Organizational Behaviour

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Organizational Behaviour

• A Look Inside

Liz McLean St. Lawrence College
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Our Current Economic Crisis
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What Is Organizational Behaviour?

• It is the study of what people think, feel and do
  in and around organizations.
• It emerged as a distinct field of study in the
  1940s but writings on leadership and ethics date
  back to Plato and Confucius
• It helps us to understand, predict and influence
  our co-workers and our organizations

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Topics - 3 Levels of Study

• Individual
• Behaviour
• Values
• Personality
• Perception
• Learning
• Emotions
• Attitudes
• Stress
• Motivation
• Performance Practices

• Team
• Decision Making
• Creativity
• Team Dynamics
• High Performance Teams
• Communication
• Power Influence
• Conflict Negotiation
• Leadership

• Organization
• Structure
• Culture
• Change

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What is Leadership?

• Leadership is the ability to influence, motivate,
  and enable others to contribute toward the
  effectiveness of the organizations of which they
  are members.

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Great Leaders Their Qualities
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Perspectives of Leadership 8 Leadership
Competencies
Emotional Intelligence

• Perceiving, assimilating, understanding, and
  regulating emotions

Integrity

• Truthfulness
• Translates words into deeds

Drive

• Inner motivation to pursue goals
• Need for achievement, quest to learn

Leadership Motivation

• High need for socialized power to accomplish
  teams or firms goals

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8 Leadership Competencies
Self-Confidence

• High self-efficacy regarding ability to lead
  others

Intelligence

• Above average cognitive ability
• Can analyze problems/opportunities

Knowledge ofthe Business

• Familiar with business environment
• Aids intuitive decision making

Personality

• Higher levels of extroversion
• Higher levels of conscientiousness

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Leadership Styles

• Directive
• Task-oriented behaviours
• Supportive
• People-oriented behaviours
• Participative
• Encouraging employee involvement
• Achievement-oriented
• Using goal setting and positive self-fulfilling
  prophecy
• Situational Leadership Theory
• Effective leaders vary their style based on the
  readiness of the followers and the situation at
  hand

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Leaders Need Teams

• If I have seen farther than others, it is
  because I was standing on the shoulder of giants.
• - Isaac Newton

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Types of Team Building
Teambuilding refers to formal activities intended
to improve the development and function of a work
team

• Role definition
• Goal setting
• Problem solving
• Interpersonal process

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Making Team Building Effective
Some team building activities are successful, but
just as many fail because

• Team-building activities need to target specific
  team problems and weaknesses
• Team building is a continuous process, not a
  one-shot inoculation
• Team building needs to occur on-the-job, not just
  away from the workplace (on the obstacle course!)

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Team Constraints Groupthink

• Tendency in highly cohesive teams to value
  consensus at the price of decision quality
• More common when the
• Team is highly cohesive
• Team is isolated from outsiders
• Team leader is opinionated
• Team faces external threat
• Team has recent failures
• Team lacks clear guidance

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Team Constraints Group Polarization

• Tendency for teams to make more extreme decisions
  than individuals alone

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One Solution for Group Think Polarization
Constructive Conflict

• Assign promising ideas or problems needing
  solutions to two or more teams for development or
  resolution
• Ensure diversity of membership
• Set rules and guidelines for team conduct focus
  on the issue while maintaining respect for others
  with alternate views

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Teambuilding Activity
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Questions?
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Thank You!