These conflicts begin as business, but quickly develop into emotional. They are rather destructive, because the “opponent-opponent” system itself is being eliminated (the manager in the overwhelming majority of cases is “always right”), in addition, many current managers do not have sufficient experience and skills in working with personnel, trade unions and legislation weakly protect the rights of employees.
From the point of view of the problem under discussion, it is important that some managers believe that there is a certain universal style suitable for any situation, or they constantly adhere to only one, even the most progressive style. This inevitably leads to vertical conflicts. An effective leader must skillfully apply various styles, but they must always be adequate to the situation and state of the team he manages. Where it is necessary to act quickly and harshly, for example, in extreme management situations, meetings should not be held to “lean on the team.” In situations that are well controlled and predictable, you can even transfer part of your management functions; this will be perceived as confidence.
Psychological studies have shown that long-term use of only one leadership style leads to professional deformation of the leader’s personality, the development of negative character traits, stereotypes of perception and activity, which negatively affect performance and the moral and psychological climate.
A special case that leads to strong emotional conflicts that are intractable is the leadership style called pseudo-authority. Unfortunately, pseudo-authority is very common and very tenacious. Its psychological essence is unique. Every leader has a natural desire to create some kind of social distance with a managed team, which is a consequence of existing advantages and strong qualities, which determine the effectiveness of activities. This distance simplifies management and stabilizes relationships - the staff does not question the decisions made by the manager, strives to implement them quickly and accurately, treats the manager with respect, and is influenced by his authority. If this distance decreases or disappears, it becomes much more difficult to lead., since the staff develops a different attitude towards the manager (“he’s like everyone else, that’s why...”). Therefore, managers strive to create such distance. But how? In principle there are two ways.
1. The first is due to advanced personal and professional growth. In this case, authority is formed.
2. Second, when the leader himself “does not grow” - due to pressure, barriers and restrictions on the personal and professional growth of the team (literally - "keep and don't let go"). This is pseudo-authority.
The complexity of the problem also lies in the fact that many such leaders actually had serious merit in the past, but then they stopped growing, and decided to maintain the social distance that suited them at all costs.
· reasoning, demagoguery- bright phraseology creates the appearance of significance and scale of activity;
· skepticism- it is often perceived as a manifestation of high intelligence, “the ability to see what is inaccessible to others”;
· paying attention to detail- such leaders, even from the slightest mistake of their subordinates, are able to create an image of a catastrophe that they prevented;
· onslaught- “quick response” without serious preparation, is presented as the ability to anticipate a situation, “keep your finger on the pulse”;
· rudeness and harshness- presented as severity;
· creating an atmosphere of fear- “You have to be afraid of the boss, otherwise there will be no discipline.”
The most effective leadership styles depend on the "maturity" of the performers
P. Hairsey and K. Blanchard, within the framework of their “Theory life cycle» defined such a concept as the maturity of the working group:
“Maturity should not be defined in terms of age. Maturity of individuals and groups involves the ability to take responsibility for their behavior, the desire to achieve a given goal, and education and experience regarding the specific task to be accomplished.”
What is "maturity"
The concept of maturity is not a permanent quality of an individual or a group, but rather a characteristic of a specific situation. Depending on the task being performed, individuals and groups exhibit different levels of maturity. Assessment of this maturity is possible through the desire to achieve, the ability to take responsibility for behavior, as well as the level of education and past experience of working on assigned tasks.
After completing the formation processes, the group begins to constructively solve the tasks assigned to it. Its effectiveness is determined by the degree of maturity of the work group, which is the ratio between the need of the group as a whole for help and the need for psychological support.
“Help” here is understood as providing specific instructions, plans, resources, and control in achieving a goal.
Four degrees of group maturity
Elementary. At this level of maturity, the group experiences a high need for help and a lower need for psychological support. Members of such a group do not have sufficient abilities and capabilities to complete the task, but are motivated to complete it. Conventionally, this leadership style can be called “Giving instructions.”
Short. At the second level of maturity, the group retains a high need for help, but also acquires a high need for psychological support.
Group members already have some abilities, but do not yet have the full knowledge and skills to complete the task. In addition, they require some additional motivation to gain and maintain self-confidence.
Average. The average level of maturity of the group suggests a decrease in the need for real help and a high need for psychological support. At this point, the group members have acquired the necessary abilities, knowledge and skills to solve the problem. They need actual motivational support and strengthening of self-confidence.
High. A high degree of maturity characterizes a group that has an equally low need for both outside help and individual psychological support to achieve goals. Group members at this stage can and want to be responsible for the actions of the group, they have all the abilities and capabilities to achieve their goals and are confident in the group’s ability to achieve these goals.
Setting new tasks, changing the numerical or personal composition of the group, structural changes in the organization, mastering new technological processes leads to an inevitable decrease in the degree of maturity of the working group - at least by one level.
The larger the changes, the sharper the decline may be.
Leader behavior
At each level of maturity of the working group, it is advisable to use appropriate leadership styles and channels of influence on group processes. The manager, knowing the degree of maturity of his work group, has the opportunity to effectively use his own management potential.
The most effective leadership style depends on the maturity of the performer.
Leader behavior in the Hersey/Blanchard model is viewed as a relationship between relationship orientation and task orientation.
Task orientation involves the extent to which the leader is involved in defining work roles in the group. He completely determines the actions of his subordinates: what, how, when and where to do. The manager sets goals, organizes procedures, determines deadlines, manages the process and controls.
Relationship orientation involves the extent to which the leader participates in communication: listening, providing social and emotional support. The leader facilitates, communicates, helps organize interactions, actively listens and provides feedback.
Directive style ("Give directions")
This is leadership through specific instructions - you set strict goals, give specific tasks and track how they are accomplished. This implies a high task orientation and a low people orientation of the leader.
When is it relevant?: directive style is most appropriate when low maturity working group.
Peculiarities: This style is maximally task-oriented and minimally relationship-oriented. In this case, the manager makes decisions individually and independently. Provides his subordinates with precise instructions and carefully monitors execution. He says what should be done and how, leads to the goal, manages processes, sets rules and regulations. Conventionally, this style of leadership can be called “Giving instructions.”
Mentoring style ("Sell")
This is leadership through “selling ideas.” It assumes a high focus on both the task and people. You, as a manager, continue to give instructions, monitor the completion of tasks, but here an element of justification is added: you explain the decisions made to the employee and invite him to express his ideas.
When is it relevant?: At the initial stage of maturity, a leader is most effective if he is focused equally on both the task and the relationship.
Peculiarities: in this style, the decision is made by the leader and discussed or explained to the subordinate. That is, the manager communicates his decisions, but gives employees the opportunity to clarify them. He convinces of the need for certain actions, explains the meaning and principles of work, clarifies the relationship and persuades if there is tension in the relationship. This style can be called "Sell".
Supportive style ("Participate")
This is leadership through participation in the organization of the work process. This style is characterized by a high people orientation and a low task orientation. This means that the leader only supports his subordinates, he participates in decision-making and helps, but to a greater extent, decisions are made by the employees themselves.
When is it relevant?: when the group reaches medium maturity, that is, has already mastered work skills and methods of making tactical decisions, it is advisable for the leader to move to a supporting style.
Features: e This style involves a greater focus on relationships and less attention to the performance of functions and tasks known to employees. In this situation, the manager makes decisions together with subordinates or supports them in making independent decisions. The role of the manager here is getting closer to the actual leadership role. He shares ideas, inspires people to give their best, helps manage relationships, and participates in group activities. This is the most collaborative leadership style. Style name "Participate".
Delegating style ("Delegate")
You lead through delegation, focusing little on both people and tasks, that is, you delegate to employees the right to make decisions and responsibility for getting the job done.
When is it relevant?: a high degree of maturity of the working group allows you to manage its activities using a delegating leadership style.
Peculiarities: the manager in this case does not need to constantly make efforts to create relationships or achieve a task. Decision making is delegated to subordinates, the manager also delegates to them responsibility for implementation decisions taken. He monitors the activities of the group, records the most successful results, and, if necessary, can give advice on alternative way solving the problem. The name of the leadership style is “Delegate”.
Like other situational models, the approach of P. Hairsey and K. Blanchard recommends that the manager determine his predominant leadership style and work on mastering other styles. It is the flexibility and adaptability of leadership style that constitute the essence of the situational approach.
.Only the leader who manages to transform the phenomenon of power into a means of business communication can become an effective leader
Ken Blanchard is known as an author of numerous works, a prominent speaker, and a sought-after expert on management. Ken Blanchard is the author or co-author of nearly forty books. Among them are no less than 30 bestsellers, translated into many languages, including the bestseller The One Minute Manager, which sold 13 million copies.
Ken Blanchard is also known for situational leadership theory, or life cycle theory, which he developed with Paul Hersey. They described it in 1960 in the book Management of Organizational Behavior. Blanchard and Hersey found that not everything depends on the employee or manager. This is an active counter work: the employee needs to grow professionally, psychologically and motivationally, and the leader needs to apply the right leadership style: give instructions, guidance and support in a timely manner, as well as provide freedom of action at the right time. The most effective leadership is possible only if the leaders are “mature”.
Maturity in this case implies the ability to take responsibility for one's behavior, the desire to achieve a set goal, and education and experience regarding the specific task that needs to be completed. According to Hersey and Blanchard, the concept of maturity is not a permanent quality of an individual or group, but rather a characteristic of a specific situation. That is, depending on the task being performed individuals and groups exhibit different levels of “maturity.”
The theory implies that there are only four leadership styles that correspond to a particular level of maturity, and four levels of subordinate development. The first style is directive. This is leadership through specific instructions, setting strict goals and monitoring how they are achieved. This style is appropriate for low-maturity subordinates who are either unwilling or unable to take charge of a specific task and require appropriate instruction, direction, and close supervision. This implies a high task orientation and a low human relations orientation of the leader.
The second style is mentoring. This is leadership through “selling ideas.” It implies that the manager will continue to give specific instructions to his subordinates and monitor their implementation. But the manager also invites employees to express their ideas and supports their desire and enthusiasm to complete the task on their own responsibility. In this situation, subordinates want to accept responsibility, but cannot, since they have an average level of maturity. Thus, this leadership style is equally and highly task-oriented and relationship-oriented.
The third style is supportive. To a greater extent, the style is based on the participation of subordinates in decision making, because they know what needs to be done and how, and they do not require specific instructions. However, it is necessary that subordinates want and understand their involvement in completing this task. Therefore, the style is characterized by a moderately high degree of leader maturity. This means that the leader only supports subordinates, increases their motivation and involvement, provides them with assistance, without imposing any instructions. In essence, the manager and subordinates make decisions together, and this encourages greater participation and ownership. This style is characterized by a high orientation towards human relationships and a low orientation towards the task.
The fourth style is delegating. The style is characterized by a high degree of maturity, since in this situation subordinates know what and how to do, are aware of the high degree of their involvement in the task, and want to be responsible for its implementation.
Therefore, this style is appropriate in a situation with a mature leader. He allows subordinates to act on their own: they do not need any support or instructions.
Leadership occurs through delegation; the leader's behavior combines a low degree of focus on both the task and human relationships.
Blanchard's model is loved for its flexible, adaptive leadership style, hands-on approach and simplicity.
By selecting a leadership style for each level of employee development in relation to the task, the model results in:
- optimal solution to the work problem,
- freeing up the manager's time,
- psychologically comfortable working interaction,
- professional development and growth of the employee,
- maintaining the managerial form of the leader.
The universal rule of Blanchard's theory is that leadership is a partnership in which both parties, the leader and the follower, are responsible for the result. “Don’t think you can do everything on your own. When you create a project, you begin to need others to implement your idea.
You should not consider yourself the smartest, and others - only technical labor force. Let people use their brains and not just their hands. Let them be part of your dream and make your dream their dream. People are needed to reach the top, and then to stay there,” is what Blanchard professes.
Prepared by Natalya Yakovleva
AND to the right employee, an impossible problem. At what stage can you trust a subordinate, involve him in the process of forming goals and objectives, and delegate authority? How to save face and remain a leader?
“If you want people to follow you, follow them.”
Confucius
Many people know about the existence of four levels of employee working maturity. Let's draw an analogy with S. Covey's time management matrix and put the psychological attitude on the x-axis, and professionalism on the y-axis. As a result, we get four squares.
In the first square, as a rule, there are beginners. They are full of enthusiasm, determination, and want to learn a lot or quickly master new skills. But, as specialists, they have a basic baggage of skills and abilities. The formula goes like this: motivated, but not professional.
In the second square, there are employees who have acquired certain skills and experience, but their motivation periodically dissipates, under the influence of the first difficult tasks, due to non-compliance with the requirements voiced at the interview and real work. Formula: not motivated and not professional.
In the third square, the employee becomes a master of his craft, his knowledge, skills and abilities are at a high level. However, unlike the second square, the psychological mood is unstable, minor failures in completing assigned tasks can knock you out of action, so the level of motivation fluctuates. Formula: not motivated, but professional.
And finally, in the fourth square, the employee hones his professional skills to a master level, becomes self-confident and is ready to pass on his experience to the younger generation. Formula: motivated and professional.
It is important to assess the maturity level of each specialist with clear frequency and promptly change the style of influence. Let me remind you that for the first square, simple instructions, clear instructions and maximum control are enough. In the second square, the setting of tasks continues, but an element of justification is necessary; this will allow the employee to believe in himself and master necessary knowledge. In the third square, the employee needs support, he expresses ideas, his thoughts, strives for independence, here a positive response from management is required. In the fourth quadrant, an employee is an experienced, highly professional, motivated leader, capable of making decisions and taking responsibility. And your authority, staff motivation, the face of the company and, most importantly, the implementation of the assigned tasks will depend on how much you see the person. After all, if a person is competent, but not determined to complete the task, the result will be low or negative. And vice versa, if an employee is eager to work, but is not competent, the result will also be low.
Before meeting or setting plans, you need to determine the employee's skill level for each issue you are going to cover. In this case, you can use the following formula: “What the employee successfully completed within a specific task while working in this organization over the last period.” Decoding each part of this phrase will tell the manager in which direction to move.
“What the employee successfully dealt with” - this part of the phrase tells us general information about the employee’s competence, his knowledge, experience and skills on this issue.
“Within a specific task” – here, the circle shrinks and we are transferred to the area of specific concepts. Not enough in this area general information, we need clear and precise indicators.
“Working in a given organization” - the specifics of work in different companies may vary. If a person successfully coped with a similar task at a previous place of work, this does not mean that everything will go smoothly for you. Personal control over the completion of the task is required, and not vague recommendations from the old place of work.
“During the last period” - if your subordinate successfully coped with marketing research six months ago, it’s not a fact that everything will work out right for him now. Everything is changing very quickly, new technologies, methodologies, business processes. As they say, everything flows, everything changes.
Conventionally, approximately 0-5 successful tasks can be placed in the first square; if the goal was successfully achieved 10-15 times, then this is the second square. At successful work six months, when all the nuances and subtleties are known, is the third square of maturity, everything higher is the fourth square.
We’ve figured out the definition of professionalism, but what about the psychological component? Here we can also distinguish 4 degrees of psychological attitude:
1st degree – the employee expresses fear, mistrust, aggression, negative emotions (not motivated);
2nd degree – the employee is in a positive state emotional state(poorly motivated);
3rd degree - the employee expresses affection for the company with all his appearance; in his speech words such as “our clients”, “our company”, “our common goal” are often heard (motivated);
4th degree - the employee radiates an infectious calm confidence (highly motivated).
Finally, the most important and interesting thing. At the beginning of the meeting, it is enough to check the professional state of the employee according to the above formula and for a specific task, and directly during the meeting, observe the psychological state. Having assessed the situation, we select the lowest parameter and determine which style of influence needs to be applied.
For example: “It is necessary to make a presentation of a new product (vacuum cleaner).”
We use the prepared formula. The employee knows how to give presentations, knows how to do it, but presented software products. He performed this task in his previous place, six months ago. In personal contact, he expresses positive emotions and is in a good mood. We get the general picture: the employee’s psychological attitude corresponds to the second degree; we can say that he is poorly motivated and incompetent. We express it with the formula: not motivated and not professional, therefore, falls into the second square. The person definitely has some knowledge and skills. He just needs to make a couple of presentations with the new product and study it in detail. This will give him more freedom and self-confidence. It would be reasonable to use a mentoring style of influence.
If your goal is a strong, growing team of professionals, simple leadership is not enough. Situational leadership implies a targeted effect, an individual approach to each employee, as well as mutual movement of the boss and subordinate towards each other. The more closely you work with a person, the more specific the results will be.
· Characteristics of the concept of “team”
· Indicators of the level of maturity of the team
· Functions and structure of the team
· Morally psychological climate team
· Social layers of the team
Business conversation- this is, first of all, communication between employees within the same team of a company, enterprise, or organization. Both the process of communication and its results largely depend on those human relationships, the moral and psychological climate that is established in the team. These relationships can be influenced and optimized, creating an atmosphere in the team that is most favorable for achieving successful results. But for this it is necessary, first of all, to know what the team is, what its structure is, its functions and the patterns of relationships that develop between employees, as well as between the manager and subordinates.
A team is a group of people united by common goals and similar motives joint activities, lying in line with public interests (for example, in the field of production, business, education, etc.).
Each team, regardless of the nature of its activities, performs the following: Features:
- carrying out a certain type of labor - productive, entrepreneurial, educational, etc. (production function);
- inclusion of the individual through work in the life of society (social function);
Formation in an individual of qualities necessary for a given type of activity and for society as a whole (educational function).
Team – This is the highest stage of group development. Its distinctive features are:
· the presence of a common and socially significant goal of joint activity;
· personal significance of the common goal for all group members;
· the presence of a special structure of relations between group members, which is mediated by the content of joint activities, its values, principles, goals and objectives.
Team maturity level is defined as the ability of a group to set relevant and realistic common goals that correspond to the individual goals of each team member, to build and, if necessary, change the structure of relationships and interactions to achieve set goals with maximum efficiency.
The following are most often cited as the main indicators of the level of maturity of a team:
· team cohesion(coincidence of assessments and attitudes of group members in relation to the essential aspects of joint purposeful activity);
· team organization(the ability to create and maintain a stable structure in situations of uncertainty, combining a diversity of opinions and forms of proactive behavior with the unity of actions of its participants);
· team focus(social significance of set goals, motives for activity, value orientations and norms);
· emotional identity(the ability of a group to empathize with any of its members);
· teamwork(the maximum possible productivity of joint activities with minimal emotional and energy costs for interaction, accompanied by high subjective satisfaction);
· intellectual communication(the ability to create optimal ways of mutual information in determining common positions, judgments, and making group decisions).
According to modern scientific concepts, the structure of relationships in any team is multi-level.
First level- These are formal, regulated relationships. The nature of relationships at this level is determined by
a) the division of labor between group members, their official duties and rights;
b) features of the production process;
c) administrative and legal regulation recorded in official regulations, instructions, orders and other regulations.
Second level - this is the relationship of team members to the realized production goal, their motivation labor activity, its social and personal meaning for each employee.
Third level- these are interpersonal relationships mediated by the content of the production process, its goals, objectives, principles accepted in the team and value orientations, “unwritten” moral requirements and traditions.
Fourth level– these are interpersonal relationships not related to the content of joint activity, based on personal sympathy or antipathy, respect or disrespect, etc.
It is important to pay due attention to the development and strengthening of all levels of relationships. But it should be remembered that the first three levels have potential centripetal force and their strengthening contributes to team unity and increased efficiency of its activities. And the fourth level of relationships carries a centrifugal charge, and if the emphasis is placed specifically on its development (for example, through corporate parties, informal communication, etc.), this can lead to a weakening, modification, and sometimes even rupture of relationships on the first three levels. And then the violations labor discipline, negligent attitude towards fulfilling one’s duties, mutual responsibility, etc. become the norm labor collective(after all, “we are all our own people”), but the business suffers.
In other words, it can be argued that the first three levels characterize formal (official) group structure, and the fourth - informal (unofficial).
Formal group structure reflects the official distribution between team members service roles. This distribution is determined by production technology or official position workers. Clearly defining the job functions of employees increases their personal responsibility, thereby ensuring the success of the entire enterprise as a whole.
Moreover, in addition to the roles defined staffing table, there are also roles associated with the production process itself, its needs for various types activities. Workers who take on these roles are roughly classified as follows:
· "idea generators" possessing non-standard, creative thinking;
· performers, those who have a reproductive mindset and are conscientious executors of other people’s ideas and plans;
· experts, able to predict and calculate how the proposed idea will “work” - its pros and cons, possible consequences;
· critics, people with a special, critical mindset, often incapable of productive activity, but who identify those negative aspects and bottlenecks in the production process that are not noticed by other workers;
· "clowns"(conventionally a humorous name) - some managers recognize the need to have easy-going, non-offensive, sociable people in the team, capable of lifting the mood or defusing a conflict situation in the team.
The manager identifies what type a particular employee belongs to and, accordingly, determines his place in the team. It is unproductive and unprofitable, for example, to use an “idea generator” in performing work and vice versa, it is useless to reproach a “critic” - they say, it is always easier to criticize, but you try it, do it yourself, etc.
System of service and public functions workers (formal structure) is the basis on which the informal group structure.
The informal structure is a set of psychological connections and relationships that develop between people who are in direct contact with each other in the process of performing production functions. These relationships are less stable than work relationships, since they arise on the basis of people’s personal, subjective perception of each other. However, for the people themselves, the members of the team, they are of great importance and have a strong influence on them. psychological impact The fact is that depending on the nature of informal relations in the team, one or another moral and psychological climate(or microclimate).
Moral and psychological climate of the team determines the attitude of people to the work performed, as well as their attitude towards each other. This is the emotional coloring of the psychological connections of team members, arising on the basis of their relationships, likes or dislikes, differences in characters, inclinations and interests. Psychologists say that everyone contributes something to the atmosphere of the team, and everyone inhales the common air. Indeed, the character and state of the psychological climate of the entire team largely depends on each employee.
The psychological climate of the group can be different: benevolent and unkind, stable and less stable, positive and negative, healthy and unhealthy.
A positive, stable, healthy and friendly microclimate in a team creates in people a feeling of “psychological comfort”, well-being, helps maintain optimism in life, and gives rise to a feeling of satisfaction from their work.
There is a moral and psychological climate on two levels– at the level of the entire institution or enterprise and at the level of a small group of people who are directly and constantly in contact in the process of work. Both levels are important, but each in their own way. For example, the disadvantage that exists in a “large” team can, to a certain extent, be compensated by a good, friendly climate in a micro-team. But it is unlikely that in this case people will become particularly active at the level of the entire team - at production meetings, at social work, in cultural events.
The moral and psychological climate of any team is determined by several parameters, among which the following play a special role:
1.leadership style, which is determined by the relationship between democracy and authoritarianism;
2. group relationship style which ranges from the most personally saturated to the extremely impersonal, formal, dry, bureaucratic. Measurement is also important here, because Work cannot be built on smiles and personal connections alone. In this case, too much begins to depend on personal likes and dislikes, the general level of organization and discipline decreases, and the importance of the formal aspects necessary in any business decreases;
3. degree of personal independence, i.e. the breadth of the sphere within which the employee has the opportunity to act and make decisions independently;
4. help and kindness in relationships;
5. with degree of tolerance, tolerance for different points of view and opinions on issues of an official, and even more so non-productive nature;
6. actually applied scale of rewards and punishments, its flexibility and fairness, positive impact on the motivational sphere of team members. It is very important for a person not only how much he has done and how much he has received, but also the consciousness of the fairness of assessing his contribution to the common cause in comparison with the contribution and “reward” of his colleagues at work.
The moral and psychological community of the team precisely ensures the coherence and cohesion that characterize an efficient and creative team. They appear on three levels:
- as unity of purpose;
- as a community of values;
- as an emotional community, which is based on personal likes and preferences.
The informal structure of a group can be considered on several grounds.
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