TOPIC 7 DIRECTING

TOPIC 6

DIRECTING

 

Specific Objectives

By the end of this sub-module unit, the trainee should be able to:

1. explain the meaning of leading/directing function
2. describe the various leadership styles
3. explain various motivation theories
4. explain the importance of coordination in management
5. explain the importance of communication and supervision in management

 

DIRECTING

Directing literary implies moving into action. When any administrative decision is taken, it must be converted into action by proper implementation otherwise it is of use.

DEFINITION OF DIRECTING

It is the function of management that involves instructing, guiding and inspiring human factor in the organization to achieve organizational goals.

It covers the following elements

• Communication/ supervision
• Leadership
• Motivation
• Coordination

 

PROCESS OF DIRECTION

The process of directing should include the following steps:

1. Determine what is to be
2. Issue specific orders and precise
3. Provide guidance and
4. Motivate the
5. Maintain constant communication with
6. Maintain discipline and reward those who perform
7. Provide effective leadership to the subordinates so that they work with

 

PRINCIPLES OF DIRECTING

1. Effective leadership-focused and
2. Direct supervision – personal contact with subordinate.
3. Unity of command-an employee should receive directions from only one
4. Harmony of objectives – between individuals & group
5. Strategic use of informal
6. Principle of follow
7. Managerial communication – two-way

 

 

MOTIVATION

This is an act of stimulating someone or oneself to get a desired course of action. It is that inner state of mind that channels workers behavior and energy towards the attainment of desired goals.

 

Factors Affecting or Determining Motivation

• The Nature of the job: – A job that is challenging and good enough will motivate an individual and use
• The Work environment: – When the work environment is conducive, worker will be motivated e.g. a spacious office will motivate an
• Participation in planning: – When employees are given an opportunity to participate in planning & implementation the highly
• Better reward system: – When the employees are well compensated they become more
• Security: – When employees are provided with security at work and have security of tenure, they are highly motivated.
• Recognition by management: – When the management recognizes the efforts of the workers, they will be highly
• Trust and loyalty: – When there is trust and loyally between the subordinates & the management motivation becomes high in the
• Room for advancement. : – career growth and
• Delegation of authority: – transfer of authority from upper to lower
• Good management

 

Importance of Motivation

• Through motivation high performance in the organization can be
• Motivation enhances willingness of people to work thus minimizes conflicts and resistance to
• Sound motivation minimizes chances of absenteeism and labour
• Increases motivation reduces the need of close supervision which may be expensive to the organization
• Effective motivation leads to cordial relationship between workers and management, as there is increased job
• Good motivation may lead to improvement of skills of individuals within the organization.

 

Methods of Motivating employees

 

A motive is a need or driving force within a person. The management can motivate their employees through:

• Fair remuneration – Fair & reasonable reward for the services
• Incentives – Bonuses, pension scheme & profit sharing
• Security of tenure – Assure continues employment
• Good working conditions- working hours, medical,

 

• Recognition
• Participation- In decision making
• Communication – Adequate upward & downward
• Safety programmes – Compensation / hospital expenses
• Health programmes – protection against health hazards
• Education & development

 

Features of a Sound Motivation Programmes

• It should be productive – Must result into positive increase of productivity of labour.
• Must be competitive – The costs of the motivation system /programme must be justified in its
• Should be comprehensive. It should provide for both physiological and psychological need and cover all employees at all
• Should be flexible – It should be capable of being adjusted easily in case of changes in the environment and

• It should be acceptable to the
• It’s a psychological concept i.e. its concerned with intrinsic forces operating within an individual which compels him to act in a particular way. A motive is a personal and individual
• It is dynamic and continuous process i.e. it deals with human beings which are error changing and modifying themselves every moment with their needs being unlimited.
• Motivation is a complex and difficult function. In order to motivate people a manager needs to understand and satisfy a multiplicity of human needs, but needs are mental feelings which cannot be described and measured accurately. They are vague and have to be deduced from external behavior of needs. Moreover needs are basically
• It is a circular process- feeling of unsatisfied needs causes tension and an individual takes action to reduce these

When the needs are satisfied, tension is removed and the person feels inspired to work in a particular direction. This in turn leads to revaluation of the situation and the birth of the new ideas or needs.

• Motivation is different from satisfaction- motivation is the process of stimulating an individual or a group to take a desired action. Satisfaction implies contentment arising from the satisfaction of the need. Motivation is the drive towards an outcome whereas satisfaction refers to the outcome experienced by person.

 

 

MOTIVATION PROCESS

A person feels motivated when the available incentive lead to satisfaction of his needs. The following are steps in motivation process

1. Awareness of needs

 

When a person realizes a need or motive that is not satisfied, it creates tension in his minds. Thus motivation process starts with awareness of a need.

2. Search for action

The person looks for suitable action to relieve his tension and satisfy his needs. He thus develops certain goals and attempt to fulfill them.

3. Fulfillment of needs

The suitable action is undertaken and therefore the need is satisfied or fulfilled.

4. New need

Once the need has been satisfied, another need begins to dominate the mind.

 

THEORIES OF MOTIVATION

Motivation theories are divided into three main categories:-

• Content theory
• Process theory

 

Content theory

These theories attempt to explain the specific things that actually motivate an individual at work. They are concerned mainly with identifying people’s needs, their relative strength and the goal people pursue in order to satisfy their needs.

These theories include: –

• Abraham Man slow’s hierarchy of
• Harzbergs two factor
• Alderfers modified need hierarchy ERG (Existence need, Related need and Growth need)
• Mc Cleland achievement motivation

 

Process Theories

These theories concern themselves with identification of dynamic variables that makes up motivation. Mainly process theories focus on how behavior is initiated, directed and sustained. These theories include:-

• Expectancy based model of Vroom .
• Lawler’s and Porter equity

 

CONTENT THEORIES

ABRAHAM MASLOW NEED HERARCHY OF NEEDS THEORY

Maslow developed a theory of motivation on the basis of human needs. The main arguments of Maslow’s theory are:

• Man is a perpetually wanting animal and his needs are never fully satisfied. The moment a need is satisfied another one starts to dominate the minds of an individual.
• Human needs differ in importance and therefore can be arranged in a
• An individual need in the hierarchy emerge only when the lower level needs are reasonably well
• Satisfied needs to not motivate
• Lower order needs are more fifth then higher level needs

Maslow’s studies into human motivation led him to propose a theory of needs based on a hierarchical model with basic needs at the bottom and higher needs at the top.

These needs are as follows:-

 

1. Psychological needs

 

These are the needs for food, drink, water, sleep, clothing and shelter. These are for the survival of human life. They are the most basic fundamental needs and must be satisfied by all other needs.

A man live by bread alone where there is bread, personal satisfaction of these needs is essential for the presentation and efficient operation of human body.

An organization can help individuals satisfy their needs by providing good pay, proper working conditions and other benefits.

 

Characteristics of physiological needs

• They are relatively independent of each
• They can be indentified with specific location of the
• To remain satisfied, they must be met repeatedly within a short
• Unless these needs are satisfied to the degree necessary to sustain life other needs will not motivate

2. Safety /security needs

 

This is the need for stale environment relatively free from accident, fire, murder, threats e.t.c. it also touches an aspects of economic security, unemployment, theft, sickness and disability. An organization can influence safety needs either positively by providing (job security, pension plans, insurance plans, safety and healthy working conditions).or negatively by growing fear of being fired or laid off through management action.

 

3. Love needs/ social needs

 

Man is a social being; therefore he has the needs of belonging and be accepted by others. Social needs includes need for love and affection, association and acceptance by various social groups an organization can help achieve social needs through group decision making, team building activities, engagement in corporate social responsibility and sporting activities.

 

4. Esteem needs

 

These are needs for self fulfillment, self confidence, feeling of personal worth and independence, esteem for others i.e. recognition, status, power, prestige achievement e.t.c.

An organization can help to satisfy such needs through job titles, praises, promotion, performance appraisal, provision of spacious offices and prestigious packages given to employees.

 

5. Self-actualization needs

 

These needs according to maslow emerge after all other needs have been satisfied. Self actualization need needs include the realization of one’s potentialities, self fulfillment, self development andf creativeness. This refers to the needs for becoming what one is capable of becoming and for accomplishing more and more.

The form these needs take varies from person to person just as human personalities vary.

Self actualization can be satisfied through any of these ways, athletics, politics, academics, family, religion, hobbies or business.

 

The most and central point of Maslow’s theory is that people tent to satisfy their needs systematically starting with the basic physiological needs & then moving up the hierarchy until a particular group of needs is satisfied, a persons behavior will be dominated by them. Thus a hungry person is not going to be motivated by consideration of safety or affection, until after his hunger as been satisfied.

Maslow’s later modified this argument by stating that there was an exception to the rule in respect of self actualization need. For this group of needs, it seems that

satisfaction of need gives rise to further needs for realizing one’s potential.

 

MC GREGOR’S THEORY X AND Y

Mc Gregor has classified the basic assumptions about human nature into two parts. Theory X and theory Y.

THEORY X

This is based on the assumption that people don’t want to work and are forced to work. It assumes that:

• The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can (lazy)
• He lacks ambition, dislike responsibilities and prefers to be led-incapable of directing his own behaviour & is not interested in achievement (lack creativity)
• People are inherently self-centered and are indifferently to organizational
• People are naturally/ by nature resistant to change thus have a conservative nature.
• People are not by nature very bright and are prove to be influenced by
• Motivation only occurs at physiological and safety

 

THEORY Y

Under this theory people love work and enjoy it .The theory assumes:

1. Work is as natural as play or rest provided the conditions are
2. The average human being love work provided it’s meaningful and can be a source of
3. Commitment to objectives of an organization is a result of the rewards associated with the
4. The average human being is dynamic and adopts to change when is brought in a logical
5. The average human being love
6. People are creative and self-directed.

 

Management under theory X

• They should be directly supervised and controlled
• They should receive specific instructions, written where possible
• They should be given deadlines
• There should be close communication between the management and employees
• They should not participate in decision making at any Management under theory Y
• People should be involved in decision making
• Delegate work to them
• They do not need to be coerced.
• No close supervision is needed
• Recognize their contribution and reward them appropriately

HERZBERRG’S TWO-FACTOR THEORY

(Motivation hygiene theory)

Hertzberg collected data on job attitudes through interviewing engineers and accountants. He concluded that there are two categories of needs that are independent of each other and affect behaviour in different ways.

 

When people feel dissatisfied with their job they were concerned by the environment in which they job, this had to do with the job itself.

1. Hygiene / dissatisfiers

They tent to being job dissatisfaction. Their removal or making them favourable does not motivate work or improve production but only reduce dissatisfaction.

 

They include:

• Supervision
• Administrative polices
• Working conditions
• Interpersonal relationships with supervisors
• Job security Status
• Money /Salary

 

2. Motivation/Satisfies

These are factors, which improve on motivation of individuals. They build strong motivation. There absence does not cause dissatisfaction but bring about a condition of not satisfied.

They include: –

• Recognition for accomplishment
• Feeling of achievement
• Promotion
• Challenging work
• Increased Responsibility
• Opportunity for growth

 

Motivators are job centered, inherent to the job while hygienes are extrinsic. The theory highlights that the most effective technique of intrinsic motivation in job enrichment.

The theory also points out that the opposite of job satisfaction is not job dissatisfaction but no job satisfaction. Likewise the opposite of job dissatisfaction is not job satisfaction but job dissatisfaction.

 

ALDERFERS MODIFIED NEED HIERARCHY (ERG,Exisistence need, Related need, and Growth need.)

Alderfers condenses Maslow’s five levels of needs into three levels based on the core needs of existence, relatedness, and growth.

 

Existence needs are concerned with sustaining human existence and survival and cover Maslow’s physiological and safety needs. They include all the various forms of material desires such as food, water, pay and good working conditions.

 

Relatedness needs are concerned with relationships to the social environment and cover love, belonging, affiliation, and meaningful interpersonal relationships of a safety or esteem nature.

 

Growth needs are concerned with the development of potential and cover esteem and self actualization.

 

MC CLELLAND ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVATION

He said that human beings have three basic needs (motivational) power, affiliation and achievement.

Power is shown in strong desire to alter the course of events.

 

Affiliation is need for friendship, love, and group approval.

 

Achievement is shown by desire to succeed not to fail.

He found out that scientists, business men and professionals have above average desire for achievement motivation. He suggested that a person with high achievement motivation possesses certain characteristics.

 

• He prefers tasks in which he can take personal responsibility for the
• He sets moderate goals and takes calculated
• Wants precise feedback concerning his successes or

 

PROCESS THEORIES

EXPECTANCY THEORY

V room models

Victor H Vroom holds that people will be motivated to do things to reach a goal if they believe in the worth of that goal and if they see that what they do will help them in achieving it.

Vroom theory is that people motivation towards doing anything will be determined by the value they place on the out come of their effort (whether positive or negative) multiplied by the confidence they have that their effort will materially aid in achieving a goal.

In other words Vroom make the point that motivation is the product of anticipated worth that an individual place on a goal and the chance that he or she sees of achieving that goal.

.

Porter and Lawler model

Their model is based on assumption that rewards cause satisfaction and that sometimes performance produce rewards.

They made the hypothesis that satisfaction and performance are linked by rewards. They see good performance leading to rewards which are either be intrinsic or extrinsic.

Intrinsic rewards are given to the individual by himself for good performance and they include: – feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction of higher level needs.

Extrinsic rewards are given by the organization and they include pay, promotion, job security, good working condition etc.

 

MOTIVATING FACTORS

1.  Participation in planning

When employees are given a choice to plan their own work and contribute in organizational planning, the plans, are more acceptable to them.

 

2.  Challenging work

When work is not challenging, boredom sets in and this is likely to cause laziness and dissatisfactions at the place of work

3.  Recognition of status

Most people want approval by peers, friends or supervisors. Benefits that show status may increase motivation.

4.  Authority, responsibility and power

Some people are motivated greatly by being responsible for the work of others. Many people stay in the organization with the hope of rising to upper levels

5.  Independence to action

Being allowed to work without close supervision motivates a person.

6.  Security

This includes financial and non financial incentives that are given to the employee will be motivating

7.  Advancement

People are motivated by upward mobility in their job

8.  Personal growth

People want to grow wholesomely both in aspects related to the job of those outside the job

 

MORALE

This is a term used to describe the overall climate prevailing among workers. Its an attitude of a satisfaction with desire to continue in willingness to strive for goals for a particular enterprise.

Lack of morale can result in:-

• Increased cases of Absenteeism
• Antagonism towards rules and supervision
• Excessive complains & grievances
• High labour turnover
• Friction between employees and the management or the employer
• Lateness at work
• Increased accidents at work
• Alcoholism as a result of frustration

 

 

LEADERSHIP

According to Chester Barnard, leadership is the ability of a supervisor or manager to influence the behavior of his subordinates and persuade them to follow a particular course of action.

 

IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP

1. Efficient leadership motivates the members of
2. Efficient leadership helps in directly group activities.
3. Leadership helps to reduce resistance and conflicts in the
4. Good leadership assists in bringing change and increase interpersonal communication.
5. Leadership ensures cohesiveness among group
6. Leadership helps to develop talents of
7. Good leadership enables optimal utilization of the organizational

 

THREORIES OF LEADERSHIP

1. Trait theory

According to this theory leadership behaviour is the sum total of the traits that an individual posses. A successful leader must therefore posses certain tracts or qualities. These qualities include:-

• Initiative and
• Open mind
• Self confidence
• Vision and foresight
• Maturity
• Sense of responsibility
• Physical fitness

 

2. Situational theory

According to this theory, leadership is a function of the situation in which the leader works & emerges. It argues that a leader may be successful in one situation and fail in another.

3. Behavioural theory

According to this theory, leadership is a function of effective role behaviour. A leader should posses’ favourable leader behaviour to inspire and guide subordinates.

 

LEADERSHIP STYLES

 

1. Autocratic / Authoritarian Leadership

This is whereby power is highly centralized. The subordinates are not allowed to make or participate in decision-making.

An acrobatic leader demands complete loyally and unquestionable obedience from the subordinates.

 

Advantages of Autocratic Leadership

• Tasks are accomplished on
• Decision-making is not
• Communication is fast Disadvantages of Autocratic Leadership

• There is social distance between the leader & the being
• May lead to high labour turnover because of job
• Members lack commitment to organization
• The work may not be effectively done in the obscene of the
• Workers initiative is

 

2. Democratic /Participative Leadership

This is a subordinate centered leadership whereby the leader involves the total participation of the subordinates in decision-making process. He leads by consent of the group rather than by use of authority.

Advantages of Democratic Leadership

• Effective consultation between the leader &
• Effective delegation since then is trust confidence between sub & the
• There is openness &
• High motivation within workers leading to
• High productivity & quality of
• New ideas & change are
• Open communication. Disadvantages of Democratic Leadership
• Decision-making is time consuming since a lot of consultation is
• The job may not be perfectly done, as the leader may not be able to oversee directly.
• Concept may develop due to
• Some workers may take advantage of the freedom and trust given to
• May allow for even unfair critism by the workers
• Over delegation may lower the quality of work

 

3. Pseudo Democratic or Manipulative Leadership

 

This leader makes his desires known & then appoints a committee to deliberate but primarily to approve his proposal.

Group members go through the nation of cooperative action but to no avail since the decisions have been reached before hard.

The leader may be very successfully being tolerated when he rewards those who support him.

 

4. Bureaucratic Leadership

 

The leader depends upon the rules and regulations developed by him. The rules specify the functions and duties of every member of the organization. The leaderships therefore reduced to a routine job. There is limited scope pr initiative and subordinates like to play. The leader is centered leading to total inefficiency.

 

5. Laissez faire/ free rein

 

Under this type of leadership, the leader leaves it to subordinates to decide and controls themselves believing that they are competent and motivated. He does not lead and avoids using power.

He leaves the group to itself. He rarely acts or takes a consultancy position of the group without any influence of authority.

He does not interfere in the activities of his subordinates. He believes that people will perform better if they are left free to make and enforce their own decisions. Such a leader may be successful where the subordinates are highly competent and fully dedicated to the organization.

 

6. Charismatic Leadership

 

This is where the leader has total loyalty and support of the subordinates. It may be as a result of special qualities that he/ she posses and as such the followers strongly believe in his/her ideas. A Charismatic leader posses natural, inborn unique traits and attributes that distinguishes him/her from other leaders. He may be kind, forceful, persevering, sincere, humble, etc.

 

LEADERSHIP STYLE ACCORDING TO LICKERT

Likert has classified leadership styles into four types. They include:

1. Exploitative / Authoritative

This is a system that is highly autocratic. It has very little trust in subordinates. People are motivated through fear and punishment with occasional rewards. Communication is downward and decision-making is limited to the top.

 

2. Benevolent Authoritative

The manager has patronized confidence in the subordinates and motivates with some rewards some fear and punishment. The manager permits some upward communication and solicits some ideas and opinions and also allows some delegation of decision making but with close policy control.

 

3. Consultative Leadership

The manager has substantial but not complete trust and confidence in subordinates. He tries to use subordinates ideas and opinions and he use rewards for motivation with occasional punishment. Upward & downward communication is allowed and the general policy is made at the top, but specific decisions are made at lower levels.

 

4. Participative Leadership

The leaders have complete trust and confidence in subordinates. He gets ideas and opinions from the subordinates. Rewards are given on the basis of group participation. Subordinates engage in communication and also in decision making throughout the organization.

 

Factors affecting effectiveness of leadership/ choice of leadership style:

 

1. Factors related to the manager
   • Self knowledge and experience
   • Managers personality
   • Academic and professional background
   • Personal capacity
   • Managers values
   • Managers goals and aspirations

2.       Factors related to subordinates

• Attitude towards authority
• Their work ethics
• Maturity level of subordinates i.e. task related maturity and not age
• Employment value system
• Workers experience and skill level
• Employees academic and professional background
• Employees expectations
• Employees need for independence
• Employees loyalty to the organization

3.       Factors related to the situation

• Size of work groups
• Task structure
• Objective of the organization
• Leadership styles of the managers/ suppliers
• Leader subordinate relationship
• Whether or not the company has a trade union
• Impact of technology

 

 

COMMUNICATION.

Communication is commonly defined as the process by which a person (sender) transmits information (message) to another (receiver).it’s the transfer of information, ideas, understanding or feelings between people.

An organization must keep in touch with its environment e.g. customers, suppliers the government dealers etc.

The purpose of communication in an enterprise is to effect change i.e. to influence action towards the welfare of an enterprise. Communication is essential for the internal function of the enterprise, because it integrate the managerial functions.

 

Communication is especially need to:-

• Establish and disseminate the goal of an enterprise.
• Develop plans for achievement of an organization
• Organize human and other resource in the most effective and efficient
• Select, develop and apprise members of the
• Lead, direct, motivate and create a climate in which people want to
• Control

 

Communication process

The process traces the movement of information from the sender to the receiver. The process has the following elements of steps:-

• Sender – This is anyone who wants to communicate something to someone else. The sender has a thought or an idea which must be put into a language understood by the receiver and the sender (encoding).
• Message – This is the information the sender wants to
• Channel / media– This is the link between the sender and the receiver of the message. It refers to the model of transmission of the message e.g. a letter, telephone, television, a computer, gestures etc
• Receiver – This is the person the sender wants to react with the message. Once the receiver gets the message he/ she must decode it. This is the process by which the message and attaches meaning to
• Feedback –The action taken by the message receiver once the message has been conveyed. Its only trough feedback that the sender can know the process was successful

Communication process is represented diagrammatically as follows

 

NOISE HINDERING COMMUNICATION

Unfortunately communication is affected by noise which is anything / whether in the sender, the transmission that hinders communication, for example:-

• A noise or a confined environment may hinder the development of a clear
• Encoding may be faulty because of the use of ambiguous
• Transmission may be interrupted by static in the channel, such as may be experienced in poor telephone
• Inaccurate reception may be caused by in
• Decoding may be faulty because the wrong meaning may be attached to the words and other

The process of communication is affected by many situational and organizational factors. Factors in the external environment may be; Educational, sociological factors, legal factors, political factors, economic factors etc.

 

Communication is also affected by internal factors such as structure of the organization, managerial styles changes in technology etc.

 

TYPES OF COMMUNICATION

Communication in an organization is either internal or external. In an effective organization, communication flows in various directions i.e. down word, up word or crosswise. This various types of communication in an organization may include:-

1)     Types of communication according to flow of direction

1. Vertical up word communication

 

In this type of communication, the information flows from the lower levels (subordinates) to the higher levels (superiors) trough the chain of command.

2.       Vertical down words communication

In type of communication, information flows from the higher levels (superiors) to the lower level (subordinates). This type of communication exist especially in organization with an authoritarian atmosphere

3.       Direct horizontal communication

This involves an individual from one department communicating to another person in another department at the same level

4.       Indirect communication

This communication occurs between people of different organizational levels of different department

 

2)   Type of communication on the basis of relationship between the parties in the organization

1. Formal communication

This type of communication follows the course laid down in the organization structure of the enterprises. Members of the enterprise are supposed to communicate with each other strictly as per channels laid down in the structure.

 

b)   Information communication

In this type of communication the transmission of information is not through any structure or any pattern of relationship provided in the organization. This type of communication is through the grapevine where there is no approval of the management.

 

Types of communication on the basis of the method used

1. Written communication

This is the form of a letter, memos, manuals, or minutes. In a formal organization such as a business enterprise, written communication is the most important media for conveying ideas, information etc.

 

b)   Oral/ verbal communication

This provides immediate feedback and unclear issues can be clarified immediately. It gives communication a personal and intimate touch. Verbal communication can be in the following forms:-

• Face to face
• Joint consultations.
• Public communication which may be used to announce a policy decision of workers.
• Broadcasts which relates to statement from the management to the staff generally or to certain section of it also relates to public announcement and communication address to

 

c)   Non verbal communication

In this form of communication, gestures rather than words are used to convey feeling of emotions. Facial expressions, postures, gestures, tone of voice and other body movements are made

 

BARRIERS AND BREACK DOWNS IN COMMUNICATION

The communication problems or barriers whether arising from mechanical, organizational or personal factors, may often result in distortion of meanings or filtering of information by suppression or with holding.

Broadly, the distortion or filtering of information may be due to the following:-

1. Mechanical barriers
2. Organizational barriers

• Personal barriers

 

i)   Mechanical barriers Causes

1. Distortion- It may be due to noise in the transmission or because the communicator does not use the right words to give meaning and precision to his ideas and
2. Filtering – It is caused due to a distance between the communicator and the receiver. As a message passed through different points in the communication channels, it may be attached or twisted by the persons in between whether intentionally or
3. Overloading– It is caused by over working of the communication channels due to an increase in the number of messages to be

 

ii)     Organizational barriers

They may be caused by inadequate or improper arrangements for various intra- organizational communication activities.

Causes

1. Inadequate of facilities that pertains to meetings, conference and other mechanisms for hearing and sorting out suggestions as well as
2. Inadequate policies, rules and procedures in an organization. Thus rigidity in communication procedures and rules should be avoided.
3. Status pattern – problems in communication arise from relative position of the superior subordinates in the

 

iii)   Personal barriers

Sometimes the failure in communication is due to personal problems of the person to whom the communication is being addressed or the person who is giving out the information.

Causes

1. Lack of attention or interest
2. Hasty conclusion i.e. the receiver may be by nature a person in hurry such that without going through the message carefully, he may jump to hasty conclusion according to his own opinion or
3. Lack of confidence in the communication.
4. Improper state of mind i.e. emotional mentally
5. Love for the status quo i.e. if the communication tends to disturb the existing scheme of things, or is otherwise seen to be against the interest of the receiver, it may create misunderstanding and

 

ESSENTIALS OF A SOUND COMMUNICATION SYSTEM (PRINCIPLES OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION / WAYS OF OVERCOMING BARRIERS

 

Effective communication is the responsibility of all people. In the organization managers as well as subordinates who work towards a common aim. Whether communication is effective can be evaluated by the intended results.

A good system of communication must fulfill the following requirements.

• Senders of the message must clarify in their minds what they want to communicate. This means that one of the first steps of communication is clarifying the purpose of the message and making a plan to achieve the intended end.
• Effective communication requires that encoding and decoding be done with symbols that are familiar to the sender and receiver of the
• The information must be send off at the proper time and should reach the receiver when he or she
• All the messages and information should be formed and transmitted to support the integrity of the organization. The communication system should reflect the objective and policies of the
• Participation: – The receiver must be involved in the planning and transmission of the information, such participation helps to promote mutual trust and
• The management should use informal communication to supplement and strengthen formal channels. The grapevine can be used to transmit information not considered appropriate for formal
• A good communication system must contain feedback mechanism where the sender should try to know the reaction of the receiver. This will enable the management to certain whether or not the messages was properly understood and acted upon by the
• Economy: – The communication system should be cost effective. The cost of communication should be controlled by avoiding unwanted messages and communication
• Flexibility: – The system of communication must be flexible enough so that it can be adjusted to the changing requirements of the
• Attention:- The receiver of the communication must be attentive and have an opened

 

CONFLICT MANAGEMENT

Conflict is the struggle against status and power in which the aims of the parties conflicting are not only to gain the desired values but also to neutralize, injure or eliminate their rivals. Competition is where two parties are purely involved in a win and lose button. Competition may arise where both parties aim at achieving the same goal.

Causes of management conflict

1. Breakdown in communication
2. Change in organizational culture
3. Alienating nature of the job and work environment
4. Personality traits-some characters whether senior or junior are highly

They cause trouble anywhere which results in conflict

1. Conflict of economic interests- joint interests of the organization. E.g. profits for both workers and management since for the works its reward for the efforts and if paid, it’s a cost to the management

 

1. Status and power within the organization- people will look themselves into whatever status they think they belong. Workers say that they work with their hands while the management works with their heads

 

How to solve the conflict

Strategies for resolving conflicts can be grouped according to the likely outcomes

i.            Win- lose method

One party wins while the other loses. This method includes dominance through power (suppression) ignoring majority of opinion. The winning party uses this power unilaterally.

 

ii.             Lose- lose method

This method is based on compromise

Understanding that half of the loaf is better than nothing therefore, this method results into arbitration incase of collective bargaining

 

Common features of win- lose and lose- lose methods

• There is a clear “we- they” distinction between the parties e.g. management verses the workers
• Parties direct their energies towards each other in an atmosphere of victory and defeat
• Parties raises a score run view of issues
• Parties only see the issue from their own point of view

 

iii.             Win- win method

In this method both the conflicting parties gain from the conflict. It includes consensus and decision making. Each party treats the problem as something which they have common interests to solve. Each party considers the interests of the owner as important as his own and work towards the solution which helps both sides.

 

Conclusion

The first two methods i.e. supervision and total war are completely restrictive since hey limit communication between both sides. The results are satisfactory to only one side, leaving the basic conflicts unresolved.

Limited wars and bargaining methods can be described to be neutral where satisfaction to both sides depends to some extent on how the dispute is handled by the parties concerned Problem solving is the most constructive approach and allows both parties to communicate freely with common purpose.

 

SUPERVISION

Supervision refers to the expert overseeing of workers performance to ensure that workers are efficiently instructed, guided and assisted to ensure effective and efficient performance of their tasks in the organization.

 

 

Functions of Supervision

1. The supervision guides and instructs his subordinates on work
2. He/she communicates important information to the subordinates
3. Maintains effective reporting about work performance in his/her respective section
4. Trains the workers on specific skill of work performance
5. Maintains discipline within his/her section
6. Organizes work within his/her respective sections to ensure

 

Guidelines to Effective Supervision

• Maintain an appropriate span of control. The supervisor should not supervise too many employees or very few employees
• Ensure that the supervisor posses the relevant skill As per their duties are concerned
• Motivate the supervisors well so as to ensure that they perform their duties with zeal
• Continuously upgrade the skill and knowledge of the supervisor as per as modern technology is concern
• Manager should offer necessary support to the supervisors to ensure that they realize the objectives of their section
• Maintain a good system of reporting and ensure regular follow up on the reports and especially recommendations made by supervisors
• Managers should provide all the relevant information about the organization and the specific section that the supervisor is responsible for
• Utilize the ideas of the supervisors and allow them some degree of creativity and initiative
• Establish the characteristics of the group being supervised in order to determine the degree of supervision. This means that implies that more closer supervision is required for a less motivated workforce and the vise-versa

 

Importance of Supervision

• Ensures order and discipline in the
• Leads to effective and efficient performance of work at the organization
• Workers learn new skills that are essential for work
• Effective supervision leads to improved morale in the organization
• Effective supervision enhances proper flow of information and therefore enhances effective communication
• It ensures timely delivery of services and products to the

 

COORDINATION

This may be defined as an on going process whereby manager develop an integrated orderly and synchronized pattern of group effort among the subordinates and tries to attain unity of effort in the pursuit of common objectives.

 

NEEDS FOR COORDINATION

 

The following are reasons that make coordination necessary.

1. Increase in size and complexity of operation- coordination becomes necessary when operations become multiple & complex.
2. Clash of interest help to avoid conflict between individual and Organizational goals.
3. Specialization- when there is a lot of specialization in the organization coordination becomes
4. Interdependent of units

The various units & department that depend on each other need to be coordinated

5. Conflicts- In order to minimize potential conflicts coordination is necessary especially between the line & staff offers

 

STEPS FOR ACHIEVING EFFECTIVE COORDINATION

1. Clearly defined goals of the organization and units/
2. Simplified organization whereby the lines of authority and responsibility from top to bottom of the organization are clearly
3. Effective leadership and supervision.
4. Establishment of an effective communication system within the organization
5. Establishment of liaison departments or employing a liaison officer
6. Introduction of staff groups, task force committees etc to take over some of the coordinative functions of line