UNITS 308, 309 & 310 - LEADERSHIP, TEAM BUILDING AND MOTIVATION.

TASK 1

I would like to focus here on the leadership styles identified by Kurt Lewin, as I believe that theory can
be related to leadership behaviours I was able to observe in my workplaces.

Group of researchers led by Lewin in 1930s came up with three basic leadership styles that focus on
decision-making process.

HIGH LEVEL LOW LEVEL

OF CONTROL OF CONTROL

AUTHORITARIAN PARTICIPATIVE DELEGATIVE (LEISSEZ

(AUTOCRATIC) (DEMOCRATIC) FAIRE)
- Provides clear expectations - Leader offers guidance and - Leader offers little or no
- Clear division support support and guidance
leader/followers - Decision-making involves - Decision-making is dispersed
- Leader makes all decisions others between team members
without input of the team - Criticism is constructive - Communication flows
- Criticism is punitive - Communication flows up and upwards
- Communication flows down - No criticism
downward

Looking at leadership behaviours that can be observed in the organisation I am currently working for,
I was able to identify all styles described above. The predominant approach within the business is
democratic, edging slightly towards authoritarian. However, I would like to concentrate here on two
most extreme styles that I was able to observe and experience.

The organisation I worked for a few years ago, was an on-line casino that offered gambling experience
to customers in the comfort of their own homes. The company employed about fifty croupiers who
run various games in real time from casino tables that could be seen via live video streaming. As the
organisation focused on providing the best possible customer experience, the croupiers and their
performance on the tables became key factors determining the companys success. All dealers were
given extensive training regarding dealing games, their presentation on the camera and had to follow
a very strict etiquette.

To ensure the highest standard of conduct of the dealers, the game floor manager decided to adopt
an authoritarian style of leadership. All decisions regarding the organisation of the dealing room,
standards of performance, presentation of the games, dealing procedures and other aspects were
made solely by him. Shift managers were not encouraged to provide input and ideas generated by
croupiers, almost always disregarded. Any deviation from accepted procedures was quickly highlighted
and often punished. Because of the nature of the business, decisions had to be made quickly to
respond to punters needs and expectations.

The effects of this leadership style were very clear. While performance and presentation of dealers
was on a consistently high level, it was obvious that the only motivating factor was fear. The overall
morale of staff was very low what lead to high turnover, lack of engagement and overall negative
atmosphere. A clear division between the management team and the rest of the staff was formed, a
sort of us and them culture that impeded any interaction.
The second leadership style I would like to focus on is laissez faire approach my previous line manager
adopted towards myself and my team while I worked as a team leader in my current organisation.

At the time my role was to lead a small team of logistics operatives. From the start I had very little
support from my manager, he did not ensure I received appropriate training when I started and did
not set any goals. I was very rarely given any objectives, in fact I was given complete freedom to choose
what to focus on. I was allowed to make decisions regarding most areas and only had to liaise with
the team leader working on the opposite shift. He had little interest in initiatives that would require
his support. My line manager did not get involved in day to day tasks and did not try to get to know
the members of the team better. On the other hand, he rarely criticized and tried to shield us from any
negative aspects that could have an adverse effect on the team.

My line managers approach to running the department left me with a lot more responsibilities then I
felt I should be involved in. I was demotivated as I felt my effort was not being appreciated or even
noticed. There were times when I wanted to get involved in projects but did not get necessary support
which in turn discouraged me from going the extra mile.

As a result of the leadership style that my manager demonstrated, team members started to look up
to me more, as I offered support when he did not. When I started working as a team leader, the team
was not very motivated and unsure of what was expected of them. They were able to carry out day-
to-day tasks but lacked knowledge to deal with any problems or orders that required special attention.
They were not engaged enough to go and seek the knowledge on their own.
TASK 2

In order to help me reflect on my own leadership style I created a short questionnaire (Appendix 1)
and issued it to all members of my team and my line manager.

My leadership style has been described as democratic by every person who answered the questions.
Examples given included: asking for my teams feedback before making decisions, always providing
support and advice, listening to problems and allowing team members to have large impact on how
the workload is processed. My line manager mentioned two recent projects involving my team where
my role was to facilitate the introduction of the new flow and liaising between the operators and the
project manager. My manager described how I took time to engage with both the wider team and
individual stakeholders to ensure the tasks within the project were delivered in a manner that was
right for the business and the team itself.

The next question concentrated on how the style fits the team and our department. My team members
agreed that this is the style that they think works best for them. They are happy to manage their own
workload but, at the same time, know that I am there for them, should any problems arise. My
colleagues appreciate the freedom that promotes creativity and know that I value their input. The
atmosphere within the department was mentioned a few times people are content and come to
work willing to put effort to achieve common goal. My line manager also agreed that democratic
leadership style is best suited for both the team and department. However, he would like me to
incorporate a slight tendency to delegate some of the less critical daily tasks to help develop the team
and free up some of my time that can be used elsewhere.

When asked if I should use a different approach, my team members could not come up with an
example where alternative could be more beneficial. My manager did not provide specific examples
but mentioned that there were situations where I could have acted more autocratic which in turn
would have affected productivity of my team members.

The predominant style within the organisation was determined by my team members to be
democratic. Benefits mentioned were the ability of individual employees to learn and develop by
promotion of creativity, real engagement, and positive atmosphere. On the other hand, my line
manager described it as edging slightly towards authoritarian which is caused by focus placed on
productivity.

The leadership style that I adopted reflects my own preference and personality. I am not a charismatic,
strong leader that would be able to impose their vision through autocratic rule and who has no
consideration for peoples needs. Instead, I like to focus on development of people I work with,
providing them with support they need at all stages. I am genuinely interested in their ideas as I believe
they are experts at what they do.

My organisation recently started promoting lean methodology with daily lean meetings held in every
department. This goes perfectly with democratic leadership approach - all employees are equal during
those meetings and ideas are generated at every level.

Looking at the feedback I received, especially from my line manager, I will focus more on delegating
my daily tasks which could allow me to spend more time developing and refining processes my team
is responsible for and at the same time would make my colleagues more independent. The second
action I can take to develop myself as a manager is looking at adjusting my leadership style to
incorporate elements of authoritarian attitude to drive productivity. At the moment we have no
problems meeting targets and deadlines due to joint efforts of the team, yet perhaps, I should focus
on achieving maximum efficiency more.
TASK 3

Motivation has been the subject of research of many fields which resulted in numerous definitions.
Common conception across these definitions seems to be the fact that motivation is driven by needs,
or, more precisely, the need to satisfy them. People are motivated when they anticipate that their
behaviour or action will lead to the accomplishment of a goal which, in turn, will fulfil their need.

Our needs define our lives they shape the way we live, our value system, relations with other people.
In general the need is a desire to ensure something crucial for survival, development or well-being of
an individual. It can relate to physical objects, emotional states or relations with others. Basically, a
need is being aware of lacking something that is considered important by the individual.

From a managers point of view, motivation is the willingness of the employees to get on with the job.
American psychologist, Abraham Maslow, came up with a model that can help managers understand
what prompts people to pursue a certain course of action and how that can change, depending on
individuals circumstances. Maslow has arranged the human needs in a hierarchical order, ranging
from basic to a higher level. What is crucial in this theory is that satisfying higher level needs is
impossible without fulfilling more basic needs first.

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To be able to motivate his or her team, the manager needs to be sensitive and stay open-minded to
recognise what are the individual needs of their employees and how they change in response to
changing circumstances.
TASK 4

The importance of motivation in every organisation is crucial for its performance and success. In some
circumstances, like extremely high competition on the market, it can be the key element that will
decide whether the company will pull through or close down. When employees motivation is low, it
can have a range of negative consequences on the organisational performance. Some of these effects
can be noticed immediately and some have a long lasting impact that may be difficult to improve. I
was able to observe some examples of such impact in my current organisation.

The immediate impact:

Low productivity The workflow in my department is not steady throughout the day as it
chiefly depends on our suppliers and couriers - this means periods of more and less intense
work. In the past we had a number of employees who were not motivated and unhappy and
their productivity was noticeably lower in busy periods, they were never willing to put extra
effort into their work.
Low quality of work In my department, whenever one of the employees struggles with a
problem and their motivation drops, there is an increased number of picking/matching up
errors; concentration seems to be affected. In Production department, this can cause a high
number of returned orders.
Low engagement and creativity employees who are not motivated have no interest in daily
lean meetings, do not generate ideas that could improve their work environment or processes.
Employee turnover loss of highly specialised staff can have a negative impact on the amount
of work we are able to process.
Increase in absence and lateness

Long lasting impact:

Low customer satisfaction low productivity means that we are not able to deliver all orders
to our customer within the due date. What is more high number of returns from customers is
source of complaints.
Loss of company reputation - prolonged periods of low productivity and low quality of work
can have a severe consequences for the way we are perceived by our customer.
Increased cost associated with recruitment and covering absenteeism with overtime.
TASK 5

People are motivated by both personal (intrinsic) and organisational (extrinsic) factors and a good
manager should be able to discover what motivates individual team members that he or she works
with. Employees motivated intrinsically enjoy their work solely for the satisfaction they get out of it. I
chose to look at two factors that promote intrinsic motivation in my team:

Competition Our department is organised into two shifts Monday-Wednesday and

Thursday-Saturday. My team and I work the latter. One of the factors motivating my team to
the greatest extent seems to be the joy they get from being more productive and handing in
higher quality work than the other team. Almost every day, there is a heated discussion
regarding the amount of work that had been processed by the department the week before
and the results of the internal audit (designed to spot and correct errors made during the
shift). At first I thought that this was a manifestation of an unhealthy competition, sort of us
vs. them but with time I begun to understand that my team members are genuinely proud of
the quality of their work.
Cooperation and feeling of acceptance I lead a team of 7 people who have worked together
for a very long time and grew to become friends. They are motivated by the ability to work
together to reach the joint goal which is to process the whole workload for the day. They help
one another willingly and proactively, and enjoy working together. They are also happy to do
extra work as long as its distributed across the team. By working together, cooperating they
feel accepted as part of the team.

Motivation of the members of my team is also affected by organisational factors:

Monetary rewards Apart from wages, employees in my organisation are able to earn a
monthly bonus based on the performance of the department they are part of. My teams
bonus is based on results achieved by a few areas which is a topic often brought up at team
meetings. My team know that the work they produce is of high quality and they find it unfair
that other areas do not contribute as much as they do. When they know they worked hard all
month and still the bonus is lower than expected, they do become noticeably demotivated.
Praise I always remember to thank my team for extra effort and try to find specific examples
when they have acted proactively or solved a problem on their own. I praise such behaviour
during team meetings and I noticed that some colleagues react positively by being more likely
to repeat positive behaviour.
TASK 6

According to Maslows theory, human needs are at the root of all behaviour. In order to effectively
motivate their staff, a good leader has to recognise this by catering to more basic needs of his or her
staff before a higher level needs can be satisfied.

Reflecting at my own performance as a manager, I think I am now able to understand more what I
could do to motivate individuals within my team. I can safely say that the most fundamental needs of
my team members connected with survival are satisfied, as otherwise they would not be able to carry
on working for the wage offered by the company. However, the second level, the need of security,
could be positively affected by offering my colleagues more opportunities to develop, gain new skills
and through this, feel safer about their job. Gaining funds for outside training could prove difficult, but
there are other options like mentoring by fellow employees, work shadowing and myself delegating
some of my less critical workload.

Moreover, gaining new skills can contribute to fulfilling the need of gaining recognition and respect
from others. Most people appreciate feeling like an expert. Currently, I am in the process of developing
the skills of my leading hand as part of my annual appraisal goal. I have noticed that since spending
some time with me learning more about what goes on behind the scenes, he became even more
committed to his work, more confident and proactive. He clearly enjoys the challenge. I plan to try
using this kind of job enlargement/enrichment with other members of my team.

My organisation has adopted lean methodology and every department has daily meetings where new
ideas and solutions to problems are discussed. This is a perfect tool that can be used to improve
motivation levels through employee engagement. However, this is a relatively new concept and my
team members approach it with some dose of caution; they are somewhat reluctant to take ownership
of the new projects. This is the area where I could make a difference by encouraging my team to engage
more and make effort for the good cause improvement of their own processes and working
environment. The problem I am facing right now is that my employees work and feel as part of a team,
they are committed emotionally to the team but not necessarily to the organisation and its goals. I
need to focus my efforts on changing this attitude through leading by example and showing my own
engagement.
TASK 7

There is a very clear difference between a team and a group. A group is two or more people
who share some characteristics and interact with each other to some extent. A team on the
other hand is a group of people who work together towards common goal, share the
responsibility and are committed to succeed.

In my organisation a very clear example of this division is people working in Production department.
Typical 12-hour shift is manned by approximately 18-20 technicians who are divided into smaller teams
operating production cells. Each team comprises of a tracer, blocker, fitter and quality checker. All
people working in Production form a group they are all employed in similar roles, as a group they do
not work towards common goal and would probably give priority to their individual needs rather think
what is best for the group. They communicate when necessary but normally its limited to brief
conversations on neutral topics. If a problem develops that affects the whole group, they are reluctant
to get involved and expect the team leader or manager to solve it.

On the other hand, the small teams that work inside each cell have to cooperate very closely to achieve
the common aim which is the hourly and daily target, low level of wastage and returns. There is a high
level of interdependence as team members respective technical skills complement one another and
it would not be possible to reach the target without close cooperation. Each member fulfils a defined
role and duties and they work together in a specified way. They communicate openly and share their
knowledge and skills to effectively overcome problems. Team members share the responsibility over
cells performance and need to present a united front to people outside the team. Each cell holds its
own lean meetings and is engaged in proactively improving the processes that affect the team only.
TASK 8
Every group of people that is brought together to work towards a common goal, has to become an
effective team before an optimum level of performance is achieved. In 1960s, American researcher Dr
Bruce Tuckman, later joined by Mary Ann Jensen, identified stages that every group goes through on
its way to become a team. The stages were described as necessary and unavoidable for the team to
develop a working plan, start implementing it and to be able to face challenges.
Initially, Tuckman came up with 4 stages, Forming, Storming, Norming and Performing. Later on, a fifth
stage, Adjourning, was added to refer to the time when team has to be disbanded for some reason
and, as a consequence, its members feel sadness, anxiety and sense of loss.

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When I joined my team at the beginning of 2015, it was in the Forming stage due to having recently
moved from old site and the restructuring of the department. Most team members had been working
together for years but the changes and new colleagues threw them off balance and forced the review
of old habits. They were careful about expressing opinions as they did not know what to expect of me
as their new team leader and also wary of new colleagues. There was a very noticeable atmosphere of
anxiety and uncertainty. This was the most difficult stage for me, as I had to show a lot of initiative and
I knew that my decisions taken during this time would influence and shape my relations with the team.
I had to focus on establishing my position by setting clear objectives and ensuring that all team
members had the opportunity to voice their ideas and show their skills.
The second stage of the process, Storming, begun relatively quickly. Everyone got to know one another
a little more and they had some idea what would be expected of them. At this stage I encountered a
serious problem two of the team members have started using their experience, knowledge and
interpersonal skills to influence some of their co-workers in order to form a sub-group focused around
themselves that could push for their ideas. I did not realise that this was happening in time and it
resulted in the shift being divided in two sub-groups that did not get on very well. Most of my attention
and energy had to be channelled into resolving this situation by being more confident, influential and
energising all employees to encourage team work between individual members of two groups. It took
a few months, a lot of effort and careful approach but in the end a healthy balance was restored and
the team started the Norming stage.
The processes have been established and everyone settled into their respective roles knowing exactly
what was expected and how to achieve this. My role started changing as I did not have to monitor
constantly how the workload is processed and could focus my attention other tasks like reviewing
processes and small improvements.
Currently, I would say that my team has reached the Performing stage, as there is real commitment
and genuine effort from all team members to work hard towards common goals. The atmosphere is
warm and friendly, people know one another very well, accept their strengths and weaknesses and
work together to make the best out of it. My team is proud of their work and very protective of their
colleagues, especially when it comes to competing with the opposite shift. They are willing to help one
another, even outside of work, in situations like long-term illness and family problems. My focus is now
on developing team members through delegating my work and encouraging mentoring.
TASK 9

It is nearly impossible for one person to possess all traits and characteristics of a perfect leader but it
is possible, at least in theory, to create a perfect team. Raymond Meredith Belbin, a British researcher
and management theorist, noticed that when working in teams, people naturally assume a role that
goes together with their personality, mental abilities and interpersonal skills. While most managers
would probably, if given the choice, prefer to have the most talented and clever people in their teams,
Belbins research has shown that this is not a guarantee of a success. He identified 9 team roles, all of
which are equally important and, when combined, tend to create a truly successful team.

Resource Investigator use their natural inquisitiveness to find new ideas outside and bring
them back to the team. There is no natural Resource Investigator in my team and we have to
rely on my line manager if we need resources, skills or knowledge from outside. What is more,
the way employee structure is organised in my organisation does not encourage manual
workers to show this kind of approach.
Team Worker their strength lies in ability to listen and being diplomatic; they are the factor
that makes team work easier through effective communication. Two of my team members
possess the skills required to fulfil this role and there is no competition between them; they
cooperate and ensure long-term cohesion in the team. They are both the longest serving
colleagues and their broad experience helps them understand and harmonise the team.
Co-ordinator traditional team leader focused on setting objectives and delegating workload
with a good nose for talent. I would say that this is the role I assume normally, I focus on
individual team members to identify their natural skills and abilities and use this to delegate
most suitable tasks. I clarify goals and ensure they are reached. When I am not available, my
leading hand naturally adopts this role.
Plant highly creative individuals who are good at solving difficult problems. No natural Plant
in my team allows for input of all team members.
Monitor-Evaluator best at analysing and evaluating ideas that others come up with. In my
department I have to adopt this role although it is not something that goes naturally with my
personality. I evaluate and carefully judge the ideas my team generate and if in doubt, consult
my line manager. I also encourage self-evaluation and open discussions to assess ideas.
Specialist brings in-depth technical skills and in-depth knowledge. My team members are
trained to perform most or all tasks within the department. However, every person specialises
in one or more areas and they serve as specialists in those fields. I specialise in problem-solving
and dealing with orders that deviate from the norm and I would say that currently this is one
of my main roles.
Shaper highly dynamic and full of energy, provide the drive to move the team forward. This
role is solely filled by my leading hand who thrives on pressure and challenge. He is very task-
oriented and gets things going. He is the best person to take charge in critical situations.
Implementer very well-organised individuals who turn ideas into strategies and action. I
enjoy this role the most; once a course of action has been decided I look after the practical
organisation of the process, I have a structured approach and concentrate on what works and
what does not to find the best way to achieve the expected result.
Completer Finisher painstaking and conscientious perfectionists who focus on details and
quality. Currently no one in my department who focuses on tying the loose ends for everyone
else. However, individual team members are expected to pay a lot of attention to detail to
ensure high quality.
A manager can use Belbins findings to try and create a perfect team by covering all roles with people
with suitable characteristics. However, the reality is that we rarely have the chance of creating a team
from scratch. Instead we usually have to try to get the best out of an existing team. Being familiar with
Belbins model, we can focus on identifying personal characteristics of our colleagues and finding
tasks/jobs that naturally go with them. Also, when we are aware of a lack of a certain role, we can try
to compensate for it by developing ourselves or other team member in this direction. Finally, we can
fill in gaps within the team by having set procedures in place, for example having no Completer Finisher
can be compensated by introducing check lists.
TASK 10

Good working relationships are important part of our lives. We spend an average of 40-50% of our
waking hours of any given working day at work and most of that time is spent interacting in some form
with our colleagues. People are naturally social creatures social needs, friendship and belonging are
one of the basic human needs. It only makes sense that the better our relationships at work, the
happier and more productive we are going to be. What is more, its not only co-workers that we need
good relationships with; customers and suppliers are key to our success so it is important to build and
maintain positive relations with these people.

There are number of advantages of good working relationships within the team:

Improved team-work and employee engagement

Higher employee morale
Increased productivity
Lower staff turnover

At the root of good working relationships there are two key elements and it is very important to have
them in mind from the start trust and effective communication.

No relationship within workplace is possible without trust, it is absolutely essential for healthy and
efficient work environment at all levels. Managers who dont trust their employees have to spend a lot
of time on monitoring, reviewing and double-checking. Employees respond to this with reduced
productivity and unwillingness to take risk. Where mutual trust is present, the managers can instead
spend their time on clearing roadblocks for their team and developing and empowering team
members. Within the team, an environment of trust encourages co-workers to focus on their tasks
without having to worry about watching their back, gives confidence to speak up and influence
decisions and creates a real bond between team members.

Managers who maintain clear communication with their subordinates help foster positive working
relationships. The ability to communicate effectively within the team helps to remove barriers,
improves employee morale and team integrity. It increases productivity, helps to prevent errors and
causes the operation to run smoother as everyone knows exactly what is expected of them and how
to achieve this.

Building and maintaining good working relationships should be one of the most important goals of
every manager. There is a number of actions and patterns of behaviour that a manager can adopt to
foster this but it is crucial to be consistent.

To help earn the trust of the employees, a manager can:

Involve team members in the decision making process, explain the problem in a clear manner,
being truthful and not hiding any aspects. Encourage team members to discuss possible
solutions and give honest feedback. Once a decision has been made, be as transparent as
possible as to why a particular solution was chosen
Always show integrity, maintain higher moral ground, serve as a role model if employees
sense that the manager has double standards, applies different principles to their own
behaviour and different ones when it comes to employees, the trust will not grow.

To help foster effective communication, a manager can:

 Create an open, safe environment where all employees can express their concerns and doubts
without having to worry about negative reception. Having open door policy is about making
yourself available for employees and being genuinely interested in what they have to say.
Ensure all rules, objectives and expectations are clear and understood by everyone and allow
employees to challenge them, keep an open mind be ready to renegotiate. Employees have to
be considered and treated as equals and all input should be considered equally.
APPENDIX 1

In 1930s researchers led by Kurt Lewin laid the foundation of theory of leadership styles. According to
this approach we can identify 3 main styles:

Authoritarian the leader is solely responsible for the decision making and doesnt leave any
control to team members over what they do and how they do it.
Democratic the leader offers guidance and support to the team members, welcomes input
and promotes creativity within the team. Decisions are made by the leader but employees are
encouraged to participate.
Delegative the leader provides little or no support, leaves decision-making up to group
members who are expected to solve problems on their own. The leader does not participate

QUESTIONS:

1. Looking at the styles above, which one do you think I represent and why? Can you give an
example to illustrate your choice?

2. How well do you think this style fits with what is required at the moment from our
department? What style, in your opinion, would work best within our team in Association?

3. Do you think that I should use a different leadership style and if so, why? Can you think of a
situation where I should have used a different approach?

4. What is, in your opinion, a predominant leadership style within our organisation and why?
What style do you think would be the most beneficial for the company?