U3 Ch.6-8 Skills Flashcards
Leadership styles
- Autocratic
- Democratic
- Laissez-faire
Autocratic Leadership Characteristics
- Leader gives instructions to subordinates.
- Makes all decisions themselves without consulting employees. Example: product recall in an emergency
- There is little room for innovation.
- Uses threats of punishment to motivate employees as they do not trust them
Democratic Leadership Characteristics
- Leader trusts and involves subordinates in decision-making process
- Listen to employees views and keep them informed of changes so they feel involved in business
- generates sense of belonging but still controlled by manager
- Emphasis on teammwork fosters more openness and trust between manager and employees
Laissez-faire leadership features
- Minimised leader involvement
- usually in firms with highly skilled employees that can work independently
- employees are trusted to make their own decisions without management interference
- requires employees to be very engaged with their work
Advantages of Autocratic
- Quick decision-making
- Quick task completion
- More Productivity
Disadvantages of Autocratic
- High management stress
- Low staff motivation (get orders little independence)
- Poor IR (employees feel undervalued, lead to IA)
Advantages of Democratic
- Encourages Intrapreneurship (help increase sales)
- Develop employee skills (via delegation and empowerment. more suitable for promotion)
- High motivation (can lead to more productivity)
Disadvantages of Democratic
- Slow decisions
- Frustrated employees (if ideas not adopted)
- Resentment from manager (may not like less control)
Advantages of Laissez-faire
- High motivation (feel trusted + work hard)
- More skills + knowledge (via delegation. prepares them for promotion)
- Intrapreneurship (reduce cost + more sales)
Disadvantages of Laissez-faire
- Less productivity (take advantage of less supervision)
- Poor decisions (inexperience. damage reputation/miss opportunities)
- Poor IR (if management blame employees for mistakes. leads to tension)
Delegation
The assignment of authority to another person. Generally from manager to subordinate. Accountability is also assigned.
Successful delegation requirements
- Open Communication (requirements)
- Employee skill and experience (must be appropriate)
- Managerial Control (ensure errors are identified and corrected)
Advantages of Delegation
- Less Management Workload (focus time on other more important tasks like strategic planning)
- More motivation (shows trust which boosts productivity)
- Development (increases skills and flexibility)
- High standard (due to personal accountability)
Disadvantages of Delegation
- Employee stress (may not want responsibility)
- Poor decisions
- Resentment from Employees (if they feel manager is assigning them mundane tasks they don’t want to do)
Theories of motivation
- Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
- McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Maslow’s heirarchy of needs
Theory that says all human needs can be arranged in a hierarchy in order of their importance. Once a need is satisfied the need immediately above it becomes their dominant motivator
5. Self-Actualisation needs
4. Esteem needs
3. Social needs
2. Safety needs
1. Physical needs
- Physical Needs
The need for food, water, clothing and shelter.
Manager can motivate employees w/ fair wage, bonuses and profit-sharing schemes.
- Safety Needs
The need for safety, security and consistency.
Manager can offer long-term employment contracts and ensuring work environment is safe with health insurance cover.
- Social Needs
Need for human interaction, friendship and to belong as part of a group.
Manager can offer flexitime arrangements enabling more time with family. Allowing employees to work in teams and organise social events for them
- Esteem Needs
Need for having your work recognised by other and to be praised and challenged.
Manager can provide job titles, challenging work, listen to their ideas, reward performance and offer development opportunities.
- Self-actualisation Needs
need to achieve one’s full potential and be the best version one can be.
Manager can support employees to achieve new challenges and encourage a growth mindset. This can be done through development opportunities and employee empowerment
Advantages of Maslow
- Rewards (recognises people are motivated by more than money with job titles and praise and development opportunities)
- Changing Needs (understands this happens overtime and different rewards needed)
- Management positions (prepares employees for promotion)
Limitations of Maslow
- Individual Needs (assumes people motivated by same things at same stage of career)
- Self-actualisation (varies from person to person. business may struggle to motivate at this level of hierarchy)
- Value of needs (not all needs may be of equal value for employees. One might value esteem above safety)
McGregor’s Theory X and Theory Y
Douglas McGregor’s 2 theories on employee motivation that focus on two extremes of how management views attitudes to work. X is extremely positive. Y is extremely negative
Theory X
managers believe employees:
-dislike work
-avoid responsibility
-lack ambition
-are motivated by money
Use autocratic leadershio style and don’t trust employees so they closely supervise them and use threats of punishment to get them to work
Implications of theory X
- Demotivated Workforce (from lack of trust + delegation. don’t use their own initiative and don’t want to work hard)
- Poor time management (since they don’t delegate tasks, management is overworked and stressed)
- High turnover (workers are untrusted and unhappy leave as soon as opportunity arises. Increases recruitment + training costs)
- Poor quality goods and services (since employees aren’t involved they feel undervalued which reduces productivity)
- Lack of Intrapreneurship (employees aren’t valued/consulted and won’t be willing to come up with ideas)
Theory Y
managers believe employees:
-like work and are willing to work hard
-take on additional duties
-have ambition
-are motivated by both financial and non-financial rewards
Use democratic or laissez-faire leadership style and trust employees so they delegate tasks and involve them in business decision making
Implications of Theory Y
- High levels of trust (improves IR and morale which means less time is spent resolving conflict)
- Innovation (improved communication makes employees more likely to come up with ideas that can increase profits)
- Improved Communication (better atmosphere with two way system of communication which reduces resistance to change)
- Delegation may result in a pay claim (could lead to resistance and poor IR because of notion new management is distributing extra work without pay)
- Open Management (higher productivity + more effective designs because of increased knowledge base.
Advantages of theory X and theory Y
- Motivation (reocgnises it increases with responsibility)
- Recruitment (positive environment attracts top staff + reduces turnover)
- Improved IR
Limitations of theory X and theory Y
- Unrealistic (to take purely on or other)
- High turnover (in X)
- Less Intrapreneurship (in X)
Advantages of Verbal Communication
- Fast
- Able to repeat to prevent misunderstanding
- Personal Connection
- Powerful and emphasizes
Disadvantages of Verbal COmmunication
- No Record
- May not listen
- Could cause offence if ill-prepared
- Not suitable for long messages
Written Communication examples
Emails
Memos
Letters
Reports
Social Media
Invoices
Advantages of Written Communication
- Record
- Reference (be re-read)
- Fast
- Accurate
Disadvantages of Written Communication
- slow feedback
- Less confidential
- Costs up from printing and paper
- Slower decisions
Advantages of Visual Communication
- Understandable
- Easy to recall
- Impact
Disadvantages of Visual Communication
- Expensive and time consuming
- Cannot be used solely
- Distracting if overused
Reasons for holding a meeting
- Share info
- Decisions
- Solve problems
What is sent out before a meeting takes place
Notice and Agenda sent out by secretary
Notice
Invitation to attend meeting. Informs of date, time and venue
Agenda
List of items to be discussed at meeting in order of which they will be discussed
Elements of agenda
- Minutes of last meeting
- Matters arising from those minutes
Last. AOB
Matters arising
discussion about items from previous meeting
AOB
Any other Business gives people the opportunity to bring up anything they want to discuss
Minutes
Record of meeting taken by secretary. Summarises what was discussed, people present and decisions made.
Chairperson
Elected by attendees and responsible for opening, running and closing a meeting. They open the meeting by counting the quorum. Ensure agenda is followed and standing orders obeyed. Call for votes on motions and has the casting vote in the event of a tie.
Qurom
minimum people who need to be present for meeting to begin. If not reached meeting is postponed
Standing orders
rules for running a meeting
point of order
when attendee draws attention to the fact a standing order has been broken
Proxy
attendee who is a representative of a shareholder or member who cannot attend. Votes in accordance with instruction given by person who cannot attend
Good Chairperson characteristics
Unbiased
Knowledgeable
Time management
Communication skills
Secretary
Organises meeting, venue and facilities. Send out notice and agenda in adequate time to ensure people can attend. Reads out minutes from the previous meeting and records minutes. Deals with any paperwork arising from meeting
Good Secretary Characteristics
Organised
Confidential
Summarising ability
Private Limited Company Meeting types
- AGM
- EGM
- Board Meeting
- Statutory Meeting (must be held once. First meeting informing shareholders of business affairs)
- Ad hoc Meeting
- General Meeting (held on regular basis between management and employees)
AGM
Annual General Meeting. Held once a year. Meeting of the shareholders where they can ask the directors questions. The chairperson gives an address, directors are elected, auditors are appointed and accounts are presented
EGM
Extraordinary General Meeting. Between board of directors and shareholders. When urgent matters matters arise that cannot wait until the next AGM. E.g. Takeover bid
Board Meeting
Regular meetings attended by board of directors. Tactical planning, strategic planning and performance review are often on the agenda.
Ad-hoc meeting
held by various managers to deal with operational issues or immediate problems
Advantages of Meetings
- Discussion on different proposals which allows effective decision-making and co-ordination of work
- Information Disseminated to various stakeholders
- Creative forums (e.g. brainstorming)
- Appropriate for confidential/sensitive matters
- Immediate feedback
- Written Record (minutes)
Memos
Short written message for internal communication. Short for memorandum. Used to remind people of items and events.
Business Letters
Formal sent internally to staff and externally to stakeholders. Email is a modern form. Used when content is important and complex instructions are given
Reports
Detailed document about specific topic. Presents data and information to people. Can be used to investigate, find a solution or convince a reader.
Visual Communication forms
- Bar chart
- Pie chart
- Pictogram (similar to bar chart but with pictures)
- Line graph (for trends over time)
- Gantt chart (show tasks and completion against time)
- Maps
Choosing communication method
- Cost (e.g. virtual can cut travel costs)
- Urgency (crucial info needs to be communicated instantly)
- Confidentiality (reflect that of message)
- Record
- Accuracy (up-to-date knowledge)
- Language (not too technical for reader)
- Feedback (should be easy to communicate. Allows clarification and prevents misunderstanding)
Barriers to effective communication
- Timing (not enough)
- Language (too complex)
- Information overload
- Not listening
- Lack of trust (may not believe)
Advantages of effective communication
- Productivity
- Good IR (issues resolved quickly)
- Positive customer experience
- Better decisions
- Better morale (clear instructions reduce stress)
