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Managing organisational relationships - Coggle Diagram
Managing organisational relationships
Communication
Organisations depend on the
speed and accuracy of communication
to
maintain their competitive edge
Good communication skills is an
essential management competence
Ensuring co-ordination
To identify problems quickly
Types of Communication
Formal Communication
Planned and intentional
and tends to have a more
professional tone
Informal Communication
More
casual
in nature and is generally
unplanned
. Less structured with a more
relaxed tone
The Process of communication
Encoding
The process through which
the message is symbolised
Channel
The
medium
through which the
message is being sent
Sender
The entity
that conveys or
sends the messag
e
Receiver
The
entity
that
receives the message
Decoding
The process in which the
message is translated
, and
meaning is generated out of it
Feedback
Process through which
receiver sends their response
Important as it gives the sender
the knowledge that the message has been received
as intended, or can
allow the sender to clarify the message
Noise
Anything which
interferes with the commication process
and
stops the message being received
and understood by the receiver as it was intended
Environmental/Physical Noise
Physically disrupts communication
and p
revents the receiver
from hearing or seeing the message clearly
People chatting loudly
Phones ringing
Loud Music
Physiological Noise
Actually physical barriers
,The sender or the receiver that
cause messages to have trouble getting through
Poor eyesight
Hearing loss
Semantic Noise
Occurs when the sender and receiver have a
different understanding of words
Psychological Noise
Attitude of the sender and receiver
makes communication difficult
Barriers to communication
Receiver
Not in an appropriate state to receive the message
Not wishing to receive the message
Information Overload
Overcoming Barriers
Sender
Plan the objective
Practise using the channels of communication
Definite, clear objective
Receiver
Consider their contribution
Listen attentively
Give feedback
Sender
Omitting information
Sending too much information
Not being clear as to what has to be communicated
Non-verbal Communication
According to
Druker
:
"The most important thing in communication is
hearing what isn't said
"
Mehrabian
suggests that
7%
of a message is
transmitted through the actual words
,
93%
conveyed through the way the words are said and
other non-verbal elements
Digital tools for communication
Discussion Forums
Brings together management & employees and
allows open discussions on any topic
Effective in
archiving organisational knowledge
to be used by anyone as a reference
Enable
information to be discovered by people who need it
, when they need it
Tracking and case software
Online help desk with a case tracking system that enables employees or customers to
submit a case or support ticket
Help c
entralise customer support queries
and keep track of any open issues
Collect valuable customer feedback
which in turn can help in improving future products
Chat and private messaging
A
collaborative private/group
messaging communication tools to
keep teams working together
Internal Blogs
A place where employees
can share ideas and experiences fast
and
in an informal fashion
Advantages
Highlights an
employee's knowledge
about certain topics or
area of the organisation
Promotes
open discussion and collaboration
among the workforce
Connects employees
across departments and locations
Keep staff up-to-date
on important information
Intranet
Private hub
mainly used for
effective internal communication
and
collaboration among colleagues
this produces a more:
skilled
engaged workforce
educated
enables organisation to
easily share company news
Information-rich environment
Data Visualisation
Allows
large volumes of complex data
to be
displayed in a visually appealing
and
accessible way that facilitates
the understanding and use of the underlying data
Puts the
ability
to
find data in to the hands of the end user
, through
intuitive, user friendly interfaces
Creating a
dashboard
to display the
key performance indicators
of a business in a
live format
Allows
immediate understanding of current performance
and potentially prompting action to correct or amend performance accordingly
Meetings
To ensure
that meetings are
effective
and
useful
it is important to
adopt the following steps:
4)
Make suitable arrangements for location and time
5)
Facilitate discussion
3)
Determine the agenda in advance
6)
Manage the plan of action
2 )
Establish who needs to attend
7)
Summarise
1 )
Determine the purpose of the meeting
8)
Publish results/minutes
Roles of team members in meetings
Secretary/Administrator
To take minutes
Team members
Protagonists
are positive supporters
Antagonists
are challenging and disruptive
Members may be called upon to offer their own expertise and advice on the situation
Chairperson/Facilitator
To set the agenda and ensure the meeting achieves its objectives
Important that a
variety of skills are represented
at a meeting so that those present can provide
varying expert opinions
upon the same problem
Problems & Solutions
Attendees
talk to much
without regards to the chairperson's request
Impose some order
on the meeting
Participants to speak in accordance with meeting protocols
Asking them to leave the meeting altogether
Attendees
cannot reach an agreement
concerning issues on the agenda
The chairperson will need to
exercise negotiating skills
to try to bring the meeting to some agreement
Lack of enthusiasm
or interest in the meeting
For future meeting
ensure
those with interest
or whose views are required
are in the meeting
For current meeting
suggest a short break or reach a conclusion
Action points from previous meeting have not
been carried out
Check the minutes of meeting
to ensure all action points are included
Objectives of meetings
are
undefined
and unclear
Produce and circulate
agenda prior to meeting
Minutes are either too long
(Information overload)
or too brief
(do not include appropriate points)
Ensure that the minutes
are either minutes of resolution
Inappropriate Chairperson
Select someone with
requisite range of communication skills
Conflict
Is a disagreement, and is when one party is perceived as preventing or interfering with the goals or actions of another
Can occur in a variety of forms and at different levels
Mainwaring's
suggested
Cause of Conflict
Win/lose situations
Interdependencies
Limited resources
Misunderstandings
Differences
Conviction beliefs
History
Stress and failure
Change
Consequences of Conflict
Judgement becomes less accurate as
focus is lost
The
loser may deny or distort the reality
and may seek scapegoats
Diversion of energy
resulting in
time and effort wasted
Under intense conflict
co-ordination does not happen
Symptoms of conflict
Certain behaviours that develop when conflict arises
Problems, even trivial ones, being passed up the hierarchy
Hostility and jealousy between groups
Poor communications up and down the hierarchy
Widespread frustration and dissatisfaction because it is difficult to even get simple things done efficiently
Types of conflict
Horizontal conflict
occurs between groups and departments are
at the same level
in the hierarchy
The main sources being:
Structure
Divisionalisation and departments create competition which can lead to conflict
Goal incompatibility
The achievement of goals by one department may block achievements of the goals of other departments
Technology
Interdependency creates opportunity for conflict as technology determines task allocation
Task interdependence
Dependant on each other for materials, resource and information
This increases chances of conflicting arising
Size
With the growth of the organisation members may isolate themselves
Reward systems
Environment
Group becomes tailored to 'fit' its environmental domain
Differrentation
Functional specialisation causes difference in cognitive and emotional orientations
Vertical conflict
occurs among individuals and groups at different levels in the hierarchy
with primary sources being:
Ideology
Different values held by individuals can cause conflict
Psychological distance
Workers can feel isolated from the organisation
Power and Status
bottom of the hierarchy, workers may feel alienated
Scarce resources
Financial resources affecting remuneration and working conditions, and costs
Destructive and constructive conflict
Constructive Conflict
Considered useful, positive and beneficial to the organisation as it does not revolve around personality
Facilitates bringing problems to the surface
so that they can be dealt with
Settles and defines boundaries
of authority and responsibility
Creates an environment of
innovation and change
Destructive conflict
Destructive conflict tends to be ad hoc and personal:
Causes alienation between groups
,
within groups and between individuals
demoralising for those involved
Harmful for the organisation
and its involved members
Influence, Persuasion and Negotiation skills
This are all aspects of communication
About
Persuasion
The attempt to deliberately get others to change
an attitude, opinion or behaviour
Negotiation
Ability to discuss an issue
with one or more other people in the
attempt to establish ways to reach an agreement
Influence
Ability to change others'
attitudes, opinions or behavior
Influence
Direct Influence
When the person attempting to change the attitude of another
speaks directly to the other person.
Used within:
Sales
Customer services roles
Indirect Influence
The message attempts to
reach
its target
via a third party
There will be many situations within organisational relationships where it will be important to influence other people
such as when attempting to gain support for a new product or process
Forceful influence may be seen as manipulative
The six weapons of influence
Commitment
We
desire consistency
and d
on't like to be seen to be changing our minds
Influenced to
follow through with our support for something
if we had shown some initial interest in it
Social Proof
Humans
tend
to be
influenced by peer pressure
Reciprocity
Human nature can lead us to
feel obliged to return favours.
We are then
influenced to support someone who has supported us
in some way in the past
Liking
As humans we are more likely to be
influenced by people we like
, people who are nice and friendly towards us or people who are similar to us
Authority
Likely to be influenced
by people in position of authority
Sense of trust and respect for the position held
Scarcity
More likely to want something if its availability is limited.
More likely to support something if we fear losing out if we don't
Persuasion
A stronger form of influence that is
Direct
Intentional
To change a person, or group's attitude or behaviour towards something or someone
The six weapons of influence
can also be used here but in a
stronger form
Negotiation
To
settle differences between people or groups
, and
to allow them to come to an agreement
which both parties accept
Defined by
three characteristics
No established set of rules
for resolving conflict
Parties
prefer to search for an agreement
rather than to fight openly
Conflict of interest
between two or more parties
Skills required by a negotiator
Analytical skills
Negotiator
requires the ability to analyse information, diagnose problems
, to plan and
set objectives
, and the
exercise of good judgement
in interpreting results
Interpersonal skills
The negotiator
requires good communicating techniques
such as
influence
, and
persuasion
Technical skills
Negotiator
requires attention to detail
and thorough case preparation
The process of negotiation
Opening
Both sides present their starting position.
This is a good opportunity to influence the other party
Bargaining
Narrowing the gap
between the two initial positions and to
persuade the other party of the strength of your case
Use clearly thought out, planned and logical debate
Preparation
Involves information gathering
Important to
know the background to the problem
, and the
likely constraints acting on each participant
Closing
Agreement is reached
and hopefully a mutually beneficial outcome has been found
Guidance for successful negotiation
Be prepared to settle for what is fair
If agreement is not fair it is likely to be unstable. Maintain flexibility in your own position
Listen to what the other side wants and make efforts to compromise on the main issue
Focus initially on each side's primary objective
Trivial negotiating points can become a distraction in the early stages
Seek to trade-off wins and losses
So that each side gets something in return for everything they give up
Types of negotiation
Win-Lose
One party seeks maximum gains
and therefore usually seeks to
impose maximum losses
on the other side
Lose-Lose
Both parties concede
more than they initially intended, or no agreement is actually reached
Win-Win
Prospects for
both sides' gains are encouraging
Managing Conflict-
The Thomas-Kilmann Conflict Mode
A useful framework for classifying ways of handling conflict
Collaborating
High assertiveness
and
High Co-Operativeness
Accommodating
Low assertiveness
and
High Co-Operativeness
Avoiding
Low assertiveness
and
Low Co-Operativeness
Compromising
Moderate assertiveness
and
Moderate Co-operativeness
Competing
High assertiveness
and
low co-operativeness
Mainwaring
suggested four broad strategies for managing conflict in organisations
Conflict Suppression
Involves the use or threatened use of authority or force
The avoidance of recognition that a conflict situation exists
Smoothing over the conflict be de-emphasising the seriousness of the situation
Conflict Reduction
Facilitated by
independent third party
interventions such as
conciliation
and
arbitration
Involves building on areas of
agreement and on common objectives
, and
changing attitudes
and
perceptions of the parties involved
Conflict Stimulation and Orchestration
Encourages conflict as means of generating new ideas and new approaches or of stimulating change
Conflict Resolution
Seeks to
eliminate the root cause of conflict
by establishing consensus
Important methods to apply when dealing with organisational conflict are
Separating the issue in dispute into smaller issues
The proximity
Physically separating the groups involved
The context
Reducing interdependency
Changing work allocation
New procedures
The individuals involved including relocation and dismissal
Dealing with Industrial relations conflict
Individualistic approaches
Away from third party involvement using
Shares schemes
Pension and health schemes
Performance-related pay systems
Collective Bargaining
Union Avoidance Strategies
Setting up new plants in areas of high unemployment, or low union activity
New approaches tend to be more co-operative including
Gain sharing
Labour-management teams
Partnership Agreements
Employment security