Business Flashcards
Big five personality traits
Open
Extraverted
Conscientious
Stable
Agreeable
Extraversion
Outgoing
Sociable
Assertive
Comfortable and confident when dealing with others
Agreeableness
Good natured
Co-operative
Trusting
Get along with others
Conscientiousness
Responsible
Dependable
Careful
Focus on goals
Meet commitment
Emotional stability
Relaxed
Secure
Unworried
Calm
Stable
Confident
Openness
Curious
Open to new ideas
Imaginative
Broad-minded
Receptive to new things
Comfortable with change
What is the definition of emotional intelligence?
The ability to manage ourselves and our relationships effectively
What is emotional intelligence?
Reflected in how well you recognize, understand and manage feelings while interacting with others
Why is emotional intelligence important?
High emotional intelligence allows you to recognize and control your own emotions as well as recognize and manage others emotions before they become disruptive
Attitude
Attitude is a tendency to react a certain way to your environment and others
People hold attitudes towards many things in the workplace – bosses, coworkers, tasks, policies, customers etc.
Thought
thinking a certain way or having a certain belief
Behaviour
acting in such a way that is consistent with belief and feeling
Perception
Attitude
The Self Fulfilling prophecy: What you think will happen, will happen if it’s a reflection of your attitude and satisfaction
Poker Chip Theory: Self esteem and “Risk Taking”
Cognitive dissonance
is a bad feeling when thoughts and affects do not match behaviour.
People usually do one of the following when experiencing cognitive dissonance
- Change thought or affect to fit behaviour
- Change future behaviour to fit the thought and affect
- Rationalize to make the existing behaviour make sense with the thought and affect
Job Satisfaction
Job Satisfaction is the degree to which an individual feels positive or negative about aspects of their work life.
Stats Canada found that only 1 in 12 Canadians were dissatisfied with their job
Job satisfaction tends to be higher in small firms rather than larger ones
Job satisfaction and overall life satisfaction tend to be closely linked
The four attitudes that matter most… according to the text
- Believing you have the opportunity to do your best
- Believing ones opinions count
- Believing fellow workers are committed
- Believing there is a direct connection between ones work and the companies mission
Components of Job Satisfaction
Work itself
does the job offer responsibility, interest, challenge?
Components of Job Satisfaction
Quality of supervision
are task and social support available?
Components of Job Satisfaction
Co-workers
how much harmony, respect, friendliness exist?
Components of Job Satisfaction
Opportunities
are there avenues for promotion, learning, growth?
Components of Job Satisfaction
Pay
is compensation actually and perceived to be fair?
Components of Job Satisfaction
Work conditions
do conditions offer comfort, safety, support?
Components of Job Satisfaction
Security
is the task and employment secure?
Internal: Cognitive Dissonance
When your actions and beliefs conflict with one another
Eg. You want to be eco friendly but find out your car is not fuel efficient
You want to be a good teammate, but are riding the bench, also want to play
External: Unmet Expectations
When you go into a situation/ event expecting something and it does not occur as expected or at all
Poor Job Satisfaction Outcomes
Absenteeism, Turnover
Both absenteeism and turnover is very costly to any organization because of the productivity lost and the cost to train a new employee
Not all happy workers are good workers, some people can be happy and just terrible at their job, others can be good at their job but miserable
Job satisfaction and job performance are related, high performing workers tend to feel more satisfied
Individual Performance
The quality and quantity of tasks accomplished. Based on three factors
Ability: Capacity. Proper selection, training and development.
Effort: Willingness. Intrinsic is more enduring than extrinsic.
Support: Opportunity. Resources, goals, operational freedom, technology and feedback
CHARACTERISTICS OF EFFECTIVE LEADERS
Integrity
Drive
Vision
Commitment to Equity
Integrity
TRUSTWORTHY, HONEST, DEPENDABLE, TRANSPARENT
LEADERS WHO DEMONSTRATE INTEGRITY INSPIRE CONFIDENCE BY THE WAY THEY ARE OPEN AND SUPPORTIVE IN THE WORKPLACE
Drive
🡪 MOTIVATED, INITIATIVE, TENACITY, SELF-CONFIDENCE
LEADERS MUST BE DRIVEN TO SUCCEED IN ORDER TO INSPIRE OTHERS TO WORK WITH PASSION AND EFFORT. LEADERS MUST TRUST THEMSELVES AND THEIR ABILITIES
LEADERS ENJOY INFLUENCING OTHERS TOWARDS COMMON GOAL
Vision
CREATIVE, INSIGHTFUL AND ORGANIZED
LEADERS SHOULD HAVE A CLEAR IDEA AND PLAN FOR WHERE THEY AND THEIR GROUP ARE HEADED NEXT. LEADERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO GENERATE NEW IDEAS, ORIGINAL APPROACHES WHEN ENCOUNTERING DIFFICULT TIMES
COMMITMENT TO EQUITY AND DIVERSITY
KINDNESS, FAIRNESS, UNDERSTANDING, FLEXIBILITY
LEADERS NEED TO UNDERSTAND THEIR WORKFORCE AND DEVELOP SOLUTIONS AND ENVIRONMENTS THAT ARE SUITABLE FOR THEM TO WORK AND ACHIEVE.
EACH OF US DESIRES FAIRNESS IN OUR LIVES AND INEQUITY CAN BE A HUGE STRESSOR
Team (definition):
Is a collection of people who regularly interact to pursue common goals.
Teamwork (definition):
Is the process of people actively working together to accomplish common goals.
Challenges of teamwork
Personality conflicts
Individual differences in personality and work style
Ambiguous agendas
Ill-defined problems
Motivation issues
Conflicts with other work deadlines and priorities
Lack of team organization
Time-management issues.
The five stages of group development
Forming
Storming
Norming
Performing
adjourning
Forming
Individuals enter into the group, get acquainted with members,
and establishing relationships
Acceptable behavior is determined
Members learn about each others strengths roles and how they
will work together
Learning how others perceive the team’s task
Storming
High emotions, possibility of hostility or infighting
Conflict, competition and tensions emerge over interpersonal concerns
Important changes occur, like role clarification and deadlines, sub-teams form
Start to consider possible obstacles
Lasting effect, positives or negative
Norming
Co-operation and follow shared rules of conduct
Members are falling into useful roles (leader for example)
The team may not be performing at its peak level yet, but the wrinkles are starting to be ironed out, and good progress is starting to be made
This stage often includes elements of sharing, trust building, and cohesion.
Performing
Organized and functioning well
Solve creative and complex tasks
Solve interpersonal conflicts
Operates with clear structure and goals
Team chemistry
Adjourning
Team break-up
Can be an emotional period
Acknowledge contributions
Celebrate success
Manager roles in Teams
A common misconceptions
Managers can often take different roles when working in teams.
A common misconception is that on a team, a manager is always the leader or direct supervisor of the team.
This isn’t always the case.
Team Leader
When the manager acts as the team leader, they are essentially keeping the typical role of manager. They oversee the team and continue to provide clear direction, while acting as supervisor and appointed head of the team.
Network Facilitator
In this role, the manager acts more as a collaborative leader, but not actively supervising directly, all the time. The manager is there, will check in, and provide direction and assistance when required.
Team Member
When a manager takes the role of a team member, he or she becomes an active contributor to the team. The manager is not acting as a supervisor, but as a same level contributor as any other member on the team.
External Coach
A manager acting as an External Coach for a team is essentially taking a true hands-off role. The manager is there and can be accessed when help or assistance is required, but really doesn’t take an active direct role in the team.
Type of Teams
Formal
Informal
Committees
Project team
Virtual teams
Formal
Teams officially designated and designed by the organization
Essential roles
Executive management, middle management, first level management, workforce
Departments, Units, Teams, Divisions, etc
INFORMAL
Form naturally, not designated, occur in organization
Based on common interest
Can lead to friendship groups / support groups
Increase Quality of Work Life
Committees
Brings people together outside daily assignments
Small team with a specific purpose
Usually very narrow in scope
Ongoing in nature
Example : Health and Safety committee, unless large organization this is not enough for a job on its own, but a necessary components. Meets the first Monday of every month to address any health and safety concerns, with a goal of being proactive and preventative in nature.
PROJECT TEAM
People assembled to work on a common problem
Temporary
Specific goals
Completion deadlines are clear
Example: Staff would like to raise money for a charity and have fun doing it as a team building activity. A group of people meet, and come up with a number of possibilities and then report back to the organization with their final decision and game plan for how to make it happen.
Virtual Team
Work together primarily in an online environment, rather than face to face
Easier to communicate in an online forum at the leisure of each member, when they can make time or best fits their schedule
Can save time and travel expenses
The lack of face-to-face can lead to problems, no nonverbal cues, can be disconnected
What makes a group effective?
Shared norms
Cohesiveness
CULTURAL EXPECTATIONS
Social loafing
How to build positive norms
Act as a positive role model.
Reinforce the desired behaviours with rewards.
Control results by performance reviews and feedback.
Train and orient new members to adopt desired behaviours.
Recruit and select new members who exhibit the desired behaviours.
Hold regular meetings to discuss progress and ways of improving.
Use team decision-making methods to reach agreement.
Shared norms
A norm is a behavior expected of team members
Examples of norms would be:
Performance: the level of effort team members are expected to contribute
Timeliness: how quickly team members are expected to have tasks completed
Quality: the standard that team members’ work is expected to achieve
Cohesiveness
Cohesiveness is the degree to which team members are attracted to and motivated to remain part of a team
Highly cohesive teams have members that value their role and try to maintain positive relationships with other team members; they tend to follow the norms
A really high level of cohesiveness can be a disadvantage
Members may feel so strongly about the group that they may not want to “go against” the majority. This concept is called GROUPTHINK.
HOW COHESIVENESS AND NORMS INFLUENCE TEAM PERFORMANCE
Low Performance
Strong commitments to harmful norms
High Performance
Strong commitments to supportive norms
Low-Moderate Performance
Weak commitments to harmful norms
Moderate Performance
Weak commitments to supportive norms
CULTURAL EXPECTATIONS
Culturally diverse teams have more difficulty learning how to work well together – they struggle more in the early stages of group development
Culturally diverse teams however, provide more perspectives and experiences that can help in problem solving and make them more effective in the end
When teams are homogeneous (meaning the members are very similar) it is easier to manage relationships
Two sources of managerial power:
Position power
Personal power
Position power
Based on a manager’s official status in the organization
Reward power
Capability to offer something of value - $ or praise
Coercive power
Capability to punish or withhold positive
outcomes
Legitimate power
Organizational position or status confers the
right to control those in subordinate positions
Personal power.
Based on the unique personal qualities that a person brings to the leadership situation.
Expert power
Capacity to influence others because of one’s knowledge and skills.
Referent power
Capacity to influence others because they admire you and want to identify positively with you.
What is a leadership theory?
A leadership theory is a philosophy each leader has about the ideal relationship they have with their staff and nature/ motivation for the work they do
What is a leadership style?
A leadership style is the method a leader chooses to implement their leadership philosophy
Leadership behavior …
how leaders behave when working with followers
Concern for the task
Concern for the people
Task concerns
Plans and defines work to be done.
Assigns task responsibilities.
Sets clear work standards.
Urges task completion.
Monitors performance results.
People concerns
People concerns
Acts warm and supportive toward followers.
Develops social rapport with followers.
Respect the feelings of followers.
Is sensitive to followers’ needs.
Shows trust in followers.
Country Club Manager (High,Low)
Focuses on people’s needs, building relationship
Team Manager (High, High)
Focuses on building participation and support for a shared purpose
Impoverished Manager(Low, Low)
Focuses on minimum effort to get work done
Authority-Obedience Manager(Low, High)
Focuses on efficacy of tasks and operations
Leadership styles
- Autocratic
- Collaborative
- Laissez-Faire
- Democratic
Laissez-Faire style
hows little concern for task, lets the group make decisions, and acts with a
“do the best you can and don’t bother me” attitude”
Democratic Style
Committed to task and people, getting things done while sharing information, encouraging participation in decision making, and helping people develop skills and competencies.
