BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY 0.4

Key elements of individual behaviour at work

Abilities

Personality

Perception

Motivation

Factors affecting behaviour at work

Impact of remuneration - employees work for pay

Person fulfilment - satisfaction & pride from doing work well

Level of initiative - willingness to work independently or follow instructions

Expectations - desire for promotion, recognition or higher pay

Role theory in individuals behaviour at work (individuals behave according to roles they perform at work & these roles influence their attitudes, behaviour & perception)

Role behaviour - how a person acts in a role

Role set - people who interact with the role holder

Role signs - signals like dress or communications showing a role

Role conflict - clash between two or more roles

Role ambiguity - unclear expectations about a role

Role incompatibility - mismatch between expected & actual role behaviour

Features of a work group

Group identity & loyalty - members feel part of the group

Social interaction - members communicate & support eachother

Formal groups - created by management with set rules

Informal groups - formed naturally through social relationships

Group leaders - formal leaders are appointed; informal leaders emerge naturally

Implications of work groups

Combinations of skills

Group synergy

Positive/negative attitudes

Shared attitudes

Managing individuals & groups at work (2 approaches)

Individual approach - work is assigned to individuals with specific roles

Team approach - focuses on people working together, combining skills & ideas to achieve better results with more flexibility & self-control

Work group

A formal group of individuals performing a function (same dep’t on different tasks eg. finance dep’t)

Work team

A small group of people working closely together to achieve a goal. (sg finance dep’t consists of treasury team etc)

Features of work teams

small size

clear purpose

strong identity

cooperation & collaboration

Complimentary skills

Self control

Types of work teams

Lifespan of teams - temporary (project-based) or permanent (ongoing work)

Multi-disciplinary teams - members from different departments working together

Multi-skilled teams - members in different locations who collaborate using technology

Conditions for building effective teams

Purpose

authority

time scale

team size & membership

resources

team spirit

Belbin’s team roles theory/approach

People act different ways in a team

there are 9 roles needed for a team to work well

one person can do more that one role

missing roles = work team

same roles repeated = conflict

choose team members based on personality not just skills

Belbin’s team roles (9 roles divided into 3 broad groups)

action oriented roles - focused on getting things done

thought oriented roles - focused on ideas & solving problems

people oriented roles - focused with helping others in the team

Action oriented roles

Shaper - pushes the team, challenges others, gets things moving

Implementer - turns ideas into practical work

completer/finisher - checks details, ensures work is finished properly

Thought oriented roles

Plant - creative, gives new ideas & solutions

monitor/evaluator - analyses ideas & makes logical judgements

specialist - provides expert knowledge

People oriented roles

Coordinator - organises & leads the team

team worker - supports team, helps resolve conflict

resource investigator - finds opportunities & contacts outside the team

focus - teamwork & relationship

Tuckman’s stages of team development

forming - team is new, needs leader guidance

shaming - conflict & competition happen

norming - rules agreed, teamwork improves

performing - team works effectively & independently

adjourning - team finishes or breaks up