essay-management
Jessie 1
example2.docxOrganizational Behavior Class Reflection
Organizational Behavior. If you had asked me before this course began what exactly these 2 words meant or what I thought this class was going to be about, I really wouldn’t have known where to begin. In fact, to some extent, I still wouldn’t know where to start. Yet there I was on the morning of the first day of class sitting in my HR Manager’s office, hopefully optimistic and secretly excited about the intellectual adventure I was about to embark on. At the time, I really wasn’t quite sure what I was about to get myself into but, judging from the reaction on my HR Manager’s face, I knew it was going to be good. He said, “pay attention, and good luck—this will be some good stuff.” Having never failed me, I went with my trusted Manager’s word and unapologetically dived into the material. What followed was much more than I originally had expected and bargained for: a treasure trove of practical theories, ideas, and approaches that only served to validate and embolden my position on some of the stuff I had already been putting into practice, while at the same time exposing me to new material that I was able to effectively apply at work to the benefit of all.
Communications was one of the areas in which I felt I was already doing fairly well, specifically when speaking in terms of listening. The class reinforced the idea that in order to effectively communicate across all levels of the organization, one must regularly practice this lost art of Listening. In order to maximize a mutual respect for each other’s views and goals at the workplace, and by this way develop the cohesiveness necessary to effectively unite a team with the purpose of achieving common goals, listening is a must-try skill to put into practice.
On the flip-side, Organizational Behavior helped me address and correct an area of Communications of which I had been struggling with for quite some time now: Emails. Sometimes too much, sometimes too little. The Media Richness Theory helped me address this area by helping me see that various levels of communication call for different types of approaches. Its ok—emails don’t always have to be long and detailed, over-the-top, and oozing of over-achiever eager to get the next promotion. Sometimes, less is more. Sometimes, emails aren’t necessary at all when a few words will do just fine or even better. The Media Richness Theory helped me find a better balance between the various communication approaches that one can choose to employ. My flawed, head-strong approach use to “turn off” and rub people the wrong way. Now that I’ve been able to temper and balance my communications approach somewhat, I’m finding that I’m having a lot more success at getting other’s buy-in to my suggestions and ideas. And although not perfected, I feel like we’re finally on the right track and getting somewhere.
I found this topic of trust and the way it is broken down so intriguing, that I proceeded to write it down prominently on a whiteboard for everyone at work to easily see shortly after having covered this subject in class. Almost immediately I caught people’s attention. Some laughed, smirked, and dismissed this as just another arrogant, pretentious, self-serving action on my part. Personally, I feel these ones secretly felt threatened that for once, someone at work had some real theory and substance behind their stance and position. But mostly—and the part that ingratiated me the most—I got a lot of curious questions wanting me to expand on the 3 elements of trust. It was obvious that this place (my workplace) had been lacking this kind of elevated input for quite some time. In one case, a fellow manager (tenured) responded “See! This is the kind of stuff we’ve been missing around here all along: some real theory! Keep bringing this kind of stuff!”
Because I had already learned some key aspects about perception and communication by this time, I refrained from speaking too highly of myself and instead, opted to hold my fire and enthusiastically offering to unselfishly keep bringing and sharing whatever relevant information I came across while at school. This move helped me win back some of the flock I had recently lost through my head-strong approach to communication.
Last but not least, Power. I appreciated the section of power and more specifically, on how to maximize your reach and circle of influence within an organization. My boss and I have been going back and forth on this subject for quite some time now—me wanting/pushing for another promotion, him wanting for me to prove certain changes can occur before granting me that rite of passage. The Power section we covered showed me that we were both right. He was right in the sense that power is not always absolutely necessary to get things done—one can effectuate change at the workplace by maximizing his/her circle of influence in various ways. At the same time, I was right in the sense that there are instances in which positional power is helpful and necessary to effectuate change, as is the case with trying to turnaround long-standing cultures/bad habits, as well as in dealing with difficult employees or those who tend to resist management’s wishes. Sometimes you need to put a little “oomph!” behind your words and actions, and I’m certainly glad that I was able to find that scientifically-based theory to support my position actually exist.
Organizational Behavior. I still wouldn’t know where to start, or how it should end. But if I had to guess, I would tell you that it certainly feels much more like a start than it does the opposite. The start of empowerment, engagement, and actualization by enacting some of the secrets in this class regarding how to realize our true potential as leaders, co-workers, and friends through the use of techniques presented in this course.
