Hassan Al Tamimi
There are three types of change in the work environment: a change that will increase efficiency and efficacy, a change that will neither increase nor decrease efficiency or efficacy, and a change that will decrease efficiency and efficacy. Leaders need to understand the dimensions of production leadership and people management in order to ensure that change will increase efficiency and efficacy. If not, change could deplete the organization’s resources and decrease the employees’ satisfaction. In addition, leaders need to recognize how important innovation is in efforts of increasing efficiency and efficacy.
Two key problems can affect change and innovation: planning and communication (Management, n.d.). Any change will be difficult and may even be impossible without a well-developed plan and a clear communication strategy. This is because planning affects production and communication affects people. Therefore, if leaders want to make changes that will improve the work environment and make the processes of change more efficient and effective, those leaders need to ensure that no problems with planning and communication exist. More importantly, leaders need to know how to balance production and people because of the opportunity cost. If leaders invest in the production and pay less attention to people, people’s satisfaction may decrease. If leaders invest in people and pay less attention to production, the production quality may not meet the desired goal.
Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid shows leaders what type of leadership style will improve the work environment and increase efficiency and efficacy. It demonstrates that, by adopting the “team management style,” teamwork skills will improve, and leaders will encourage cooperative behavior instead of competitive behavior. If leaders adopt a team management style, the process of change and innovation will be smooth because those leaders will instill a sense of ownership in the staff, encourage participation, and encourage the value of teamwork. This approach will create an ideal environment for change and innovation. Employees will communicate new ideas to leaders (bottom-up) with full confidence and without hesitation. This will foster innovation and change. When employees feel that they can make a difference instead of doing routine work, they will not hesitate to share ideas with top management and coworkers. This will lead to an increase in efficiency and efficacy.
In regards to balancing production and people, this will be achieved by looking at the organization as a whole, how employees communicate, and using emotional intelligence to deal with various types of employees’ personalities. Leaders must focus on the following three skills:
Organization: Leaders need to be well-organized individuals. In the workplace, the typical and simple organizational skills may not be sufficient to complete the work. Therefore, organization should be the top priority and leaders should invest in this part for at least two years, especially that being organized can help in the organizational process and minimizing problems with new initiatives.
Communication: There is always room for improvement in communication. There is always something new to learn. Leaders need to identify employees who need to improve their communication skills. Those employees should attend workshops for enhanced communication. In addition to classes, leaders should mentor them and show them the best way to communicate an idea.
Emotional Intelligence: Emotional intelligence is very effective especially when dealing with sick people and stressful situations. Leaders need to be able to recognize and control their emotions quickly, as well as manage those of other people. Leaders must practice this ability until it becomes second nature. This ability will help leaders become effective leaders that will positively influence others.
Emotional intelligence is a skill that improves with observation and experience. Those who understand how people behave, their needs, and psychology could become leaders. They make people follow them by understanding them and satisfying their needs. For example, comedians make jokes. They know that people need to laugh and feel happy. Comedians understand the behavior of people and recognize their needs. Thus, they make jokes that would make them laugh. Many people like them and enjoy being around them. Those are social leaders that make a difference in the psychology of our society. Therefore, emotional intelligence is a strong component in leadership.
References
ManagementStudyGuide.com. (n.d.). Blake and Mouton’s Managerial Grid. Retrieved from https://managementstudyguide.com/blake-mouton-managerial-grid.htm