Fundamentals of Human Relations TMB Ch' 1 What Is Small Group Interaction Tubbs Ch' 1

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Fundamentals of Human RelationsTMB Ch. 1What
Is Small Group Interaction?Tubbs Ch. 1
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Warm Up..

• What do you think human relations is?
• Why would human relations be more important to a
  manager than an employee?
• What are responsibilities of a manager to
  employee? Employee to manager?
• Are the skills required of managers changing in
  the 21st century? What are they?
• What are some skills that people need to have in
  order to work in small groups?

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Basic Definitions

• Human Relations?
• Its all of the interactions that occur among
  people.
• Being honest, direct, and positive in dealing
  with others.
• Organizational Behavior?
• How people, groups, and organizations behave.
  Study and discuss relationships.
• Management?
• A group of people who coordinate others in order
  to achieve objectives.
• Q Is a good manager a boss, director,
  accountability expert?
• If not, what do you think makes a good
  manager?

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Is There A Need For Human Relations Skills?

• When people work in groups, there will be
  differences that result in conflict.
• Many people dont know how to solve business
  conflicts constructively.
• Q Do you agree that most managers fail because
  of lack of
• inter/intrapersonal skills? If not, why?
• Human Relations looks at how people can work
  effectively to satisfy both organizational goals
  as well as personal.

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Brief History of Human Relations

• First there was Scientific Management-
• Greater productivity could be achieved by
  breaking down work into isolated, specific,
  specialized tasks.
• Main objective, to remove the causes for
  antagonism between the boss and the people who
  are under the boss.
• Then, Unions Develop-
• In response to bad management, low wages, unsafe
  conditions.
• By the 1920s, unions were very large.

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History Continued

• Hawthorne Experiment (Studies)
• Studied the effects of illumination, ventilation,
  and fatigue on workers.
• Found that group morale and personal motivation
  were relevant to productivity.
• This study really started the Human Relations
  movement and how managers treated workers..what
  its result was/is.
• Also showed Informal Organization
• Result of Study
• It was no longer the right thing for management
  to view workers as tools or as isolated units in
  the production process.
• Q In todays world, do we view employees as
  tools?
• Does management look at staff as whole persons,
  complex and ready?
• What is the best way for managers to make
  decisions these days?

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Recent Developments in Human Relations

• Quality Management
• Employee Empowerment
• Organizational Transformation

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I. Quality Management

• Quality Circles-
• Groups of employees engaged in decision
  makingoccurs at all levels.
• People want to be part of the solution.
• Here, a good manager will ask
• How can we do this better?
• How can we achieve this goal?
• Its about industrial democracy and employee
  involvement from folks at all levels.
• TQM-
• All in the organization is to provide customers
  with reliable, excellent service.
• What do we do well.what can we do better
  at.continually strive to be better.

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II. Employee Empowerment

• Defined-
• To give power or authority to, enable, or
  enfranchise employees to do their jobs.
• Q Is it wise to involve everyone in
  everything?
• What do you see in your organizations?
• Five Supporting Functions-
• Listen/celebrate/recognize/respect/inspire
• Spend a lot of time on recruitment
• Train and retrain
• Provide incentives that make sense and are agreed
  by all! Why?
• Provide an employment guarantee
• Three Inhibitors-
• Simplify/reduce structure
• Reconceive the middle managers role
• Eliminate bureaucratic rules and humiliating
  conditions

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III. Organizational Transformation

• Empowerment contributes to a new way of thinking,
  actinga real commitment to change
• Transformation looks/requires
• People at all levels need to be able to make
  decisions, company should encourage it.
• People need information in order to make
  intelligent decisions.
• People need training.
• People need a stake in the outcome of their
  decisions and in the company itself.
• If a company can do these things consistently,
  they are GOLD!

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Lets Practice

• Break into groups of 5
• Choose your facilitator
• Turn to page 19 of TMB
• Read through Case Study 1-1, Joe Riley
• Answer the questions
• Be ready to present in class.

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9 Themes In Human Relations

• 1. Human Dignity-
• Its about the dignity and worth of humans.
• People need to balance their private lives with
  the demands of the job.
• As managers, we are working with human
  beings.not always perfect.
• 2. Empathy-
• Putting yourself in someone elses place to
  understand their point of
• view.needs.and reasons for their actions.
• Lack of empathy leads to conflict.
• Its important to leadership. Q Do you offer
  empathy as a manager?

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9 Themes In Human Relations

• 3. Individual Differences Diversity-
• Differences in abilities to learn, effects of
  training, and job performance.
• Q Do you think most managers manage people the
  same? Should they?
• The workforce is also very diverse.
• Q What is your definition of diversity?
• Does your organization take diversity seriously?
• What are some examples you can share?

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9 Themes In Human Relations

• 4. The Whole Person-
• This involves the mind, body, effect of
  relationships on people.
• Employers become part of a persons life.
• Single parents.elder care.troubled
  children.substance abuse..
• 5. Communication-
• Provides basis for group participation.
• If managers cant communicatethey cant
  motivate
• If employees cant communicate with management,
  they dont perform and leave.
• Q What are some examples of employee/group
  communication that you have seen work well in
  your organization? Not work well?

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9 Themes In Human Relations

• 6. Leadership-
• Get work done through efforts of others.
• Give them the glory!
• Set direction, secure market success, lead
  teams!!
• 7. Teamwork-
• Essential to organizations.
• Managers and employees need to work as a team to
  survive.
• 8. Constant Change-
• Involves initiative, teamwork, and creativity.
• Q Do we sometimes need to force change? If so,
  how is it done?
• 9. Motivation-
• People relate because they are driven by
  psychological, social, emotional and
• economic forces that have the power to motivate
  them.

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Guidance Within The Organization.Requirements?

• Human Relations is also about management and
  their skills.
• HUGE part of an organization..
• Q How does your organization screen for
  management candidates?
• How does your organization promote managers?
• Tell the class about a leader within your
  organization
• Are they hands-on? If not, how does that affect
  the company?
• Are they micromanagers.is that good?
• Do they have respect of the employees?
• Human Relations is about working with people,
  how does this
• leader interact and work with people?

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Lets Practice

• Break into groups of 5
• Choose your facilitator
• Turn to page 20 of TMB
• Read through Case Study 1-2, The Aerobics
  Instructor
• Answer the questions
• Be ready to present in class

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• Lets Turn Now To Small Group Interaction

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Definitions

• Looking at small group interaction, how would
  you define it?
• Q Is there a difference between a team and a
  group?
• 6 different considerations in regards to a group
• - Perceptions
• - Motivation
• - Goals
• - Organization
• - Interdependence
• - Interaction
• Author Definition of Small Group Interaction
• The process by which three or more members of a
  group exchange verbal and nonverbal messages in
  an attempt to influence one another.

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Why Study Small Groups?

• Effective use of these groups is essential to
  you and your companys success by
• Developing self-awareness
• Solving problems creatively
• Establishing supporting communication
• Gaining power and influence
• Delegating and decision making
• Managing conflict
• Can save time and money if used correctly
• Challenges employees (chance to grow and develop,
  challenging jobs)
• Develops managers
• Manz and Sims (Super-Leadership, 1990) wrote
• SuperLeaders marshal the strength of many, for
  their strength does not lie solely in their own
  abilities, but in the vast, multiple talents of
  those that surround them.

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Empowerment

• Greater teamwork and empowermentits where
  organizations need to go!
• Empowerment
• A leadership style that enables the leader to
  more effectively utilize the talents, abilities,
  and knowledge of others, and, at the same time,
  increase his or her available time to work on
  more strategic activities, rather than on
  putting out fires.
• Leads to greater productivity.quicker response
  to problems.increased motivation.
• BUT, it can cause frustration..ambiguity..new
  behaviors must be learned.trust developed..new
  levels of trust born..
• Stronger Group Dynamics are fostered through
  empowerment!

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Setting The SceneGroups Are Complicated!

• Visualize a recent party you attended.
• Q What did it look like? What was going on?
• Group interaction can be very complicated and
  detailed.
• We will study group interactions based on the
  General Systems Theory.
• General Systems Theory-
• A way to think about and study the constant,
  dynamic adjustments of living phenomena..open
  systems.TEAMS/GROUPS
• All parts of a team move in relation to each
  other..like a flik

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General Systems Concepts

• These concepts can be applied to group
  communication and interaction.
• Input
• Throughput
• Output
• Cycles
• Negative Entropy
• Feedback
• Dynamic Equilibrium
• Differentiation
• Integration
• Equifinality

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General Systems Concepts.

• Input-
• Includes personality, sex, age, health,
  attitudes, and values.
• Includes information the group receives from
  outside the group.
• Ex. Running short on time during a meeting.
  This info changes the group to adjust and change
  procedures.focus more on their agenda.
• Throughput-
• These are the internal influences of Tubbs Model.
• It is all of the verbal and nonverbal behaviors
  that occur in a group.
• This is really the heart of group dynamics.
• Output-
• This is the consequences section of Tubbs Model.
• Q Are outputs really the end?....or is it
  ongoing?

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General Systems Concepts

• Cycles-
• This is all about the ongoing processes of groups
  and implies that it doesnt end.
• It is ongoingcycles of processes.
• Ex. During a meeting, your boss gets a little
  snippy with you about an idea that you brought
  to the table, calls it dumb, makes you feel bad.
• Q How do you react to this and/or how would
  other people react?
• Negative Entropy-
• From a corporate standpoint, it means that
  everything has a tendency to deteriorate.
• So, leaders need to recognize the signals of
  impending deterioration.
• Q Do managers do this well? If no, why not?

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General Systems Concepts

• Feedback-
• Simply, we need to know feedback on our
  performance.
• Personally and in groups, we need to know how
  were doing.we crave it!
• Dynamic Equilibrium-
• In groups, we decide if the membership in that
  group is worth what we are putting into it.
• If not, we slack or even quit the group to find
  one that more matches our equilibrium.
• Q How do you see this occurring in the
  workplace?

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General Systems Concepts

• Differentiation-
• Organizations must now have specialists
  (production, legal, labor)
• In groups, certain people gravitate toward
  certain roles.
• They differentiate themselves.makes them feel
  safe in the group.
• Integration-
• This makes a group less chaotic.
• People are on different agendas..get on the
  right one.
• Equifinality-
• Although two groups may have different members,
  leadership styles, decision-making methods, etc.,
  they may still arrive at the same solution to a
  given problem.
• But, two groups may also attempt to use the same
  procedures but end up with different
  outcomes.hence equifinality can also be about
  group adaptation.

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Why Are People Attracted To Groups?

• Q Why do you think people are interested in
  groups?
• Attraction to group activities-
• Attraction to group goals-
• Attraction to being affiliated with the group-
• Attraction to needs outside the group-

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Group Consensus Activity

• Break into groups of 5
• Turn to page 28 of Tubbs
• Read through 2. Group Consensus Activity
• Answer the questions
• Be ready to present in class.