team.  They focus on the individual and keep the environment light and positive.

When it comes to me working in a team I think I am pretty balanced and can play both roes well.  Spending the last 17 years of my life in the US Air Force has taught me how to focus on mission accomplishment.  So when the time comes and something needs to be taken care of I know how to get a team of people to focus and get the job done.  On the other side of the coin I enjoy life and like to make things as fun as possible.  So if the stakes are low and there is not a time sensitive situation I can very easily switch to a more relationship role mindset.  As a task oriented person I think I am good at letting the team wander down a rabbit whole long enough to explore some different ideas.  However, when the conversations or ideas start to get way out into left field I can get the group to re-focus and get back on track.  This also goes for sidebars and tangential conversations.  I would love nothing more than to sit around all day and talk sports or politics however, when we are working in a team I highly doubt the end goal is to discuss last night’s game or what the president is up to today. It is very easy for a group to get sidetracked on these types of conversations and it takes a task-facilitator to get everyone back in line with the objectives.  This is a good example of urging type role.  When it comes to my relationship building I love to develop younger Airmen.  When I was an Airman there was nothing I hated more than being told that I did not know the big picture.  Those who were senior felt this answer was good enough when I would ask questions trying to learn why we did things the way we did.  I always told myself if I ever was in a supervisory position where I knew the big picture I would let as many people know as possible.  Because the way I look at this is if I die tomorrow and I am the only one who knows the big picture well than I have just done the US Air Force a huge disservice.  I make it a point to take the most junior person I have on the team and show them exactly why and how we do what we do.  I like to show them the guidance and all the different things they would need to know if they happened to be the only one around and the task needed to be accomplished.

I feel that teams are very important in organizations today.  This is especially true due to the changes in generations within the workforce.  The younger generations are being taught about teamwork and the importance of being in teams.  Schools are now focusing on teamwork and doing group projects.  The need for leaders and managers to be mindful of the importance of teams and teamwork is vital in my opinion to the success or failure of your organization.  

 

Westcott, R. T. & Duffy, G. L. (2014). Team Organization and Purpose. The Journal for Quality and Participation. 37, 3; ProQuest Central.

Whetten, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills, 9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

 

A520.7.3.RB - An Empowerment Example

A520.7.3.RB – An Empowerment Example 

Describe a time when you have been empowered to accomplish something. Reflect on how others supported you and how the endeavor was accomplished. How can you apply those lessons to your own followers?

When you hear the word empowerment what do you think of?  For many it may mean to have power or control over others.  This comes with titles like supervisor, manager, or boss.  However, empowerment is more than just a fancy title or position.  Whetten and Cameron state to empower means to enable (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, pg 367).  Within this is to develop your self-confidence and overcome feelings of powerlessness and helplessness.  To be empowered does not mean just having power.  Empowerment is a concept or theory which one must accept based on circumstances which are created where you feel the drive and desire to accomplish tasks. 

As a career Airman in the Unites States Air Force I have been in many situations where I was empowered.  A good example of one situation was my first trip as a flying crew chief.  Prior to becoming a flying crew chief I had gone on several trips and deployments.  While I was on these trips I was normally with several other aircraft maintainers.  I would be with other specialties and I would always have a higher ranking person who was in charge during these trips.  This meant there was always someone else who made the decisions and all of the tough calls while we were away from home station.

When I became a flying crew chief however, things changed.  I was now expected to be the one who was in charge.  I had to make all the calls while on trips away from my home station.  While I was on these trips I was the one who was in charge of all aspects of the maintenance of the aircraft.  I had to update the statuses, make all the required servicing, call any issues into the command post, and coordinate any specialist work with the base we were at and many other maintenance requirements.  During my first trip I was very nervous. I was afraid I would not know what to do or who to call if I need any help.  I was also afraid that due to my rank (only a Staff Sergeant) I would not be taken seriously by other bases servicing personnel or higher headquarters when I made the required notifications.  However, when it came time for me to do the things required they all went off without any issues.  The text disusses the five core dimensions of empowerment (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).  Included in these are self-efficacy, self-determination, personal consequence, meaning, and trust.  I think that I was successful as a flying crew chief because y training and leadership had provide me with an environment which embraced all five of these dimensions.  The fact that my supervision would put me on an aircraft alone and trust me to be able to handle whatever issues may come up was very beneficial for my self-efficacy.  My leadership knew I was competent enough to accomplish all the required tasks and this definitely help my confidence.  Knowing that when I was on these trips I was the one who made all the calls was very good for my self-determination.  As long as the work was getting done I could accomplish it however I wanted to.  My supervision was not going to be questioning my every move.  This made me feel very free and independent while I was gone.  When it comes to personal consequence I was the one who was going to make the mission a success or failure.  If I could not accomplish the required maintenance actions and ensure the aircraft was ready to fly then we would not complete the required mission.  Therefore anytime I was flying with my aircraft if we completed the mission I felt a big sense of accomplishment and result.  The same holds true for meaning.  If I was in charge of keeping the airplane flying and it flew than there was meaning in my work.  My crew was also very appreciative of me being able to keep the aircraft flying.  Trust was the most important part of me being a flying crew chief.  Both my maintenance supervision as well as the pilots and crew I would fly with trusted in me to keep the aircraft safe and ready to fly when called upon.  This was very important for me and greatly increased my sense of empowerment.       

For me this experience taught me a good deal in how to embrace and encourage empowerment.  Now that I am in a more supervisory position it is important for me to have trust in those who I am trying to empower.  I must first create an environment where those I supervise are trained and adequately prepared to complete the assigned tasks.  Once I feel they have been trained and are ready I must let them make decisions and take actions for those tasks. I feel like I was set up and empowered for my experiences on the flight line.  As a leader know I have to ensure I am not trying to micromanage and get in the way of those who are trying to complete their tasks.  I will be there if they need help or guidance but when it comes to making decisions and completing their tasks I must enable them to take care of them the way they want to and help only when needed.

 

Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,

        9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

A520.6.3.RB - Conflict Resolution

A520.6.3.RB – Conflict Resolution

Conflict is an inevitable part of organizations in today’s complex and fast moving world.  An effective conflict resolution process can help maintain a positive work environment while also help creativity and innovation.  The text discusses several sources of conflict such as personal differences, informational deficiencies, role incompatibility, and environmental stress (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).  There are a few different approaches which one can take in the conflict resolution process to help deal with these sources of conflict.  You can take the accommodating approach, forcing approach, avoiding approach, compromising approach, or the collaborating approach.  All of these different approaches have both positive and negative aspects when dealing with conflict.

A recent situation where I was faced with conflict was with my previous supervisor.  There were several issues I faced which caused conflict between me and him.  To begin with when he first took over in our office he pulled all of us in the office together and told us a little about him. The main take away I got from his briefing was that he was a “change for change” guy. As a 17 year career Air Force member I was used to change with new leadership and while I struggled sometimes with it I have learned how to accept change and press. However, this was a new level of change for me. Part of what I do in my office is take information we collect during interviews and write reports based on this information.  These reports are generated in a system which all IG offices in the Air Force use.  So no matter what base you are located at everyone who is in the IG and writing these reports uses the same system.  My new supervisor had a hard time understanding this and he liked to change the way these reports were formatted.  Which does not sound like a huge problem.  Until I mention that every report I would submit I would incorporate the changes he made on the last report and then he would change something else.  The first time I noticed this I just pressed and when it happened on the next report and then the next one after that I asked if we could talk.  I explained to him how the system we used to write reports works and asked him if he could give me a template of what he would like it to look like so I could stop having to fix these reports every time I submitted one.  I explained the difficulty I was facing by not knowing his expectations and that I felt like I was playing a guessing game because nothing I submitted was ever good enough however, he would not tell me how he wanted things.  Unfortunately no matter how I tried to address this issue I never was able to get a clear answer or good guidance on what he expected from me.

I then approached another member of the leadership within my office and asked for his help.  I explained what I was dealing with and how all I needed was guidance and expectations so I could know and understand what this person wanted.  Even when I sought help from a third party I was unable to get clear guidance or expectations from this supervisor.  I feel like I had gone through all the different types of approaches and even tried using mediation to help me with this issue.  After all this I was still at square one.  We would conduct our inspections and gather information.  I would take the information summarize and load into the computer system we used.  I would generate the report and send it to this supervisor and he would send it back with a bunch of new changes.  A good example of how difficult this was for me was that during one inspection we looked at three different units.  For this process I had to generate three different reports.  I sent all three of these report to this supervisor at the same time and in the same format.  Within a day I had all three sent back to me and all three he had reformatted differently.  He changed so many things that he could not even keep track of the changes he would make.  I took these to him to show him how he was making things very difficult for me and he looked at me like he did not even remember he had changed the reports. 

Looking back at this situation there are a few things I could have done differently.  First off I could have asked right from the start how he would like for the reports to be formatted.  By waiting for this to happen a few times before addressing it I only made my frustration grow.  This clouded my judgment and did not help me in the end deal with this conflict. I could have also involved a third party sooner.  Maybe if another individual approached this supervisor on the issues sooner he would have understood the problems or at least gave us some better more clear guidance. I could have also just avoided the issue all together and continued to fix everything he changed on every report even though there was no method to the changes he was making.    This however, I believe would have led to more issues than by approaching him and asking for clarification.  At the end of the day we really never settled this issue.  Unfortunately this supervisor never would give me any guidance or standards he just continued to changes things no matter what I tried.  This person has since changed station so I now no longer have to deal with the conflict.  This has greatly reduced my stress and conflict within my office.  The new supervisor is very clear and concise on his expectations.  When I send reports to him he lets me know how he wants them formatted and other than minor typographical or grammatical errors the changes are miniscule.

 

    Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,

        9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

A520.5.3 - What Makes us Feel Good About Work

Dan Ariely outlined what motivates us to work is a sense of purpose. Reflect on what motivates you at work and what gives you a sense of purpose. Why do you do what you do? What do you hope to achieve through your work? In considering how you are motivated, how can you discover not only your own personal fulfillment but that of your followers?

Motivation is an interesting concept.  Many who I have worked with and some that I am currently working with would say that your paycheck should be all the motivation you need.  However, I disagree with this.  While I do agree that money is important and a majority if not all people work because they need money this is not a motivating factor for some.  Being compensated for the work you perform is important however, motivation while at work is something else.  The text defines motivation as a combination of desires ad commitments demonstrated by effort (Whetten & Cameron, 2016).  For me motivation has always come from being a hard worker no matter what the task was.  I learned this at a very early age.  My first job as a typical young kid was in the wonderful world of fast food.  As a 15 year old however, I learned very quick the value of hard work and this became a very important motivational factor for me.  My first supervisor set forth very clear expectations and when I accomplished these I was rewarded.  The owners of the establishment actually sat me down once and told me how surprised they were at my work ethic and that they wish they had 10 more people like me.  They then rewarded me with a raise.  Which for a 15 year old kid is going to be a very influential motivator.  This drive for hard work turned into a desire to produce high quality work. Not simply for a raise in pay but I wanted to be the one that supervision came to when they needed something done and wanted it done right.  I became motivated by being the “go to guy”.  This lead to me take on more responsibility which only drove my motivation more.  I was being selected for positions within this organization which had previously been occupied by adults.  I was supervising others within the organization as well.  This was new to me and kept me on my feet.  It was uncomfortable at first because there were a few individuals how were quite a bit older than I was at the time however, I was the shift supervisor. I think that the manager noticed that I had drive and determination and was motivated by being challenged.  They understood that I was motivated by producing high quality results and enjoyed being challenged to do so.  While this motivation may seem silly due to the nature of work I was doing and my age I think this set me up for success when I joined the military.

Now that I am older not only am I motivated by producing quality work and being known as the “go to guy” while I at work have other things which drive me now. To start with now I have a family.  I love to see people who have a spouse and children to provide for talking about needing things to motivate them.  Sometimes I can get a little upset when I hear these types of comments.  Anyone who has a family who is counting on them and can complain about lack of motivation in my mind has kind of missed the boat.  My wife and kids motivate me every day. Every day I leave the house is another day for me to go out and produce for my job to ensure that I can provide for them.  The text discusses how people can use goal setting as a way to help with motivation. It states that those who use goal setting will have an increase in individual effort (2016, 271). This is another way I like to stay motivated.  I have set goals which revolve around providing for my family which help keep me on track and motivated even when times are tough.  I would venture to say that even someone with what most would consider a very fun and exciting job have a hard time staying positive and motivated all the time. By focusing on these goals and knowing what I am working for I can keep my motivation high even when things are not going well.

As I have grown and increased in rank and responsibility t has been challenging to help others stay motivated at times.  I try to maintain a positive outlook on things even when it is stressful and tough. By having a good understanding of motivation and that what motivates me may not motivate others I have been able to help others within the organizations I have been in.  The text discusses using salient rewards as a way to help motivate those in your organization (2016, 281).  These are rewards which are designed to motivate individual’s specific to their needs and desires. These rewards are the kinds of rewards that people actually value and want to receive for performing.  As a supervisor it is your job to get to know your individuals and discover what types of things motivate them.  These types of salient rewards will work out for you if offered correctly and when they are earned.  By getting to know your personnel and understanding what motivates them you also open doors for them to become better workers. If they can trust you and know that you will take care of them they are liable to become your “go to guy/girl” and produce for you quality results time and time again.  By doing this you will also develop relationships with them and understand what their goals and desires are.  This is important because as a leader you can help them get where they want to go within the organization and help them reach their full potential and become successful in all they do.

 

Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,

        9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

A520.4.3.RB - Supportive Commnication

A520.4.3.RB – Supportive Communication

“We are getting less than 40 hours of work from a large number of our K.C.-based EMPLOYEES. The parking lot is sparsely used at 8:00 A.M.; likewise at 5 P.M. As managers – you either do not know what your EMPLOYEES are doing, or you do not CARE. You have created expectations on the work effort that allowed this to happen inside Cerner, creating a very unhealthy environment. In either case, you have a problem and you will fix it or I will replace you. NEVER in my career have I allowed a team that worked for me to think they had a 40-hour job. I have allowed YOU to create a culture that is permitting this. NO LONGER.”

The supportive communication approach has eight attributes associated with it.  These include: congruence, not incongruent, descriptive, not evaluative, problem oriented, not person oriented, validating, not invalidating, specific, not global, conjunctive, not disjunctive, owned, not disowned, and supportive listening, not one-way listening.  Based on these attributes and reflecting on the above statement there are several ways communication could be improved through supportive communication techniques. 

First off in order to be more congruent in your communication you could focus this message more on what is upsetting you.  This seems to be an issue where you could communicate your expectations and standards a little more clearly to the managers.  If you are expecting a 40 hour work week than you need to make sure this is clearly stated to the managers of the organization.  Another area of concern is to ensure your employees have enough work to maintain a 40 hour work week.  If they staff is producing solid numbers and getting all required tasks complete then why would you pay them to stay at work.  If there is nothing for them to do they should be leaving early and coming in late.  This lack of work while still maintaining productivity could be why your parking lot is so sparsely used. 

Second in order to try to maintain more positive communication instead of attacking as a leader you could be more descriptive.  The way this was presented was very incongruent.  It is quite obvious that as a leader you are not very happy with the way things are being ran in the Cerner organization.  Being congruent is a very beneficial way to help develop trust as well as fostering positive relationships (Whetton & Cameron, 2016).

The best way to improve on your communication is to ensure you are using descriptive communication.  Table 4.4 from the text discusses some very effective ways to be descriptive in your communications (Whetten & Cameron, 2016, p. 199).  The rant in the email sent to the leaders of the K.C. branch was definitely not a descriptive communication.  According to the table some key tips are to avoid accusation and to present data or evidence.  The general statements of “we are getting less than 40 hours of work” and that the managers are either unknowing or do not care are not based in fact and not objective.  There is also not a focus on any specific behavior just the fact that it appears as if the workers in the K.C. branch are not pulling their weight.  Finally this communication establishes no solutions.  It ends in a very threatening way and gives no options other than to change what they are doing now.  As a leader you should focus on more objective goals and standards and be more descriptive in the way you present these.

Next, this email focuses mainly on the K.C. branch managers and how they are running their organization.  The text discusses that to be effective in communication you need to focus on problems and not be people oriented.  The text goes on to discuss that building positive relationships using problem oriented communication should be focused on acceptable standards and expectations not just personal opinions on how people should act.  If the standard of work has not been set forth this communication is not going to be very effective.  If the managers of the K.C. branch are meeting the numbers and not having any issues than the perception of them doing less work because they are not there for 40 or more hours is more personal than a true problem for the organization.

This email is also very invalidating to the managers of the K.C. branch.  This form of communication is very much a put down and will lead the managers to feel not valued or that they are not doing a good job.  This email was a prime example of superior-oriented communication and was very much a put-down for the managers.  As a leader you need to ensure if there is something you are not happy with you are communicating this appropriately.  A more respectful, egalitarian approach where you let the managers know that there is an issue but let them take part in coming up with solutions to fix the problems would be much better way to approach this.

This email was not very specific in nature.  “We are getting less than 40 hours work from a large number of our K.C. based employees”.  How many employees are putting in less work?  How much less than 40 hours are they putting in?  Is this impacting the overall goal of the K.C. branch?  These are all numbers that would help the K.C. managers fix the issue.  Plus we do not even know if this is an issue.  Was a clear and specific standard of work ever set to begin with?  Is this lack of 40 hours impacting the organization in a negative way?  These are all important facts that need to be assessed.  The final line of this email was very much a nonuseful or global threat to shape up or you will be shipped out.  However, if many of the previous questions are not answered shaping up may be quite hard to do.

This email is a prime example of a disjunctive communication.  As a leader not affording your management team the opportunity to speak up and state their side of the story is very disconnected.  By sending this email with the threatening tone you have made it quite clear that you are not very happy with the way things are going.  You have also made it abundantly clear that if things do not change you will make sure things are changed.  However, you have allowed no interaction from the management team just a blind threat to fix an issue that may not even be an issue is not a very helpful way to communicate.

The tone of this email is both owned and disowned.  There is a combination of “we” and “I” statements throughout this communication.  This is a very confusing way to try to communicate to your leadership team if you are expecting things to be fixed.  As the manager of the K.C. branch I would be very unclear on who I was even letting down due to the confusion in this message.  This goes back to being clear and descriptive in the way you communicate if you are expecting things to be fixed. 

Finally, based on the eight attributes this email is a prime example of one-way message delivery.  There is no supportive listening taking place in this form of communication.  The use of all capital letters makes it very clear that you are setting the tone and the managers are going to do as you say or they are going to find themselves unemployed.  When trying to correct an issue first thing you need to do is ensure the others know there is an issue.  Once you have established this fact you should talk it over with the other managers and try to figure out a way to come to an agreement to correct this issue.  A blind fix this or else is not helping to set up the management team for success.  You should first find out if the K.C. managers even think this is a problem.  If you have never set clear standards and goals and the K.C. team is not failing to produce what they are required to produce than to these managers there may not even be an issue.  To not have a conversation with these managers is an epic fail on your part as the leader of this organization.  Now if you have established clear goals and standards and the K.C. team is not meeting these and their people are not working there full shifts then you have a problem.  The first thing you have to do though is have a conversation with the managers and make sure everyone is on the same page.

Supportive communication is a very beneficial way to communicate as a leader.  This type of communication helps establish trust and growth within organizations.  As a leader if you can embrace the eight attributes associated within supportive communication you should be able to run an effective organization.  By using supportive communication and establishing these trusting relationships you will be able to have conversations with your employees no matter the situation.  Obviously when delivering good news the conversations should always be easy.  But not every conversation is always going to be good news.  By using supportive communication and the eight attributes it should help when you have to have the difficult conversations.  This approach to communicating would have been much better for this issue within the Cerner organization.  This email failed to meet the mark in many ways and probably lead to many more issues between the management and leader of the organization.  while not a guarantee that things are always going to go smoothly if these attributes and approach are used it will greatly increase the odds that in the end both parties can come to an agreement and work out the issues.

 

 Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,

        9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.

 

 

A520.3.3.RB - Constraints on Creative Problem Solving

A520.3.3.RB – Constraints on Creative Problem Solving

I think the first thing we need to get rid of to not stifle creative problem solving is the hierarchical approach to leadership.  What I mean by this is the fear of saying something that may be construed as against the boss.  We have to not limit the potential of those who are in the lower levels of the organization.  When we shut down those who are not in the management or leadership positions we are cutting out valuable insight into how we can make the organization better and solve our problems.  In Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty it is stated that 60% of all solutions to problems come from the lower levels of the organization (Obolensky, 2014).   The text describes this as noninquisitiveness.  This is summed up as the inability to solve problems because of fear of asking questions (Whetton & Cameron, 2016).  I believe this is especially true when dealing with a supervisor or your boss.  Another constraint you may face is thinking outside the box.  Many times when facing a problem you tend to focus on the issue and then one and only one way to solve this problem.  This is referred to as bias against thinking.  This mental block is a hindrance to problem solving when you tend to avoid doing any mental work or thinking.  Another constraint toward problem solving is functional fixedness (Barriers, 2016).  This is when a person attempts to solve a problem with a narrow minded mentality.  Functional fixedness is when you get the “you can’t do that” attitude toward solving the issue.  This approach will stifle creative thinking and limit your problem solving attempts.  Irrelevant information is another block to problem solving.  This is a major problem I face in the office I work in now.  This is when you are focusing on solving a problem and cannot stay on point.  It happens when you begin to discuss or research information that is not related to the problem at hand.  This happens in brainstorming sessions and when working in groups and people begin to have sidebars and other conversations and the next thing you know everyone is off topic and not working toward solving the issue.

One constraint I have placed on myself which has limited my problem solving is nonnquisitiveness.  I think however, comes from being in the military and being taught that as long as it is not illegal you do not question your supervisor or boss.  While the Air Force has made considerable progress in this area to help increase innovation this is still an area I struggle with.  A good example of this is when dealing with a recent supervisor and report writing.  My office uses a new database for storing data and producing reports based on the inspections we conduct.  This program however, is utilized by all offices across the Air Force who do this job.  Once all the data is entered into the system the report is automatically produced.  No matter what I would do the reports that were generated were not good enough for this particular supervisor.  Even though the program generated these reports and it was standardized across the Air Force he would make changes to the way the report was formatted.  Even though all other bases within our command were doing them the same way every one of the reports we would submit would be in different formats.  This to me was a problem and instead of asking him why he felt the need to change every report and to change them in different ways I just continued to send them to him and he made all his changes and then we published them. 

Another constraint I face pretty much on a daily basis is dealing with irrelevant information.  I work in an office with 8 people and no matter what we are trying to do we always get sidetracked and end up talking about other things.  We will sit down at our conference table and begin to look at a process we have and within five minute we will be talking about our kids or the score to a game we all watched or politics you name it and we will probably be talking about it.  The one thing I can tell you is we will not be focused on the problem or issue we were working anymore.  

Now I do not want to make it seem like I am completely ineffective at solving problems.  These are a few examples of times when the constraints to problem solving have crept in and hindered my effectiveness.  From time to time I think that all people face these constraints however.  If this was not true there would not be any problems anymore.  If one finds themselves facing these constraints there are some ways they can look to get passed them.  Some of these ways include making the strange familiar and the familiar strange, elaborate the definition, reverse the definition, defer judgment and several others.  All one has to do is recognize they are facing a constraint and then utilize one of these methods to bypass the constraint and get re-focused and back on track to solving their problems.

 

Barriers to Problem Solving. (2016). Free Management Books.  Retrieved from:

            http://www.free-management-ebooks.com/news/barriers-to-problem-solving/

Obolensky, N. (2014). Complex Adaptive Leadership: Embracing Paradox and Uncertainty.

           Grower Publishing. New York, NY.

Whetton, D. A. & Cameron, K. S. (2016). Developing management skills,

        9th ed. Boston, MA: Pearson.