Organizational Behavior
The customer is always right! Right? It’s common knowledge that a business’s reputation is determined by how well they treat their customers. But it is just as important that as a customer contributes to the success of a company, the employee does as well. This is where organizational behavior comes into the picture. By studying why employees behave in a certain manner, you will be better equipped to implement an effective organizational structure that maintains high morale, low turnover, and a solid reputation and culture.
But it’s not just the individual employees we’re considering, we also want to be able to answer questions such as: Why does a certain group show better teamwork than another? How are some companies better at innovation? Why do your managers exhibit different forms of leadership with different employees? Taking care of the bottom line is essential to your company’s longevity. If employees on the front lines everyday maintain positive relationships and uphold the standards of your business, this will reflect in revenues and profits. If the internal environment is inefficient, you’ll quickly notice the costs in the external environment.
But it’s not just the individual employees we’re considering, we also want to be able to answer questions such as: Why does a certain group show better teamwork than another? How are some companies better at innovation? Why do your managers exhibit different forms of leadership with different employees? Taking care of the bottom line is essential to your company’s longevity. If employees on the front lines everyday maintain positive relationships and uphold the standards of your business, this will reflect in revenues and profits. If the internal environment is inefficient, you’ll quickly notice the costs in the external environment.
Problem Solving Model
Problem Definition relates to knowing and understanding the source of the problem. Real problems tend to be disguised by symptoms of the problem. It is very easy to fall into the dark abyss trying to address a symptom rather than solving the real problem. This is a common occurrence several times in multiple organizations.
Managers often fall in the ‘want gap’ of problems. A manager will think of their want, but get something completely different because the actual item of the want is undefined by the other problem. Therefore, they created a ‘got gap’ of the problem. A manager’s perception can cloud what is ‘actually’ happening and often causes the problem in the first place.
Figuring out the ‘gap problem’ by understanding the ways in which it can affect the organization is crucial for companies. Sometimes it can be between two people (personal level) or groups (intergroup level) or the whole organization. We must find the most important problems and solve those first above all else. These are known as source problems, and by defining these we can eliminate the symptoms.
Analysis is the next step in the problem-solving model. This includes linking the problems to their causes and understanding those underlying causes. Many solutions will be initiated, and questions will have to be asked to find the root cause. A successful resolution here is a must before moving on to the next step.
Action Planning is how a company will solve a problem once it has been defined and analyzed. An action plan has six key steps that are required to effectively solve the problem at hand:
Motivation
How do you motivate your workforce, or anyone in general?
First, we must understand behaviors in people, and this becomes a basic psychology lesson. One of the most popular beliefs is that motivation is urged to satisfy needs. This means feeling safe and secure in a workplace. You can give rewards or promotions based off performance. Another popular belief is in meeting an employee’s hierarchy of needs. This is a sense of personal growth and self -fulfillment. Finally, the last belief focuses on the need for achievement, the need for power, and the need for affiliation. Every employee fall into one of these 3 basic belief systems and managers must understand these systems to satisfy their employees’ unique needs.
Creativity and Power
How does one become creative and obtain power?
Being creative can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. For businesses, we’ll call creativity as innovation, because most entrepreneurs are innovators in nature. We will learn how to tap into our creative selves. Thoughts come and go in our minds, but we must learn how to capture these through our own unique creativity. Here are some simple suggestions to capture that ‘a-ha!’ moment next time it passes:
Mind mapping is all about writing down the main idea or a to-do list to get something accomplished. It’s really simple; some people like circling and mapping it to other keywords. Something always emerges when doing this, but the real secret is taking the necessary action to accomplish your creative goals.
Obtaining Power is very difficult to achieve, depending on your personality traits. Once you have been educated in the different types of power, maybe you can obtain it. Power often comes to those who don’t seek it, but some are born into it and abuse it. Which one are you? Will you obtain power by being coercive, or will you be rewarded with power by doing something incredible? Will you become a charismatic leader and obtain power the referent way, or legitimately obtain power because you made it to the right role in your company? Many successful people obtain power by becoming an expert in their field and claiming the most authoritative role possible in their industry.
The Organizational Model and Structures
Every organization will have a breakdown of their structures or models of how things should run. Everything is harmoniously in sync, but it may not flow as easily as it should. Most organizational charts you have seen in your own company (or created yourself) are best for mail distribution only. Setting a system behind the chart is crucial for your organization’s long-term success.
Models are based on the individual, organization, and environment. The last two are related through strategy, policy and procedures, structures, systems, climate, and culture of the company. Strategy is the overall direction and vision of how to be successful in the marketplace, while policies are the formal rules, and procedures specify how to conduct yourself. Structures act as the glorified mail distribution system. This starts with executives and moves down to even the lowest worker levels. It captures the functional, product, customer, geographic, divisional, matrix, and amorphous features to accomplish the overall goals of the organization in functioning as a unit.
Systems are important for allocating, controlling, and monitoring money, things, and people. Systems fall into many categories and setting the right system (business process) in motion can lead to ongoing success for your company. The tools of change for your company will always involve systems.
Climate and Culture of organization is dependent upon how well your business processes are working and how effectively they are being managed. If everything is operating smoothly, your workforce is more likely to be highly motivated and proud to work at your company. If you have flaws in your system or the wrong manager in place, then low morale can develop and create chaos. This is when climate and culture will become an issue.
Problem Definition relates to knowing and understanding the source of the problem. Real problems tend to be disguised by symptoms of the problem. It is very easy to fall into the dark abyss trying to address a symptom rather than solving the real problem. This is a common occurrence several times in multiple organizations.
Managers often fall in the ‘want gap’ of problems. A manager will think of their want, but get something completely different because the actual item of the want is undefined by the other problem. Therefore, they created a ‘got gap’ of the problem. A manager’s perception can cloud what is ‘actually’ happening and often causes the problem in the first place.
Figuring out the ‘gap problem’ by understanding the ways in which it can affect the organization is crucial for companies. Sometimes it can be between two people (personal level) or groups (intergroup level) or the whole organization. We must find the most important problems and solve those first above all else. These are known as source problems, and by defining these we can eliminate the symptoms.
Analysis is the next step in the problem-solving model. This includes linking the problems to their causes and understanding those underlying causes. Many solutions will be initiated, and questions will have to be asked to find the root cause. A successful resolution here is a must before moving on to the next step.
Action Planning is how a company will solve a problem once it has been defined and analyzed. An action plan has six key steps that are required to effectively solve the problem at hand:
- Set specific goals
- Define activities, resources needed, responsibilities
- Set a timetable for action
- Forecast outcomes, develop contingencies
- Formulate a detailed plan of action in a time sequence
- Implement, supervise execution, and evaluate
Motivation
How do you motivate your workforce, or anyone in general?
First, we must understand behaviors in people, and this becomes a basic psychology lesson. One of the most popular beliefs is that motivation is urged to satisfy needs. This means feeling safe and secure in a workplace. You can give rewards or promotions based off performance. Another popular belief is in meeting an employee’s hierarchy of needs. This is a sense of personal growth and self -fulfillment. Finally, the last belief focuses on the need for achievement, the need for power, and the need for affiliation. Every employee fall into one of these 3 basic belief systems and managers must understand these systems to satisfy their employees’ unique needs.
Creativity and Power
How does one become creative and obtain power?
Being creative can mean a lot of things to a lot of different people. For businesses, we’ll call creativity as innovation, because most entrepreneurs are innovators in nature. We will learn how to tap into our creative selves. Thoughts come and go in our minds, but we must learn how to capture these through our own unique creativity. Here are some simple suggestions to capture that ‘a-ha!’ moment next time it passes:
- Keep a pen/paper around
- Use a tape recorder
- Use your phone/tablet note taker, or just record it with the microphone button
- Stop what you’re doing and reflect on idea
- Grab a blank sheet of paper and mind map your moment
Mind mapping is all about writing down the main idea or a to-do list to get something accomplished. It’s really simple; some people like circling and mapping it to other keywords. Something always emerges when doing this, but the real secret is taking the necessary action to accomplish your creative goals.
Obtaining Power is very difficult to achieve, depending on your personality traits. Once you have been educated in the different types of power, maybe you can obtain it. Power often comes to those who don’t seek it, but some are born into it and abuse it. Which one are you? Will you obtain power by being coercive, or will you be rewarded with power by doing something incredible? Will you become a charismatic leader and obtain power the referent way, or legitimately obtain power because you made it to the right role in your company? Many successful people obtain power by becoming an expert in their field and claiming the most authoritative role possible in their industry.
The Organizational Model and Structures
Every organization will have a breakdown of their structures or models of how things should run. Everything is harmoniously in sync, but it may not flow as easily as it should. Most organizational charts you have seen in your own company (or created yourself) are best for mail distribution only. Setting a system behind the chart is crucial for your organization’s long-term success.
Models are based on the individual, organization, and environment. The last two are related through strategy, policy and procedures, structures, systems, climate, and culture of the company. Strategy is the overall direction and vision of how to be successful in the marketplace, while policies are the formal rules, and procedures specify how to conduct yourself. Structures act as the glorified mail distribution system. This starts with executives and moves down to even the lowest worker levels. It captures the functional, product, customer, geographic, divisional, matrix, and amorphous features to accomplish the overall goals of the organization in functioning as a unit.
Systems are important for allocating, controlling, and monitoring money, things, and people. Systems fall into many categories and setting the right system (business process) in motion can lead to ongoing success for your company. The tools of change for your company will always involve systems.
Climate and Culture of organization is dependent upon how well your business processes are working and how effectively they are being managed. If everything is operating smoothly, your workforce is more likely to be highly motivated and proud to work at your company. If you have flaws in your system or the wrong manager in place, then low morale can develop and create chaos. This is when climate and culture will become an issue.
