Organizational skills of a modern leader
Aleksandr Aleksandrovich Ogarkov, Candidate of Economic Sciences, Associate Professor, Deputy Dean for Scientific and Educational Work of the Volgograd Academy public service under the President of the Russian Federation.
To achieve high performance in the work of the team, a modern leader needs effective organizational skills, which are combined into three types:
1. Organizational insight, including:
psychological selectivity - the ability to pay attention to the intricacies of relationships, the synchronism of the emotional states of the leader and subordinates, the ability to put oneself in the place of another;
the practical orientation of the intellect, i.e., the pragmatic orientation of the leader to use data on the psychological state of the team to solve practical problems;
psychological tact - the ability to maintain a sense of proportion in their psychological selectivity and pragmatic orientation.
2. Emotional-volitional effectiveness - the ability to influence, the ability to influence other people with will and emotions. It is made up of the following factors:
energy, the ability to direct the activities of their subordinates in accordance with their desires, charge them with aspiration, faith and optimism in moving towards the goal;
exactingness, the ability to achieve a solution to their problems with a psychologically competent formulation and implementation of requirements for subordinates;
the ability to critically evaluate their activities, to detect and adequately evaluate deviations from the planned program in the activities of employees.
3. Propensity for organizational activity, i.e., readiness for organizational activity, starting with motivational factors and ending with professional preparedness.
A good leader should have the following personal qualities:
broad outlook, thirst for knowledge, professionalism, innovation, creative approach to work;
a sense of understanding the situation;
creative attitude to work, perseverance, self-confidence and dedication;
non-standard thinking, ingenuity, initiative and the ability to generate ideas;
willingness to change, openness, flexibility and easy adaptability to ongoing changes;
desire for cooperation, communication skills and a sense of success;
emotional balance and stress resistance, psychological abilities to influence people;
situational leadership and individual energy in corporate structures;
the ability to work in a team and with a team;
the ability to predict the result;
internal need for self-development and self-organization;
ability and ability to take risks;
the ability to act independently;
responsibility for activities and decisions made;
the ability to see, highlight the essential;
the art of making plans.
Currently allocate the following samples leadership skills that a leader needs to form and manage an organization:
the ability to take into account the behavior of subordinates in management;
the ability to establish and control discipline;
willingness to use flexibly various styles guides, adapting them to change;
awareness of the role he plays and the effective use of his position;
developing and maintaining good relationships with others;
giving clear and unambiguous instructions and instructions;
regular analysis of the work of subordinates and accounting of its results;
stimulating the activities of subordinates, encouraging best examples in work;
a systematic approach to the analysis of work;
qualified delegation of authority;
avoiding too much negative reinforcement;
creating effective feedback;
protection of the organization's personnel from external threats;
finding ways to improve the performance of employees;
establishment of a performance evaluation system and success criteria.
Effective leadership assumes that people jointly coordinate resources, define tasks, put forward and support ideas, plan activities, etc. Collective work opens up great new opportunities, a collective approach solves problems together. Thus, it produces more ideas, the ability to innovate increases, the opportunities for the emergence of stressful situations decrease.
The influence of the leader on the team begins with the selection and placement of personnel in various areas. The placement of personnel should help reveal the personal abilities of workers, ensure the growth of the efficiency of the total work of the entire team.
In solving this problem, a great role belongs to the leader, his ability to take into account the individual abilities, interests and psychological characteristics of people in organizing their joint work. The leader must be able to analyze and take into account the motives of the behavior of team members, apply a differentiated approach to people, taking into account their attitude towards positive examples and existing shortcomings, taking into account their personal inclinations, interests and psychology. The success of management largely depends on how much the leader relies on the team, on his experience and knowledge, how much he supports and develops the business initiative.
The effectiveness of activities is greatly influenced by the psychological climate established in the team, which is understood as the nature of relations between people, the mood prevailing in the team, the satisfaction of workers with the work performed, etc. The psychological climate of the team largely depends on the psychological compatibility of workers. Psychological compatibility is the ability of group members to joint activities based on the optimal combination of their psychological properties.
The role of the leader in the organization of the team largely depends on the improvement of the style and methods of his leadership, on the behavior of the leader, on the nature of his relationship with people. Numerous studies have shown that the leader is often hindered from effectively performing their functions by the inability to cooperate with people.
The result of organizational work should be only the executive organizational system. G. P. Shchedrovitsky drew attention to the fact that the organization can be considered from two perspectives:
as an artificial formation - an artificial view of the organization is characteristic of the organizer himself, since the one who constructs and creates this organization always looks at it as his own creation, which he has made and is going to use as a means, as a tool to achieve his goals (in this the sense of the organization can be any, depending on the goals and objectives of the organizer, while the organization itself does not have its own goals);
as naturally living - after completion creation of an organization the organizer leaves, the manager remains, and the organization is transformed into a form of collective life and begins to live its own own life, which from a natural point of view makes possible the emergence of other goals - the goals of the collective that is organized.
Organizational activity synthesizes all activities in systems. It is very labor intensive and has a significant specific gravity in the work of the head (up to 60-80%). The subject of this activity is socio-economic systems, taking into account economic, aesthetic, technological, professional and other connections and relations, the formation of the team itself as an integral dynamic and sustainable system.
Bibliography
For the preparation of this work, materials from the site http://www.elitarium.ru/ were used.
The role of the leader in the organization of the team largely depends on the improvement of the style and methods of his leadership, on the behavior of the leader, on the nature of his relationship with people. The success of management largely depends on how much the leader relies on the team, on his experience and knowledge, how much he supports and develops the business initiative. To achieve high performance in the work of the team, a modern leader needs effective organizational skills, which are combined into three types.
To achieve high performance in the work of the team, a modern leader needs effective organizational skills, which are combined into three types:
1. Organizational insight, including:
- psychological selectivity - the ability to pay attention to the intricacies of relationships, the synchronism of the emotional states of the leader and subordinates, the ability to put oneself in the place of another;
- the practical orientation of the intellect, i.e., the pragmatic orientation of the leader to use data on the psychological state of the team to solve practical problems;
- psychological tact - the ability to maintain a sense of proportion in their psychological selectivity and pragmatic orientation.
2. Emotional-volitional effectiveness - the ability to influence, the ability to influence other people with will and emotions. It is made up of the following factors:
- energy, the ability to direct the activities of their subordinates in accordance with their desires, charge them with aspiration, faith and optimism in moving towards the goal;
- exactingness, the ability to achieve a solution to their problems with a psychologically competent formulation and implementation of requirements for subordinates;
- the ability to critically evaluate their activities, to detect and adequately evaluate deviations from the planned program in the activities of employees.
A good leader should have the following personal qualities:
- broad outlook, thirst for knowledge, professionalism, innovation, creative approach to work;
- a sense of understanding the situation;
- creative attitude to work, perseverance, self-confidence and dedication;
- non-standard thinking, ingenuity, initiative and the ability to generate ideas;
- willingness to change, openness, flexibility and easy adaptability to ongoing changes;
- desire for cooperation, communication skills and a sense of success;
- emotional balance and stress resistance, psychological abilities to influence people;
- situational leadership and individual energy in corporate structures;
- the ability to work in a team and with a team;
- the ability to predict the result;
- internal need for self-development and self-organization;
- ability and ability to take risks;
- the ability to act independently;
- responsibility for activities and decisions made;
- the ability to see, highlight the essential;
- the art of making plans.
- the ability to take into account the behavior of subordinates in management;
- the ability to establish and control discipline;
- the desire to flexibly use different styles of leadership, adapting them to change;
- awareness of the role he plays and the effective use of his position;
- developing and maintaining good relationships with others;
- giving clear and unambiguous instructions and orders;
- regular analysis of the work of subordinates and accounting of its results;
- stimulating the activity of subordinates, encouraging the best examples in work;
- a systematic approach to the analysis of work;
- qualified delegation of authority;
- avoiding too much negative reinforcement;
- creating effective feedback;
- protection of the organization's personnel from external threats;
- finding ways to improve the performance of employees;
- establishment of a performance evaluation system and success criteria.
The influence of the leader on the team begins with the selection and placement of personnel in various areas. The placement of personnel should help reveal the personal abilities of workers, ensure the growth of the efficiency of the total work of the entire team.
In solving this problem, a great role belongs to the leader, his ability to take into account the individual abilities, interests and psychological characteristics of people in organizing their joint work. The leader must be able to analyze and take into account the motives of the behavior of team members, apply a differentiated approach to people, taking into account their attitude to positive examples and existing shortcomings, taking into account their personal inclinations, interests and psychology. The success of management largely depends on how much the leader relies on the team, on his experience and knowledge, how much he supports and develops the business initiative.
The effectiveness of activities is greatly influenced by the psychological climate established in the team, which is understood as the nature of relations between people, the mood prevailing in the team, the satisfaction of workers with the work performed, etc. The psychological climate of the team largely depends on the psychological compatibility of workers. Psychological compatibility- this is the ability of group members to work together, based on the optimal combination of their psychological properties.
The role of the leader in the organization of the team largely depends on the improvement of the style and methods of his leadership, on the behavior of the leader, on the nature of his relationship with people. Numerous studies have shown that the leader is often hindered from effectively performing their functions by the inability to cooperate with people.
The result of organizational work should be only the executive organizational system. G. P. Shchedrovitsky drew attention to the fact that the organization can be considered from two perspectives:
- as an artificial formation - an artificial view of the organization is characteristic of the organizer himself, since the one who constructs and creates this organization always looks at it as his own creation, which he has made and is going to use as a means, as a tool to achieve his goals (in this the sense of the organization can be any, depending on the goals and objectives of the organizer, while the organization itself does not have its own goals);
- as naturally living - after the completion of the creation of the organization, the organizer leaves, the manager remains, and the organization is transformed into a form of life of the team and begins to live its own life, which from a natural point of view makes possible the emergence of other goals - the goals of the team that is organized.
§ 4. Organizational abilities of a modern leader
To achieve high performance in the work of the team, a modern leader needs effective organizational skills, which are combined into three types 1:
1. Organizational insight, including:
psychological selectivity - the ability to pay attention to the intricacies of relationships, the synchronism of the emotional states of the leader and subordinates, the ability to put oneself in the place of another;
the practical orientation of the intellect, i.e., the pragmatic orientation of the leader to use data on the psychological state of the team to solve practical problems;
psychological tact - the ability to maintain a sense of proportion in their psychological selectivity and pragmatic orientation.
2. Emotional-volitional performance- the ability to influence, the ability to influence other people with will and emotions. It is made up of the following factors:
energy, the ability to direct the activities of their subordinates in accordance with their desires, charge them with aspiration, faith and optimism in moving towards the goal;
exactingness, the ability to achieve a solution to their problems with a psychologically competent formulation and implementation of requirements for subordinates;
the ability to critically evaluate their activities, to detect and adequately evaluate deviations from the planned program in the activities of employees.
3. Propensity for organizational activity, i.e. readiness for organizational activities, starting with motivational factors and ending with professional preparedness.
A good leader should have the following personal qualities:
broad outlook, thirst for knowledge, professionalism, innovation, creative approach to work;
a sense of understanding the situation;
creative attitude to work, perseverance, self-confidence and dedication;
non-standard thinking, ingenuity, initiative and the ability to generate ideas;
willingness to change, openness, flexibility and easy adaptability to ongoing changes;
desire for cooperation, communication skills and a sense of success;
emotional balance and stress resistance, psychological abilities to influence people;
situational leadership and individual energy in corporate structures;
the ability to work in a team and with a team;
the ability to predict the result;
internal need for self-development and self-organization;
ability and ability to take risks;
the ability to act independently;
responsibility for activities and decisions made;
the ability to see, highlight the essential;
the art of making plans.
The organizational abilities of the leader should not diverge from his ethical standards. The ethics of the leader is focused on a wide range of options for his behavior, includes the means used by him to achieve his goals. If “ethics” is a set of norms of behavior, morality (in this case, a leader), then the basic ethical norms in relation to solving organizational and economic problems can be reduced to the following:
performance of the organization, achieving the highest performance and obtaining maximum profit should not be achieved at the expense of environmental destruction;
competition must be carried out according to fair rules, i.e., the “rules” of the market game must be observed;
the distribution of the created total income, the benefits obtained by labor should not lead to a sharp social stratification of society;
the use of various forms of employee participation in management in order to implement the corporation's strategy should not only increase the desire to work better, but also develop a sense of responsibility;
technology should serve man, not man technology.
Currently, the following examples of leadership skills are distinguished, which are necessary for a leader in the formation and management of an organization:
the ability to take into account the behavior of subordinates in management;
the ability to establish and control discipline;
the desire to flexibly use different styles of leadership, adapting them to change;
awareness of the role he plays and the effective use of his position;
developing and maintaining good relationships with others;
giving clear and unambiguous instructions and instructions;
regular analysis of the work of subordinates and accounting of its results;
stimulating the activity of subordinates, encouraging the best examples in work;
a systematic approach to the analysis of work;
qualified delegation of authority;
avoiding too much negative reinforcement;
creating effective feedback;
protection of the organization's personnel from external threats;
finding ways to improve the performance of employees;
establishment of a performance evaluation system and success criteria.
The function of the organization acts primarily as a form of establishing links between leaders at various levels. Taking into account the fact that each leader is a person with his own individuality, the function of the organization is associated with a variety of formal and informal relationships between people, with the interweaving of these types of relationships, with the personal qualities of people, with their ideas about professionalism, culture, ethics, morality and etc. Underestimation of these points is very detrimental to creative work, to the microclimate of the team, to achieve the goals of the organization.
Effective leadership requires people to co-ordinate resources, define tasks, propose and support ideas, plan activities, and so on. Collective work opens up huge new opportunities, a collective approach solves problems together. This generates more ideas, increases innovation capacity, and reduces opportunities for stressful situations.
The organization of an effectively working team is a complex and labor-intensive process. The team lives its own business and emotional life. It cannot be created without effort, determination and trust. On the basis of the organization's goals and objectives, the manager is called upon to ensure coordinated and purposeful actions of the personnel subordinate to him.
The influence of the leader on the team begins with the selection and placement of personnel in various areas. The placement of personnel should help reveal the personal abilities of workers, ensure the growth of the efficiency of the total work of the entire team.
In solving this problem, a great role belongs to the leader, his ability to take into account the individual abilities, interests and psychological characteristics of people in organizing their joint work. The leader must be able to analyze and take into account the motives of the behavior of team members, apply a differentiated approach to people, taking into account their attitude to positive examples and existing shortcomings, taking into account their personal inclinations, interests and psychology. The success of management largely depends on how much the leader relies on the team, on his experience and knowledge, how much he supports and develops the business initiative.
The effectiveness of activities is greatly influenced by the psychological climate established in the team, which is understood as the nature of relations between people, the mood prevailing in the team, the satisfaction of workers with the work performed, etc. The psychological climate of the team largely depends on the psychological compatibility of workers. Psychological compatibility is the ability of group members to work together, based on the optimal combination of their psychological properties.
The role of the leader in the organization of the team largely depends on the improvement of the style and methods of his leadership, on the behavior of the leader, on the nature of his relationship with people. Numerous studies have shown that the leader is often hindered from effectively performing their functions by the inability to cooperate with people.
The multifactorial nature of modern organizational and management systems is of an objective nature; therefore, organizational activity synthesizes all types of activities in systems. Organizational activity is very laborious and has a significant share in the work of the leader (up to 60-80%). Subject this activity - socio-economic systems, taking into account economic, aesthetic, technological, professional and other connections and relations, the formation of the team itself as an integral dynamic and stable system (Fig. 10.6) 1.
Rice. 10.6. Organizational activity
The result of organizational work should be only the executive organizational system. G. P. Shchedrovitsky drew attention to the fact that the organization can be considered from two perspectives 1:
how artificial education- an artificial view of the organization is characteristic of the organizer himself, since the one who constructs and creates this organization always looks at it as his own creation, which he has made and is going to use as a means, as a tool to achieve his goals (in this sense, organizations can be any depending on the goals and objectives of the organizer, while the organization itself does not have its own goals);
how naturally living- after the creation of the organization is completed, the organizer leaves, the manager remains, and the organization is transformed into the form of life of the team and begins to live its own life, which from a natural point of view makes it possible for other goals to appear - the goals of the team that is organized.
Along with a formalized executive organizational system, the head has the ability to complete work tasks through the creation of working groups. Working group- this is, as a rule, a temporary team formed to solve a specific short-term problem with the involvement of representatives of various services. The advantage of such a group is the possibility of its formation in a short time, which allows you to quickly resolve emerging issues.
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Key leadership skills:
Positioning yourself as a leader.
Shifting focus from execution to management.
Increasing personal efficiency.
Increasing the awareness of managerial actions of managers.
Mastery basic tools management.
Key leadership skills
Adoption management decisions
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Rules for setting goals Setting goals is the main task of a correct and intelligent manager of an enterprise. The first rule that is used when hiring managers is how clearly and correctly they can express their thoughts, and therefore put specific goals in front of his subordinates. Also, department heads must correctly state their goals to subordinates, since the head of the enterprise sets specific goals and objectives for department heads, and they, in turn, already convey these goals to the lower level of employees. As a result, if the goal is set correctly by the head of the enterprise, and the head of some department cannot convey it to the lowest level of employees in the form in which it should be set, then such a goal will be called distorted. And in the end, it will turn out that those goals that the manager has set clearly and correctly, ordinary employees of the enterprise will not fulfill correctly. Because they are in a situation where they don't really know what they want from them. It seems that they are doing what the heads of departments told them correctly, but the head of the enterprise is dissatisfied with their work, because the goals that he conveyed to them through the heads of departments are distorted.
What does this goal look like? The goal is a clear task that is set for the employees of a particular enterprise.
The goal must necessarily have a time frame, that is, be limited to some period of time. In order for the goals to be achieved at a certain time and in full, it is necessary that they are correctly formulated. Such goals are called SMART.
Otherwise, the goals that are set are imaginary and there is no way to fulfill them within a certain timeframe, then these goals will never be feasible for your employees. In practical management activities There are criteria that the set goals must meet. First of all, a SMART goal should be specific. To do this, before setting a goal, you must know the answer to such a question, why do you need this? If you cannot answer such a question, then perhaps you do not need the goal that you set for yourself and want to fulfill it yourself, or entrust its implementation to your employees. If you can specifically indicate the results that you will receive after completing the goal, then this goal is specific. You also need to specifically tell your subordinates about your tasks and find out as a result of your explanations that they understood the tasks that you set for them.
Employees should also clearly understand what results this goal will bring to your enterprise. If employees do not understand how this goal can be useful for themselves, then most likely your task will not be completed the way you wanted it to be.
Also, one of the criteria for a smart goal is measurability. Measurability refers to the fact that a smart goal must be met, or if it is partially met, to what extent. If the indicators are not taken into account when setting a goal, then it is very difficult to determine to what extent a particular task has been completed. To measure the achievement of the goal, you can use the percentage, external standards, averages, the frequency of the result, the time to complete.
It can also be taken as a criterion of whether your goal will please your top management. Also, when setting goals, it is necessary to take into account the achievability of those. And it is necessary to set goals for those employees whose personal qualities and their professional level will allow them to achieve the intended goal. If you set the same tasks and goals for an inexperienced employee as an employee who has many years of experience, then the first employee will most likely not be able to complete your tasks. Therefore, this criterion is very important to achieve the goal. There are four options for installing such a bar. In the first option, there is a gradual increase in the efficiency of the employee's work. To do this, the head of an enterprise or organization is gradually raising the bar for an employee - starting from a slight increase, and ending with the highest level. In the second option, raising the bar requires those employees who have been working in the company for a long time, but do not seek to change something in their lives. The third installation option is suitable for experienced and proactive employees who want a quick career development and ready to take on any challenge that comes before them. With this option for installing the bar, the main task is to significantly increase the performance.
The fourth option is to set such goals that are above the limits of the capabilities of the entire team. This work will apply to the most ambitious employees at the enterprise, because they are able to do even the impossible, that is, to squeeze the last strength out of themselves, but by all means, complete the task that the boss set for them, on time and in full.
Another criterion that is important for setting SMART goals, is the significance of this goal. To do this, the employee from your goal setting must find out for himself the significance of this task. What material benefits can an employee who will perform this task personally have for himself. If you motivate him to complete such a task, then he will certainly strive to complete it and within the time frame that you need. Also, the leader must tell the significance of the task for his goals, what he really means when he sets such a goal.
Meetings
The leader should start the meeting with a greeting, overview agendas, reminders mobile phones and passing the floor for the report on the first issue. Then comes the consideration of topics, issues and instructions on the agenda, with speeches, polemics, discussion and development of decisions, including the recording of the relevant wording in the draft minutes of the meeting.
The stage of the meeting ends when the agenda is exhausted and the draft protocol is formed, after which the leader summarizes the discussion and proceeds to the stage of the end of the meeting.
The stage of carrying out in everyday life is often considered not only the main, but also the only stage of business meetings, and what happened before the meeting and what should be after it is sometimes considered simply as a background from minor events. We should remember that with poor organization and poor preparation, the meeting process itself cannot be effective, and if you still do not control its results, the results of these events will be rather negative for the company (division, group).
Meanwhile, the tasks of holding a meeting are simple, but they can be difficult to complete.
1. Consideration of agenda items with messages (reports) and materials on the subject
2. Discussion of messages (reports)
3. Development and recording of decisions during the meeting
4. Formation of new questions and instructions
5. Preparation of draft minutes of the meeting
The Twelve Commandments of a Leader in Meetings
First. The leader should not lose sight of the main goal of the meetings - the development of management decisions provided for in the agenda items and firmly guide all participants towards this goal.
Second. Demand high-quality implementation of the decisions of the meeting from the participants. At the same time, respect other points of view, do not humiliate or insult colleagues, remember that your current subordinate may also be in the place of the leader after some time, so consider human nature.
Third. Do not give up control, do not “release the reins”, do not shy away from side to side. Authority at the meeting is not automatically provided by the position of leader. With insecure leadership, the effectiveness of meetings drops sharply. Dual power should not be allowed at the meeting, since this will quickly reveal another, informal leader with other than yours, views and approaches to problems.
Fourth. Take your time to express your opinion, ensure teamwork, give employees the opportunity to speak out, not be afraid of showing other points of view, tolerate objections addressed to them, admit their mistakes, seek the truth, the essence of the matter, encourage the emergence of various solutions. The task of the leader is to hear others, not to speak out himself. It is clear that the choice of a decision, the last word, is not only the right of the leader, which can not be used, but also a duty that cannot be avoided.
Fifth. Be flexible in your discussion. Remember that business meetings, as well as their individual issues, are divided by type into informational (instructive), operational (control) and problematic (situational). To conduct a meeting in cold blood, to control oneself and quickly adjust one's style of leading a meeting (ranging from authoritarian to democratic) to these types.
Sixth. To be able to be a colleague, not pretending to be equal, maximum - the first among equals. Do not rise above all the giant, under whose feet, like small children, the participants in the meeting are confused. Moreover, do not turn bronze, do not turn into a Chinese god, who is not something to object to, and look at him, you can only bend over. Do not add authority to yourself, and the number of chameleons in your environment will increase markedly and all to the detriment of the cause.
Seventh. Pawn at the current meeting the success of the next one. It is not enough to make a decision, you must also implement it. Correctly appoint those responsible for a question or assignment, do not leave any items on the agenda without performers, in the hope of later. In the case of multiple executors, the employees listed first in the list are responsible for the issue. When choosing responsible persons, consider vocational training and functional responsibilities with which they are endowed in the enterprise.
Eighth. Make good use of meeting time resources. Focusing on the agenda, together with the secretary, keep track of the total time of the meeting, as well as quotas for topics, questions and speeches. The secretary observes the regulations, and the head is obliged to stop the speakers in the correct form, but firmly, in excess of the allotted time. Reveal manipulations, expose manipulators without getting involved in their games, do not waste time on empty thoughts in the circle of meeting participants.
Ninth. Skillfully choose the personal composition of the performers. They must be sufficiently independent and have a certain authority, organizational and contact abilities to lead their temporary micro group in the process of executing assignments. They should not be encouraged to go to the authorities in order to once again get the correct interpretation of what and how to do, or with another request to judge which of them is right or with resentment at a colleague who again does not do something in the order as it should .
Tenth. Capture original thoughts, new fresh ideas, independent judgments emanating from the participants in the meeting, while not forgetting that the leader can frighten away the thought of a subordinate with a careless word, and even look at him, the poor, with a look.
Eleventh. Do not overestimate your own role both at the meeting and in management in general, at any level of management (company, division, project). Not everything depends on you. One must be able to see and feel the practical limits of one's powers and act accordingly. To understand that it is possible to create a workable collegial governing body, which is a meeting, only through the joint efforts of the entire team, while the actions (or inactions) of the leader alone are enough to destroy this institution.
Twelfth. Always remember that meetings are just an integral part of management, a component of enterprise management processes, that your company has (should have) more important, larger and more distant goals, to which you made only a small step at the next meeting.
Styles of behavior of the leader at the meeting
The following styles of behavior of the leader at the meeting are distinguished:
Dictatorial - when the leader leads the meeting and in fact the only one enjoys the right to vote. An example of such a meeting could be familiarization with the order, a new direction in work.
Autocratic - the leader asks questions to each participant in turn and listens to their answers. Regular use of this style contributes to the development of a stable dislike for the leader.
Pseudo-discussive - first, the head or someone on his behalf makes a message, then a debate is held, in which several employees at the choice of the head take part.
The discussion is characterized by a free exchange of opinions and the development of a common solution.
With a free-style meeting, the leader does not clearly formulate the agenda and decisions are not made.
Moderation.
Moderation is a method of organizing group work in order to find a solution to a complex problem that requires the joint contribution of many participants.
The use of this method makes it possible to avoid the situation when “we have been discussing for the fifth week, but we have not agreed on anything”. Moderation allows literally in a few hours to go to the solution of issues that had not been resolved for months before.
Of course, moderation, like any technology, requires serious study and long practice.
A moderator is not just a "meeting chair". He acts according to a certain methodology and must have certain skills.
But a manager does not have to be a perfectionist in technology. For really complex events like strategic session it is wiser to invite a professional moderator.
But for everyday work, it is quite possible to take separate tools, rules and techniques.
What kind of moderation technology can be adopted by a leader who does not have special training, but is interested in making discussions effective?
Outwardly, moderation looks very simple: they got together, the moderator asked a question, people discussed, wrote something on cards or flip chart sheets, discussed more, and now the group came to a result and formed action plans.
But this simplicity is deceptive. The most important secret of moderation is in careful preparation.
Therefore, you need to start with goals.
Even before the meeting, you need to set a clear and specific goal.
What do you want from the audience? For example:
- Get as many ideas, options for solving a particular problem
- Determine the attitude to a particular option of action, a draft document, etc.
- Determine priorities - what steps need to be taken to make the most progress towards achieving the main goal
- Form specific action plans
It should be noted that these are all different goals. These goals may not "get along" together. This means that we work out each goal in a separate block using certain tools.
Very often, the goal of moderation is to collect new ideas. So let's see how to do it right.
The generation of ideas requires emancipation and a nonjudgmental approach. It is very important here that there is no criticism and pressure.
The leader, if he leads such a meeting, needs not only to “go into the shadows” himself, turning into a listener, but also to make sure that especially active or high-status participants do not put pressure on others.
The technique helps a lot in this when participants first write sentences on small cards on their own, which are then glued to a flip chart or wall.
This approach kills not even two, but several birds with one stone.
Firstly, it is impossible to “sit out”, because everyone has to write something.
Secondly, active participants do not have the opportunity to put pressure on the others, because there is no discussion at this moment.
Thirdly, the collection of ideas is faster due to the simultaneous work of a large number of participants at once.
Fourth, ideas collected in writing can be conveniently grouped into clusters, which facilitates subsequent analysis.
What is important to remember if you want to collect as many valuable ideas as possible:
- Choose the right participants. Provide views of the problem from all angles.
- Remember: the source of development is usually outside the system. Involve in the group people who are "external" in relation to the problem - employees of related departments, customers, partners.
- Completely exclude any criticism and pressure.
- Gather ideas in writing, but keep them short.
- Give enough time. The generation of ideas usually comes in several "waves" separated by small pauses.
- Listen carefully to participants. It is very important to understand what meaning was put into certain formulations by the author of the idea himself.
- Be sure to thank the participants for their work!
And a few words about what needs to be done after moderation after some time. There is nothing worse than when people get the feeling that everything “goes into the sand”, they say, “they gathered us, asked, asked to offer ideas, and then as a result ... nothing!”
Therefore, it is very important to inform the participants after a few weeks about what was done as a result of the moderation, what decisions were made, what was influenced by the proposals made by the participants.