Jason Sheets
MGMT 302-05
Professor Habich
June 10, 2017
Organizational Behavior Final Self-Reflection
I was fascinated by the course content in Organizational Behavior this spring. I learned that I still have a lot of growing to do if I want to be a good leader and a fulfilled employee. The key topics for my growth were “Theory X” versus “Theory Y,” empowerment, and sources of motivation at work.
Our “Theory X” and “Theory Y” discussion of management styles showed me early in the quarter that I need to evolve if I want to be an effective manager. In the past, I was a manager at a customer-support call center, leading a team of people that were all poorly trained and under immense pressure from the CEO to finish as many calls as quickly as possible. He mostly took a “Theory X” approach and that trickled down to me and the other managers. We were constantly pushing our teams harder and harder. Morale was terrible. I was distrusting of the people on my team and assumed they would be a lazy as I would allow them to be.
If from day one there was a “Theory Y” approach at the call center, I think the organization would have been very different. The low interest I perceived in my team was partly a result of the way they had been treated. “Theory Y” says that people will work hard if they are appropriately trained, and that they have an innate desire to find achievement through their work. I saw glimpses of this in my time there. In the future, I would want my team to learn how to properly complete the tasks their customers needed, so they could get some satisfaction through their accomplishments.
I can see now that my call-center experience was also a lesson in empowerment. Because I did not trust my team, I gave them very specific guidelines for how to do their work. They had little freedom. Learning this quarter that people thrive on empowerment, I would like to give people more autonomy and freedom to decide how to accomplish their tasks.
The other important lesson for me this quarter came from our discussion on motivation. I would have imagined my ideal job involving the completion of a series of easy tasks each day and hopefully necessitating minimal interaction with other coworkers. This could have been a recipe for an unsatisfying career. I have now learned that people thrive when challenged and when part of a supportive team. I need to be considering these variables when I start my job search. I need look for opportunities to push myself and be proactive about working together with my fellows.
I am grateful for my experience in Organizational Behavior. I am walking away with several new insights. If I want to be a good team leader I need to ensure my team is thoroughly trained and that they feel sufficiently rewarded. People want to be empowered. I need to get out of my comfort zone to find real satisfaction at work. That means taking on challenges and finding motivation through the support of a team.