Ideal Team Development How to effect ideal team development? As the saying goes, there is no ‘I’ in TEAM WORK. Every organization should understand the importance and highlight the need for TEAM DEVELOPMENT amongst their employees. In a small group there are chances for the ‘WE’ feeling to predominate for obvious reasons. In case of larger groups as seen in big corporate, individual interaction becomes complex and gives rise to conflicts which hold back the progress.     The “I” Factor: Even philosophers don’t support or advocate the “I” FACTOR in individuals. It is purely a result of SUPER EGO as Sigmund Freud has put it rightly. Man is a MYRIAD OF EMOTIONS and his mind always picks up wrong cues and signals perfectly. So, TRAINING plays a major part in tuning the individual’s mind or shall I say, SYNCHRONISING his understanding with that of the organisation’s.   Try to clearly explain during the induction as to: What is the ultimate goal of your organization in terms of productivity? What is expected of each individual in his own capacity? What is the culture of the organization? What is the leader of the organization like? How do you interact with your team mates? Code of conduct and disciplinary procedures What is his role regarding the team’s development?   Picture Courtesy: Popyourcareer.com   Self Awareness: Self awareness is the key factor for the growth of any individual.A mind that is PHILOSOPHICALLY BENT would prove prosperity to the team as well as the organization. Western countries have realized the importance of keeping the mind cool which can be well achieved through MEDITATION AND YOGA. Sensitivity training is of paramount importance to any organization as an intervention for achieving the overall goals of the organization.   Inter Personal Human Behavior: Effective human interactions are the backbone of efficient organizations and this is not possible unless the interpersonal human behavior is CONTROLLABLE AND OPEN TO DISCUSSION. There should always be SCOPE for improvement and SPACE to express one’s feelings and offer ideas, i.e., sense of participation must be groomed. Team leaders and Managers are to be suitably trained to steer their ship and also rewards are welcome to motivate the crew. Why don’t leaders experiment with new behavior of effective leadership casting away conservative methods and also design flexible norms? It will constitute for a well behaved group and paves way for your organization to be UNIQUE. While organizing a group, a manager should carry out the process with a humane perspective taking into account, the human values, vision, creative thinking and better means of motivation. These factors align and bind the organization together paving way for holistic thinking and collaborative...

People Management and Trade Unions Need for Trade Unions Why do employees join trade unions is an important question. Most of the workers are members of any one of the trade unions. One of the major objectives of trade unionism is to promote industrial democracy. This objective is achieved when trade union is an organization of the workers, for the workers and by the workers”. In practice this rarely happens and instead unions become an oligarchy. Union leaders by and large, show authoritative  behavior with less participation, openness and transparency. Decision-making is centralized, elections are often postponed and positions are filled repeatedly by nominations. Rank and file is pampered with promises and seldom gets near to decision-making process. Positions get worse when unions are guided by outside leaders and regulated by the policies of political parties.   Ideology of Trade Unions Absence of democratic leadership reduces the effectiveness of trade unions and prevents the development of trade union leadership from among the workers within the industries. In due course, trade unions become obsessed with political ideology or personal interest ousting the welfare of the workers. Before we move on to the functions of trade unions, let us understand the reasons for the existence of such organizations. To get a common platform to air ones views, aims, ideas and feelings and obtain recognition and status among fellow workers. Make use of the principle of unity for the purpose of securing good working conditions, higher economic compensations, better career prospects and welfare needs. Security of employment and protection against calamity of accident, death and social security after retirement. Restrict management action which is against the interest of the workers. Functions of a Trade Union The internal functions of a labor union includes better wage claim, to ensure better working conditions, reasonable work etc.,The external functions include conducting night school, games, sports and other recreational activities. These two functions may be grouped as economic and social functions. Many unions try to capture political power through election, so that they can influence upon the programmes and policies of government in favor of labor. This function is known as political function. Under the legal functions, the interpretation of law takes the major share. A jist of the main purpose of trade organizations: To improve the standard of living and working condition of the workers. To protect the security of workers’ employment. To ensure better health, reasonable working hours and welfare measures. To improve the political status. To raise the vocational status. To bring better participation in the management. To inculcate the feeling of self respect and confidence among worker force. To bring industrial peace and harmony. As long as unionism is considered as an anathema by the management, there will be lack of harmony and mutual trust between the management and labor force. Management must not consider labor unions as a legal obligation as it does not develop faith and goodwill. Instead the union has to be viewed as a partner in trade to live with and work with. Union must also recognize that work is worship and the survival and success of organization depends on the very survival and success of the workforce. Once the team spirit is built up no unreasonable demands will be raised and union leaders must view strikes and lock outs as last resorts to put pressure on management. The Trade Unions Act, 1926– An act to provide for the registration of Trade Unions and in certain respects to define the law relating to registered Trade...

Group Dynamics Any effective group has three core activities: 1. Accomplishing its goals  2. Maintaining itself internally 3. Developing and changing in ways that improves its effectiveness. Let us now try to understand the various dimensions of an effective group that facilitate the above mentioned three core elements to function properly which provide a sense of direction to the productive group. a) Group goals: Must be clearly understood. Be relevant to the needs of the group members. Highlight the positive inter dependence of members.  Evoke from every member a high level of commitment to their accomplishment. b) Communication: Must communicate their ideas and feelings accurately and clearly.  Effective two way communication is mandatory for interaction c) Participation and Leadership: All should participate and all should be listened to. Share responsibilities that eases the burden. Increases the cohesiveness of the group. d) Appropriate decision making procedure: Balance between time and member resources. Flexible decision making to suit the needs of the situation. e) Power and Influence:  · Should be equal · Based on expertise, ability and access to information and not on authority · Coalitions must be formed between group members on the basis of mutual influence and interdependence. f) Conflicts: · Are to be encouraged as they promote involvement in the group’s work, improve quality and creativity in decision making. · Minority opinions should be accepted and used g) Group Cohesion: · Needs to be high · Level of acceptance, support, and trust among the members decide how cohesive the group is h) Problem Solving: · Problems should be resolved with minimal energy and permanently · Existence of problems must be found out quickly and solutions should improve the effectiveness of group behavior  i) Inter-personal effectiveness: · Needs to be high · It is a measure of how all the consequences of your behavior match your intention. ⇓ Picture Courtesy: 6 WAYS TO DEVELOP A WINNING TEAM CULTURE  Group Cohesiveness: This is defined as the average resultant force acting on members to remain in a group. The characteristics or criteria that determine group cohesiveness are as follows: 1. Degree of dependency on the group: The greater the number of individual needs are satisfied, the greater the cohesiveness. 2. Size: If the size of the group interaction is low, it results in low cohesiveness. If the size of the group is small, the members tend to have free and more interaction, leading to high level of cohesiveness and vice versa. 3. Homogeneity: Where the interests and background of the group is similar, you find greater cohesiveness. 4. Outside pressure: Outside pressure minimizes internal conflicts leading to high cohesiveness. You find people responding with greater cohesiveness during times of natural disaster and calamities. 5. Competition: Competition between the members of the same group or intra group competition reduces cohesiveness but competition members of different groups or inter-group competition increases cohesiveness. Group Cohesiveness can be encouraged by the following ways: · Make the group smaller · Encourage agreement with group goals · Increase the time members spend together · Stimulate competition with other groups · Give rewards to groups rather than to a single member · Physically, isolate the group.  ...

Organizational Development Training and development is an important aspect of human resource development. However the traditional methods and approach of T&D has its own limitations in that the focus is on individual development and behavior modification. This has seldom produced organizational development and hence in 1960’s an integrated approach called the ‘OD’ or organizational development was developed. Meaning and definition of organizational development (o.d.) “A process used to enhance both the effectiveness of an organization and the well being of its members through planned interventions.” OD is the systematic application of behavioral science knowledge for the purpose of improving productivity, efficiency, effectiveness and overall health of the total organization. The applied interventions attempt to modify the beliefs, assumptions, values, attitudes and standards of both the individuals and groups thereby transforming the organizational culture for the betterment of system as a whole.     FEATURES OF ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT: HUMANISM: The focus is on the employees, their attitude and inter-personal relationships. An organization is a network of people whose emotions, outlook and cohesiveness are more important than monetary and other physical aspects because it is they who take the organization to the next higher level.  This is made possible by open communication, free and frank discussions of problems with employees by the managers, inter-personal trust and above all, sense of belongingness, comradeship and team spirit. PROBLEM-SOLVING NATURE: The purpose of an OD intervention is to solve a problem. The employees themselves are given the opportunity to identify the problem by Survey Feedback and find a suitable solution through analysis. This is a cyclic process and also called as “Action Research”. SYSTEMS APPROACH: OD is concerned with not the structure or persons per se, but with the interplay of structure and persons. LEARNING THROUGH PARTICIPATION: The participants of the learning process are none other than the employees. They unlearn old things and learn new things by identifying, analyzing and finding the right solution to the bottlenecks. TOP MANAGEMENT SUPPORT AND INVOLVEMENT: OD intervention is successful only when top management involvement is full-fledged and ensures participation from all levels of managers and all departments in such an exercise. MULTIPLE INTERVENTIONS: Intervention takes place at various levels, individual as well as group and the purpose is molding desirable work culture and leadership styles suitable for the organization. ROLE OF CONSULTANT: Employing an external consultant will be more appropriate as he is less susceptible to influences and more objective. He acts as the change agent facilitating co-ordination and stimulation. CONTINGENCY PLANS: Alternate plans are also devised if in case the original plan fails; the idea is one that of trial and error, hence the need for contingency plans and approach to OD problem.   RENSIS LIKERT’S OD FRAMEWORK: Rensis Likert’s 4 system OD framework aims at moving towards truly participative system. Care and caution must be adhered to steer the system gradually from where the organization now works. He also introduced diagnostic analysis to find what causes the current problem. His three part diagnostic analysis includes: A. OUTPUT CAUSES: Low productivity, absenteeism, declining profit B. INTERVENING CAUSES: Organization structure, control, policy and leadership C. ROOT CAUSES: Attitude, motivation level, empowerment and organization culture   Tips for Organization Development OD CULTURE: “The OD paradigm values human and organizational growth, collaborative and participative processes and a spirit of enquiry.” Brown and Covey have made some attempts to identify OD values from the following: Norms and Values: Respect for people: People are the most important of all resources. So giving due respect and importance to people induces the creativity and innovation in them. Trust and Support: Trust, openness and supportive climate improve organization culture and empowerment. Power Equalization: This emphasizes hierarchical authority, control and centralization. Confrontation: Do not...

Resistance to change should be considered as a good sign and can be compared to fever while there is a bodily infection. It creates a platform for the firm to find out the causes for resistance and hence the solution. Causes for Resistance to Change Individual Resistance A. Economic factors: When pay is tied up with productivity, resistance arises. B. Habit: It is the habit of humans to resist anything new. C. Fear of the unknown: Freshers always have a feeling of insecurity and uncertainty when they join an organization. D. Change affects emotions and sentiments: People are disturbed both emotionally and sentimentally when there is a change. E. Lack of clarification: People interpret change in different ways; so there is a need for the organization to clarify as to the nature of the change and its implied consequences or implications. F. For the sake of opposing: Illogical and weird opinions are given by the employees just for the sake of opposing. Resistance to change Organizational Resistance A. Built-in-Mechanism: People working in groups experience shock when there is a structural change introduced in the system as they are tuned to a set of rules and procedures. B. Group norms: This also acts as a strong source of resistance acting as a constraint C. Threat to expertise: Technological innovations pose new threats everyday to the non-technical persons D. Threat to established power relationship: If the powers are re-assigned amongst the managerial cadre there arises unrest E. Threat to established resource allocation: Budget reallocations are resisted by departments that are not favored How to Overcome Resistance to Change? Education and Communication: The logic of change must be conveyed to the employees in a convincing manner and full facts must be communicated without an iota of doubt. Participation: It becomes difficult for individuals or groups to resist change when they are made to act as change agents Facilitation and Support: Change agents can offer counseling, training etc to pacify the employees Use of Group Force: Groups can exert more pressure on attitudes, values and behavior and hence, if the group cohesiveness is strong, the change is easier to achieve. Leadership for Change: A strong leader-manager can create a climate for psychology support from subordinates Negotiation: The key persons or individuals whom the management think are potential change agents can be rewarded and brought to the negotiating table Manipulation: Twisting information, creation of false rumors, withholding undesirable information are some of the tactics of manipulation that decrease the intensity of resistance to change. Coercion:  Application of force that includes threats of transfers, delay in promotions, negative performance evaluation can decrease the resistance and also the credibility. Manipulation and coercion must be considered as last options to reduce the pressure as generally people will welcome any change that is positive and beneficial to the organization in the long run. It is the responsibility of the management to project the change in a gradual and convincing manner to the...