SH6000 Leadership And Management In Professional Contexts For Management Style

This section should be approx. 850 words long, and represents 33% of the total mark for the workbook.

You should reflect back on your experience of working in a group to develop your presentation. What was the ‘management style’ adopted by your group? Was this the ‘right’ management style to achieve your goals? Justify your answer

This section should include an analysis of the management style adopted by your group, and a critical review of  your team’s approach, linking it to the management style used

Reflecting on the ‘management style’ questionnaire filled at the start of the semester, has your approach to management changed since you completed the questionnaire? Why?

Please note that you need to demonstrate in this section that you understand and can apply theories of management style.

At the end of this section, you need to provide references, including books and journal articles. These should be in the correct Harvard referencing style (see the folder on ‘academic skills’ on weblearn)

This report highlights my group experiences wherein we completed a project and also prepared a group presentation. This section also throws light upon the management style adopted by the group. Management is the process of dealing with or controlling things or people (Daniels, Tapscott & Caston, 2011). It is the art of getting things done in the most effective manner. Through competent management, organizational goals are achieved in the most appropriate manner (Drucker, 2012). A manager of an organization is bestowed upon with the responsibility of guiding and motivating the team of employees and managing their performance in such a manner that organizational goals are met (Tiffan, 2011).

For this project, our group included 6 members and the entire project duration was a learning experience. Management involves establishing coordination within the group members and creating a positive learning environment for all the members of the group (Shockley-Zalabak  

2014). As group, we worked towards establishing a positive flow of communication among all of us. Our leader had a major role to play in this. Since the first day, she emphasized on establishing transparent communication. She ensured that she discussed all the important aspects of the project only when everyone else was present. And we were all allowed to give feedback to anyone in the team.

Throughout the course, our leader adopted two management styles. First one is democratic leadership. This is also known as participative leadership. All the important decisions of the groups are made by everyone’s equal participation (Bhatti et. al., 2012). Such a management style, helps in building trust and increases a sense of ownership for the group in the minds of group members. A democratic style of managing a team, allows the leader to distribute roles and responsibilities within the organization (Khan et.al., 2015).

The second approach adopted by our leader was a coercive approach. This management style was adopted by her during times of conflict. She usually tried that the conflicts faced between group members were resolved quickly. This is why she adopted a coercive style of management which says ‘do as I say’. This style helps in quick decision making and creating a single flow of communication. This style is important to be adopted in the time of crisis.

Both these approaches helped the leader in managing the team in an effective manner.

As a team we also had adopted the policy of a 360 degree feedback. This signifies that every person in the team can give a constructive feedback to every other person of the team (Baker et. al., 2013).

Leadership plays a vital role in the success of any team (Yukl, 2013). Our leadership style was very strong as our leader exactly knew how to handle various situations and switch leadership styles within the team as and when required. Through different stages of team building, we had a constant support. It is the duty of a leader to motivate the team when employees lack interest (Goleman, Boyatzis & McKee, 2013). Whenever we felt demotivated our leader also tried to instil enthusiasm in us, which helped us remain focussed till the end.

During the starting of the semester, we filled a questionnaire and decided to fully support democratic style of management in the team. I strongly believed that democratic style of management is the most effective management style. However, when conflicts were encountered in the group and the team members were not able to reach a common decision, 

then the leader decided to adopt a coercive style of management. This was a good decision and helped us overcome conflicts in a transparent and positive manner.

I personally feel that I perform better under a democratic leadership style even though I understand the importance of a coercive management at the time of a conflict. My performance is improved when I am given the freedom to work towards my goals in the manner that I feel is better. Also democratic leadership ensures that every member of the team is responsible for the team decisions which are lacked in the coercive style of management (Goleman, 2017).

There were a couple of instances in the group where I felt that the contribution of some team members was more than others and due credit was not been given to them. This is one of the major disadvantages of a democratic management style in a team (Hackman & Johnson, 2013). I believe the leader should have highlighted the issue and should have taken more steps to manage our individual performances better.

Overall, I was happy with my group and especially with my leader. She tried her level best to create and maintain a positive working environment for us. She also tried to analyse individual strengths and weaknesses and allocated us responsibilities in lieu of the same. We were a well-coordinated group and despite a few conflicts, we continued to work together. I have learnt a lot from the entire project duration.

On the last day of the project, a genuine and constructive feedback was provided to all the team members to ensure future growth and honesty within the team.

Through this project, I learnt about different leadership styles and how do they work in practical scenarios. I learnt about democratic style of management as well as coercive style of management. I also learnt about the importance of feedback within a team and how constructive feedback can impact performance of the team and its individuals.

Baker, A., Perreault, D., Reid, A. and Blanchard, C.M., 2013. Feedback and organizations: Feedback is good, feedback-friendly culture is better. Canadian Psychology/Psychologies Canadienne, 54(4), p.260.

Bhatti, N., Maitlo, G. M., Shaikh, N., Hashmi, M. A., & Shaikh, F. M. (2012). The impact of autocratic and democratic leadership style on job satisfaction. International Business Research, 5(2), 192.

Daniels, A.C., Tapscott, D. and Caston, A., 2011. Bringing out the best in people. Findaway World LLC.

Drucker, P., 2012. The practice of management. Routledge. United Kingdom.

Goleman, D., 2017. Leadership That Gets Results (Harvard Business Review Classics). Harvard Business Press.

Goleman, D., Boyatzis, R.E. and McKee, A., 2013. Primal leadership: Unleashing the power of emotional intelligence. Harvard Business Press.

Hackman, M.Z. and Johnson, C.E., 2013. Leadership: A communication perspective. Waveland Press.

Khan et.al., 2015. The Styles of Leadership: A Critical Review. Public Policy and Administration Research, Vol.5, No.3, pp. 87-92.

Shockley-Zalabak, P., 2014. Fundamentals of organizational communication. Pearson. India.

Tiffan, B., 2011. Four important roles of a manager. Physician executive, 37(4), pp.94-97.

Part Two- Leadership, Management And Change

This section should be approx. 850 words long, and represents 33% of the total mark for the workbook.

Looking back at the work you have done with your group this semester, how would you change the way that the group was managed and led?

This discussion should be linked to theories of change discussed during this semester. You should outline some of the key principles of successful change, applying these to your group’s work.

At the end of this section, you need to provide references, including books and journal articles. These should be in the correct Harvard referencing style (see the folder on ‘academic skills’ on weblearn 

This part of the essay throws light on various challenges that we faced as a group and how we overcame those challenges. For a team that works closely together, it is inevitable to face a certain amount of challenges. How a team overcomes those challenges is what matters in the longer run. These challenges often bring about a change in the team. This part of the essay, reflects upon change management theories that we applied in order to overcome the challenge.

I have changed in many ways through the course of this project. I have improved and established open communication in the team. I also tried to build mutually beneficial and positive relationships with my team members and I also tried to adapt to different situations that arose within the duration of the project.

Change is the only thing which is constant. The process of change is simply moving away from the current into something different (Hayes, 2014). There are various reasons why change takes place in an organization. In fact change is imperative for the growth and development of any organization. Ideally change refers to the process of becoming better than the current situation however it may not always hold true (Cameron & Green, 2015). As far 

as our project is concerned, the change process encompasses changes within team members, team dynamics and change of leadership style.

The major changed faced by our group was the change of management style from democratic to coercive management style. Kurt Lewin has given a theory for change. This theory ideally divides the entire change process into three stages. These three stages are unfreezing, changing and refreezing (Cummings, Bridgman & Brown, 2016). This three stage process has been proved successful numerous times in various organizations as an efficient practice of bringing in change. The first stage requires the leaders of the organization to prepare everyone for the upcoming change (Shirey, 2013). In our case the leader adopted a coercive management style in the face of conflict. Therefore the first stage was triggered by the onset of any conflict within the team. Our leader would inform us that there would be a change in the management style.

The second stage of the change management requires the leader to bring in the change (Burnes & Cooke, 2013). Therefore whenever there was a conflict, she became stricter and withdrew us from taking any decisions.

The third stage is refreezing. This requires leaders to freeze the new change that has been adopted (Mitchell, 2013). Therefore for some time after the onset of a conflict, she would continue being strict and that is how we would proceed further. This stage of change management reflects slightly increased acceptance towards the change. This stage of the change is often difficult for people to accept and may lead to conflicts in an organization. This stage ensures that the change is implemented at all times and in an effective manner (Jabri, 2017).

Once the leader felt that the conflict was resolved, she would go back to the previous management style and that again would go through the entire change process. She would slowly inform us about the upcoming change (first stage), then she would start involving us in decision making and create a more open flow of communication (second stage) and the she freeze the new management style again (third stage).

There are various principles of change management that need to be adopted by every organization in order to smoothen the change process. Firstly, any change requires a proper flow of communication among all stakeholders (Rafferty et. al., 2013). The team must be 

clearly informed about the upcoming change and their grievances regarding the same must be transparently addressed. Our leader effectively communicated the changes that were planned beforehand and I felt that in our team, the flow of communication was maintained in a transparent manner but during or after the conflict, there was no feedback mechanism which allowed us to complaint or put forward our grievances.

Another important principle of change management is engagement of everyone involved (Doppelt, 2017). I believe we lacked this too as not every person in the team was entirely happy with the coercive management style even though I felt it was the right step to take at that point of time.

Lastly, another important principle of change management is planning, which occurs at the top (Belias & Koustelios, 2014). I am certain that our leader always planned in advance, thought things through and ensured that the change adopted is the right decision for the team given the current circumstances. This planning helped us move forward in a smooth manner even during times of conflicts.

This part of the project helped me enhance my knowledge about the change management process as well as principles of change management. I learnt about Kurt Lewin’s theory of change management. This in turn helped me understand an effective and practical way of bringing about any change without adversely impacting the stakeholders of the business.

Belias, D. and Koustelios, A., 2014. The impact of leadership and change management strategy on organizational culture. European Scientific Journal, ESJ, 10(7).

Burnes, B. and Cooke, B., 2013. Kurt Lewin's Field Theory: A Review and Re?evaluation. International journal of management reviews, 15(4), pp.408-425.

Cameron, E. and Green, M., 2015. Making sense of change management: A complete guide to

the models, tools and techniques of organizational change. Kogan Page Publishers.

Cummings, S., Bridgman, T. and Brown, K.G., 2016. Unfreezing change as three steps: Rethinking Kurt Lewin’s legacy for change management. Human relations, 69(1), pp.33-60.

Doppelt, B., 2017. Leading change toward sustainability: A change-management guide for business, government and civil society. Routledge.

Hayes, J., 2014. The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan. United Kingdom.

Jabri, M., 2017. Managing organizational change: Process, social construction and dialogue. Palgrave.

Mitchell, G., 2013. Selecting the best theory to implement planned change. Nursing Management-UK, 20(1).

Rafferty, A.E., Jimmieson, N.L. and Armenakis, A.A., 2013. Change readiness: A multilevel review. Journal of management, 39(1), pp.110-135.

Shirey, M.R., 2013. Lewin’s theory of planned change as a strategic resource. Journal of Nursing Administration, 43(2), pp.69-72.

Part Three- Leadership, Management And Decision Making

This section should be approx. 850 words, and represents 33% of the total mark for the workbook

Consider critically the DECISIONS (or non-decisions) you have taken while working with your group this year. These decisions could be in your group leading up to the presentation, or in subsequent workshops and seminars. For this section, you need to consider theories of POWER. You need to discuss what form of power was used by students- both leaders and followers.

What were the barriers to taking effective decisions? This should be linked to theory e.g. of groupthink.

At the end of this section, you need to provide references, including books and journal 

articles. These should be in the correct Harvard referencing style (see the folder on ‘academic skills’ on weblearn)

This part of the essay throws light on various decisions that we made individually and as a team throughout this project duration. At the beginning of the project, the team leader decided to ensure that there is open communication within the team. She decided that it would be in the best interest of the team if we would communicate effectively with each other. She took this decision by using her position power. Position power or legitimate power is the power that a person has owing to his or her professional position or designation in an organization (Blau, 2017).

I have always been an extrovert and have a persuasive nature. In the beginning of the project, I made a Whatsapp group and invited all the team members so that we could communicate all the time in an effective manner. I did not have any formal authority to do it. But I did it out of. This power is possessed by an individual owing to their confidence and magnetism is known as charismatic power (Emmet, 2017).

I was also very regular for all the meetings and often reached for these meetings before time. This gave me an edge and helped me build a better connection with my leader. Any power bestowed upon a person owing to his or her relationship with any other person of power is known as referent power (Raven, 2017). Thereby, I felt that I have a power which is not formally given to me but I felt that I recommendations were often given more heed.

The decision to change the management style from democratic to coercive during a conflict was the team leader’s decision and this decision was taken by her owing to her coercive power. Even though a few members of the organization were not entirely happy with the decisions made during that time by her, these decisions had to be accepted and implemented. Coercive power comes from authority and the ability to threaten or punish (Lunenburg, 2012).

Power play is highly important while taking any decisions in any organization (Bolman & Deal, 2017). Besides coercive, legitimate and charismatic power, a leader can also have reward power and expert power. Reward power comes with the ability to reward someone

These rewards can be financial or non-financial are aimed at motivating employees (Pierro et. al., 2013). The team leader of any team can exert reward power to motivate employees to work hard.

Expert power comes from the ability to have expert knowledge of the concerned subject (Gabel, 2012). I have always paid due attention in class and have read a lot of books in order to gain knowledge about the subject. This allows me to have expert power in the team.

However it is imperative that the decisions made in the team are ethical decisions and the use of power is for the benefit of the team (Ford & Richardson, 2013)

There were certain barriers while taking effective decision. Sometimes there was a lack of consensus between the team members. Sometimes the decisions were coercively made by the leader and the team members found it difficult to accept these decisions. These barriers tend to slow down the entire decision process (Gregory et. al., 2012). In order to reduce the impact of these barriers, we conducted team meetings and every member of the team was given a chance to voice their concern over the same. Communication within team members in essential to ensure effective decision making (Nancarrow et. al., 2013). Communication helps in creating transparency, sharing information and providing feedback.  

We also ensure that we conducted weekly feedback sessions where every team members could provide any feedback for any other team member. In these feedback sessions every team members was encouraged to provide feedback to any other member. As a team we ensured that the feedbacks provided were constructive and important for increased effectiveness of the team. This helped in building trust and enhancing the learning process within the team. Therefore feedback in important in a team.

While taking decisions in a team, our leader adopted a participative decision making theory. This theory suggests that the decisions made within a team must be discussed within all the team members (Van Der, 2012). The participation of other team members must be encouraged and appreciated. Our team leader ensured that we were consulted before taking decisions that would directly impact us. A participative decision making approach helped us in having an increased sense of ownership for the team.

Through this course, I have learnt the various forms and sources through which power can be exerted within a team. This is important for me as it will help me develop my personality in the manner that will help me gain more power.

Through this project, I have also learnt that participative decision making within a team helps in keeping employees motivated and leads to increased overall productivity of the team.

Blau, P., 2017. Exchange and power in social life. Routledge. United Kingdom.

Bolman, L.G. and Deal, T.E., 2017. Reframing organizations: Artistry, choice, and leadership. John Wiley & Sons. United States.

Emmet, D., 2017. The concept of power. In Paradigms of Political Power (pp. 78-104). Routledge. United Kingdom.

Ford, R.C. and Richardson, W.D., 2013. Ethical decision making: A review of the empirical literature. In Citation classics from the Journal of Business Ethics (pp. 19-44). Springer, Dordrecht.

Gabel, S., 2012. Power, leadership and transformation: The doctor’s potential for influence. Medical education, 46(12), pp.1152-1160.

Gregory, R., Failing, L., Harstone, M., Long, G., McDaniels, T. and Ohlson, D., 2012. Structured decision making: a practical guide to environmental management choices. John Wiley & Sons.

Lunenburg, F.C., 2012. Power and leadership: an influence process. International journal of management, business, and administration, 15(1), pp.1-9.

Nancarrow, S.A., Booth, A., Ariss, S., Smith, T., Enderby, P. and Roots, A., 2013. Ten principles of good interdisciplinary team work. Human resources for Health, 11(1), p.19.

Pierro, A., Raven, B.H., Amato, C. and Bélanger, J.J., 2013. Bases of social power, leadership styles, and organizational commitment. International Journal of Psychology, 48(6), pp.1122-1134.

Raven, B.H., 2017. The comparative analysis of power and power preference. In Social power and political influence (pp. 172-198). Routledge. United Kingdom.

Van Der W., 2012. Culture, participative decision making and job satisfaction. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(13), pp.2661-2679.