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There are many ways to lead and every leader has his own style. Some of the most common styles include autocratic, bureaucratic, democratic and laissez-faire.
Autocratic Leadership Style
This is often considered the classical approach. It is one in which the manager retains as much power and decision-making authority as possible. The manager does not consult employees, nor are they allowed to give any input. Employees are expected to obey orders without receiving any explanations.Some studies say that organizations with many autocratic leaders have higher turnover and absenteeism than other organizations.
These studies say that autocratic leaders:
- Rely on threats and punishment to influence employees
- Do not believe the staff
- Do not allow for employee input
Nevertheless, the autocratic leadership is not so bad.Sometimes it is the most effective style to use. Such situations may include:
- Employees do not respond to any other style of leadership
- There are high volumes of production needs on a daily basis
- There is limited time for decision
- Work must be coordinated with another department or organization
autocratic leadership style should not be used in the following cases:
- Employees become tense, fearful, or resentful
- Employees are expected to have their opinion heard
- Employees begin depending on their manager to have all their solutions
- There is low employee morale, high turnover and absenteeism and work stoppages
Bureaucratic Leadership Style
Bureaucratic leadership where the manager manages "by the book". All must be done in accordance with the procedure or policy. If this does not apply to books, the manager refers to the next level above him or her. This manager is really more police officers than the leader. He or she apply the rules.
This style can be effective if:
- Employees perform routine tasks over and over again.
- Employees must understand the specific standards or procedures.
- Employees working with hazardous or fragile equipment that requires a set of procedures for the job.
- Safety and security training is conducted.
- Employees perform tasks that require cash handling.
This style does not be effective if:
- Skills of the forms that are difficult to break, especially if they are no longer useful.
- Employees are losing interest in their work and their colleagues.
- Employees do only what is expected of them and nothing more.
Democratic Leadership Style
It encourages employees to be part of decision-making process.Democratic manager keeps his or her employees informed about everything that affects their work and shares decision making and problem-solving responsibilities.
Democratic leadership can produce high quality and quantity of work for long periods of time. Many employees like the trust they receive and respond cooperation, team spirit and high morale.Typically, the democratic leader:
- Develops plans to help employees assess their own performance
- Allows employees to set goals
- Encourages employees to grow jobs and encourage
- Recognizes and encourages achievement.
Like other styles, the democratic style is not always appropriate.It is most successful when using highly skilled and experienced employees or when implementing operational changes or permits a person or group problems.
The democratic leadership style is most effective if:
- The leader wants employees informed about matters that affect them.
- The leader wants employees to participate in decision-making and problem-solving responsibilities.
- There is a large and complex problem that requires a lot of input to solve.
- you want to promote team building and participation.
Democratic leadership should not be used in the following cases:
- There is not enough time to get the input of each.
- It's easier and more cost effective for the manager to decide.
- Business can not afford mistakes.
- The manager feels threatened by this type of leadership.
Laissez-Faire Leadership Style
This kind leadership style is also known as "hands-off ¨ style. This is where the manager gives little direction and gives employees more freedom as possible. All authority or power is given to employees, and they must set goals, make decisions and solve problems independently .
This is an effective style to use when:
- Employees are highly skilled, experienced and educated.
- Employees have pride in their work and desire to do it successfully yourself.
- Reliable and experienced staff.
This style should not be used in the following cases:
- It makes employees feel insecure in the absence of the manager.
- The manager can not provide regular feedback to employees know how well they are doing.
- The manager does not understand their responsibilities and hopes that staff can cover for him or her.
P7. Explain the different motivational theories and their application within the workplace
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs is the most widespread theory. He believes that human beings have desires that influence their behavior in particular unmet needs. needs come in order of importance. person to the next level is necessary if low-level need is satisfied. on the need to level the person moves, more personality and mental health reveals.
These requirements, from a lowest to highest are: psychological, health and safety, social, esteem and self-actualization.Examples of physiological needs are food and water. Security refers to security, freedom from violence, safety, and others.Social is a sense of belonging as family, friends, colleagues and other professionals. Self-esteem is a need for approval, recognition, status, etc. And, finally, self-actualization refers to the need for personal growth through education, religion, hobbies, and others.
According to Maslow, it would be difficult to achieve the ultimate goal of self-realization, if the following goals are not met or taken care of first. Food, water, shelter - these are just some of our most pressing needs, which precede all others. For example, it would be silly to worry about how to become emotionally stable, when you can not even have a decent meal or if you are seriously ill. Taking care of immediate needs, you can begin to take care of the higher needs.
Just as Maslow's hierarchy of needs, Herzberg's Two Factor Theory is a need-based theory of motivation. This theory is considered more powerful than Maslow, because it is easier to understand.
two-factor theory says that certain factors in the workplace leads to job satisfaction. Others did not affect the satisfaction, but if not can lead to dissatisfaction
These factors of motivation and hygiene factors. Motivators to ensure job satisfaction. This includes the recognition, responsibilities and tasks. Hygiene factors are so called because, like hygiene, their presence will not make people healthier, but their absence can cause decay. Examples of these include salaries, fringe benefits, job security. Hygiene factors, therefore, can determine dissatisfaction and motivators determine satisfaction. Both scales are independent and one can score high on both factors.
Vroom's Expectancy Theory explains why people choose a certain course of action. Unlike the three aforementioned theories, Vroom's theory is not need-based. There are three variables in this theory: Valence, Expectancy and Instrumentality.
Valence refers to the importance of the anticipated outcome of a situation. Expectancy is the belief that the effort exerted and success of the situation are related. Instrumentality means the success is related the expectations
Vroom's Expectancy theory could sometimes be associated with work situation just like Herzberg's Two Factor Theory. But, in actuality, this theory is applicable to almost all kinds of situations whether work-related or not.
Vroom's expectancy theory simply espoused the idea that the reason people do some things is because they expect a certain outcome.
I apply Vroom's expectancy theory to my professional life because I believe in doing things not because I want to attain a certain reward but I want to attain something I truly desire for myself. For instance, I do a good job at the office not because I want a promotion, although it is part of it, but because I expect to feel fulfilled after having done something worthwhile.
P8. The relationship between motivation theory and the practice of management:
Different motivation theories have different effects. Motivation has to be built into the structure and without the motivational theory without the practice of management. You cannot practice motivation if you do not first have a theory or concept.
In order to be a great manager or leader you have to be a good motivator, you should know what motivates your staff and what doesn't. A manager who cannot motivate or doesn't know how to motivate cannot do a good job, his job is to improve the performance of the staff and motivate all of them.
P9. Describe the nature of groups and group behavior within organizations:
Nature of groups
The term "group" can be defined as, two or more persons interacting and working together to get a job or something done. When people work in groups rather than as individuals, the goals of the organization can be easily achieved. Groups can get a job done fast and usually accurate, group members could gather information and tell each other if they are doing something wrong or not, and they could appoint themselves to do a specific job which they are best in to contribute as much as possible to the group.
People form groups for various reasons. Maybe get a job done faster or even to get a job done while not putting as much effort if you're the only one working on something.
Various Types of Groups:
There are formal and informal groups in organizations. Various groups exist within the organization and they are of varying degrees of formalization. Groups in organizations are of various types based on the number of members they have and the interactions between them.
A group formed by the organization to accomplish a specific task is termed as a formal group. The organization sets up a formal group and allocates tasks and responsibilities to different members with the intention of achieving organizational goals. Command groups and task groups are examples of formal groups. A command group is relatively permanent in nature and finds representation in the organization chart. Functional departments of organizations are considered as command groups. Task groups, on the other hand, are formed for a specific task and are temporary in nature. They are dissolved after the task is accomplished. After dissolution of the task group, the members of the task group continue as members of their respective functional departments or command groups with reduced duties.
Informal groups are formed by the employees themselves. The reasons for the formation of informal groups could be the need for companionship, common interests, growth, recreation, or support. There are two types of informal groups - friendship groups and interest groups. Members of friendship groups have a cordial relationship with each other, common interests and are similar. They like each other's company and want to spend time together. Interest groups are formed to organize an activity and are temporary in nature. Informal groups mainly satisfy the social needs of members.
With regards to nature of groups, I would just like to add that members may have conflicting ideas and having your views challenged should could either reaffirm your own beliefs or transcend them-people should come into groups with an open mind.
P10. Investigate the Factors Lead to Effective Teamwork and Influences that Threaten Success:
In today's workplace, the group leaders need to solve complicated problems and to take ideas from their first stage through a series of complex processes to a successful completion. This kind of work cannot be done alone. There are just too many demands, task requirements and various sources of information required to do it without the support of others.
The most important factor that can lead to efficient teamwork is motivation, it is a team leader's job to delegate tasks and to make sure that each member of their team contributes and is good at what they do. For example, if Picasso was one of the members in your group then you should give him a task that requires creativity, since being creative and artistic is his strength then it seems that natural that he'll be good at what he's assigned to do.
Leaders should build a relationship with its members by making ideas together and supporting it, and even improving each other's ideas. They must be open and approachable
P11. Evaluate the impact of technology on team functioning within a given organization:
The use of new technologies can improve and in some cases hinder team functioning.
As technology changes teams must update and maintain their knowledge in order to function effectively.
Technologies which have improved team functions
Personal computers allow team members to carry out various tasks and communicate more effectively. Laptop computers allow you to do this anywhere. They are now lighter, more powerful and a longer battery life.
Personal Digital Assistants (PDA) now have much of the same functionality as laptops, but are smaller, more portable and have a longer battery life. Many PDAs now have wifi as standard and some are also phones (and some phones have many PDA features).
Internet has been a huge, worldwide explosion in the use of the Internet. It is already changing the way we work, shop, bank etc.
Information technology has had an impact on the way we work for quite some time, but the Internet has now added electronic mail (email), teleworking and video conferencing to the workplace.
E-mail allows direct communication which means team members do not need to be in the same place at the the same time in order to communicate effectively. E-mail also has it's negative aspects in terms of managing e-mail and the misuse of e-mail.
Cell phones have come a long way since the 1980s and there are now more mobile phones in the UK then there are people. Mobile phones allow teams to communicate even when team members are out of the office, on the road or otherwise unavailable. Sometimes having always access to team members can hinder team functioning.
Phone technologies such as blackberry and 3G datacards allow team members to work and communicate remotely.
Groupware enables teams to plan meetings, collaborate, delegate all within a virtual environment which can often be accessed remotely from anywhere in the world.
Technology is found in its various forms in small and large businesses, the service sector, and state institutions, manufacturing companies, educational departments, multi-national organizations and the local shop.