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I found this article very helpful in distinguishing between data and information when it comes to making a management decision. It includes examples that are easy to understand and grasp the concepts in this module.

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Think of data as a "raw material" - it needs to be processed before it can be turned into something useful. Hence the need for "data processing". Data comes in many forms - numbers, words, symbols. Data relates to transactions, events and facts. On its own - it is not very useful.

Think of the data that is created when you buy a product from a retailer. This includes:

- Time and date of transaction (e.g. 10:05 Tuesday 23 December 20X3)
- Transaction value (e.g. £55.00)
- Facts about what was bought (e.g. hairdryer, cosmetics pack, shaving foam) and how much was bought (quantities)
- How payment was made (e.g. credit card, credit card number and code)
- Which employee recorded the sale
- Whether any promotional discount applied

At its simplest, this data needs processing at the point of sale in order for the customer to receive a valid receipt. So the data about the transaction is processed to create "information" - in this case a receipt. You can imagine that the same data would also be useful to the manager of the retail store. For example, a report showing total sales in the day, or which are the best-selling products. So the data concerning all shop transactions in the day needs to be captured, and then processed into a management report.
Information
The above example demonstrates what information is.
Information is data that has been processed in such a way as to be meaningful to the person who receives it.
Note the two words highlighted in red - "processed" and "meaningful". It is not enough for data simply to be processed. it has to be of use to someone - otherwise why bother?!
Uses of Information in a Business
Businesses and other organisations need information for many purposes: we have summarised the five main uses in the table below.

Information used for decision-making is often categorised into three types:

(1) Strategic information: used to help plan the objectives of the business as a whole and to measure how well those objectives are being achieved. Examples of stategic information include:

- Profitability of each part of the business
- Size, growth and competitive structure of the markets in which a business operates
- Investments made by the business and the returns (e.g. profits, cash inflows) from those investments

(2) Tactical Information: this is used to decide how the resources of the business should be employed. Examples include:

- Information about business productivity (e.g. units produced per employee; staff turnover)
- Profit and cash flow forecasts in the short term
- Pricing information from the market

(3) Operational Information: this information is used to make sure that specific operational tasks are carried out as planned/intended (i.e. things are done properly). For example, a production manager will want information about the extent and results of quality control checks that are being carried out in the manufacturing process.

Summary
This revision note has outlined the main kinds of information. It is important that you understand the difference between data and information, explain the role that information plays in a business, and distinguish between the main kinds of information.

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ICT: The difference between data and information | tutor2u Business

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Think of data as a "raw material" - it needs to be processed before it can be turned into something useful. Hence the need for "data processing". Data comes in many forms - numbers, words, symbols. Data relates to transactions, events and facts. On its own - it is not very useful.

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This article gives good insight to how control of various aspects of an organization can affect the outcome of organizations performance. I have been within a few organizations and witnessed how lack of control within the organization produced not so favorable performances.

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Organizational controls have legal and performance ramifications.

Ryan McVay/Digital Vision/Getty Images

While you don't want to micromanage your employees, you can't leave them unsupervised if you want to maximize organizational efficiency and productivity. Creating effective management controls -- including strategic objectives, operational policies and employee guidelines -- will help you direct, rather than just limit, the activities of your employees.

Organizational Control

Organizational control includes developing rules, guidelines, procedures, limits or other protocols for directing the work and processes of employees and departments. These controls can include setting rules or procedures for financial transactions, employee behavior and specific practices for all or individual departments. A control can depend on an individual employee following the guideline, or require multiple parties to agree on an action.

Financial Stability

A common internal business control target is regulating financial procedures. This helps improve communications, allows managers to determine whether their efforts are meeting annual goals, and prevents fraud and errors. These controls include requiring each department head to submit and monitor an annual budget, setting limits on who can write checks, requiring large purchases to be pre-approved by management, holding regular audits and conducting regular budget variance analyses to spot potential problems before they get out of hand. Financial controls can also include the production of regular reports such as cash-flow and profit-and-loss statements, and labor, overhead and production expense reports.

Brand Management

To maximize sales to a target customer base, a business must send a consistent message about its products or services. This includes not only communicating the brand through marketing messages, but also by your price, where you sell your product, its features and packaging. Organizational controls often require all decisions regarding product, price, promotion and distribution to go to the marketing department first for approval. This helps prevent inconsistent brand messages, such as a promotions manager offering a two-for-one coupon at a high-end salon or restaurant.

Increased Productivity and Efficiency

One of the aims of organizational control is to help departments work better together. You can do this by instituting specific communications procedures, weekly interdepartmental meetings and regular management memos. To improve the performance of individual employees, your controls might include sharing a detailed organization chart so everyone knows who reports to whom. Controls can include requiring managers to create written job descriptions for every subordinate. Companies might hold mandatory orientation sessions for new employees, require certification for some employees and create an employee handbook that sets workplace policies such as attendance rules, grievance policies and safety regulations.

Legal Compliance

The threat of lawsuits or workplace rule violations is a serious concern for employers, and organizational policies and procedures that address employee behavior can decrease missteps. Workplaces free from harassment, discrimination, bullying and gossip foster better morale and team spirit, and reduce problems that can lead to decreased productivity, efficiency and overall performance. The same holds true when companies institute safety and security controls, and provide employee training.

About the Author

Sam Ashe-Edmunds has been writing and lecturing for decades. He has worked in the corporate and nonprofit arenas as a C-Suite executive, serving on several nonprofit boards. He is an internationally traveled sport science writer and lecturer. He has been published in print publications such as Entrepreneur, Tennis, SI for Kids, Chicago Tribune, Sacramento Bee, and on websites such Smart-Healthy-Living.net, SmartyCents and Youthletic. Edmunds has a bachelor's degree in journalism.

Photo Credits

Ryan McVay/Digital Vision/Getty Images

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How Organizational Control Is Important to Organizational Performance

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While you don't want to micromanage your employees, you can't leave them unsupervised if you want to maximize organizational efficiency and productivity. Creating effective management controls -- including strategic objectives, operational policies and employee guidelines -- will help you direct, rather than just ...

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This study guide caught my interest as it laid out comparisons between production and operations management. I found this most helpful in fully understanding the difference between the two.

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Production and Operations Management - Meaning and Important Concepts

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Production and operations management talks about applying business organization and management concepts in creation of goods and services.

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Simple article gives differences between power and control in an organization.

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Power and authority are separate but related concepts. A manager in an organization has authority if he or she has the right to direct the activities of others and expect them to respond with appropriate actions to attain organizational purposes. A uthority most often comes from the duties and responsibilities delegated to a position holder in a bureaucratic structure. A company president can order a product design change, for instance, or a police officer has the authority to arrest an offender of the law.

Power is the possession of authority, control, or influence by which a person influences the actions of others, either by direct authority or by some other, more intangible means. A prime source of power is the possession of knowledge. A person with knowledge is oftentimes able to use that knowledge to directly or indirectly influence the actions of others. The authority of knowledge is often independent of levels or positions. Power can reinforce authority, and authority is one of the primary sources of power.

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What is the difference between power and authority in an organization? - eXtension

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Power and authority are separate but related concepts. A manager in an organization has authority if he or she has the right to direct the activities of others and expect them to respond with appropriate actions to attain organizational purposes. A uthority most often comes from the duties and responsibilities delegated to a position holder in a bureaucratic structure.

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This article gave descriptive detail of the differences between being a leader and being a manager. I have noticed a few of these qualities within my own organization and have noticed some of the distinction between the two.

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Last week's article The Leadership Checklist: 10 Principles That Make Leading Easier, generated some interesting thoughts as shared through various social media outlets. Many readers tended to hone in on the point made in the piece about the difference between leadership and management.

As you may recall, I had noted:
"There's a difference between leadership and management. Leaders look forward and imagine the possibilities that the future may bring in order to set direction. Managers monitor and adjust today's work, regularly looking backward to ensure that current goals and objectives are being met. The best leaders lead and let their management teams manage the work at hand."
Because of the interest, I thought I would explore the point a bit more in this article.

Clearly, there is a symbiotic relationship between those responsible for leading a business and those responsible for managing the work within it. While managers can certainly lead and leaders can certainly manage, the skills required to be good at either one are separate and distinct.

What follows are ten of the most important distinctions to note. Regardless of which role you currently play, understanding these key differences between leading and managing may help you become better at your job:

1. Leadership inspires change, management manages transformation.

A leader must set direction and inspire people to follow them. The process of following often requires great change. This is where strong management comes in. It's the manager's job to oversee the work needed to implement the necessary changes and realize the organizational transformation set forth by the leadership.

2. Leadership requires vision, management requires tenacity.

A leader needs to envision what the business is to become. A great manager must have the willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve the goals set forth by the leader.

3. Leadership requires imagination, management requires specifics.

A great leader can cultivate their imagination to inform their vision. It helps them to "see" what can be. Managers must understand that vision and drive their teams to do the specific work necessary to accomplish what has been expressed.

4. Leadership requires abstract thinking, management requires concrete data.

By definition, abstract thinking enables a person to make connections among, and see patterns within, seemingly unrelated information. The ability to think abstractly comes in very handy when reimaging what an organization can become. Conversely, a manager must be able to work with, and analyze, concrete data in order to ensure optimal results.

5. Leadership requires ability to articulate, management requires ability to interpret.

A good leader can describe their vision in vivid detail so to engage and inspire their organization to pursue it. A good manager must interpret that stated vision and recast it in terms that their teams can understand and embrace it.

6. Leadership requires an aptitude to sell, management requires an aptitude to teach.

A leader must sell their vision to their organization and its stakeholders. They must convince all concerned parties that what is envisioned is achievable and provides greater value than what is created by the business today. In keeping, a manager must be able to teach their teams what must be learned and adapted to attain the stated vision.

7. Leadership requires understanding of the external environment, management requires understanding of how work gets done inside the organization.

A leader must understand the business environment in which the enterprise operates so to better anticipate opportunities and evade misfortune, while a manager is relied on to figure out how to get things done using the resources available to the business.

8. Leadership requires risk-taking, management requires self-discipline.

A leader will take educated risks when setting a strategic direction for a business. Managers must have the self-discipline to stick to the plan for realizing that strategic direction so to ensure that the strategy comes together as planned.

9. Leadership requires confidence in the face of uncertainty, management requires blind commitment to completing the task at hand.

A leader's life is filled with uncertainty. They're setting a course for their company in unchartered waters. Once the course is set, managers are duty-bound to follow the stated direction and commit to delivering the results expected.

10. Leadership is accountable to the entire organization, management is accountable to the team.

Finally, leaders must consider the impact of their decisions on the whole organization. A misstep can bring an entire business to its knees. It's a huge responsibility. Accordingly, managers are responsible for their teams. They must ensure that their teams are prepared to deliver and that each member is equipped to do what is required for success.

Indeed, there are important differences between leading and managing. The best leaders lead and let others manage; the best managers understand their leader's vision and work with their teams to achieve it. Your business needs people with both kinds of skills and aptitudes to secure enduring success. Take the time to understand these differences so to build an organization that leverages each to the fullest.
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Leader or Manager? These 10 Important Distinctions Can Help You Out

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Last week's article The Leadership Checklist: 10 Principles That Make Leading Easier, generated some interesting thoughts as shared through various social media outlets. Many readers tended to hone in on the point made in the piece about the difference between leadership and management. As you may recall, I had noted: "There's a difference between leadership and management.

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Great insight on different motivational strategies and how to effectively apply these strategies within an organization..

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To some extent, a high level of employee motivation is derived from effective management practices. To develop motivated employees, a manager must treat people

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This article gives great insight to our lessons in module 7. You will read some the the top challenges leaders face today and how to resolve some of those challenges.

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What's most challenging about leading organizations today? And do these leadership challenges differ around the world?

Our researchers conducted a study on this, going straight to the source to answer these questions about the top leadership challenges. The study gathered input from 763 middle- and executive-level leaders in organizations from China/Hong Kong, Egypt, India, Singapore, the United Kingdom, Spain, and the United States.

We found that leaders around the globe consistently face the same top 6 challenges - even if they describe their leadership challenges and the specific context in different ways.

It may be surprising to find so much consistency in these challenges, given that leaders came from all corners of the globe, as well as different industries, organizations, and work environments. Yet it seems that, overall, these 6 leadership challenges are inherent for leaders in the role of middle or senior manager, regardless of the context.

Thus, these 6 top challenges should be core focus areas for managerial development, everywhere in the world, and in all organizations.

So what are the most common leadership challenges around the world?

The 6 Most Common Challenges That Leaders Face

Around the World, More Similar Than Different

Regardless of their location, industry, or organizational culture, leaders universally face both internal and external challenges. These challenges may impact their careers, as well as their day-to-day experiences.

As noted in our white paper, we found these are the 6 most common challenges leaders face, regardless of where they are located.

1. Honing Effectiveness.

This leadership challenge is about developing the relevant skills - such as time management, prioritization, strategic thinking, decision-making, and getting up to speed with the job - to be more effective at work.

2. Inspiring Others.

This is the challenge of inspiring or motivating team members to ensure they're satisfied with their jobs and working smarter.

3. Developing Employees.

This is the challenge of developing others, including coaching and mentoring effectively.

4. Leading a Team.

Another key challenge is that of team-building, team development, and team management. Specific leadership challenges related to this include how to instill pride, how to provide support, how to effectively engage in collaboration, how to lead a big team, how to establish team norms, and what to do when taking over a new team.

5. Guiding Change.

The challenge of managing, mobilizing, understanding, and leading change means that being a successful change leader isn't easy. It requires knowing how to mitigate consequences, overcome resistance to change, and deal with team members' reactions to change.

6. Managing Stakeholders.

The last leadership challenge is managing relationships, politics, and image in the work environment. This includes gaining managerial support, managing up, influencing others, and getting buy-in from other departments, groups, or individuals.

When Do the Top Leadership Challenges Most Commonly Emerge?

The "when" factor is another important consideration when identifying the leadership challenges that impact leaders around the world. But, what does that mean? Teams, organizations, and leaders may experience an increase in challenges during specific times, such as when:

Something new is about to start, like a new project, employee, client, line of business, shift to a hybrid workforce, etc.

Something is winding down and almost over, such as a project, role, contract, engagement, etc.

Something changes dramatically, like a team member suddenly leaves, a financial issue affects the department, or business priorities change while the organization is navigating a crisis such as the global COVID-19 pandemic or conflict in Eastern Europe.

Any of these hurdles represent significant challenges for any leader. So, it's vital to recognize when you or your organization are experiencing a difficult time, identify the specific internal and external roadblocks, and create a strategic plan to tackle the challenges.

How to Respond to These Top Leadership Challenges

5 Tips for Leaders

Here are 5 concrete things that leaders around the globe can work on to address these common leadership challenges:

1. Set goals for yourself and your team.

Be proactive in setting goals and establishing the timelines - and deadlines - necessary to keep yourself and your team members on track. The distractions you face can make it easy to lose sight of long-term and even short-term goals. You can easily get sucked into dealing with urgent issues that arise unexpectedly, rather than staying focused on producing the outcomes that matter most to your organization.

While no leader can completely avoid surprises, goal-setting provides a map you can return to time and again to refocus on your top priorities while handling other leadership challenges.

One time-honored approach is the SMART method. When setting a goal, make sure it's:

Specific. Write down a detailed description of what accomplishing the goal would involve.

Measurable. Set targets that you can quantify to assess progress.

Attainable. Stretch goals are fine, but you also need to make sure that achieving the goal is possible.

Realistic. Be sure you understand what you will likely need - in terms of time, resources, and talent - to achieve it.

Timed. Create deadlines for hitting milestones on the way to your goal, as well as for achieving the goal itself.

Just be sure to set goals that align with your values.

2. Delegate more to others.

You'll be more productive in tackling leadership challenges, and you'll empower your colleagues to take more ownership, if you delegate. Effective delegation requires more than just getting a task off your desk - it involves a repeating cycle of 4 key steps:

Understanding your preferences. Effective delegators prioritize their workload and decide which tasks to keep and which to give to someone else. They also understand how much feedback they want while the person they've delegated to works on the task.

Knowing your people. To delegate effectively, you must assign tasks to people with the necessary knowledge and skills. That means that you have to understand your people. Use delegation to help direct reports develop, allowing them to learn as they take on new tasks.

Being clear about the purpose of the task. A task's purpose gives it meaning. By aligning this purpose with team or individual beliefs and goals, delegation can become an opportunity for personal growth.

Assessing and rewarding. You should engage in collaboration and work with your direct reports to develop ways to help them, and you, decide if a task has been completed properly, and to reward them appropriately.

You'll build more trust on your team if you delegate more, as well.

3. Maximize your unique value.

There will always be more things competing for your attention than you have time and energy to do. Prioritize the most important tasks that only you can do, and delegate everything else to team members.

Leaders overcome leadership challenges and create value for their organizations by focusing on the unique contributions only they can make. Understanding what those unique values are for you, and delegating everything else (or as close to everything else as you can), allows you to maximize the value you create for the organization.

It's important to recognize your own characteristics, behaviors, and habits in order to know what may be triggering challenges for you in your career. This way, you can work toward strengthening specific skills and growing as an individual leader. Some internal challenges that many leaders face include a lack of confidence, a fear of failure, maintaining authenticity during self-promotion, impatience, resistance in responding to new ideas, or overcoming impostor syndrome. All of these can be potential roadblocks to leadership success.

Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and maximizing your unique value are part of increasing your self-awareness and understanding your personal leadership brand.

4. Get role clarity.

Understand what the core responsibilities are for your role, and what are secondary responsibilities, or even work that belongs to someone else.

That won't stop people from asking you to take on additional tasks and projects. And there are certainly times when taking on additional duties may be required due to unusual circumstances, or might be important for your own professional development. But the most effective managers understand that they will largely be judged based on how effective they are at their core responsibilities and how they can overcome leadership challenges.

This also means that there will be times when you'll have to say no. That can feel uncomfortable in a work environment. Practicing saying no and finding ways to do so with tact and professionalism are important. Turning down work that's not part of your role helps keep you focused, and communicating effectively is a critical skill for leaders.

In fact, many of these suggestions for responding to the top leadership challenges around the world are part of developing the core leadership skills you need in every role, at every stage of your career.

5. Strengthen team alignment and collaboration.

What's preventing your team from being on the same page and collaborating effectively together? Maybe you're not being open and honest with each other, or maybe you're not carving out enough time to celebrate the small wins. Either way, strengthening your team's alignment is vital to organizational success - it allows you, and your team, to make difficult decisions with confidence and stay calm and positive in a crisis.

During challenging times, building trust is crucial. In fact, it's one of the 3 keys for better team-building and collaboration. Without trust, people operate out of fear, putting success in jeopardy. Additionally, operating on agreed-upon principles will help align your team. Examples of this include focusing on values like accountability, mutual respect, and integrity.

For effective and structured collaboration to take place, teams must follow a framework composed of these 3 parts:

Structural level: understand structures, roles, and responsibilities of team members.

Systemic level: assess systems, processes, and policies that are currently in place.

Interactional level: evaluate communication among team members.

By following this framework, leaders in any organization will gain better role clarity and strengthen their team's alignment - both of which are necessary when responding to top leadership challenges.

And leaders who sometimes feel overwhelmed by their work can take heart in the fact that they're not alone. By focusing on these 5 key behaviors, you can beat back those feelings and provide more value to your organization as you take on the most pressing leadership challenges.

A Final Word for HR Leaders

Focus Development Efforts on Addressing These 6 Most Common Leadership Challenges

Developmental initiatives are more effective when they align with real challenges that participants are facing. For those who work in training and development, understanding these 6 common challenges that leaders face around the world can be the catalyst for creating developmental initiatives that truly address leaders' real-world needs.

That's why we often suggest that a majority of development program content be the same, no matter where the training is taking place, or who's going through the training. At the same time, we also recognize that what's accepted in one culture may be unacceptable or taboo in another, and some behaviors may be the norm in one country but different in another. So, it's also essential to be aware of cultural nuances and make adjustments as needed.

But given that leaders around the globe face many of the same basic challenges, those designing training initiatives can safely align development efforts for colleagues around the world that tackle these 6 common areas: developing managerial effectiveness, inspiring others, developing employees, leading a team, guiding change, and managing internal stakeholders and politics.

Ready to Take the Next Step?
Build your team's capacity for overcoming these common leadership challenges. Partner with us to craft customized leadership development that develops the critical leadership skills and competencies that are right for your organization's unique context and culture.

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The Top 6 Leadership Challenges Around the World

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Leading an organization can be challenging. Discover the most common leadership challenges around the world and how to overcome them.

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Words are singularly the most powerful force available to humanity. We can choose to use this force constructively with words of encouragement, or destructively using words of despair. Words have energy and power with the ability to help, to heal, to hinder, to hurt, to harm, to humiliate and to humble.

Yehuda Berg

This quote captures what module 6 is all about. The ability to communicate effectively can make all the difference.

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Nice article that emphasizes how HR is constantly adapting to stay current with the ever changing needs of the employee and employer. This balance is always in motion and communication if very important to keep up with different cultures and developments.

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HR is expected to do a lot - establish or change culture, manage change big and small, develop leaders, engage employees - all major contributors to an organization's bottom line.

What was once considered a tool in HR's strategic leadership is now almost universally recognized as a strategic necessity: effective communications.
At a time of high expectations and unprecedented changes in the workplace and workforce, communication is key to the success of all HR functions.

"A great HR person really understands the value of communication and is willing to listen to and take advice from communications colleagues," explains Ron Shewchuk, a North Vancouver consultant who specializes in internal communications and employee engagement. "Communications understands the challenges faced by HR and helps them deal with them."
Workforce Changes Driving Expectations
Fundamental changes in workforce composition are impacting employees' expectations, as well as HR's approach to communicating with its multi-generational audience.

"Each generation has a different communication style and preferences," Shewchuk says. "We cannot take the monolithic, one-size-fits-all approach to communication. Print, audio, video - they all must combine to tell the story."

Different generations "speak different languages in terms of expectations, what they want from work and life," according to Tammy Tsang, principal and office godmother of My Loud Speaker Marketing and founder of the XYBoom conference and organization. She points to the Silent or Traditional Generation's view of work being the central focus of life; Baby Boomers' view of life with a strong work component, Generation X wanting a clear balance between work and life; and Generation Ys, who see work and personal life as a smooth integration without separation.

They can all share the same vision, Tsang explains. "A vision is what you're working toward; how you get there differs." For example, communication can be quite fluid for the Millennials who believe in work-life integration, while the key to reaching the Silent Generation is to appeal to their loyalty and to build relationships, preferably face to face.
Technology Changes 'Standard' Communications
Developing technology has changed the landscape forever for HR and communications.

"Technology is helping blow apart that traditional model of management control of all information," Shewchuk says. "It's really easy for employees to communicate with each other. HR and Communications are evolving into the role of facilitating the gaining and sharing of information - it's a big change."

"Everyone is a communicator," he continues. "There is so much technology and so many tools in the hands of employees that if we don't find ways to add value, we risk becoming marginalized even further."

In the world of Twitter and Facebook, information sharing is instantaneous. "Communication has permeated organizations much more deeply now," says Dr. Eliza Chavez, a change and transition professional, formerly principal of Cambiar Leadership and Organizational Effectiveness, now leading clinical and systems transformation in Vancouver Coastal Health Authority and the Provincial Health Services Authority.

"Everyone has a role to play," she continues. "Information is in our face so much more. People are working in informal networks. Those in HR who are working in tandem with Communications and leaders of the organizations will be the most successful."

HR is using other technologies for recruitment, including SnapChat and LinkedIn, Tsang points out. And different generations prefer different technologies for communication. "I'm a Millennial; on a regular basis I'm on my phone using Instant Messaging and apps, so I have a natural tendency to prefer that."
Leverage Mediums to Reach Further, Deeper
"We can leverage technology "to improve communication in ways we couldn't even imagine a few years ago," Shewchuk says. "We need to create opportunities for positive shared experiences, to keep people informed, to recognize accomplishments and to engage employees. Social and digital media have huge power to create those experiences and help bind organizations together."

"Video and audio are hugely powerful tools to get meaningful and useful information to the workforce. And we can now search videos for words or groups of words through meta-tagging," he explains. "We can cover distances in a geographically spread workforce, sharing video and audio through broadband. We can reach everyone at once. Mobile is super important; people in the field often have no access to computers."

Mike Desjardins agrees about the power of video. He's the co-founder and current CEO and driver of VIRTUS, an organizational and leadership development firm based in Vancouver. He recalls a hotel business that was launching new core values, which it had determined by interviewing people within the company and creating videos of employees telling stories. "I watched one video, about how managers came together during a strike to work as a team, and I had tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe I was watching a corporate video." The key was honest, heartfelt stories, told directly by employees.

Informal videos are the most powerful, Desjardins adds. "Fireside chats with small groups and a leader, lunch and learns, online conversations, virtual town hall meetings - they're all examples."

Moreover, Shewchuk says, "Studies have shown that the quality of communication in the workplace has a direct and measurable influence on performance and profitability and efficiency."

Team Up to Support Organizational Goals
Communications and HR both need to support their organization's business goals. They are even more powerful when working together to do it, and when they set measurable objectives that can demonstrate the difference they are making to the bottom line-whether through lowered recruitment costs, less turnover, more efficient work or helping reach other organizational strategic goals.

One way they can do that is in facilitating change. "Communication is the number one way that change happens," according to Dr. Chavez. "And not just from a corporate communications standpoint, but in all the ways that people communicate."

Change communication includes leadership laying out what is going to change and what isn't, but also includes the conversations that happen when employees go to their direct managers with concerns and questions.

"They won't say 'I'm afraid' or 'I'm anxious', but they are, and that requires solid communication between the person experiencing the change and their manager," she explains. "Communication is the conduit by which change happens, whether individual, team or organizational communications. In every way and at every step of change, there has to be two-way communication."
Affect Change with Effective Communications
Organizations that do a good job of blending change strategy with communication and sponsorship strategies "are going to be infinitely more successful than those who don't think of communication and sponsorship as part of change," Dr. Chavez adds.

Successful change contributes to organizational success. "If we're changing anyway, we can make the process less painful. Perhaps it will go quicker, we won't lose valuable people along the way, which saves both the hard dollar cost and the knowledge cost. We can keep on time and on budget. Resistance will always be there, but we need to deal with it through big and small communications," she says. "Seventy per cent of organization change projects fail. That's billions and billions of dollars gone out the door-that's a lot of money."

Change requires some specific messages, she adds. "These are the basics I sing from the mountaintops."

Why are we doing this, and what are we getting out of it?

What do we know, what do we not know and when will we know it?

What is changing and what is not changing?

Honesty and Transparency are Essential
The last thing an organization wants is for its employees to hear about change from outside sources before they hear it from the company.

"Our first urge is not to communicate until a problem is completely solved. That's the wrong kind of thinking - the rumour mill will fill in any gaps," explains Shewchuk. "Give people updates. If you let people in on your struggle, they're more likely to be sympathetic. You lose trust and credibility if you only report on it after the problem is solved."

Honesty and transparency are the building blocks of good communication. "Employees absolutely see through communication that isn't honest and transparent. Ask yourself, what damage can we cause by not being transparent?" asks Dr. Chavez.

Honesty also builds trust, she says. "It lets us hold our employees able to be in this conversation with us."

"The fear that often holds people back is that there will be difficult conversations as a result of being open. There will be, and that's okay. Decisions have to stand up to scrutiny. It's only by walking through the difficult conversations that we can come out on the other side, a changed organization," Chavez explains.

While the traditional HR function has been about controlling information and maintaining privacy, Shewchuk adds, HR pros need to work at being open and transparent while respecting needs for individual confidentiality.
Culture is a Constant Communicator
Culture contributes to successful change, too. "I fundamentally believe leaders shape culture," Chavez says. "How communication works in an organization is typically a reflection of the culture we have or the culture we are trying to create."

Communicating a strong culture externally through marketing can save a business big bucks in recruiting, according to Tammy Tsang-and for the younger generations in the workplace, culture is often a deciding factor. "

Youth are looking for more meaning behind what they do and in the jobs they're looking for. They're seeking organizations that have strong cultures, ones that align with their values and will move them to contribute to the culture," says Tsang.

Having to sell the company and culture to every candidate complicates recruitment, taking more time and money. A strong culture will attract strong candidates who already know about the company. "Especially for recruitment and retention, it's important for a company and its employees to have that visible pride in the company." Marketing the company's culture as its brand pays off in recruiting -Tsang points to Google, Electronic Arts, TOMS shoes and the Great Little Box Company as examples.
Reach and Grow Tomorrow's Leaders
Younger employees have been taught to critique the status quo, she adds, to build their own philosophies within a generation of growth. They have a strong desire to impress and improve, and to make things better together.

"There's a fine line between respecting the experience of your elders and helping fuel innovation," Tsang says. "They can step on toes in the beginning."

However, she maintains organizations must give younger generations the chance they need to get started. "Ten to 15 years down the road, you're going to need them and they're not ready yet. There's been a real loss in mentorship. It's time to take a closer look at how we pass on knowledge and communicate what we've learned, and give that generation a chance to get on their feet."

Desjardins excels at leadership development, specifically growing leaders internally. "It's very hard to hire leaders off the street. We have to get leaders excited about career development, and help them create and implement a development plan that fits their strategic goals," he says. "We need leaders and they're not ready. There's a gap between Baby Boomers and Generations X and Y, a real vacuum there with quite a difference in experience just because of the age difference."
Open Channels to Develop Leaders Within
Once a leadership development plan that supports an organization's goals is in place, communication is necessary both to those involved in the program and those who are not, according to Desjardins. "We need to share wins, keep people abreast of changes and keep the momentum going. And individually, we need to let people know if they're not ready yet and what they need to do differently to get ready, or what their responsibilities are as part of the program if they are ready."

In large organizations, communication lets employees know what courses are available to them, and how the different options can be blended together to create the program that's right for each individual.

"At the end of the day, communication is the only thing that connects us as human beings," Desjardins says. Change, in culture or other areas, "happens when leaders model the behaviour they want to see in the organization, and when we tell our stories to each other."

While the style of communication can be different for different generations, he adds, we need to connect with all of them. Just as teachers use audio, visual, feeling and kinesics methods to reach more learners, HR and communications need to use all applications to connect with all their audiences.
Don't Stop Asking Questions
The first thing Shewchuk does when hired by a company to improve its internal communication is to evaluate what's in use already. That includes meeting with leaders and front-line employees.

"Those on the front line often have great ideas and excellent observations. They can share their frustrations with the current state as well as telling us what works best," says Shewchuk. "We get a real sense of where the strengths are and where the gaps are. Communication is much more complex than it used to be. We find out how employees communicate with each other, and what mechanisms are in place for feedback up the organization."

He advises HR professionals to think about communication is three areas:

How information is organized - how easy is it for employees to find and share information?

Storytelling - putting a human face the organization and telling compelling stories of change through the people living it on the front line

Strengthening the community at work and the social work space - facilitating the sharing of information, helping collaborators get together in communities of practice and interest; finding new ways to work together successfully.

Effective Communications Generate Results
Great communication is about driving business results, Shewchuk adds, whether that be improving safety, reducing costs or increasing productivity. By using the tools available in an integrated way, content will be consistent and complement other sources across the spectrum.

Objectives can be as simple as getting employees to buy into their benefits program. Desjardins recalls a client whose employees hated their benefits plan, even though it was one of the best in their industry. Research showed that a full 30 per cent of the benefits were unknown to employees; once a new program was implemented to explain the plan, people felt listened to and loved it.

"Programs don't fail because they're bad initiatives, they fail because of poor communication," Desjardins says. "Communication has to be planned from an organizational perspective, outside of individual departmental silos."

From understanding benefits to sweeping change, communications and HR are inextricably linked in successful organizations, he adds.

"There's no way to separate the two. HR without communication is like waving to a person in the dark. I know what I'm doing but they have no idea."

Nancy Painter is a freelance business writer and a member of the the International Association of Business Communicators. (PeopleTalk Summer 2014)
Tags: change management, communications, Dr. Elisa Chavez, effective communications, featured, generations, HR, loyalty, making the connection, Mike Desjardins, Nancy Painter, PeopleTalk Summer 2014, Ron Shewchuk, social media, Tammy Tsang, technology, transparency, trust, Virtus, XYBoom

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Effective Communications and HR: Making the Connection

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HR is expected to do a lot - establish or change culture, manage change big and small, develop leaders, engage employees - all major contributors to an organization's bottom line. What was once considered a tool in HR's strategic leadership is now almost universally recognized as a strategic necessity: effective communications.

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I selected this article because it gives a brief overview of how to use an employment agency or headhunter when looking to obtain employment.

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What's a headhunter? What's the difference between an employment agency and a headhunter or a search firm? The terms that describe the people and companies that earn a living helping job seekers find jobs can be confusing. Before diving into when and how to use an employment agency or headhunter for your job search, first, you must know who's who and who does what in the world of employment recruiting.

Employment Agency

The traditional employment agency assists job seekers in finding work. Some firms charge the job seeker, so be sure to clarify, up front, if there is a fee. Others are paid by the employer. In most cases, I would not recommend using an agency that charges the job seeker.

Search Firm/Executive Search Firm

Search firms can be industry specific (i.e. banking or retail) or skill specific (i.e. accounting or information technology). There are two main types of agencies:

Contingency Employment Agency: A contingency agency is paid when their candidate is hired by the employer. These types of firms are most often used for low and mid-level searches and they often send a large number of resumes to the employer.

Retained Search Firm: A retained search firm has an exclusive relationship with the employer. Search firms are typically hired for senior-level searches, and for a specific period of time to find a candidate to fill a job. They are paid expenses, plus a percentage of the employee's salary, regardless of whether the candidate is hired.

Recruiter/Headhunter

The recruiter/headhunter/search consultant (the terms are used interchangeably) is the person you will actually work with on your job search. You may be approached by a headhunter trying to recruit you to apply for a new job working for a firm she/he represents. Alternately, you may send your resume to a recruiter or apply for a position that a headhunter is trying to fill.

Temporary (Temp) Agency

Temporary agencies are employment agencies that find employees to fill temporary jobs. For example, temps are often hired to work during seasonal increases in business or to cover vacations or illnesses. Many temporary agencies have expanded their role in the employment sector to fill temp to perm positions where the position starts out as a temporary job but could become permanent if the employer decides to hire the candidate.

When to Use a Recruiter or Search Firm

When does it make sense to use a search firm or recruiter to assist with your job search? If you seem to be stuck in a rut and you are not getting calls for interviews, it can make sense to use a recruiter to broaden your job search. It can also make sense if you are in a high-level position since those jobs are not always advertised, or in an industry that typically uses search firms to fill vacancies.

Search firms have contacts in industries and at companies that you might not even be aware of. They can help market your resume and provide you with additional exposure to potential employers. Headhunters spend their working hours looking for employment opportunities. That's time researching employers that you won't have to spend.

Some employers are impressed by candidates who are represented by recruiters. In addition, you will have a professional representing your qualifications to the company. The headhunter can also help you negotiate a compensation package.

Keep in mind that there's a difference between paying an employment agency to help you with your job search and using a recruiter to connect you with potential employers. I would not recommend paying for placement. Rather, you want to use a recruiter or search firm who is paid by your prospective employer. If you do need job search assistance, consider contacting the Career Services office at your alma mater if you're a college graduate or your local Department of Labor for free assistance.

If you choose to work with multiple recruiters, it's important to let each one know you are also working with someone else.

Otherwise, they may both market your resume to the same employer, which can be an issue when the recruiter wants to collect the fee.

Choosing a Headhunter

How can you choose a headhunter who will work effectively for you? If you are seeking employment in a specific industry, consider using a headhunter who works in that industry. If you belong to a professional association, they may be able to provide a list of recruiters.

Use recruiting online directories to generate a list of recruiters. The Recruiters Online database is searchable by over 150 specialties, as well as by location and keyword. i-Recruit.com has a directory of recruiters listed by specialty and by location. Network with business colleagues and acquaintances to get suggestions. Check LinkedIn to see if you're connected with a recruiter or someone who can refer you to one.

Turn the table and spend some time interviewing the recruiter. This is an important professional relationship, and you need to be sure it's going to work. Ask how long the recruiter has been with the company. Also, ask about the process and how they market your resume and present it to potential employers.

Ask the recruiter for references and check them. Talk to clients about the services that were provided and what they thought of them. Also, ask if they would use the recruiter again. Finally, make sure you are comfortable with both the company and the individual. There needs to be a fit between your style and the style of the people who are representing you.

Remember that using a recruiter should only be one step in your job search. There is no guarantee if, or when, a lead will turn into a job offer. So, do not stop your own job search efforts and don't stop networking or looking for potential opportunities on your own. Do let the recruiter know that you are seeking other opportunities.

More About Recruiting: How Companies Recruit Employees | How to Find a Recruiter

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Learn How and When to Choose an Employment Agency or Headhunter

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What's a headhunter? What's the difference between an employment agency and a headhunter or a search firm? The terms that describe the people and companies that earn a living helping job seekers find jobs can be confusing.

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I really enjoyed this article because it gives you a very detailed insight into formal and informal communication along with examples of each type.

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Someone said correctly "The very attempt of, not to speak, speaks a lot."Communication plays a crucial role in our life, as people interchange their ideas, information, feelings, opinions by communicating. Formal communication is one that passes through predefined channels of communication throughout the organization. On the contrary, Informal communication refers to the form of communication which flows in every direction, i.e. it moves freely in the organization.

Communication could be verbal - spoken or written, or non-verbal i.e. using sign language, body movements, facial expressions, gestures, eye contact or even with the tone of voice.

In an organization, there are two channels of communication - formal communication and informal communication. People often confuse between these two channels, so here we have presented an article which explains the difference between formal and informal communication network.

Content: Formal Communication Vs Informal Communication

Comparison Chart

Basis for Comparison

Formal Communication

Informal Communication

Definition of Formal Communication

The communication in which the flow of information is already defined is termed as Formal Communication. The communication follows a hierarchical chain of command which is established by the organisation itself. In general, this type of communication is used exclusively in the workplace, and the employees are bound to follow it while performing their duties.

Example: Requests, commands, orders, reports etc.

The formal communication is of four types:

Upward or Bottom-up: The communication in which the flow of information goes from subordinate to superior authority.

Downward or Top-down: The communication in which the flow of information goes from superior to subordinate.

Horizontal or Lateral: The communication between two employees of different departments working at the same level.

Crosswise or Diagonal: The communication between the employees of two different departments working at different levels.

Definition of Informal Communication

The communication which does not follow any pre-defined channel for the transmission of information is known as informal communication. This type of communication moves freely in all directions, and thus, it is very quick and rapid. In any organization, this type of communication is very natural as people interact with each other about their professional life, personal life, and other matter.

Example: Sharing of feelings, casual discussion, gossips, etc.

The informal communication is of four types:

Key Differences Between Formal and Informal Communication

The following points are substantial, so far as the difference between formal and informal communication is concerned.

1. Formal communication is also known by the name of official communication. Informal Communication is also known by the name of grapevine.

2. In formal communication, the information must follow a chain of command. Conversely, the informal communication can move freely in any direction.

3. In formal communication, full secrecy is maintained, but in the case of informal communication maintenance of secrecy is a very tough task.

4. Formal communication is written, whereas Informal communication is oral.

5. Formal communication is time-consuming as opposed to Informal communication, which is rapid and quick.

6. Formal communication is more reliable than Informal communication.

7. Formal communication is designed by the organization. Informal communication starts itself due to the urge of 'human to talk'.

8. In formal communication, the documentary evidence is always available. On the other hand, in the case of informal communication, the supporting documents are not available.

Conclusion

A very deep discussion on the difference between formal and informal communication has been done in this article. Nowadays, many big Transnational Organizations has started an open-door policy, in which any employee of any department can communicate directly with the head of an organization, about their complaints, grievances, and requests. This results in reducing the complexity of the formal communication.

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Difference Between Formal and Informal Communication (with Example and Comparison Chart) - Key Differences

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Ten significant differences between formal and informal communication are enclosed here, along with examples, in tabular form and in points. One such difference is Formal communication is also known by the name of official communication. Informal Communication is also known by the name of grapevine.

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This quote seemed fitting for module 5. It reminds me that without the combined efforts of each individual an organization will not be successful.

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This is an excellent article about understanding and developing culture within an organization. This article really breaks down each aspect within the organization and how to each cultural development is critical to the overall organization.

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The key to a successful organization is to have a culture based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and structure. When an organization has a strong culture, three things happen: Employees know how top management wants them to respond to any situation, employees believe that the expected response is the proper one, and employees know that they will be rewarded for demonstrating the organization's values.

HR has a vital role in perpetuating a strong culture, starting with recruiting and selecting applicants who will share the organization's beliefs and thrive in that culture. HR also develops orientation, training and performance management programs that outline and reinforce the organization's core values and ensures that appropriate rewards and recognition go to employees who truly embody the values.

This article covers the following topics:

The importance of having a strong organizational culture.

HR's role in fostering a high-performance culture.

Definitions of organizational culture.

Factors that shape an organization's culture.

Considerations in creating and managing organizational culture.

HR practices to ensure the continuity and success of an organization's culture.

Communications, metrics, legal, technology and global issues pertaining to organizational culture.

Background

An organization's culture defines the proper way to behave within the organization. This culture consists of shared beliefs and values established by leaders and then communicated and reinforced through various methods, ultimately shaping employee perceptions, behaviors and understanding. Organizational culture sets the context for everything an enterprise does. Because industries and situations vary significantly, there is not a one-size-fits-all culture template that meets the needs of all organizations.

A strong culture is a common denominator among the most successful companies. All have consensus at the top regarding cultural priorities, and those values focus not on individuals but on the organization and its goals. Leaders in successful companies live their cultures every day and go out of their way to communicate their cultural identities to employees as well as prospective new hires. They are clear about their values and how those values define their organizations and determine how the organizations run. See What does it mean to be a values-based organization?

Conversely, an ineffective culture can bring down the organization and its leadership. Disengaged employees, high turnover, poor customer relations and lower profits are examples of how the wrong culture can negatively impact the bottom line.

Mergers and acquisitions are fraught with culture issues. Even organizational cultures that have worked well may develop into a dysfunctional culture after a merger. Research has shown that two out of three mergers fail because of cultural problems. Blending and redefining the cultures, and reconciling the differences between them, build a common platform for the future. In recent years, the fast pace of mergers and acquisitions has changed the way businesses now meld. The focus in mergers has shifted away from blending cultures and has moved toward meeting specific business objectives. Some experts believe that if the right business plan and agenda are in place during a merger, a strong corporate culture will develop naturally. See Managing Organizational Change and Managing Human Resources in Mergers and Acquisitions.

Business Case

If an organization's culture is going to improve the organization's overall performance, the culture must provide a strategic competitive advantage, and beliefs and values must be widely shared and firmly upheld. A strong culture can bring benefits such as enhanced trust and cooperation, fewer disagreements and more-efficient decision-making. Culture also provides an informal control mechanism, a strong sense of identification with the organization and shared understanding among employees about what is important. Employees whose organizations have strongly defined cultures can also justify their behaviors at work because those behaviors fit the culture. See Toxic Workplace Cultures Hurt Workers and Company Profits.

Company leaders play an instrumental role in shaping and sustaining organizational culture. If the executives themselves do not fit into an organization's culture, they often fail in their jobs or quit due to poor fit. Consequently, when organizations hire C-suite executives, these individuals should have both the requisite skills and the ability to fit into the company culture. See HR Can't Change Company Culture by Itself.

Culture plays a vital role in an organization's success. Therefore, HR leaders and other members of the HR team should foster a high-performance organizational culture. See How to Practice HR on Purpose.

HR leaders are responsible for ensuring that culture management is a core focus of their organization's competitive efforts. For HR leaders to influence culture, they need to work with senior management to identify what the organizational culture should look like. Strategic thinking and planning must extend beyond merely meeting business goals and focus more intently on an organization's most valuable asset-its people.

HR has been described as the "caretaker" of organizational culture. In carrying out this essential role, all members of the HR team should help build and manage a strong culture by:

Being a role model for the organization's beliefs.

Reinforcing organizational values.

Ensuring that organizational ethics are defined, understood and practiced.

Enabling two-way communications and feedback channels.

Defining roles, responsibilities and accountabilities.

Providing continuous learning and training.

Sustaining reward and recognition systems.

Encouraging empowerment and teams.

Promoting a customer-supplier work environment.

Recognizing and solving individual and organizational problems and issues.

What Is Organizational Culture?

For HR professionals to have any impact on culture, they must first have a thorough understanding of what culture is in a general sense and what their organization's specific culture is. At the deepest level, an organization's culture is based on values derived from basic assumptions about the following:

Human nature. Are people inherently good or bad, mutable or immutable, proactive or reactive? These basic assumptions lead to beliefs about how employees, customers and suppliers should interact and how they should be managed.

The organization's relationship to its environment.How does the organization define its business and its constituencies?

Appropriate emotions. Which emotions should people be encouraged to express, and which ones should be suppressed?

Effectiveness. What metrics show whether the organization and its individual components are doing well? An organization will be effective only when the culture is supported by an appropriate business strategy and a structure that is appropriate for both the business and the desired culture.

Culture is a nebulous concept and is often an undefined aspect of an organization. Although extensive academic literature exists relating to the topic of organizational culture, there is no generally accepted definition of culture. Instead, the literature expresses many different views as to what organizational culture is.

Organizational culture can manifest itself in a variety of ways, including leadership behaviors, communication styles, internally distributed messages and corporate celebrations. Given that culture comprises so many elements, it is not surprising that terms for describing specific cultures vary widely. Some commonly used terms for describing cultures include aggressive, customer-focused, innovative, fun, ethical, research-driven, technology-driven, process-oriented, hierarchical, family-friendly and risk-taking.

Because culture is difficult to define, organizations may have trouble maintaining consistency in their messages about culture. Employees may also find it difficult to identify and communicate about perceived cultural inconsistencies. and See Defining Organizational Culture Culture Conversation Starters.

Factors That Shape an Organization's Culture

Organizational leaders often speak about the unusual natures of their company cultures, seeing their domains as special places to work. But organizations such as Disney and Nordstrom, which are well-known for their unique cultures, are rare. See Viewpoint: 3 Steps to Cultivating a Customized Culture.

Most company cultures are not that different from one another. Even organizations in disparate industries such as manufacturing and health care tend to share a common core of cultural values. For example, most private-sector companies want to grow and increase revenues. Most strive to be team-oriented and to demonstrate concern for others. Most are driven, rather than relaxed, because they are competing for dollars and market share. Some of the cultural characteristics that distinguish most organizations include the following.

Values

At the heart of organizations' cultures are commonly shared values. None is right or wrong, but organizations need to decide which values they will emphasize. These common values include:

Outcome orientation. Emphasizing achievements and results.

People orientation. Insisting on fairness, tolerance and respect for the individual.

Team orientation. Emphasizing and rewarding collaboration.

Attention to detail. Valuing precision and approaching situations and problems analytically.

Stability. Providing security and following a predictable course.

Innovation. Encouraging experimentation and risk-taking.

Aggressiveness. Stimulating a fiercely competitive spirit.

See Trust Engenders Trust: A Q&A with Paul J. Zak.

Degree of hierarchy

The degree of hierarchy is the extent to which the organization values traditional channels of authority. The three distinct levels of hierarchy are "high"-having a well-defined organizational structure and an expectation that people will work through official channels; "moderate"-having a defined structure but an acceptance that people often work outside formal channels; and "low" -having loosely defined job descriptions and accepting that people challenge authority.

An organization with a high level of hierarchy tends to be more formal and moves more slowly than an organization with a low level of hierarchy.

Degree of urgency

The degree of urgency defines how quickly the organization wants or needs to drive decision-making and innovation. Some organizations choose their degree of urgency, but others have it thrust on them by the marketplace.

A culture with high levels of urgency has a need to push projects through quickly and a high need to respond to a changing marketplace. A moderate level of urgency moves projects at a reasonable pace. A low level of urgency means people work slowly and consistently, valuing quality over efficiency. An organization with high urgency tends to be fast-paced and supports a decisive management style. An organization with low urgency tends to be more methodical and supports a more considered management style.

People orientation or task orientation

Organizations usually have a dominant way of valuing people and tasks. An organization with a strong people orientation tends to put people first when making decisions and believes that people drive the organization's performance and productivity. An organization with a strong task orientation tends to put tasks and processes first when making decisions and believes that efficiency and quality drive organization performance and productivity.

Some organizations may get to choose their people and task orientations. But others may have to fit their orientation to the nature of their industry, historical issues or operational processes.

Functional orientation

Every organization puts an emphasis on certain functional areas. Examples of functional orientations may include marketing, operations, research and development, engineering or service. For example, an innovative organization known for its research and development may have at its core a functional orientation toward R&D. A hospitality company may focus on operations or service, depending on its historical choices and its definition in the marketplace.

Employees from different functions in the company may think that their functional areas are the ones that drive the organization. Organizational leaders must understand what most employees perceive to be the company's functional orientation. See Building a Customer-Centric Culture: Five Lessons Learned.

Organizational subcultures

Any organization can have a mix of subcultures in addition to the dominant culture. Subcultures exist among groups or individuals who may have their own rituals and traditions that, although not shared by the rest of the organization, can deepen and underscore the organization's core values. Subcultures can also cause serious problems.

For example, regional cultures often differ from the overall culture that top leadership tries to instill. Perhaps aggressiveness that is common in one area may not mesh with a culture emphasizing team building. Or an organization with a culture built around equality may have trouble if the national culture emphasizes hierarchy and expects people to bow to authority. Managers and HR professionals must recognize those differences and address them directly.

Creating and Managing Organizational Culture

An organizational culture tends to emerge over time, shaped by the organization's leadership and by actions and values perceived to have contributed to earlier successes. A company culture can be managed through the cultural awareness of organizational leaders and HR professionals. Managing a culture takes focused efforts to sustain elements of the culture that support organizational effectiveness. See Addressing the Six Sources of Workplace Cultural Conflicts.

How culture develops

An organization's customs, traditions, rituals, behavioral norms, symbols and general way of doing things are the visible manifestation of its culture; they are what one sees when walking into the organization. The current organizational culture is usually due to factors that have worked well for the organization in the past. See How to Create a Culture of Civility.

Founders typically have a significant impact on an organization's early culture. Over time, behavioral norms develop that are consistent with the organization's values. For example, in some organizations, resolution of conflicts is hashed out openly and noisily to create widespread consensus, whereas in other places disputes are settled hierarchically and quietly behind closed doors.

Though culture emerges naturally in most organizations, strong cultures often begin with a process called "values blueprinting," which involves a candid conversation with leaders from across the organization. Once the culture is framed, an organization may establish a values committee that has a direct link to leadership. This group makes sure the desired culture is alive and well. For values blueprinting to work, organizations must first hire people who live the values and have the competency needed to perform the job.

Sustaining a culture

The management of organizational culture starts with identifying a company's organizational culture traits or "artifacts." Artifacts are the core business activities, processes and philosophies that characterize how an organization does business day-to-day.

Identifying these traits-and assessing their importance in light of current business objectives-is a way to start managing culture. Three broad concepts help identify the traits specific to a culture:

Social culture. This refers to group members' roles and responsibilities. It is the study of class distinctions and the distribution of power that exists in any group.

Material culture. This involves examining everything that people in a group make or achieve and the ways people work with and support one another in exchanging required goods and services.

Ideological culture. This is tied to a group's values, beliefs and ideals-the things people view as fundamental. It includes the emotional and intellectual guidelines that govern people's daily existence and interactions.

Leaders and HR professionals within an organization should approach culture management by initially gaining an understanding of the common traits found in all businesses. Then, they should take the following steps to manage their organization's culture:

Identify common artifacts or traits, including those from the standpoint of an organization's social, material and ideological culture.

Convene groups of employees-representatives from all levels, functions and locations of the organization-to assess the validity, significance and currency of key artifacts.

Subject those traits to a rigorous assessment of their underlying shared assumptions, values and beliefs.

Summarize findings and share them with all participants to solicit additional insights.

Create a culture management action plan. The plan should enhance traits that support corporate growth or organizational effectiveness and correct traits that might hinder a company's advancement.

Typically, shared assumptions and beliefs originate with an organization's founders and leaders. Because those beliefs proved successful (otherwise the company would not exist and the leaders would not be in their positions), often they go unchallenged; however, those assumptions and beliefs might be outdated and may hinder future success. See 6 Steps for Building an Inclusive Workplace.

HR Practices to Develop Culture

HR has a special role in ensuring that an organization's culture will continue and thrive. When an organization does a good job assessing its culture, it can then go on to establish HR policies, programs and strategies that support and strengthen its core purpose and values. In aligned organizations, the same core characteristics or beliefs motivate and unite everyone, cascading down from the C-suite to individual contributors.

HR professionals have many tools for developing and sustaining a high-performance organizational culture, including hiring practices, onboarding efforts, recognition programs and performance management programs. HR's biggest challenge is deciding how to use these tools and how to allocate resources appropriately. See Taming the Savage Culture: A Q&A with Tim Mulligan.

Hiring practices

The central role that HR plays in helping an organization capitalize on its culture is in hiring. HR has the opportunity to select people who fit the way the organization operates. Traditionally, hiring focuses primarily on an applicant's skills, but when a hire's personality also fits with the organization's culture, the employee will be more likely to deliver superior performance. See Finance Sector Needs New Focus on Culture to Attract Talent and Candidates Choose Jobs Because of Company Culture.

On the other hand, ill-fitting hires and subsequent rapid departures cost approximately 50 percent to 150 percent of the position's annual salary. Unfortunately, nearly one in three newly hired employees' leaves voluntarily or involuntarily within a year of hiring, and this number has been increasing steadily in recent years. See 5 Unique Interview Questions Every Recruiter Should Ask.

Some hiring practices to ensure cultural fit include these:

Looking at each piece of the organization's vision, mission and values statements. Interview questions should hone in on behaviors that complement these areas. For example, if the organization works with a lot of intensity, then job applicants should display that natural intensity to be considered for hire.

Conducting a cultural fit interview. Ask questions that elicit comments about organizational values such as honesty or integrity. If a candidate's description of the worst place he or she ever worked sounds just like the organization where he or she is interviewing, the candidate probably will not be successful.

Leaving discussion of company culture for later. Do not tell candidates about culture up front. First,listen to what they have to say about their experiences and beliefs. This tactic will reveal more candid responses to help determine whether they are a fit for the organization.

Making sure at least three people are involved in the hiring process. Different people will see and hear different things. These varied perspectives give a clearer understanding of the person being considered for hire.

Searching for employees who will fit in seamlessly can have drawbacks. The biggest mistake an organization can make is to paint an inaccurate picture of itself as it tries to attract candidates. If new hires discover they have been sold a bill of goods, they will not be happy; they will probably not stick around, and, while they are around, morale will decline.

Another possible drawback is that people are more reluctant to take negative actions against people like themselves. As a result, mediocre workers are more likely to stay employed if they share the cultural values. Similarly, although an organization's comfort level is palpable when the culture is aligned, experts say, too much comfort can result in groupthink and complacency.

Onboarding programs

HR plays a primary role in socializing new employees by designing and overseeing the onboarding process. Onboarding teaches newcomers the employer's value system, norms and desired organizational behaviors. HR professionals must help newcomers become part of social networks in the organization and make sure that they have early job experiences that reinforce the culture. See Managing the Employee Onboarding and Assimilation Process.

Reward and recognition programs

These programs are key mechanisms HR can use to motivate employees to act in accordance with the organization's culture and values. For example, if teamwork is a core value, bonuses should value teamwork and not be based on individual performance. HR should also put the spotlight on those who personify the company's values. See Who's at the CENTRE of your recognition program? and Employee Recognition Tech Must Align with Company Culture.

Performance management programs

Employees who share values and aspirations tend to outperform those in environments that lack cohesiveness and common purposes. Performance management programs can greatly affect corporate culture by clearly outlining what is expected from employees as well as by providing a feedback tool that informs employees about proper behavior. See Performance Management That Makes a Difference: An Evidence-Based Approach.

Communications

Conflicting messages regarding corporate culture may create distrust and cynicism, which can prompt, or help employees justify, actions as deleterious as embezzlement. Experts say that cultural inconsistencies may also cause workers to grow discouraged, to believe management is disingenuous, to doubt statements from higher-ups and to be less inclined to give their best effort.

Organizations may be investing significant time and money in creating a culture but may not be reaping the commensurate rewards-especially if executives, supervisors and rank-and-file employees have differing perceptions of the company's culture. HR professionals must therefore ensure that the organization clearly and consistently communicates its culture to all employees. See HR's Role in Creating a Culture of High Trust: Q&A with Richard Fagerlin.

Metrics

Assessing organizational culture is a crucial step in developing sound HR strategies that support enterprise objectives and goals. But how do you measure something as potentially tough to describe as culture? After identifying the key dimensions of culture such as values, degree of hierarchy, and people and task orientations, performing these next steps will help organizations assess culture:

Develop a cultural assessment instrument. This instrument should enable members of the organization to rate the organization on the key cultural dimensions, as well as on aspects of the organization not covered on the assessment.

Administer the assessment. Survey respondents should include individuals at all levels, functions, divisions and geographical units of the organization.

Analyze and communicate about assessment results. Leaders and HR executives should discuss areas of agreement and disagreement about the organization's culture.

Conduct employee focus groups. Just because top management leaders agree on organizational culture does not mean that all employees see things that way.

Discuss culture until consensus forms around key issues. Focus on "Who are we?" and "What makes us who we are?" Organizations that decide that where they are now is not where they want to be may need to look at moving the organization to embrace a different culture.

Cultural assessments, and other activities such as cultural audits and 360-degree feedback, may also help uncover cultural inconsistencies. Then leaders and HR professionals can eliminate the inconsistencies. For example, if customer service is a focus of the company's culture, evaluate how much time employees spend visiting customer sites, how much interaction they have with customers, what customer service training they receive and other indicators of a customer service focus. See The New Analytics of Workplace Culture

Legal Issues

Employers that emphasize cultural fit in their recruitment and selection process can be vulnerable to discrimination claims if they are not careful. HR professionals should ensure that hiring practices and selection decisions based on a cultural fit rationale do not result in discriminating against any applicants who may not be "just like" the selectors.

Employers should also be aware that certain types of organizational cultures (for example, cultures that are highly paternalistic or male-dominated) may tend to perpetuate disparities in promotions, compensation and other terms of employment. Those disparities may violate anti-discrimination laws. See In Focus: Latest Lawsuits Shine Light on Racist, Sexist Workplace Cultures and Address the Small Infractions to Create an Inclusive Culture.

Global Issues

Research suggests that national culture has a greater effect on employees than the culture of their organization. Organizational leaders and HR professionals should understand the national cultural values in the countries in which the organization operates to ensure that management and HR practices are appropriate and will be effective in operations in those countries. National cultural differences should be considered when implementing organizational culture management initiatives in global businesses.

Managers must be able to respond to nuances in communication styles, as well as deal with different expectations that employees have of their leaders across national cultures. Not meeting those expectations may doom the global organization's chance for success in particular countries.

These issues become even more complex in global business mergers. Success in international mergers depends on the merged organization's willingness to enable people with different cultural perspectives to engage in meaningful and valuable discussions about the new business.

See:
Helping Expatriate Employees Deal with Culture Shock 3 Steps in Aligning Culture Across the Globe

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The key to a successful organization is to have a culture based on a strongly held and widely shared set of beliefs that are supported by strategy and structure.

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This article interested me because it not only gave you the advantages and disadvantages of both dimensions, it also provided a detailed flow chart that shows organization within the corporation. I have worked in both dimensions and can see how this article is transposed to real experiences.

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Heroic Technical Writing: Advice and Insights on the Business of Technical Communication

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First, a few definitions so you understand what I'm talking about.

A "vertical" company is known for having a large staff of middle managers between the CEO and the front line. In a vertical company-which was most the most common business model in organizations for the much of the mid- to late-20th century-lines of authority branch outward from the top down like a tree's roots. Individual vice-presidents direct the activities of the staff below them according to specific lines of business. Vertical organizations arose in the 1930s and 1940s in order to combat the tendency toward cronyism and nepotism in privately held businesses.

Advantages

The advantages of vertical structures are that they have defined chains of command and areas of responsibility; employees advance through ability and performance on familiar, known tasks; and the career path of someone looking to advance "through the ranks" is clearly understood. Also, the longer one stays in a vertical organization the more in-depth knowledge and expertise they gain over the course of time.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of vertical structures are that they take longer to make decisions and information does not always filter upward to management or down to front-line personnel. The major problem with vertical organizations is that bureaucracy can become rampant as individual lines of business become isolated from each other, develop separate cultures and procedures, and sometimes seek to justify unprofitable lines of business. Or, one level of an organization can be in contact with another, but the "levels" above or below that contact are unaware of those conversations, resulting in lost communications or duplication of effort if someone else at a different level tries to initiate the same level communication. A final challenge with a vertical organization is that communications with other departments can sometimes be actively discouraged or seen as disloyalty below a "certain level"-the idea being all the information you should need to know to do your job is within your "stovepipe."

A "vertical" organization chart might look something like this:

Horizontal Organizations

In response to the observed and perceived weaknesses of the vertical company, "horizontal" companies started popping up more often-especially in the Dot-com companies of the 1990s, where companies were too small to afford a large "vertical" organization. Horizontally oriented companies have relatively few layers of management between the CEO and front-line personnel. It is thought that with fewer individuals in the chain of command, decisions can be made more quickly. As a result of this new management thinking, middle managers in "vertical" organizations saw more layoffs. Much of this thinking was born out of our nation's space program (see The Secret of Apollo if you're really gung-ho to learn about systems management.)

Advantages

The goals of horizontal organizations are to speed up decision making; to allow for more management flexibility and cross-training as individuals work more closely with other areas; to eliminate bureaucracy because more people are talking to each other across vertical lines of business; and to increase a company's flexibility when it comes to creating new products or reacting to new market conditions.

Disadvantages

The disadvantages of horizontal organization include workforce reductions that create a loss of experienced managers, who often make up the "institutional memory" of a company; the breaking up of specialized lines of business, thus reducing the company's ability to innovate; and uncertain career paths for aspiring managers. There can also be a perception that an individual who works in a small, flat organization lacks necessary expertise in his or her particular specialty to truly excel because effort is diluted-the operative example being a "jack of all trades, master of none."

A "horizontal" organization chart looks something like this:

Ideally, matrixed organizations attempt to integrate and use the best of both horizontal and vertical structures. The idea is this: a (typically large) company keeps its specific lines of business expertise intact-finance, marketing, engineering, etc.-but brings together specialists from each vertical organization to work on temporary projects that develop new products, services, or even lines of business. A person working in such a structure would thus have vertical lines of accountability to the immediate line-of-business superiors and horizontal accountability to one's project teammates.

As stated above, matrix organizations would keep their vertical lines of business intact to maintain their core competencies while also farming out individuals within those specialties to develop new products and services. The other advantage that this type of organization has is that it has more regular and formal contact across disciplines.

The primary challenges for individuals working in matrix organizations are accountability, authority, and perceived "loyalty." If a manager is a project team lead or member, she or he must constantly balance which work takes precedence: project work or daily line-of-business work? Next, matrix structures can also impact employee loyalty: if individuals are more interested in doing project work than in doing the specialty work for which they were hired, they might be perceived as "disloyal" by their vertical line-of-business superior. Also, a line-of-business manager might not see their subordinate's work if he or she is heavily involved in project work. There can be a corporate problem of being "out of sight, out of mind," where a project worker misses opportunities for promotion within her/his vertical organization because of a focus on the project. If cooperation does not occur both horizontally and vertically, the company can easily be overrun by politics, as people break into fragmented camps: "Are you a 'project' person or are you an 'institutional' person?"

A "matrixed" organization chart looks something like this, with both horizontal and vertical accountability:

Opportunities

Since 2000, many large organizations have taken on the matrix form of organization. One primary reason is networking: because computers allow us to be connected in more ways than ever before, individual workers expect their companies to behave the same way. More importantly, customers expect that.

Large organizations like Disney spent much of the last 20 years on Customer Relationship Management (though I forget what they call it internally now). CRM is the process of developing information streams that allow multiple parts of an organization to access customer information and use it to better meet the customer's and the organization's needs. One example of this CRM-type integration is the Disney Magic Band, which is actually a rather complex piece of hardware (and software). It allows guests to wear one tool on their wrist that serves as their theme park admission, hotel room key, and credit card for making merchandise and food purchases on their hotel account while staying at the resort. On the spooky side, once you've stayed at the hotel and visited the parks and made all those purchases, the next marketing letter or email you get from Disney is likely to work like Amazon.com and recommend similar purchases the next time you visit.

None of that could have happened without a matrixed organization to support it.

And of course along the way they needed technical communicators working alongside the Information Technology people and all the other related organizations (Marketing, Attractions, Resorts) to ensure that all their needs were met. I shudder to think of what the requirements document looked like for Magic Band, but I've seen it in action, and it does indeed work as advertised. What these tools mean for technical communicators is plenty of opportunity to work in cross-functional projects, which can last weeks, months, or years.

Another reason cross-functional teams are better (and more fun, in my opinion) to work for is that you're interacting with more customers, more lines of business, and so are learning a lot more about how the whole organization works, which makes your knowledge much more valuable when you're looking for the next job.

Lastly, project work helps you build your personal network within an organization much better than if you just stayed within one organization. You might know Finance inside and out, for example, but you might have no idea who works in Marketing, how Marketing does its business or how it affects what you do there. If only out of self-defense, I think project work would be beneficial to someone learning to be valuable to an organization, but I've been known to be wrong about such things.

Challenges

I'm not going to kid you: matrixed organizations have their challenges. For me, the biggest challenge was the number of meetings I had to attend. As a member of a "vertical" organization (say, the Communications department), you're beholden to that organization's schedule, standards, and meetings and are expected to comply with all three while in the project. Just because you're "off on project work" doesn't mean that your line-of-business boss doesn't want to see you. S/he does, which means that your meeting schedule effectively doubles.

Loyalty and Conflicts of Management Interest

The "loyalty" question is always a puzzler to me, because to me accountability is pretty straightforward: I'm supposed to provide a good service as a communicator (representing the line-of-business organization) to a project team, regardless of who they are. My boss is in the communications department; my customer is in the project office.

In reality, "Loyalty" doesn't become an issue until your line-of-business manager wants you to support something besides the project you're working on at the moment while the project manager needs you for project work. In such situations, the best thing to do is bring the matter into the open, contact both managers, and let them sort it out between themselves. If necessary, higher managers get involved, and then someone comes back to you and wants to know how you can serve both masters anyway in a way that makes everyone happy. It's a challenge, but to me the best way to demonstrate "loyalty" to the organization is not to show favorites-just let the chain of command sort it out once they realize the conflict.

If you're a project manager in a matrixed organization, you might face the challenge of authority. That is, you might be a "Project Manager" on your project, but one of your attached line-of-business team members might be a subject matter expert who outranks you in the vertical chain of command (this is especially problematic in military or civilian government agencies, where "rank" is taken seriously). It's usually good, when setting up a project charter, to lay out clear lines of authority, with a clear understanding that the line-of-business higher-ups will back up with words and deeds. For example, of the higher-ranking subject matter expert decides to do a line-of-business task rather than focus on his project work, the Project Manager needs to have the authority to keep him in line...or take it to his superiors if he refuses to cooperate. Not saying it always happens, just that it can.

As I've already noted, I preferred project work in a corporate setting. That suited my somewhat broad (someone once called them flighty) interests. If you're a steady person who likes to become an expert on one topic and appreciates traditions and always understanding how and why things are done a particular way, there is always necessary work to be had in "vertical" or institutional organizations. Bills always need to get paid, operations always have to run smoothly, and products always need to come out working properly. Within those ongoing processes, there is always a need for technical communicators to maintain the institutional memory of How Things Should Be Done and what it means when someone says a task must be done "the company way." Regardless of your preferred type of work, it's good to know what types are available and what structures exist to support them.

The point of this little essay is to help you understand a little bit more about how corporate entities are structured, how they can affect your work, and how you can best serve them. As always, the answer to the last item is, "Do good work, and someone will want to hire you."

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Vertical, Horizontal, and Matrixed Organizations (And Why You Should Care)

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First, a few definitions so you understand what I'm talking about. Vertical Organizations A "vertical" company is known for having a large staff of middle managers between the CEO and the front line. In a vertical company-which was most the most common business model in organizations for the much of the mid- to late-20th century-lines...

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To be a good leader, you have to be a good communicator. As a leader, you have to communicate your intent every chance you get, and if you fail to do that, you will pay the consequences. William H. McRaven

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This article recaps lessons learned in module 4 about effective communication when leading employees. These skills are key to create a balanced work environment.

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Managers must communicate with all types of employees to succeed.

George Doyle/Stockbyte/Getty Images

To lead others, you must demonstrate effective communication skills. Otherwise, a manager will lack the credibility to implement his employer's objectives, and struggle to rally worker teams behind them. Managers who communicate well are also more likely to become good problem solvers, which is an essential skill to function well in an international workplace where diversity is increasingly the norm. Employees who show an aptitude for verbal and written communication are more likely to advance up the corporate ladder, as well. Effective communication between managers and employees is requisite for a well-functioning workplace.

Better Employee Relations

The best managers understand the need for building alliances and communicating throughout all levels of the organization. Effective communications skills are a must for breaking down barriers, which promotes the collaborative atmosphere that an organization needs to thrive. A typical employee's engagement and interest in work varies from day to day. Astute managers accept this reality but can tailor their own communication style to motivate an employee to achieve the desired result.

Gains in Productivity

Whether they realize it or not, managers are the linchpin of a company's productivity efforts. Managers must clearly articulate strategies and plans so that an employee team knows what to do, and how the company envisions them being carried out. At the same time, each team member should understand his role, and why his particular task is so important. If the manager can't make that case, employees grow complacent and less interested in their work.

Impact of Globalization

Cross-cultural and linguistic work teams are increasingly common features in today's globalized workplace. Managers must devise new communications strategies to interact with an increasingly multicultural, multinational workforce. Employees also may identify with several different national groups, which managers must consider when trying to communicate a company's goals and objectives.

Multigenerational Relations

Conflicts are likely when employees from different generations find themselves working together. Good communications skills are a must for managers wanting to succeed in this environment. For example, the competitive drive of Baby Boomer employees born between 1946 and 1964 may not sit well with Generation X and Y peers, born in 1965 or later, who desire a less intense work life. Managers must avoid blanket stereotypes when trying to encourage the various groups to interact with each productively.

Problem Solving Skills

Effective communication and problem-solving skills go hand in hand. Employees who struggle on the job naturally look to managers for guidance to solve their problems. A manager who lacks discretion, however, is unlikely to gain the trust he needs to address co-worker conflicts, declining performance or substance abuse issues. Failure to address these situations, in turn, jeopardizes the organization's productivity and ability to carry out its mission.

About the Author

Ralph Heibutzki's articles have appeared in the "All Music Guide," "Goldmine," "Guitar Player" and "Vintage Guitar." He is also the author of "Unfinished Business: The Life & Times Of Danny Gatton," and holds a journalism degree from Michigan State University.

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Why Is Effective Communication Important in Management?

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To lead others, you must demonstrate effective communication skills. Otherwise, a manager will lack the credibility to implement his employer's objectives, and struggle to rally worker teams behind them. Managers who communicate well are also more likely to become good problem solvers, which is an essential skill to function well in an international workplace where diversity is increasingly the norm.

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These tools show you a systematic way of making a decision. This is a great guideline to use when you need to go through the decision making process.

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Communicate your decision, and take action.

Let's look at each of these steps in detail. Each step features a list of related Mind Tools resources to help you further.

Step 1: Investigate the Situation in Detail

Decisions often fail because key factors are missed or ignored from the outset. So, before you can begin to make a decision, you need to fully understand your situation.

Start by considering the decision in the context of the problem it is intended to address. You need to determine whether the stated problem is the real issue, or just a symptom of something deeper.

Look beyond the obvious. It may be that your objective can be approached in isolation, but it's more likely that there are a number of interrelated factors to consider. Changes made in one department, for example, could have knock-on effects elsewhere, making the change counterproductive.

Step 2: Create a Constructive Environment for Your Decision

Can you give your decision the attention it needs? Spend some time preparing yourself before diving in to the facts and figures.

Remember that most decisions will affect other people too, so it helps to create a constructive environment in which to explore the situation together and gain support.

This is especially true when you have to rely on other people to implement a decision that you're responsible for. You'll need to identify who to include in the process and who will be part of any final decision-making group, which will ideally comprise just five to seven people.

Enable people to contribute to the discussions without any fear of the other participants rejecting them and their ideas. Make sure that everyone recognizes that the objective is to make the best decision possible in the circumstances, without blame.

Step 3: Generate Good Alternatives to Decide Between

The wider the options you explore, the better your final decision is likely to be. Generating a number of different options may seem to make your decision more complicated at first, but the act of coming up with alternatives forces you to dig deeper and to look at the problem from different angles.

This is when it can be helpful to employ a variety of creative thinking techniques. These can help you to step outside your normal patterns of thinking and come up with some truly innovative solutions.

Brainstorming is probably the most popular method of generating ideas, but for more tips on how to examine your situation from new perspectives, and how to organize ideas into manageable themes and groups, see the Mind Tools resources in the box, below.

Step 4: Explore Your Options

When you're satisfied that you have a good selection of realistic alternatives, it's time to evaluate the feasibility, risks and implications of each one.

Almost every decision involves some degree of risk. You'll need a structured approach for assessing threats and evaluating the probability of adverse events occurring - and what they might cost to manage. You'll also want to examine the ethical impact of each option, and how that might sit with your personal and organizational values.

The resources highlighted below offer tried-and-true models to help you.

Step 5: Select the Best Solution

Once you've evaluated the alternatives, the next step is to make your decision!

If you have various criteria to consider, use Decision Matrix Analysis to compare them reliably and rigorously. Or, if you want to determine which ones should carry most weight in your decision, conduct a Paired Comparison Analysis.

If your decision is being made within a group, techniques such as multi-voting and the Modified Borda Count can help your team reach an agreement.

When anonymity is important, decision-makers dislike one another, or there is a tendency for certain individuals to dominate the process, use the Delphi Technique to reach a fair and impartial decision. This uses cycles of anonymous, written discussion and argument, managed by a facilitator. Participants do not meet, and sometimes they don't even know who else is involved.

If you're working with an established team, Hartnett's Consensus-Oriented Decision-Making Model is useful for encouraging everyone to participate in making the decision. Or, if you're working with several different teams, or a particularly large group, assign responsibility for each stage of the decision-making process with Bain's RAPID Framework, so that everyone understands their responsibilities and any potential in-fighting can be avoided.

Step 6: Evaluate Your Plan

After all the effort and hard work you've invested in evaluating and selecting alternatives, it can be tempting to forge ahead at this stage. But now, more than ever, is the time to "sense check" your decision. After all, hindsight is great for identifying why things have gone wrong, but it's far better to prevent mistakes from happening in the first place!

Before you start to implement your decision, take a long, dispassionate look at it to be sure that you have been thorough, and that common errors haven't crept into the process.

Your final decision is only as good as the facts and research you used to make it. Make sure that your information is trustworthy, and that you've done your best not to "cherry pick" data. This will help you avoid confirmation bias, a common psychological bias in decision making.

Discuss your preliminary conclusions with important stakeholders to enable them to spot flaws, make recommendations, and support your conclusions. Listen to your own intuition, too, and quietly and methodically test assumptions and decisions against your own experience. BRAIN BRAN BRAND is a useful tool for this. If you have any doubts, examine them thoroughly to work out what's troubling you.

Use Blindspot Analysis to review whether you've fallen prey to problems like over-confidence, escalating commitment, or groupthink. And consider checking the logical structure of your process with the Ladder of Inference, to make sure that a well-founded and consistent decision emerges at the end.

Step 7: Communicate Your Decision, and Take Action

Once you've made your decision, you need to communicate it to everyone affected by it in an engaging, informative and inspiring way.

Get them involved in implementing the solution by discussing how and why you arrived at your decision. The more information you provide about risks and projected benefits, the more likely people will be to support it.

If people point out a flaw in your process as a result, have the humility to welcome their input and review your plans appropriately - it's much better to do this now, cheaply, than having to do it expensively (and embarrassingly) if your plans have failed.

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How to Make Decisions - A Model for Making the Best Possible Choices

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Communicate your decision, and take action. Let's look at each of these steps in detail. Each step features a list of related Mind Tools resources to help you further. Decisions often fail because key factors are missed or ignored from the outset. So, before you can begin to make a decision, you need to fully understand your situation.

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Managerial decision-making involves a systematic thought process.

man thinking image by forca from Fotolia.com

Small business owners and managers make decisions on a daily basis, addressing everything from day-to-day operational issues to long-range strategic planning. The decision-making process of a manager can be broken down into six distinct steps. Although each step can be examined at length, managers often run through all of the steps quickly when making decisions. Understanding the process of managerial decision-making can improve your decision-making effectiveness.

Identify Problems

The first step in the process is to recognize that there is a decision to be made. Decisions are not made arbitrarily; they result from an attempt to address a specific problem, need or opportunity.

A supervisor in a retail shop may realize that he has too many employees on the floor compared with the day's current sales volume, for example, requiring him to make a decision to keep costs under control.

Seek Information

Managers seek out a range of information to clarify their options once they have identified an issue that requires a decision. Managers may seek to determine potential causes of a problem, the people and processes involved in the issue and any constraints placed on the decision-making process.

Brainstorm Solutions

Having a more complete understanding of the issue at hand, managers move on to make a list of potential solutions. This step can involve anything from a few seconds of though to a few months or more of formal collaborative planning, depending on the nature of the decision.

Choose an Alternative

Managers weigh the pros and cons of each potential solution, seek additional information if needed and select the option they feel has the best chance of success at the least cost. Consider seeking outside advice if you have gone through all the previous steps on your own; asking for a second opinion can provide a new perspective on the problem and your potential solutions.

Implement the Plan

There is no time to second guess yourself when you put your decision into action. Once you have committed to putting a specific solution in place, get all of your employees on board and put the decision into action with conviction. That is not to say that a managerial decision cannot change after it has been enacted; savvy managers put monitoring systems in place to evaluate the outcomes of their decisions.

Evaluate Outcomes

Even the most experienced business owners can learn from their mistakes. Always monitor the results of strategic decisions you make as a small business owner; be ready to adapt your plan as necessary, or to switch to another potential solution if your chosen solution does not work out the way you expected.

About the Author

David Ingram has written for multiple publications since 2009, including "The Houston Chronicle" and online at Business.com. As a small-business owner, Ingram regularly confronts modern issues in management, marketing, finance and business law. He has earned a Bachelor of Arts in management from Walsh University.

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What Are the Steps in the Decision-Making Process of a Manager?

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Small business owners and managers make decisions on a daily basis, addressing everything from day-to-day operational issues to long-range strategic planning. The decision-making process of a manager can be broken down into six distinct steps. Although each step can be examined at length, managers often run through all of the steps quickly when making decisions.

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I found this article to be informative and had insight into both sides of global organization.

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A story in the Washington Post said "20 years ago globalization was pitched as a strategy that would raise all boats in poor and rich countries alike. In the U.S. and Europe consumers would have their pick of inexpensive items made by people thousands of miles away whose pay was much lower than theirs. And in time trade barriers would drop to support even more multinationals expansion and economic gains while geo political cooperation would flourish."

There is no question that globalization has been a good thing for many developing countries who now have access to our markets and can export cheap goods. Globalization has also been good for Multi-national corporations and Wall Street. But globalization has not been good for working people (blue or white collar) and has led to the continuing deindustrialization of America.

Globalization is a complicated issue. It is necessary to evaluate the pros and cons before drawing any conclusions.

Pros

Supporters of globalization argue that it has the potential to make this world a better place to live in and solve some of the deep-seated problems like unemployment and poverty.

1. Free trade is supposed to reduce barriers such as tariffs, value added taxes, subsidies, and other barriers between nations. This is not true. There are still many barriers to free trade. The Washington Post story says "the problem is that the big G20 countries added more than 1,200 restrictive export and import measures since 2008

2. The proponents say globalization represents free trade which promotes global economic growth; creates jobs, makes companies more competitive, and lowers prices for consumers.

3. Competition between countries is supposed to drive prices down. In many cases this is not working because countries manipulate their currency to get a price advantage.

4. It also provides poor countries, through infusions of foreign capital and technology, with the chance to develop economically and by spreading prosperity, creates the conditions in which democracy and respect for human rights may flourish. This is an ethereal goal which hasn't been achieved in most countries

5. According to supporters globalization and democracy should go hand in hand. It should be pure business with no colonialist designs.

6. There is now a worldwide market for companies and consumers who have access to products of different countries. True

7. Gradually there is a world power that is being created instead of compartmentalized power sectors. Politics is merging and decisions that are being taken are actually beneficial for people all over the world. This is simply a romanticized view of what is actually happening. True

8. There is more influx of information between two countries, which do not have anything in common between them. True

9. There is cultural intermingling and each country is learning more about other cultures. True

10. Since we share financial interests, corporations and governments are trying to sort out ecological problems for each other. - True, they are talking more than trying.

11. Socially we have become more open and tolerant towards each other and people who live in the other part of the world are not considered aliens. True in many cases.

12. Most people see speedy travel, mass communications and quick dissemination of information through the Internet as benefits of globalization. True

13. Labor can move from country to country to market their skills. True, but this can cause problems with the existing labor and downward pressure on wages.

14. Sharing technology with developing nations will help them progress. True for small countries but stealing our technologies and IP have become a big problem with our larger competitors like China.

15. Transnational companies investing in installing plants in other countries provide employment for the people in those countries often getting them out of poverty. True

16. Globalization has given countries the ability to agree to free trade agreements like NAFTA, South Korea Korus, and The TPP. True but these agreements have cost the U.S. many jobs and always increase our trade deficit

Cons

* The general complaint about globalization is that it has made the rich richer while making the non-rich poorer. "It is wonderful for managers, owners and investors, but hell on workers and nature."

* Globalization is supposed to be about free trade where all barriers are eliminated but there are still many barriers. For instance161 countries have value added taxes (VATs) on imports which are as high as 21.6% in Europe. The U.S. does not have VAT.

* The biggest problem for developed countries is that jobs are lost and transferred to lower cost countries." According to conservative estimates by Robert Scott of the Economic Policy Institute, granting China most favored nation status drained away 3.2 million jobs, including 2.4 million manufacturing jobs. He pegs the net losses due to our trade deficit with Japan ($78.3 billion in 2013) at 896,000 jobs, as well as an additional 682,900 jobs from the Mexico -U.S. trade-deficit run-up from 1994 through 2010."

* Workers in developed countries like the US face pay-cut demands from employers who threaten to export jobs. This has created a culture of fear for many middle class workers who have little leverage in this global game

* Large multi-national corporations have the ability to exploit tax havens in other countries to avoid paying taxes.

* Multinational corporations are accused of social injustice, unfair working conditions (including slave labor wages, living and working conditions), as well as lack of concern for environment, mismanagement of natural resources, and ecological damage.

* Multinational corporations, which were previously restricted to commercial activities, are increasingly influencing political decisions. Many think there is a threat of corporations ruling the world because they are gaining power, due to globalization.

* Building products overseas in countries like China puts our technologies at risk of being copied or stolen, which is in fact happening rapidly

* The anti-globalists also claim that globalization is not working for the majority of the world. "During the most recent period of rapid growth in global trade and investment, 1960 to 1998, inequality worsened both internationally and within countries. The UN Development Program reports that the richest 20 percent of the world's population consume 86 percent of the world's resources while the poorest 80 percent consume just 14 percent. "

* Some experts think that globalization is also leading to the incursion of communicable diseases. Deadly diseases like HIV/AIDS are being spread by travelers to the remotest corners of the globe.

* Globalization has led to exploitation of labor. Prisoners and child workers are used to work in inhumane conditions. Safety standards are ignored to produce cheap goods. There is also an increase in human trafficking.

* Social welfare schemes or "safety nets" are under great pressure in developed countries because of deficits, job losses, and other economic ramifications of globalization.

Globalization is an economic tsunami that is sweeping the planet. We can't stop it but there are many things we can do to slow it down and make it more equitable.

What is missing?

Leadership - We need politicians who are willing to confront the cheaters. One of our biggest problems is that 7 of our trading partners manipulate their currencies to gain unfair price advantage which increases their exports and decreases their imports. This is illegal under WTO rules so there is a sound legal basis to put some kind of tax on their exports until they quit cheating.

Balanced Trade - Most of our trading partners can balance their trade budgets and even run a surplus. We have not made any effort to balance our trade budget and have run a deficit for more than 30 years resulting in an $11 trillion deficit. The trade deficit is the single biggest job killer in our economy, particularly manufacturing jobs. We need the government to develop a plan to begin to balance our trade deficit even though this is not a political priority in either party.

Trade Agreements - Both the NAFTA and the South Korean Korus trade agreements might have been good for Wall Street and the multi-national corporations but they eliminated jobs in America and expanded our trade deficit. The upcoming Trans Pacific Trade Agreement will do the same thing and Congress should not fast track this bad agreement for a dozen reasons.

Enforcing the rules - China ignores trade rules and WTO laws with reckless abandon. Besides currency manipulation they subsidize their state owned companies to target our markets, and provide funding to their state owned companies that dump their products in America. They also steal our technologies, sell counterfeit versions of our products, and impose tariffs and other barriers anytime they want - as we do nothing to stop them. China does not deserve to be on our most favored nation list and we need to tax their exports to us until they stop these illegal activities.

What is good for third world countries, like Kenya, or countries with tremendous growth, like China, has not been good for American workers. Globalization is deindustrializing America as we continue to outsource both manufacturing blue collar and white collar jobs. Supporters of globalization have made the case that it is good because it has brought low priced imported goods, but they have not matched the decline of wages in the middle class and will not offset the loss of many family wage jobs

Globalization is like being overwhelmed by a snow avalanche. You can't stop it - you can only swim in the snow and hope to stay on top. I would like to make the argument that the US should try a lot harder to swim in the snow and stay on top. We can't stop globalization but there are many policies and strategies we can use to make it more equitable. We can enforce the trade laws, force the competition to play by the same rules, and stop giving our competitors the tools (technology and R& D) to ultimately win the global war.

Mike Collins is the author of Saving American Manufacturing. His website is www.mpcmgt.com.

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A story in the Washington Post said "20 years ago globalization was pitched as a strategy that would raise all boats in poor and rich countries alike. In the U.S. and Europe consumers would have their pick of inexpensive items made by people thousands of miles away whose pay was [...]

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This article is a great summary about the start of multinational organizations and the importance of export in the international business world.

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In the period after World War One, America fell under the sway of “America First” thinking. In 1929, a great financial disaster occurred, and Americ

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·         Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

·         European Central Bank (ECB)

·         Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

·         International Labour Organization (ILO)

·         International Monetary Fund (IMF)

·         International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

·         Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

. Bank for International Settlements (BIS)

·         European Central Bank (ECB)

·         Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

·         International Labour Organization (ILO)

·         International Monetary Fund (IMF)

·         International Telecommunication Union (ITU)

·         Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD)

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Found this website to be quite informative and very educational. The vast amount of data and resources available to expand your knowledge of the learning of this organization.

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The World Trade Organization is a global membership group that promotes and manages free trade. It does this in three ways. First, it administers existing multi-lateral trade agreements. Every member receives Most Favored Nation Trading Status. That means they automatically receive lowered tariffs for their exports.

Second, it settles trade disputes. Most conflicts occur when one member accuses another of dumping.

That's when it exports goods at a lower price than it costs to produce it. The WTO staff investigates, and if a violation has occurred, the WTO will levy sanctions.

Third, it manages ongoing negotiations for new trade agreements. The biggest would have been the Doha round in 2006. That would have eased trade among all members. It emphasized expanding growth for developing countries.

Since then, countries have negotiated their own trade agreements. The two largest are:

1. Trans-Pacific Partnership linking the United States. and 11 other countries bordering the Pacific Ocean. It includes Japan, Australia, and Chile, but excludes China and Russia. In 2017, President Trump withdrew the United States from the TPP. But the other countries are moving forward with their own agreement.

2. Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership links two of the world's largest economies, the United States and the European Union. If successful, it would quadruple trade between them to four trillion dollars. President Trump has not moved forward with negotiations.

Nairobi Package

The success of these deals reinvigorated WTO efforts for a deal for all its members. On December 19, 2015, the WTO took steps to help its poorest members. Members agreed to end agricultural export subsidies. Developed countries will do so immediately, emerging markets will do so by 2018, and poor nations will have much longer.

Countries that subsidize their farming industries undercut local farmers in underdeveloped countries. When trade deals are signed, the local farmers are put out of business. That happened in Mexico after NAFTA.

Members governments are allowed to stockhold food in case of famine. This issue came up because India refused to give up its food security program. India wants to continue paying its farmers above-market prices so it can sell subsidized food to its poor. They agreed to find a solution in 2017. These food security programs violate the WTO's membership agreement.

Major information technology exporters agreed to eliminate tariffs on 201 IT products valued at over $1.3 trillion per year. The next step is to work on the schedule (Source: " Nairobi Package," WTO.)

Bali Package

On December 7, 2013, WTO negotiators concluded a four-day meeting in Bali, Indonesia. They agreed to streamline customs for all members. Once ratified, the Bali package would add $1 trillion to global trade and create 18 million jobs. (Source: " WTO Pact Revives Free Trade," TIME, December 9, 2013.)

Here are the deal's five components.

Trade Facilitation - Simplify customs procedures to speed shipping. Reduce bureaucracy and corruption. Clarify rules for goods being shipped through ports by other countries. The WTO will assist developing countries update their technology and train customs officials.

1. Development - Grant developing countries greater access to developed markets.

2. Food Security - Temporarily allow poor countries to stockpile as much food as needed to get them through famines. Find a long-term solution so that these countries don't abuse the practice and distort the free market price of food.

3. Cotton - Quotas on cotton imports (by developed countries) will be removed, along with deep subsidies (from emerging market countries). The specific amount of subsidy was negotiated during the Nairobi Round.

4. Agriculture - Reduce export subsidies and obstacles to trade.

The Bali package has been inserted into the WTO Membership Protocol. More than 50 members have ratified it. That's nowhere near the two-thirds needed.

WTO History

The WTO's origins began with trade negotiations after World War II.

In 1948, the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade focused on reducing tariffs, anti-dumping, and non-tariff measures. From 1986 - 1994 the Uruguay Round round of negotiations led to the formal creation of the WTO.

In 1997, the WTO brokered agreements promoting trade in telecommunications services among 69 countries. It also removed tariffs on information technology products between 40 members. It improved trade of banking, insurance, securities and financial information between 70 countries.

The Doha round began in 2000. It focused on improving trade in agriculture and services. It expanded to include emerging market countries at the fourth WTO Ministerial Conference in Doha, Qatar, in November 2001. Unfortunately, the Doha talks collapsed in Cancun, Mexico, in 2003. A second attempt also failed in 2008 at Geneva, Switzerland. (Source: " History," WTO.)

WTO FAQ

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The World Trade Organization is a global membership group that promotes and manages free trade. It does this in three ways. First, it administers existing multi-lateral trade agreements. Every member receives Most Favored Nation Trading Status. That means they automatically receive lowered tariffs for their exports. Second, it settles trade disputes.

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This article holds a few keys reasons why diversity in the workplace makes for more productive employees. This type of work environment is something that is required when I choose a career move.

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From encouraging better team performance to improving your ability to hire, here are five reasons why HR needs to focus on D&I
While diversity and inclusion (D&I) has been on the radar of smart organisations for years, in recent months the impetus for true inclusion has grown significantly, with high-profile initiatives such as gender pay gap reporting in the UK, and the widespread reporting of sexual harassment in the film industry, pushing the agenda forward significantly.

Here are the top five reasons why it's vital that D&I is top of your organisation's people agenda.

1. You'll have a better understanding of your customers

Let's start with one of the most obvious business cases for better D&I: to enable your organisation to understand the customers it serves. In 2014, the nearly 12 million disabled people in the UK were estimated to have a combined disposable income of around £80 billion. Yet 2017 figures suggest that only 3.4 million disabled people are in employment. The organisations who employ disabled workers will, arguably, be able to design products and services that suit their needs - potentially giving them a significant competitive edge. The same reasoning applies to customers in other demographic groups, too.

Organisations are slowly realising the business benefits of diversity. Nearly half (49%) of employers surveyed for LinkedIn's Global Recruiting Trends 2018 said they focus on diversity to better represent their customers. Other key reasons cited by respondents included 'to improve company culture' (78%) and 'to improve company performance' (62%).

2. Diverse teams perform better

Cognitively diverse teams solve problems faster than teams of cognitively similar people, according to 2017 research published in Harvard Business Review. The researchers noted that, while many organisations might already be cognitively diverse, "people like to fit in, so they are cautious about sticking their necks out. When we have a strong, homogeneous culture, we stifle the natural cognitive diversity in groups through the pressure to conform."

Meanwhile a 2013 report by Deloitte found that when employees 'think their organisation is committed to and supportive of diversity, and they feel included', their ability to innovate increases by 83%.

Diverse teams have also been found to make decisions 60% faster than non-diverse teams. "Unfortunately, non-inclusive decision-making is all too common," says report author Erik Larson. "All-male teams make about 38% of the decisions in a typical large company, and the gap is even worse among less diverse firms like those in Silicon Valley's technology industry."

3. Greater innovation and creativity

Having a workforce comprised of people with different backgrounds, experiences and skills means the ideas generated by these teams won't be homogenous - they'll be innovative and creative. And this can have a significant impact on an organisation's bottom line; US public companies with a diverse executive board have a 95% higher return on equity than those with non-diverse boards, according to a McKinsey study.

4. It'll be easier to hire and retain talent

Supporting employee networks for specific demographic groups - based on gender, sexuality, ethnicity or religion, for example - has a direct link to employee retention and engagement, a 2017 study by Women Ahead found. On the report's launch, Women Ahead founder and CEO Liz Dimmock, said: "Networks aren't just a nice thing to talk about. They're a really key business enabler that leads to bottom line performance, productivity and innovation."

Some organisations are looking beyond D&I to the concept of 'belonging' - a key focus cited by 57% of organisations surveyed for LinkedIn's Global Recruiting Trends 2018. "Here's why: diversity is being invited to the party, inclusion is being asked to dance, and belonging is dancing like no one's watching," said the report. "Belonging is the feeling of psychological safety that allows employees to be their best selves at work. Even at the most diverse of companies, employees will disengage and leave if they don't feel included and accepted."

5. It'll boost your employer brand

With larger UK organisations required to publicly disclose their gender pay gaps for the first time in April 2018, there is more public awareness than ever of companies' D&I initiatives (or lack of them).

In a 2017 survey by PwC, 54% of women and 45% of men surveyed said they researched if a company had D&I policies in place when deciding to accept a position with their most recent employer. A further 61% of women and 48% of men said they assessed the diversity of the company's leadership team when deciding to accept an offer.

So it makes sense that, according to a recent Glassdoor study, more than a third (35%) of hiring decision-makers at UK organisations expect to increase their investment in D&I. More than half (59%) said that a lack of investment in D&I was a barrier to attracting high-quality candidates, while a fifth (20%) said D&I initiatives were among the most significant factors that influenced a candidate's decision to join an organisation.
This article was first published in September 2014. It was updated in February 2018 for freshness, accuracy and clarity.

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Five reasons why diversity and inclusion at work matters

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From encouraging better team performance to improving your ability to hire, here are five reasons why HR needs to focus on D&I While diversity and inclusion (D&I) has been on the radar of smart organisations for years, in recent months the impetus for true inclusion has grown significantly, with high-profile initiatives such as gender

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Leaders should always practice effective communication.

business colleagues preparing for business meeting image by Vladimir Melnik from Fotolia.com

Effective leadership in a small business requires knowing how to communicate with all elements of the organization, including employees, managers, customers and investors. Each group may require a different communication style and leadership style. Leaders must be able to adapt based on the group they are communicating with at the time. Effective communication skills are an important aspect of any leader's portfolio of skills and experience.

Verbal and Nonverbal Communication

Verbal communication is the most obvious form of communication. However, research has shown people pay much less attention to the words that are said and much more attention to the actions and nonverbal cues that accompany those words. Nonverbal cues include facial expressions, use of hand motions, body posture and eye movements. Leaders should strive to always match their nonverbal cues to their words; when they do so, they are more believable and trustworthy.

Adapting Styles

A good leader adapts his communication style depending on his audience. When speaking to employees, he may need to have a much more directive style than when he is delivering a presentation to the community or speaking to customers. Leaders should identify the audience and their characteristics and interests, then adjust their communication style based on what the audience needs and what will encouage them to react to meet the goals of the communication. Throughout the course of a day, the leader may have to switch between an authoritative style with employees and an inspiring style with stockholders.

Listening

An important aspect of communication is the ability to listen. Active listening should always be a goal, with the leader focusing on both the verbal and nonverbal language of the speaker. Active listening involves concentrating only on the speaker and ignoring outside interruptions, including the listener's own wandering thoughts or possible responses. Active listeners also refrain from interrupting, give the speaker time to finish, show they are listening by doing things like nodding or smiling, and reflect or paraphrase back to verify their understanding.

Setting an Example

Leaders and business managers should realize employees will look to them as a model of how they should behave under certain circumstances. Employees tend to emulate how they see leaders acting and communicating. If employees see a leader using an active listening style and empathetic tone with customers, they are more likely to do the same. When leaders are open to the ideas of others and praise often, employees will tend to follow suit. When speaking, leaders should consider whether they would want their employees to speak in the same way to the same audience. If not, the leader should adjust his communication style.

Improving Communication Skills

Effective communication skills do not come naturally for most people. Many people, including business leaders and managers, need to practice repeatedly in order to improve their skills. In addition to practicing, leaders should consider classes or training that will help them communicate effectively. With the tool known as 360-degree evaluation, every person in the organization is evaluated by one or more superiors, colleagues and employees. Leaders can participate in 360-degree evaluations both to serve as an example for employees and to identify whether their communication skills need improvement.

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Effective leadership in a small business requires knowing how to communicate with all elements of the organization, including employees, managers, customers and investors. Each group may require a different communication style and leadership style. Leaders must be able to adapt based on the group they are communicating with at the time.

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It really interested me to learn about how this act came about and how it holds corporations accountable for their financial transactions.

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Article link about 7 skills that create great managers. Found this article very informative and reaffirmed lessons learned in chapter 1.

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To successfully lead a team and become a respected manager you'll need a specific set of business skills. Find out more about the qualities of a good manager and how to develop and hone these attributes

If you're invited to interview for a position as a manager, supervisor or team leader, use your past experience to explain how you've acquired and developed the following skills as you answer a selection of management interview questions.

Interpersonal skills

Management jobs are all about people and being able to build successful relationships is integral. To lead a team you'll need to earn the respect of your colleagues, which involves learning how to effectively deal with people.

Setting time aside to get to know team members on both a personal and professional level, through social activities or team-building events while still maintaining professional boundaries, will go a long way to earning their respect.

You need to demonstrate your managerial qualities and authority, as well as playing your part as a member of a team.

Communication and motivation

Effective leaders must master all forms of communication, including written, verbal and listening skills. As a team manager you're the line of communication between frontline staff and senior management. You'll liaise with a variety of people, from entry-level employees to heads of departments and CEOs, in a number of ways - via email and social media, over the phone and in presentations, meetings and one-to-ones.

You'll need to establish a trusting relationship with employees, so they feel comfortable sharing information with you, and vice versa. To ensure that lines of communication remain open, you'll need to make yourself readily available and accessible to your employees to discuss any issues or concerns that arise. Having an open-door policy or weekly or monthly team meetings should facilitate this. Let your staff know they matter by maintaining eye contact, smiling and listening attentively.

An open, positive attitude goes a long way to creating a healthy work environment. Don't shut yourself off or put yourself on a pedestal. Simple gestures, such as active encouragement, recognising achievements and taking an interest in the lives of your employees, ensures that staff feel valued. A positive workplace creates happy, motivated employees.

Organisation and delegation

As a manager you'll juggle multiple responsibilities, so excellent organisational skills are vital. You'll need to manage your own time and workload, oversee the work of other employees, attend meetings and training sessions, carry out appraisals and review company policies. Sloppy working practices, tardiness, poor time management and a general lack of organisation won't be tolerated at this level and will set a bad example to your staff.

Effective organisational skills reduce stress, save time and ensure that important deadlines are met.

Many managers ease their own busy workload by delegating tasks to colleagues. To do this effectively, analyse and identify the skills of your employees and assign duties to each depending on their skillset.

Delegation isn't a sign of weakness and can in fact increase the amount of work a manager can accomplish - while developing the team's confidence and skills.

Forward planning and strategic thinking

It's a manager's job to think of the bigger picture, so as well as focusing on today's tasks and responsibilities you'll need to plan for the future. This means setting priorities in line with company goals, reviewing systems and policies, and attending training and managing the continuing professional development (CPD) activities of your team. As a strategic thinker, you'll encourage innovation and change to make your team and the organisation as a whole more productive and profitable.

Problem solving and decision-making

You'll be tasked with spotting and solving problems on a daily basis in a managerial position. This requires outstanding attention to detail and the ability to remain calm under pressure. To ensure your team is productive, and the workflow runs smoothly, you'll have to think on your feet when problems arise. Creative thinking will help you to come up with innovative solutions that minimise the impact on your team and the business.

Thinking on your feet also comes in useful when you have to make a snap decision about how to successfully complete a task or meet a business goal. Being able to quickly weigh up the pros and cons of a situation and make an informed decision is essential.

Commercial awareness

According to recruiters, commercial awareness is something that most graduates lack. It's therefore in high demand among business employers.

If you want to progress to management level, an understanding of the marketplace in which a business operates and what it is that makes a business successful is crucial.

To demonstrate this, you'll need to show that you:

are aware of the organisation's mission and aims

have an understanding of the sector the company operates in

know about the political and economic issues affecting the business

can identify the company's competitors.

Mentoring

As well as being business-focused decision-makers, managers also need to play a supportive role. If you've reached this senior level, you have a repertoire of experience, knowledge and skills, and it's your job to pass this knowledge on and share your skills with others.

This involves training and advising staff and building their confidence and skills. In a management position, you'll be the driving force behind the progression of team members.

How do I develop leadership and management skills?

They can be learned, honed and developed through various activities. While at university you could:

Join student societies - put yourself forward to be captain of a sports team or sign up to chair a pre-existing club. If your area of interest isn't represented you could use your initiative to create and become president of your own society, or alternatively apply to represent the student body as a students' union officer. Read about standing for student elections and the importance of extra-curricular activities.

Complete an internship or volunteer - upon graduation you could take part in an industry internship. These look great on your CV and provide a first-hand glimpse of what it's like to manage a team. As well as building your skills and confidence, internships also provide you with a list of useful contacts, which could help you to secure a job in the future. To gain experience in a supportive capacity, you could volunteer as a mentor or sports coach. This could see you working with adults in the community or with children in education settings. Other relevant volunteering activities include leading a community team on an environmental project and managing a group of charity fundraisers.

Find part-time work - management and leadership skills can also be developed through part-time employment in team/department leader and supervisory roles. It doesn't matter where you work - you could manage bar or hospitality staff, supervise retail or factory workers, or lead admin teams. All experience is valuable, especially when you're in a position of responsibility. Consider how to balance work and study.

After graduation you could hone your managerial skillset by:

Studying for professional qualifications - research from the Chartered Management Institute (CMI) reveals that three quarters of employers believe more graduates should undertake professional qualifications since these provide evidence of, and help to develop, practical managerial skills. To discover what training is on offer, see professional qualifications.

Taking online short courses - if you feel that your management skills need a boost consider signing up for an online short course, such as the people management skills programmes run via FutureLearn. Get more information on microcredentials and online learning in general.

Seeking out a mentor - this could be a current or previous employer, a contact you've made through work experience or an internship, a family member or friend or even someone that you admire from afar. Contact them and ask if they will act as your mentor. In this capacity, they will be able to give you advice, guidance and personalised feedback regarding your management style.

Current jobs in business and management

Find out which employers in the business, consulting and management sector are recruiting in 2024 and apply for your ideal role.
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Written by Daniel Higginbotham, Editor

Prospects · January 2024

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7 skills for a successful management career

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If you have boardroom ambitions and would like to play a strategic role in an organisation, you need to make sure your management and leadership skills are up to scratch.

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Picked this article to share because it describes each function in more detail with great examples of each function.

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Five Functions of Management & Leading

Every day, managers are tasked with leading and inspiring the people who work under them. This includes planning for team success, and fulfilling what it takes run a business. Five key functions are regarded as the ways that management should lead and interact with team members. From planning to review, the more specific management is, the more effective the business is in achieving goals.

Tip

The five key functions of managing are strategic planning, organizing resources, staffing, directing activities and controlling the company's success.

The Strategic Planning of Actions

Strategic planning is the process of evaluating the goals of the company and then setting a course for success. This function evaluates the existing activities and goals. Managers then schedule activities that will lead to achieving those goals. Leaders tend to be more strategic: they must become problem solvers able to see the big picture while also identifying specific things that affect overall success. For example, if the goal is to improve the time it takes for customers to get their order fulfilled, then an operational strategy is executed to improve product fulfillment.

Organizing Resources to Achieve Goals

The organizing function brings resources together to achieve the goals established in the planning function. Resources include materials, personnel and financial backing. Leaders need to identify what activities are necessary, assign those activities to specific personnel, effectively delegating tasks. Leaders need to coordinate tasks to keep resources moving efficiently toward goals. It is important to prioritize which resources are essential at any given time. For example, if more inventory is needed but the company doesn't have the financial resources to obtain the inventory, then the priority is to tackle the financial need.

Putting the Right Talent in the Right Place

When a business is short-handed, it cripples the company's ability to serve customers, and it also overwhelms existing staff. Management needs to identify key staff positions, and to ensure that the proper talent is serving that specific job duty. Once the right staffing structure is established, leaders need training, professional development, pay rates and monitoring performance. Effective leaders are able to develop talent and identify those ready for promotion.

Guiding and Directing Activities

Directing activities is a key function. Letting staff know what needs to be done, and also by when is a responsibility of managers. However, bosses tell people what to do, while leaders motivate people to contribute in meaningful ways. The directing function requires leaders to do more than simply give orders, even though tasks must be completed for business success. This function begins with supervising subordinates while simultaneously motivating teams through guided leadership communicated in clear ways.

Controlling Success Systems

Controlling systems refers to all the processes that leaders create to monitor success. Sports coaches have a saying, "Winners keep score," meaning that winners know where they are and know what is necessary to achieve a goal. This business function requires leaders to establish performance standards, measure actual performance and compare the metrics to determine anomalies.

For example, a sales leader is focused on more than only the final sales numbers; he considers the leading activities such as the number of minimum pitches and outbound calls. Leaders review the data and make adjustments in processes, policies, training or personnel to address failures based on that data. Winning leaders don't look at poor performance as failures but as opportunities to solve a problem that gets the desired results.

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The five functions commonly used in management and leadership are strategic planning, organizing resources, staffing, directing activities and controlling the company's success. Managers tend to schedule activities that will lead to achieving the company goals; leaders tend to be more strategic.

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Fayol's Six Functions of Management
1.	Forecasting.
2.	Planning.
3.	Organizing.
4.	Commanding.
5.	Coordinating.
6.	Controlling.

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I like this simple chart to show how to motivate employees and the rewards systems that can be incorporated within an organization

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Simple quote to say it all about how the balance within an organization drives success of the company.