Have you ever taken a good hard look at the people you work with? Are some of them able to identify problems and take the necessary steps to solve those problems with little help or direction? Are some of them eager to help and do whatever they are told to do, but cannot seem to think for themselves? Do some of them seem to know and have solutions to all of the problems within the organization, but do nothing to help solve them? Are there others who seem incapable of independent thought and action and need prodding and guidance for everything they do? And are there others who seem to do and speak up just enough to stay out of the spotlights of attention and responsibility?
Robert Kelley, in his scheme of follower behaviors, identified two independent dimensions on which followers differ. One dimension has to do with follower activity and behavior and the other deals with thought and problem identification. Kelley’s behavior dimension ranges from active to passive. The thought dimension ranges from independent and critical to dependent and uncritical. Kelley combined those two dimensions to identify five types of followers.
Followers who are passive in their actions and uncritical in their thinking are called “Sheep.” Sheep lack the abilities to independently identify problems or the courses of action needed to solve those problems, and they need prodding and pushing to get them to perform. “Yes People” are dependent in their thinking, but are active and willing to do whatever they are asked to do. People who see all of the problems within an organization and have solutions for them, but are unwilling to act until prodded are known as “Alienated Followers.” Alienated Followers are the ones who would rather sit around and complain about the ways things work than actually doing anything about the problems themselves. “Survivors” are those who exist where the two dimensions intersect; they are active and independent enough in their thinking to stay out of trouble, but also just passive and dependent enough to not be noticed or given extra responsibilities. Kelley labeled people who are active and independent in their thinking as “Effective Followers.” Effective Followers are those who can see and figure out solutions to problems and have the energy and activity to solve them. They are self-active and independent and work for the common good and purpose of their organizations.
Healthy organizations are made up of active and independent-thinking followers. Training and development techniques and a sincere effort on the part of management to elicit employee involvement might be used to turn Yes People into Effective Followers. Strong leadership can also create cultures of openness, shared decision-making, and employee involvement to transform Alienated Followers into Effective Followers. Under effective leadership, Survivors might also be encouraged to step up and take ownership of problems and become more active. Organizational policies, reward schemes, and high- involvement cultures must be created to promote active behavior and independent and critical thinking in organizational members.
Training and Development: Lost on the Moon
An effective and interactive way to demonstrate the ability of groups to outperform individuals on mental tasks is the “Lost on the Moon” exercise. In the activity, participants are given a list of items that are available to them while they await rescue on the dark side of the moon. Variations of this exercise also exist – like being trapped in the desert or wilderness.
The first step in the exercise is to have participants complete the assessment completely by themselves. Participants must rank the importance of 18 different items for survival on the moon – which include things like tanks of oxygen, a compass, matches, milk concentrate, flares, a solar-powered radio transmitter, and a tarp. During this phase, participants are not allowed to ask questions, talk with others, or look up answers in any way. They should rely only upon the knowledge that they possess in their heads at the time of the activity.
After everyone has completed his or her individual rankings, participants are then divided into groups of four to six people each and complete the exercise again as teams. It is important that everyone in the group participates and gives input into the group ranking. A group of five with only two contributing members is really only a group of two with three bystanders. All members must participate in the group output.
When the groups complete their rankings, group and individual answers are scored by comparing them against “expert” rankings for the items. The closer the participant answers match the expert rankings, the better the score on the exercise. A member of each group should calculate the group score as well as the individual scores. The facilitator of the activity will ask each group to provide its group score on the exercise as well as the average of the scores of the individual members. The group and average individual scores should be written somewhere so that all participants can see them.
When the directions are followed and participants take the exercise seriously, the group score will almost always be better than the average individual score. It shows that individuals, when solving mental tasks, have only their own experiences and knowledge to draw upon to solve problems. When individuals work together as teams, their abilities to solve problems are enhanced. This synergistic effect is a result of the combination of the knowledge and past experiences of the group members. The past experiences of four to six people will always be greater than the knowledge and past experiences of any single member.
As a group development tool, exercises like these help show the importance of groups and teamwork to organizational performance. Managers can use these exercises to show organizational members the importance of individual differences and experiences to a team and to demonstrate the importance of all members working together to solve problems. The investment of a little time to conduct a “Lost on the Moon” exercise with groups of workers could return big benefits for organizations.
Training and Development: Ropes Courses
Effective and productive teams work together well. Effective teams are composed of members who trust each other and who collectively work together overcoming problems and difficulties in pursuit of their goals. Important skills like communication, problem-solving, critical thinking, influence, teamwork, and leadership are needed for groups to perform at their maximum.
Groups and teams are made up of individuals. Confidence and a desire to excel in individual members typically results in groups that are confident and willing to achieve high levels of performance. Through the success that they gain accomplishing individual challenges, members support, encourage, and prompt their teammates on to higher levels of performance and confidence.
It should be the goal of every manager and organizational leader to have teams that perform well and that are made up of members who trust and support each other. Such teams can be developed within organizations through on-the-job experiences and/or in-house training programs. Training can also occur in a variety of off-the-job arenas. One popular and successful program for developing critical teamwork, leadership, and organization skills is through outdoor ropes challenge courses.
Typically, ropes challenge courses have two sets of activities – low elements and high elements. Low elements challenges include activities that require individuals to work together to solve and complete assigned tasks. Helping team members across a self-constructed bridge, arranging members by birthday while standing on a log, and guiding teammates on blindfolded trust walks are some of the activities that help promote trust, cooperation, and teamwork. For groups that are more adventurous, ropes challenge course facilitators can guide teams through trust falls (where members fall backwards off of a small tower into the arms of their teammates) or activities that involve getting teammates up and over a wall. Low elements activities foster and promote teamwork, trust, communication, problem solving, and other important group and leadership skills.
High ropes challenge course elements involve leaving the comfort of the ground to individually climb up and traverse telephone-like poles and cables 30–40 feet up in the air or climbing a tower and rappelling back down – while securely harnessed to safety lines. The challenge for individuals on high ropes elements is to mentally overcome the anxiety that comes from being off the ground. The rewards that individuals receive from completing high elements challenges include a sense of accomplishment from succeeding at something that seemed difficult, overcoming fears, and stretching personal limits and expectations.
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
Basics of Management. Management concepts and theories. Definition of Management. Principles of Management.Management certification
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