1 paragraph each colleague respond to 2 colleagues
Assignment and Instructions attached. Use APA citations and References
Respond to at leasttwoof your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:1 paragraph each colleague
Provide an example, from your experience, that will support a point that your colleague made about the importance of relationship building in effective management,
Provide an example, from your experience, that illustrates an alternative approach to how a manager can get to know his or her employee.
Offer a complimentary or alternative viewpoint about the role and process of feedback.
Offer additional advice to your colleagues about steps they need to consider to ensure they deliver appropriate feedback to employees.
Note what you have learned and/or any insights that you have gained as a result of the comments your colleagues made.
1st Colleague to respond to:
To establish constructive relationships with employees, managers should enforce open communications and consistently communicate roles, responsibilities, and expectations. In addition, managers should engage in dialogues to discover their employees preferences and styles. As De Valk (2015) recommended,there should be regular meetings where each employee is encouraged to have a voice and the manager listens attentively. Managers should also be open, transparent, and patient with employees.
Furthermore, I think that it is important for managers to get to know their employees. This facilitates interactions, enables the managers to put things into context, and enables the managers to tailor their management styles to each employee. Horstman (2016) recommended scheduling time to talk with employees one on one, preferably 30 minutes meetings, which the author said would help develop trust with the employees and make the employees feel valued. I think even 5 minutes spent daily or every other day on building a relationship with employees is valuable.
Friends with The Employees?
I also think that it is important to be cordial, show empathy, have patience, and treat all employees with diplomacy regardless of personal preferences or attitudes from or towards the employees. Although I think that whether a manager decides to be friends with their employees is a personal choice that depends on the manager and the employee, I personally would not cross the line. I would not become friends with my employees. As Horstman (2016) stated,managers cannot be friends with their employees in part because there is a potential for conflict of interests, favoritism, and the employees would always see the manager as theboss. I think that managers must remain professional, which would make the relationship with the employee constructive and fair.
A Manager I Worked For
Not long ago, I had a manager who was reluctant to communicate with me and did not take the initiative to build a working relationship. In fact, she rarely talked to me; there were no one-on-one meetings, the communication was limited to a couple of short emails each week and brief collective staff meetings in which I had to be present, other than that, I did not even see her. I will call this manager Sheila, when she had the opportunity to communicate face to face, Sheila was rude and her body language was intimidating. She appeared to be apathetic, distant, and uncomfortable around me. I did not dare to say anything to her other than good morning because I had overheard her yelling at people for barely no reason. Sheila did not last on the job; she was transferred to another unit. However, there is so much that Sheila could have done to build a relationship. For example, she could have built a trusting relationship by showing interest in knowing about the things that are important to me, my professional aspirations, my family composition, or my hobbies (Horstman, 2016). Sheila could have shown appreciation for the work I did. She could have talked to me frequently about the things that are important to me. She could have also shared positive feedback on my performance.
Feedback
I think that when managers communicate frequently with their employees, they get to know their employees, and so it is easier to communicate about performance issues. As Horstman (2016) argued, if managers expect high performance, they must talk about it with their employees. My current manager is good at giving feedback. She schedules meetings and sits with the employees privately to discuss the issues. This is an effective way to give feedback. I think that constructive feedback and negative feedback are both important and that managers should balance the way they give feedback by saying something positive then the negative and the stating something positive again. The ultimate goal is to promote future positive behavior.
As a manager, I would schedule appointments, meet with my employees privately, and engage in conversations about performance, the personal issues affecting productivity, and more importantly about the things they might want to know. For example, reminders of information or materials they need, opportunities to grow professionally, project status reports, requests for guidance approaching a problem, clarifications about rumors, follow up on pending actions (Horstman, 2016). When giving feedback I would ask questions such as, can I share an observation? When talking about performance, I would avoid vague questions, loaded or absolute questions or questions about others.
Reference
De Valk, P., (2015) How businesses can deal with a bad manager.Strategic HRReview, 14(3), pp. 74-78.
Horstman, M. (2016).The effective manager. Wiley.
2nd Colleague to respond to:
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Building Manager/Employee Relationship
No matter what type of business a company is in, managers and employees need to build a relationship to be productive. Managers want respect as a manager, and employees want respect as an employee. To establish this common ground, they both need to respect each others job duties and work together to achieve daily tasks. Establishing this constructive relationship will allow the workday to go smoother and more manageable without a lot of conflicts.
Actions/Relationships
The most critical action that a manager should take is communication. Whether it is listening or informing, the employee needs to know that the manager wants to work together. Scheduling reoccurring monthly meetings to allow employees and managers to answer questions and discuss any problems. This establishes an alliance of working out the problems together. When discussing new ideas or changes, be positive with the employees to keep an upbeat attitude to help the changes go smoothly. After communication, being you is an essential key when establishing relationships with employees. No one wants to work for or with someone pretending because this generates distrust (Hortsman, 2016).
Personal Experience
I am a person who can establish relationships relatively quickly. I generally strike up a conversation not work-related, which is often about food (I like to consider myself a food connoisseur). A manager that I worked for taught me this little technique. He introduced himself and asked me if I like tacos. Of course, I love tacos, so this was a great conversation for me. We talked about our favorite Mexican restaurants and taco trucks. Our conversations about food could go on for a while. Our discussions helped break the ice and made me feel comfortable talking to him. After our food conversations, we would transition into discussing daily work deliverables. Although I was comfortable talking to him, he was always very clear of his expectations for me, and I respected him immensely. Since that very first meeting, we still stay in touch and talk about food. I think that it is vital for managers and employees to establish a constructive relationship.
Managers and employees can be friends but not close friends. For example, I am a manager, but I will not go to one of my employees house for dinner. However, I will gladly have a cookout at the park for all of my employees. The reason the cookout is okay because all employees are included without any conflict of interest or possible favoritism. Going to the employees house for dinner could cause conflict with the other employees and make the employee that provided dinner feel favored, which generates jealousy from everyone else. Getting too personal with your employees may cause a lack of productivity and conflict within the department.
Feedback
Performance reviews are an essential tool for managers and employees. It is a chance for the manager and employee to discuss any areas that might need improvement for the employee as well as steps to work on those improvements. As a manager who manages two different teams, my day is hectic. I get called, emailed, and texted about things that need my attention all day. I get interrupted non-stop. It is challenging to have a conversation with anyone without interruptions. During evaluation time, I make it a point to block off my schedule and book a meeting room in another building. I also print a copy of the evaluation for the staff member and myself and close my laptop. Doing so helps me focus my attention on the performance review without distractions. Allowing my staff member to have uninterrupted time is essential, especially when we are talking about performance and professional development.
Balancing positive and negative feedback is extremely important. Everyone wants to hear the good and the bad, not just all bad. Leaving the employee on a positive note helps with motivation and morale. Sometimes, offering a way to fix the negative to keep things positive is excellent management skills. Giving feedback is a necessary part of working. The feedback must be clear and precise with ways to improve the negative feedback. Everyone should get a chance to redeem themselves (Hortsman, 2016).
Conclusion
Building a constructive relationship is essential since managers and employees are together for most of each day. Having a good working relationship will allow a more productive group and team. Avoid getting too personal and becoming too friendly with only individual employees. This will generate conflict with the rest of the employees and portrays favoritism on a personal level. Positive and negative feedback should go together. When presenting feedback, be clear, precise, and complete with the delivery. Make sure the employee understands the point of view. The manager and employee need to work together on steps to improve the negative feedback. Working, communicating, talking, brain-storming are all ways to build relationships with managers and employees.
Reference
Horstman, M. (2016).The effective manager.Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
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