Organizational Structure Part 3

• Force & Form Within Organizations
• Organizational Force
• Force of Direction
• Integration emerges from unity of direction
• Force of Efficiency
• Balancing the ratio between costs and benefits
• Low ratio of costs to benefits = higher force of efficiency
• Force of Proficiency
• Levels of competencies and knowledge
• Force of Concentration
• Opportunity to focus on tasks and markets
• Force of Innovation
• Search for new products and services
• Co-operation & Competition
• Cooperation - merging norms and beliefs
• Competition - the removal of politics detrimental to the organization
• Mintzberg’s Organizational Forms
• Entrepreneurial Form
• Authority located with a single individual
• Highly centralized
• Low formalization
• Low standardization
• Machine Form
• High Complexity
• High Formalization
• Low Centralization
• Rules & Regulation Based
• Functional Departments
• Professional Form
• Expert Based
• High Formalization
• Low Centralization
• Adhocracy Form
• Low Standardization
• Low Formalization
• High employment of project teams
• Low Hierarchy
• Diversified Form
• Product Dominated
• Organized around products and divisions

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Team Decision-Making Part 1

A high-performance organization is built on productive teamwork. It is essential that teams make decisions effectively and efficiently. In this newsletter, we will explore how to improve team decision-making.

 

Barriers to Team Decision-Making

• Limited experience together
• Conflicting member goals
• Not sharing information
• Competition: "My idea is better than yours."
• Agreeing too quickly before critical discussion
• One or two people dominate
• Group is too large or too small
• No one takes the initiative
• Low trust
• Limited time

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Build a Culture of Trust and Collaboration Part 2

Zero-Sum Game

• Gain of one team is offset by the loss of another team
• Winning or losing may be less important than the total relationship
• Negotiation and compromise may help everyone “win”  

Consider the following questions:

• What happens when you compete against someone on your own team?
• Who wins when the football center competes with the quarterback?
• When is it important to win?
• How can we work together so that everyone wins?  

Negative Competition

• Poisons interpersonal relationships
• Destroys organizational effectiveness
• Diverts time and energy
• Destroys goodwill
• Provokes anger, resentment and retaliation   

How to Build Trust

1. Always tell the truth
2. Stick to your word
3. Do what is right
4. Do what you say you will do
5. Share openly
6. Put yourself “in the other’s shoes”
7. Make decisions as a team
8. Set goals as a team
9. Work together to achieve those goals
10. Look for common ground
11. Be open-minded
12. Ask for feedback and act upon it

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/

Build a Culture of Trust and Collaboration Part 1

It is essential that supervisors, managers, and HR professionals build a culture of trust and collaboration so that employees feel that they can come to them to discuss any problem that may arise.  It is important to distinguish between trust and liking.  Ideally, employees should like their supervisors, managers and HR professionals, but even if they do not, it is imperative that they trust them to do the right thing.

Trust is confidence in our relationships with others. 
We earn trust gradually. In the book and movie, "The Little Prince," a make-believe little prince visits earth from his own tiny and far-away world to learn about life.  One day, he meets a fox.  He is enchanted by the fox and wants to play with him, but the fox is afraid of him and won't come near him because he doesn't know him.  The fox, sensing the prince's desire to be friends, asks him if he will tame him.  The Prince explains that he would love to tame the fox, but he doesn't know how.  So, the fox then teaches him what he has to do to tame him:

"Every day you must meet me at the same place near the edge of the wheat field, but don't come too close at first.  If you come every day at the same time and to the same place, I will begin to get use to you.  Then each day, you can come a little closer and a little closer, until finally we touch.  When we touch and embrace, I will finally be tamed."

In the scene in the movie, Gene Wilder, who plays the fox, and the little prince are careful to keep their distance as they meet each day, and gradually they get closer and closer.  When they finally touch, they embrace each other and dance around in the woods with excitement and relief because they are so happy to finally be friends.

Developing trust is like taming the fox.  You build a little at a time by consistently meeting the expectations of the other and treating him or her with respect and kindness until you become friends and are comfortable working together.

Until next time...






Sheryl Tuchman, SPHR, SHRM-SCP
http://tools2succeed.com/