Aspen JKH8 Module 1 Assignment Leadership and Managing
Question
Module 1 Assignment Leadership and Managing
This week
you reflected upon the difference between a “manager” and a “leader” and
discussed this concept with your classmates and professor in the discussion
board. In a written essay please answer the following questions:
What are
the differences between leaders and managers? What characteristics are similar
and what are different?
Provide a
total of three examples. First, of someone who has great managerial skills.
Second, another individual with great leadership skills. Third, another person
with poor managerial skills. These can be made up individuals or examples you
have seen without any identifying information. Discuss how the staff of each
individual would be affected by the skills of the leader/manager.
What were your choices for managing conflict on your team?
Conflicts are typical when team members with differing opinions, goals, and perspectives come together. The same case applies to the scenario after adding Alejandro, Sandra, Jim, and Karla. To avoid delays or a possible project’s failure, conflict resolution is necessary. The first conflict resolution strategy that can be used to solve the emerging issues is accommodation. It is appropriate when the team’s harmony is more prioritized than achieving the set goal. The second strategy is conflict avoidance, involving withdrawing from the problem, hoping that it will go away (Baykal, 2019). Other choices for conflict management strategies include compromising, collaboration, and competition. Compromising means no one wins, while collaboration means working together for the best interest of the conflicting parties (Schermerhor et al., 2020). Competition means disregarding accommodation, compromising, and collaboration, and asserting one’s authority.
What conflict resolution strategies did you employ to encourage collaboration and build consensus within a team?
Each team member has an issue that could affect the overall productivity and cohesion of the team. Alejandro did not believe in the team strategy and had been working on his own ideas. Due to its adverse effects of divided focus, the collaborative approach is the most effective in such a situation. Alejandro’s concerns deserve to be heard and, as the leader, find a way to tweak the team’s plans based on Alejandro’s feedback. Collaboration implies listening to the other person’s demands and ironing out the conflict. As new team members, Jim and Sandra have a relationship characterized by a cold attitude and contempt. Since many conflicts arise from misunderstanding and poor communication, collaboration would be the most effective to solve the conflict between Jim and Sandra. Karla’ situation required a similar approach. She had disengaged from the team and missed a few check-in meetings.
Are these strategies something you typically employ when confronted with a conflict? Why or why not?
Conflict resolution implies getting a solution for an issue likely to segregate teams. At a personal or professional level, people resolve conflicts differently, making them more familiar with some strategies than others as their comfort-level increases or decreases. I have encountered several situations prompting me to accommodate others’ views to resolve issues. Since accommodating is a win-win strategy with many positive impacts, I am highly confident with its application in conflict resolution. I have little or no encounters involving avoiding conflicts, compromising, and competition. Therefore, the comfort level is not as high as in collaboration and accommodation strategies of conflict management.
How can you keep all employees on your team engaged?
A team’s engagement level depends, to a significant extent, on team-engagement strategies. Conflicts should be avoided and teamwork promoted as much as possible. Encouraging active listening is an effective strategy for team engagement. Active listening enhance understanding and encourage team members to contribute to ideas generation. Constructive and timely feedback also encourages participation and improves team spirit. Fairness and impartiality are pivotal in making team members feel valued and respected. Promoting fairness and impartiality ensures that the team leader remains objective and each member can present their perspective. I am highly confident in applying the three strategies since they are instrumental in team cohesion and increasing motivation to achieve shared goals.
References
Baykal, E. (Ed.). (2019). Handbook of research on positive organizational behavior for improved workplace performance. IGI Global.
Schermerhorn, J. R., Davidson, P., Woods, P., Factor, A., Simon, A., McBarron, E., & Junaid, F. (2020). Management. John Wiley and Sons Australia, Ltd.
Completethe Emotional Intelligence Test Discuss your scores and what they mean. What
did you learn about yourself as a leader? (Note that a 10 on the EI test means
strong. On the score page, click on the blue “here” under
“interpreting your GEIT scores, click here” for more information on
each section and what it means.
Assignment
Expectations:
Length:
1500 to 2000 words total (at least 500 words per question prompt)
Structure:
Include a title page and reference page in APA format. These do not count
towards the minimum word count for this assignment. Your essay must include an
introduction and a conclusion.
References:
Use appropriate APA style in-text citations and references for all resources
utilized to answer the questions. A minimum of three (3) scholarly sources are
required for this assignment.
Rubric:
This assignment uses a rubric for scoring. Please review it as part of your
assignment preparation and again prior to submission to ensure you have
addressed its criteria at the highest level.
Format:
Save your assignment as a Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx) or a PDF
document (.pdf)
File name:
Name your saved file according to your first initial, last name, and the
assignment number (for example RHall Assignment 1.docx)
Submission:
Submit to the D2L dropbox for grading prior to Monday at 11:59pm PST