A team without cohesion is just a group of individuals who make disappointing progress. The first strategy to reduce friction between the parties involves the promotion of open communication. By learning to communicate clearly and regularly with colleagues, team members and leaders will improve their emotional competence as they will practice their ability to recognize others’ emotions and regulate their own ones (Palmer, Dunford, & Buchanan, 2017). Team building activities designed to allow people to play different roles can be the second strategy to build unity between workers. The third strategy is coaching, which will include planning a formal program for employees to develop emotional competence skills. The aim of this program will be to change the way people interact with each other at work.
The outcomes of the first strategy will be measured based on how close team members and leaders will communicate to discuss the ongoing issues and how often team members will request assistance. The outcomes of the second strategy will be evaluated in terms of better management of disruptive emotions and impulses. It is expected that both team members and leaders will consider their work within the context of the organization, which, in turn, will improve their overall productivity. The outcomes of the third strategy will be measured based on the reduction of the conflicts and enhanced communication between team members and leaders, as well as team members’ eagerness to ask for help instead of working independently.
The quality of leader-employee relationships is a crucial factor in order for the organization to operate successfully. It has been discovered that organizational culture shapes the nature of the interaction between leaders and departments (Kargas & Varoutas, 2015). In the given scenario, an adversarial relationship existing between leaders and employees seems to stem from the underlying beliefs and assumptions that constitute the environment of the organization. In particular, it can be seen that the self-sufficiency of the team is highly valued by senior leadership. On the one hand, this motivates team members to make decisions and solve problems on their own. On the other hand, though, when in need of assistance, employees may feel discouraged from asking for help. Believing that teams work well on their own, leaders consider that there is no need for them to intervene. The negative repercussions of such an organizational culture may include a lack of coordination between leaders and departments.
As a leader, I bring the knowledge of effective communication and leadership strategies that are employed to create such an environment that would foster the change. Communication, problem-solving, decision-making, and organizational skills which I possess allow me to forge relationships with employees, coordinate their efforts, make informed choices, and successfully resolve conflicts. Speaking of the attitudes that I bring to the organization, I mainly focus on my own emotional competence and that of my colleagues. In my own example, I show the workers how important it is to be self-aware and try to understand the emotions and motivations of others.
I think that others view excellent communication skills, situational awareness, and motivational skills as my leadership strengths. To reduce the adversarial relationship between team members and leaders, I could use communication skills to promote an open dialogue between the parties and clearly and succinctly explain the reasons for their low productivity. Motivational skills could be helpful in delivering the organization’s mission and vision to the employees and encouraging them to cooperate on a daily basis instead of working independently. I would also use my situational awareness to identify the lack of coordination between leaders and teams and elaborate strategies on how to improve it.
References
Kargas, A. D., & Varoutas, D. (2015). On the relation between organizational culture and leadership: An empirical analysis. Cogent Business & Management, 2(1), 1-18.
Palmer, I., Dunford, R., & Buchanan, D. A. (2017). Managing organizational change: A multiple perspectives approach (3rd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.