Management Theory in Education
Content
Management Theory in Education William Allan Kritsonis, PhD
Overview An investigation into the area of management theory revealed the importance of knowing situational leadership. The authors recommended for study are Paul Hersey, Kenneth Blanchard and Dewey E. Johnson who, in 1996, co-authored Management of Organizational Behavior. Chapters 8-10 and 12-17 have been denoted as important to the comp questions. Chapter 8: Situational Leadership Chapter 9: Situational Leadership, Perception, and the Impact of Power Chapter 10: Developing Human Resources Chapter 12: Building Effective Relationships Chapter 13: Communicating with Rapport Chapter 14: Group Dynamics Chapter 15: Implementing Situational Leadership: Managing People to Perform Chapter 16: Implementing Situational Leadership: One Minute Manager Chapter 17: Implementing Situational Leadership: Effective Follow-Up
Specific areas in each chapter were reported to have greater relevance than other areas. This report will highlight the designated areas of relevance. Chapter 14 was indicated as an extremely important chapter. Chapter 8: Situational Leadership Managers must be able to identify clues in an environment, adapt their leadership style to meet the demands of their environment and have the personal flexibility and range of skills necessary to vary their own behavior. Situational Leadership was developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard at the Center for Leadership Studies in the late 1960's. In 1982 the original Situational Leadership was modified to include diagnostic instruments and training materials. The new approach is called SLII. The best description of this approach to Situational Leadership can be found in Leadership and the One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard. According to Situational Leadership, there is no one best way to influence people. Which leadership style to use varies upon the situation and people involved. The following descriptions apply to the four styles:
•
Style 1 (S1). This leadership style is characterized by
above-average amounts of task behavior and below-average amounts of relationship behavior.
•
Style 2 (S2). This leadership style is characterized by
above-average amounts of both task and relationship behavior.
•
Style 3 (S3). This style is characterized by above-average
amounts of relationship behavior and below-average amounts of task behavior.
•
Style 4 (S4). This style is characterized by below-
average amounts of both relationship behavior and task behavior. The authors state the leadership situations involving the family, schools or other settings, different words may be more appropriate than task and relationship-for example, guidance and supportive behavior or directive behavior and facilitating behavior-but the underlying definitions remain the same.
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 20.
Figure 1: Effective Leader Behavior (page 192)
Readiness level is a key factor in situational leadership and choosing which style to implement. Readiness levels range from high to low.
• • • •
R4 (high). Able and willing or confident R3 (moderate). Able but not willing or confident R2 (moderate). Unable but willing or confident R1 (low). Unable and unwilling or insecure
MODERATE HIGH LOW R4 R3 R2 R1 Able and Able but Unable but Unable and Willing Unwilling Willing Unwilling or Confident or or or Insecure Confident Insecure
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 27.
Figure 2: Continuum or Follower Readiness (page 195) Study closely the figures below:
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 19.
Figure 3: (page 200)
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 35.
Figure 4: (page 208) Chapter 9: Situational Leadership, Perception, and the Impact of Power Power is one of the means by which a leader influences the behavior of followers. Power is influence potential-the resource that enables a leader
to gain compliance or commitment from others. Authority is a particular type of power that has its origin in the position that a leader occupies. Authority is the power that is legitimatized by virtue of an individual's formal role in a social organization. Position power and personal power have been discussed by Amitai Etzioni. Etzioni sees power as the ability to induce or influence behavior. Etzioni claimed power is derived from an organizational office, personal influence, or both. Individuals who are able to induce other individuals to a certain job because of their position in the organization are considered to have position power; individuals who derive their power from their followers are considered to have personal power. Some individuals can have both position power and personal power. Additional bases of power include coercive power, connection power, reward power, legitimate power, referent power, information power, and expert power. Referent and expert power were associated with the greatest satisfaction, legitimate and reward power were intermediate, and coercive power was associated with least satisfaction. Chapter 10: Developing Human Resources Managers need to devote time to nurture the leadership potential, motivation, morale, climate, commitment to objectives, and the decisionmaking, communication, and problem-solving skills of their people. An
important role for managers is the development of the task-relevant readiness of their followers. Rensis Likert found that employee-centered supervisors who use general supervision tend to have higher-producing sections than job-centered supervisors who use close supervision. Likert found that employees generally respond well to their supervisor's high expectations and genuine confidence in them and try to justify the supervisor's expectations of them. Chapter 12: Building Effective Relationships The Center for Leadership Studies examined the use of Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD) instrument. The LEAD instrument was designed to measure three aspects of leader behavior: 1) style, 2) style range, or flexibility, and 3) style adaptability. The leadership style of a person is the behavior pattern a person exhibits when attempting to influence the activities of others--as perceived by those others. LEAD Self measures self-perception of how an individual behaves as a leader; the LEAD other reflects the perceptions of a leader's followers, supervisors, and peers or associates. Extensive research revealed that all leaders have a primary and secondary leadership style. A leader's primary style is defined as the behavior pattern used most often when attempting to influence the activities
of others. A leader's secondary style is the leadership style that a person tends to use on occasion. All leaders have one primary leadership style, but may have up to three secondary styles as described in Situational Leadership. Style range, or flexibility is the extent to which a leader is able to vary her or his leadership style. Leadership situations vary in the extent to which they make demands on flexibility. Style adaptability is the degree to which they are able to vary their style appropriately to the demands of a given situation, according to Situational Leadership. A wide style range will not guarantee effectiveness; style range is not as relevant to effectiveness as style adaptability. The importance of a leader's diagnostic ability cannot be overemphasized. It is the key to adaptability. The concept of adaptability implies that the effective leader is able to use the right style at the right time.
Figure 4: (page 302)
To diagnose an organization both the LEAD Self and LEAD Other instrument is used. Both are used to determine if there is any discrepancy between self-perception and the perception of others. A useful framework developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham is used to analyze that data and feed it back to participating managers. This framework is called the Johari Window and depicts leadership personality, not overall personality, as it is sometimes used. The difference between leadership personality and leadership style in this context is that leadership personality includes selfperception and the perception of others; leadership style consists only of an individual's leader behavior as perceived by others, that is supervisors, employees, associates, and so on. Thus, leadership personality equals selfperception plus perception of others. Leaders who engage in some attitudes or behaviors that they themselves know about are referred to as known to self. Leadership personality that includes behaviors and attitudes known to others, as well as areas unknown to others. The arena that is known to self and also known to others is called public arena--it is known to all (the leader and others) within the organizational setting. The arena that is unknown to self (the leader), but is known to others, is referred to as the blind arena. The arena that is known
to self but unknown to others is referred to as the private arena. The last arena, unknown to self and unknown to others, is called the unknown.
Figure 5: Johari Window (page 304) Two-style profile includes either 1) a basic style that encompasses two of the four possible configuration styles or 2) a basic style and a supporting style. It is important to remember that unless you have gathered specific data on how your leadership style is perceived by others, your perception of your own leadership style is only that--your perception. Combining establishing objectives and reaching consensus on performance criteria in a traditional MBO program with a similar process for negotiating the appropriate leadership style that a manger should use to facilitate goal accomplishments in a specific task area can be accomplished through the following steps:
• •
Establish objectives and performance criteria Reach agreement on objectives and performance criteria
• • •
Introduce Situational Leadership Complete Readiness Style Match Meet to share data from Readiness Style Match
One warning should be given in using the Contracting for Leadership Style process and the readiness style match rating forms. When managers go through that process, their public arena in the Johari Window becomes very large. If managers do not want their people to know what they think and feel about them, then they should be careful about using the described process. Chapter 13: Communicating with Rapport The three basic competencies in influencing are 1) diagnosing--being able to understand the situation you are attempting to influence; 2) adapting--being able to adapt your behavior, and the other things that you have control over, to the contingencies of the situation; and 3) communicating--being able to put the message in a way that people can easily understand and accept. This chapter is about the third competency-communicating. All the evidence clearly shows that written and oral communication skills are critical not only in obtaining a job, but also in performing effectively on the job. Written and oral communication skills were the two most important factors in obtaining employment.
Leaders influence from both personal power and position power. You can begin building personal power by establishing rapport. Part of establishing rapport is being able to communicate effectively in a way that is comfortable for people you are attempting to influence. To make people feel comfortable, you have to get in step with them--pace with them. Key concepts:
•
Rapport. Being attuned to other people verbally or
nonverbally so that they are comfortable and have trust and confidence in you.
•
Pacing. Establishing rapport by reflecting what others do,
know, or assume to be true (doing something similar, matching some part of their ongoing experience).
•
Leading. Getting other people to pace with you
(attempting to influence them to consider other possibilities).
•
Having behavioral adaptability. Having enough range in
your own behavior to pace with the person or persons with whom you are interacting. The secret of establishing rapport with people is pacing. To pace with other people you need to adapt to match their behavior--to get "in sync" with
them so that they feel comfortable with you. This means getting in alignment with their words, their voice characteristics, and their nonverbals. When you have established rapport with people, they are more apt to follow your lead. The general pattern can be thought of in this way: Pace Lead
When you're interacting with other people, you're either pacing--doing something similar--or leading--having them pace with you. If your primary objective is to gain acceptance, then pacing may be enough. But if your objective is to influence them to consider other alternative, then you must also lead. Managers can sometimes lead first and then pace to get results, since they often have position power. Chapter 14: Group Dynamics No matter how much we value and protect our individuality, almost all of our goals can be achieved only in a group. Labor and management must have shared values, and yet in most cases they don't. Another important impediment to achieving group effectiveness is a lack of leadership skill. Brian Dumaine suggests there are five species in the kingdom of teams:
•
Problem-solving teams. Attack a problem and then
disband
•
Management teams. Coordinate work from different
functions.
•
Work teams, including the most advanced species, Self-
managed teams. Do the daily work.
•
Virtual teams. Use advanced communications to
exchange ideas and roles.
•
Quality circles. Consist of workers and supervisors who
meet periodically to address problems. This species may be becoming extinct. Dumaine offers four guidelines for the most effective use of teams including 1) Use the right team for the job 2) Create a hierarchy of teams 3) Build trust 4) Address "people" issues. An important term is a group as two or more individuals. What is the team's readiness in the situation?
•
Readiness Level 1. The group resembles "Pick-up
Sticks" in terms of their orientation toward the specific objective. In this "forming" stage, uncertainty and lack of goals and role clarity are evidenced by a strong need for
definition of the objective. The entire group is unable and unwilling or insecure in reference to the specific objective.
•
Readiness Level 2. This group is "coming around," but
groups at this "storming" stage are often divided with intragroup dissonance and competition for recognition and influence. The group as a whole is unable, but willing and confident, in reference to the specific objective.
•
Readiness Level 3. This group is "coming together," with
group cohesion very important at this "norming" stage. Adjustments are made between individuals and factions, and informal leaders and experts emerge. The group itself is now demonstrating ability with modest accomplishments, but it is still unwilling or insecure in its efforts toward accomplishing the objective.
•
Readiness level 4. This team acts "as one" and shows
strong evidence of functional role-relatedness, esprit, synergy, and high levels of performance. The group is now a team: able, willing, and confident in relation to the objective.
Source: Used by permission of the copyright holder, The Center for Leadership Studies, Escondido, Calif. 92025. All rights reserved.
Figure 6 (page 366) Chapter 15: Implementing Situational Leadership: Managing People to Perform
The most fundamental issue of how a leadership or management concept might appear to be is, Does it contribute to organizational productivity? A strategy is a broad integrated plan of action to accomplish organizational goals; in our frame of reference, the goal is to improve human
productivity. Performance is defined as achieving or surpassing business or social objectives and responsibilities from the perspective of the judging party. Seven factors of performance, designed by Clary Carr, include: 1) Goals 2) Standards 3) Feedback 4) Means 5) Competence 6) Motive 7) Opportunity. Paul Hersey and Marshall Goldsmith designed the ACHIEVE model. ACHIEVE represents ability, clarity, help, incentive, evaluation, validity, environment. Hersey and Goldsmith isolated these seven variables related to effective performance management. Performance management builds upon the basic philosophy of Situational Leadership. There is no one best way to solve human resource problems. The manager should use the problemsolving strategy that best fits the needs of followers in their unique situations. Chapter 16: Implementing Situational Leadership: One Minute Management
Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard attempted to overcome some of the objections to the academic nature of behavior modification in their best-selling book, The One Minute Manager. The book, and this chapter, focus on three powerful concepts derived from behavior
modification principles: one minute goal setting, one minute praisings, and one minute reprimands. The notion of a "one minute manager" was developed to encourage managers to take an extra minute to make sure they are focusing on those things that have the most impact in obtaining desired performance from workers. Limit the number of goals. It is advised that you set goals, set priorities, use measurable indicators, have standards of performance, include incentives and benefits, identify obstacles to goal accomplishment, identify action steps, praise and reward, and use reprimands and redirection if necessary. Good goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Trackable. If reprimands are necessary, reprimand the action, not the person. Don't forget the one minute apology when you are wrong. Talk specifics, build people up, hear people out and improve your own communication skills. Chapter 17: Implementing Situational Leadership: Effective Follow-Up
The book by Hersey and Blanchard, Putting the One Minute Manager to Work is the focus in this chapter. The "ABC's of management," which stands for activators, behaviors, and consequences. Activators are
things you have to do before you can expect good performance. Behavior is the performance you want. Consequences are what follow behavior.
Source: Kenneth Blanchard and Robert Lorber, Putting the One Minute Mananger to Work (New York: Morrow, 1984).
Figure 7 (page 419) The PRICE system is a five-step productivity improvement system developed by Robert Lorber and his associates. PRICE stands for pinpoint, record, involve, coach, and evaluate. The most important thing about any management concept is whether it works on a day-to-day basis. The proof is in the application (Hersey & Blanchard, 1996).
Summary In anticipation of the comps question, it is my suggestion that we know situational leadership, its levels, and the numerous ways it can be applied and implemented in any situation. So as far as putting this in question format, "How can situational leadership be applied in the following scenarios?" Links I strongly suggest that cohort members go online and search under "Situational Leadership" for numerous sites. The first search resulted in 1600 sites. There are a variety of applications and food for thought in areas that are currently using situational leadership. www.performancelearning.net (programs information) www.bsu.edu (has links to pertinent sites) www.qualitytalk.com (prof. development) www.getfeedback.net (good)
References Hersey, Paul, Blanchard, Kenneth H., Johnson, Dewey E. 1996. Management of Organizational Behavior: utilizing human resources. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.
Overview An investigation into the area of management theory revealed the importance of knowing situational leadership. The authors recommended for study are Paul Hersey, Kenneth Blanchard and Dewey E. Johnson who, in 1996, co-authored Management of Organizational Behavior. Chapters 8-10 and 12-17 have been denoted as important to the comp questions. Chapter 8: Situational Leadership Chapter 9: Situational Leadership, Perception, and the Impact of Power Chapter 10: Developing Human Resources Chapter 12: Building Effective Relationships Chapter 13: Communicating with Rapport Chapter 14: Group Dynamics Chapter 15: Implementing Situational Leadership: Managing People to Perform Chapter 16: Implementing Situational Leadership: One Minute Manager Chapter 17: Implementing Situational Leadership: Effective Follow-Up
Specific areas in each chapter were reported to have greater relevance than other areas. This report will highlight the designated areas of relevance. Chapter 14 was indicated as an extremely important chapter. Chapter 8: Situational Leadership Managers must be able to identify clues in an environment, adapt their leadership style to meet the demands of their environment and have the personal flexibility and range of skills necessary to vary their own behavior. Situational Leadership was developed by Paul Hersey and Kenneth H. Blanchard at the Center for Leadership Studies in the late 1960's. In 1982 the original Situational Leadership was modified to include diagnostic instruments and training materials. The new approach is called SLII. The best description of this approach to Situational Leadership can be found in Leadership and the One Minute Manager by Kenneth Blanchard. According to Situational Leadership, there is no one best way to influence people. Which leadership style to use varies upon the situation and people involved. The following descriptions apply to the four styles:
•
Style 1 (S1). This leadership style is characterized by
above-average amounts of task behavior and below-average amounts of relationship behavior.
•
Style 2 (S2). This leadership style is characterized by
above-average amounts of both task and relationship behavior.
•
Style 3 (S3). This style is characterized by above-average
amounts of relationship behavior and below-average amounts of task behavior.
•
Style 4 (S4). This style is characterized by below-
average amounts of both relationship behavior and task behavior. The authors state the leadership situations involving the family, schools or other settings, different words may be more appropriate than task and relationship-for example, guidance and supportive behavior or directive behavior and facilitating behavior-but the underlying definitions remain the same.
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 20.
Figure 1: Effective Leader Behavior (page 192)
Readiness level is a key factor in situational leadership and choosing which style to implement. Readiness levels range from high to low.
• • • •
R4 (high). Able and willing or confident R3 (moderate). Able but not willing or confident R2 (moderate). Unable but willing or confident R1 (low). Unable and unwilling or insecure
MODERATE HIGH LOW R4 R3 R2 R1 Able and Able but Unable but Unable and Willing Unwilling Willing Unwilling or Confident or or or Insecure Confident Insecure
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 27.
Figure 2: Continuum or Follower Readiness (page 195) Study closely the figures below:
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 19.
Figure 3: (page 200)
Adapted from Paul Hersey, Situational Selling (Escondido, Calif.: Center for Leadership Studies, 1985), p. 35.
Figure 4: (page 208) Chapter 9: Situational Leadership, Perception, and the Impact of Power Power is one of the means by which a leader influences the behavior of followers. Power is influence potential-the resource that enables a leader
to gain compliance or commitment from others. Authority is a particular type of power that has its origin in the position that a leader occupies. Authority is the power that is legitimatized by virtue of an individual's formal role in a social organization. Position power and personal power have been discussed by Amitai Etzioni. Etzioni sees power as the ability to induce or influence behavior. Etzioni claimed power is derived from an organizational office, personal influence, or both. Individuals who are able to induce other individuals to a certain job because of their position in the organization are considered to have position power; individuals who derive their power from their followers are considered to have personal power. Some individuals can have both position power and personal power. Additional bases of power include coercive power, connection power, reward power, legitimate power, referent power, information power, and expert power. Referent and expert power were associated with the greatest satisfaction, legitimate and reward power were intermediate, and coercive power was associated with least satisfaction. Chapter 10: Developing Human Resources Managers need to devote time to nurture the leadership potential, motivation, morale, climate, commitment to objectives, and the decisionmaking, communication, and problem-solving skills of their people. An
important role for managers is the development of the task-relevant readiness of their followers. Rensis Likert found that employee-centered supervisors who use general supervision tend to have higher-producing sections than job-centered supervisors who use close supervision. Likert found that employees generally respond well to their supervisor's high expectations and genuine confidence in them and try to justify the supervisor's expectations of them. Chapter 12: Building Effective Relationships The Center for Leadership Studies examined the use of Leader Effectiveness and Adaptability Description (LEAD) instrument. The LEAD instrument was designed to measure three aspects of leader behavior: 1) style, 2) style range, or flexibility, and 3) style adaptability. The leadership style of a person is the behavior pattern a person exhibits when attempting to influence the activities of others--as perceived by those others. LEAD Self measures self-perception of how an individual behaves as a leader; the LEAD other reflects the perceptions of a leader's followers, supervisors, and peers or associates. Extensive research revealed that all leaders have a primary and secondary leadership style. A leader's primary style is defined as the behavior pattern used most often when attempting to influence the activities
of others. A leader's secondary style is the leadership style that a person tends to use on occasion. All leaders have one primary leadership style, but may have up to three secondary styles as described in Situational Leadership. Style range, or flexibility is the extent to which a leader is able to vary her or his leadership style. Leadership situations vary in the extent to which they make demands on flexibility. Style adaptability is the degree to which they are able to vary their style appropriately to the demands of a given situation, according to Situational Leadership. A wide style range will not guarantee effectiveness; style range is not as relevant to effectiveness as style adaptability. The importance of a leader's diagnostic ability cannot be overemphasized. It is the key to adaptability. The concept of adaptability implies that the effective leader is able to use the right style at the right time.
Figure 4: (page 302)
To diagnose an organization both the LEAD Self and LEAD Other instrument is used. Both are used to determine if there is any discrepancy between self-perception and the perception of others. A useful framework developed by Joseph Luft and Harry Ingham is used to analyze that data and feed it back to participating managers. This framework is called the Johari Window and depicts leadership personality, not overall personality, as it is sometimes used. The difference between leadership personality and leadership style in this context is that leadership personality includes selfperception and the perception of others; leadership style consists only of an individual's leader behavior as perceived by others, that is supervisors, employees, associates, and so on. Thus, leadership personality equals selfperception plus perception of others. Leaders who engage in some attitudes or behaviors that they themselves know about are referred to as known to self. Leadership personality that includes behaviors and attitudes known to others, as well as areas unknown to others. The arena that is known to self and also known to others is called public arena--it is known to all (the leader and others) within the organizational setting. The arena that is unknown to self (the leader), but is known to others, is referred to as the blind arena. The arena that is known
to self but unknown to others is referred to as the private arena. The last arena, unknown to self and unknown to others, is called the unknown.
Figure 5: Johari Window (page 304) Two-style profile includes either 1) a basic style that encompasses two of the four possible configuration styles or 2) a basic style and a supporting style. It is important to remember that unless you have gathered specific data on how your leadership style is perceived by others, your perception of your own leadership style is only that--your perception. Combining establishing objectives and reaching consensus on performance criteria in a traditional MBO program with a similar process for negotiating the appropriate leadership style that a manger should use to facilitate goal accomplishments in a specific task area can be accomplished through the following steps:
• •
Establish objectives and performance criteria Reach agreement on objectives and performance criteria
• • •
Introduce Situational Leadership Complete Readiness Style Match Meet to share data from Readiness Style Match
One warning should be given in using the Contracting for Leadership Style process and the readiness style match rating forms. When managers go through that process, their public arena in the Johari Window becomes very large. If managers do not want their people to know what they think and feel about them, then they should be careful about using the described process. Chapter 13: Communicating with Rapport The three basic competencies in influencing are 1) diagnosing--being able to understand the situation you are attempting to influence; 2) adapting--being able to adapt your behavior, and the other things that you have control over, to the contingencies of the situation; and 3) communicating--being able to put the message in a way that people can easily understand and accept. This chapter is about the third competency-communicating. All the evidence clearly shows that written and oral communication skills are critical not only in obtaining a job, but also in performing effectively on the job. Written and oral communication skills were the two most important factors in obtaining employment.
Leaders influence from both personal power and position power. You can begin building personal power by establishing rapport. Part of establishing rapport is being able to communicate effectively in a way that is comfortable for people you are attempting to influence. To make people feel comfortable, you have to get in step with them--pace with them. Key concepts:
•
Rapport. Being attuned to other people verbally or
nonverbally so that they are comfortable and have trust and confidence in you.
•
Pacing. Establishing rapport by reflecting what others do,
know, or assume to be true (doing something similar, matching some part of their ongoing experience).
•
Leading. Getting other people to pace with you
(attempting to influence them to consider other possibilities).
•
Having behavioral adaptability. Having enough range in
your own behavior to pace with the person or persons with whom you are interacting. The secret of establishing rapport with people is pacing. To pace with other people you need to adapt to match their behavior--to get "in sync" with
them so that they feel comfortable with you. This means getting in alignment with their words, their voice characteristics, and their nonverbals. When you have established rapport with people, they are more apt to follow your lead. The general pattern can be thought of in this way: Pace Lead
When you're interacting with other people, you're either pacing--doing something similar--or leading--having them pace with you. If your primary objective is to gain acceptance, then pacing may be enough. But if your objective is to influence them to consider other alternative, then you must also lead. Managers can sometimes lead first and then pace to get results, since they often have position power. Chapter 14: Group Dynamics No matter how much we value and protect our individuality, almost all of our goals can be achieved only in a group. Labor and management must have shared values, and yet in most cases they don't. Another important impediment to achieving group effectiveness is a lack of leadership skill. Brian Dumaine suggests there are five species in the kingdom of teams:
•
Problem-solving teams. Attack a problem and then
disband
•
Management teams. Coordinate work from different
functions.
•
Work teams, including the most advanced species, Self-
managed teams. Do the daily work.
•
Virtual teams. Use advanced communications to
exchange ideas and roles.
•
Quality circles. Consist of workers and supervisors who
meet periodically to address problems. This species may be becoming extinct. Dumaine offers four guidelines for the most effective use of teams including 1) Use the right team for the job 2) Create a hierarchy of teams 3) Build trust 4) Address "people" issues. An important term is a group as two or more individuals. What is the team's readiness in the situation?
•
Readiness Level 1. The group resembles "Pick-up
Sticks" in terms of their orientation toward the specific objective. In this "forming" stage, uncertainty and lack of goals and role clarity are evidenced by a strong need for
definition of the objective. The entire group is unable and unwilling or insecure in reference to the specific objective.
•
Readiness Level 2. This group is "coming around," but
groups at this "storming" stage are often divided with intragroup dissonance and competition for recognition and influence. The group as a whole is unable, but willing and confident, in reference to the specific objective.
•
Readiness Level 3. This group is "coming together," with
group cohesion very important at this "norming" stage. Adjustments are made between individuals and factions, and informal leaders and experts emerge. The group itself is now demonstrating ability with modest accomplishments, but it is still unwilling or insecure in its efforts toward accomplishing the objective.
•
Readiness level 4. This team acts "as one" and shows
strong evidence of functional role-relatedness, esprit, synergy, and high levels of performance. The group is now a team: able, willing, and confident in relation to the objective.
Source: Used by permission of the copyright holder, The Center for Leadership Studies, Escondido, Calif. 92025. All rights reserved.
Figure 6 (page 366) Chapter 15: Implementing Situational Leadership: Managing People to Perform
The most fundamental issue of how a leadership or management concept might appear to be is, Does it contribute to organizational productivity? A strategy is a broad integrated plan of action to accomplish organizational goals; in our frame of reference, the goal is to improve human
productivity. Performance is defined as achieving or surpassing business or social objectives and responsibilities from the perspective of the judging party. Seven factors of performance, designed by Clary Carr, include: 1) Goals 2) Standards 3) Feedback 4) Means 5) Competence 6) Motive 7) Opportunity. Paul Hersey and Marshall Goldsmith designed the ACHIEVE model. ACHIEVE represents ability, clarity, help, incentive, evaluation, validity, environment. Hersey and Goldsmith isolated these seven variables related to effective performance management. Performance management builds upon the basic philosophy of Situational Leadership. There is no one best way to solve human resource problems. The manager should use the problemsolving strategy that best fits the needs of followers in their unique situations. Chapter 16: Implementing Situational Leadership: One Minute Management
Spencer Johnson and Kenneth Blanchard attempted to overcome some of the objections to the academic nature of behavior modification in their best-selling book, The One Minute Manager. The book, and this chapter, focus on three powerful concepts derived from behavior
modification principles: one minute goal setting, one minute praisings, and one minute reprimands. The notion of a "one minute manager" was developed to encourage managers to take an extra minute to make sure they are focusing on those things that have the most impact in obtaining desired performance from workers. Limit the number of goals. It is advised that you set goals, set priorities, use measurable indicators, have standards of performance, include incentives and benefits, identify obstacles to goal accomplishment, identify action steps, praise and reward, and use reprimands and redirection if necessary. Good goals are SMART: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Trackable. If reprimands are necessary, reprimand the action, not the person. Don't forget the one minute apology when you are wrong. Talk specifics, build people up, hear people out and improve your own communication skills. Chapter 17: Implementing Situational Leadership: Effective Follow-Up
The book by Hersey and Blanchard, Putting the One Minute Manager to Work is the focus in this chapter. The "ABC's of management," which stands for activators, behaviors, and consequences. Activators are
things you have to do before you can expect good performance. Behavior is the performance you want. Consequences are what follow behavior.
Source: Kenneth Blanchard and Robert Lorber, Putting the One Minute Mananger to Work (New York: Morrow, 1984).
Figure 7 (page 419) The PRICE system is a five-step productivity improvement system developed by Robert Lorber and his associates. PRICE stands for pinpoint, record, involve, coach, and evaluate. The most important thing about any management concept is whether it works on a day-to-day basis. The proof is in the application (Hersey & Blanchard, 1996).
Summary In anticipation of the comps question, it is my suggestion that we know situational leadership, its levels, and the numerous ways it can be applied and implemented in any situation. So as far as putting this in question format, "How can situational leadership be applied in the following scenarios?" Links I strongly suggest that cohort members go online and search under "Situational Leadership" for numerous sites. The first search resulted in 1600 sites. There are a variety of applications and food for thought in areas that are currently using situational leadership. www.performancelearning.net (programs information) www.bsu.edu (has links to pertinent sites) www.qualitytalk.com (prof. development) www.getfeedback.net (good)
References Hersey, Paul, Blanchard, Kenneth H., Johnson, Dewey E. 1996. Management of Organizational Behavior: utilizing human resources. Prentice-Hall, New Jersey.
