A520.8.3.RB-Team Roles

I, like most of us, have participated in many teams. Growing up, I was on sports teams. In high school and college, I was divided into many different teams for group work. There have been times as a professional that I have been asked to be a part of a team to solve a problem or accomplish a goal. I have even been part of a team to help clean up an apartment that was damaged by a fire. Before this week’s readings, I never gave much thought about the different roles that members of a team could play. Many of the sports teams I was on had a leader, either the coach or the best player, and the rest of the team worked to help the team win. The school assignments also consisted of a leader and the rest of the team trying to finish the assignment. I never considered that the other members of the team were performing a role that was just more than helping accomplish the goal or mission.

This week I learned that team members could perform task-facilitating roles or relationship-building roles. According to Whetten and Cameron (2016), task-facilitating roles help a team accomplish the goal or objective. When I thought of teams, I pictured the followers all being task related. What can we do to help the team win, get the assignment turned in, or accomplish a professional task? But, team members can also be a relationship builder. According to Brown (2011), relationship builders “help the group grow and improve its members’ interpersonal relationships” (p. 201). As I learned about the two roles of team members, I began to ponder which role I usually chose.

I generally lean toward task-based roles, but occasionally act in a relationship-building role regarding team activities. I have mentioned in several posts that I am an achiever and a preparer. These two qualities can be extreme at times, so I must be aware of my actions while in a team setting. I am the type of person who likes to work hard on projects to make sure they are correctly completed in the allotted time. Whetten and Cameron (2016) mentioned that direction giving or trying to clarify goals or missions is a task-facilitating action. I have never been comfortable with giving directions. I have always seen myself as the follower in team situations. But, I do possess many of the qualities of task-facilitating roles.

Brown (2011) stated that elaborating is a function of task-facilitating roles. Though I do not usually have the initial plan of action, I find myself elaborating or building on the ideas expressed by the other team members. Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that monitoring and process analyzing are both task-facilitating roles. Monitoring involves progress reports and helping to maintain accountability for the group, where process analyzing involves evaluating processes and procedures to help improve efficiency. Recently, I completed my first team assignment as a graduate student and offered both monitoring and process analyzing to the group.

Though the team worked together perfectly and turned in the assignment before the due date, I sent several emails asking for opinions and ideas about the steps needed to complete the assignment. The achiever and preparer took over to help keep the group on track. I recently had the opportunity to take a management assessment test offered by NextSteps Research. The survey showed that I was an introverted logistical leader and I feel I am the same type of teammate. According to the results, I am concerned with meeting schedules while completing tasks, which is in line with process analyzing and monitoring.

Though the majority of my actions lean toward task-facilitating roles, I also work to improve the team cohesion and collaboration. Though I know conflict and tension can be pros in a group or team setting, I do not work well in tension-filled situations. I once took a survey that declared one of my four leading styles to be leading with harmony. According to Rath and Conchie (2008), “people strong in the harmony theme look for consensus. They don’t enjoy conflict; rather they seek areas of agreement” (p. 175).

Whetten and Cameron (2012) stated that energizing is another action of a relationship-building team member. I noticed that I do try to make other team members feel like their comments are helpful. I do not like when others feel like their thoughts are not heard or appreciated.

In a team environment, I believe I am more task driven because I like to make sure assignments or goals are reached, but if the team becomes too conflicted, the harmonizer inside me must make things kosher before finishing the tasks.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

Rath, T. & Conchie, B. (2008). Strengths based leadership. New York, NY: Gallup Press.

Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson.

A635.7.4.RB- INSEAD Reflection

This week I had the opportunity to learn the concept of self-managed work teams and how to lead these teams. My first thought was that these teams did not warrant any leadership. The name self-managed work team states that they do not need leadership. But, I was wrong. All teams need some leadership, but the style of leadership must be adjusted for a self-managed work team. According to Brown (2011), a self-managed work team is “An autonomous group whose members decide how to handle their task” (p. 349).

In the 2008 video from INSEAD entitled Self-managing teams: Debunking the paradox, self-management teams are described as a contradiction to traditional organizational structures. Paul Tesluk described that self-managing teams work well for a highly skilled group such as technicians (INSEAD, 2008). The technicians know how to do their jobs and do not need help organizing performance data or developing a method to handle customer calls. The individuals are highly skilled and highly professional, so the typical method of dictating management would be counter-productive. The external leader could be utilized in “helping the team understand its strengths, roles, and responsibilities” (INSEAD, 2008, n.p.).The leadership is still used in a self-managed team; just in a different format.

As I learned more about self-managed teams, I began to ponder the major benefits and drawbacks from this type of team. One benefit, in my opinion, is the makeup of the team itself. The team is comprised of highly skilled members that all have knowledge in the field. These individuals have years of working with the subject matter and more than likely have all worked together and have formed an open level of communication. I feel that the possibilities are endless with a team that knows the field very well.

According to Brown (2011), increased responsibility is placed with the team members in this type of team structure. I believe this is an excellent concept- allowing the team members to feel a sense of empowerment. According to Whetten and Cameron (2016), empowerment creates trust, purpose, and autonomy in an individual’s work and could lead to increased production. Self-managed teams remind me of a leadership concept I read that Zappos implemented called Polyarchy. Polyarchy consists of creating a flattened organizational structure in which middle managers are eliminated. This form of leadership allows employees to be responsible for their work without answering to middle management. Employees become more responsible for their work and receive additional value or purpose from the tasks they complete.

There are also a couple of downfalls that can come from self-managing teams. My first thought is to beware groupthink. Groupthink can occur when all members of a team have similar backgrounds and perform similar jobs. Members could avoid making harsh judgments or disagreements with members of the group to evade creating group discord. A group that contains the one antagonist that helps the group see their decisions in a different light could be more successful. Telsuk mentioned another downfall in that during the group processes mistakes are bound to happen, but the external leader must fight the urge to jump in and correct the problem (INSEAD, 2008). Though the external manager has the skill and ability to correct the issue, for the betterment of the group, they must let the situation play itself out. Also, the external manager must stay away from micromanaging the group. With a team of highly skilled professionals, micromanaging could become counterproductive and slow the production and process of the group.

I also thought about if I would like to work on this type of team, and I am torn. I have noticed that having a sense of empowerment does increase my productivity. I am also an achiever, so I work extremely hard to reach a goal. I also tend to get along with everyone in a team setting very well. I believe those three factors would allow me to enjoy working on a self-managed team.  But, I have never had the opportunity to work for a self-managed team. My only two professional jobs have followed a traditional hierarchy structure where I report to a manager, who reports to a manager, and so on.

I would require access to more information about the company or organization to strive in a self-managed team. In my two previous roles, the structure of the organization made the middle manager an asset that allowed me to be successful at my job. Certain skills and information are housed with the middle and upper management, and I would fail without using them as a source. The company must be open to letting that information flow freely before I could say that I would like to work in this type of team setting. It is understood that a self-managed team would provide for more autonomy and decision making, but never having the opportunity to be self-supporting, I cannot imagine myself being productive in this type of team setting at this point in my career.

To become an effective external manager of s self-managed team, I would have to overcome some competencies. The two competencies that come to mind are my sense of self-confidence/fear of failure and my need to achieve/ perfectionist personality.  First, I would have to lose my self-confidence. I have a feeling that I would be timid to speak up on a team that contained other experts in the field. My tendencies to be timid would not be helpful to a team. I would have to learn to speak up for the betterment of the team. The second competency seems to be a complete opposite of the first; the need to achieve. I have a feeling that though I would be scared to speak up the achiever and perfectionist inside of me would want to jump in and handle all aspects of the team. I have the tendency to want to make everything just right and in a team setting with other highly skilled members, this action would be counter-productive and could stifle production. If I was able to let go of certain tendencies and allowed the team to work as it is supposed to, self-managed teams could be a great organizational structure.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

INSEAD. (2008, September 22). Self-managing teams: Debunking the leadership paradox. [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBnR00qgGgM

Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson

A520.7.3.RB- An empowerment example- Trey McNeil

In this blog, I would like to discuss the tale of two directors. In my current position, I have had two directors. One was overbearing, micro-managing, and closed. The other is laid back, and communicative. One director did not make me feel confident or allow me any autonomy, while the other director developed trust and provided support. The two directors were night vs. day, cold vs. hot, and black vs. white, but the glaring difference lied in empowerment. One director allowed me to feel a sense of empowerment, where the other director attempted to deny empowerment.

When I was first hired in my current position, I reported to the former Controller. Working for this individual taught me many life lessons, but empowerment was not one of them. Some of her leadership methods were not conducive to creating a sense of empowerment. Whetten and Cameron (2016) described self- efficacy as the feeling of competency that an individual can complete a task successfully. Self-efficacy is not a trait that I developed while reporting to my former director. She had the propensity to find something wrong in everything I gave her to review. Most of the things were small such as her not agreeing with the format of a spreadsheet or the wording of an email, but it began to wear on my confidence. She also wanted all of my work to go through her first, so I never felt like I was able to develop self-efficacy. In fact, the leadership methods caused me to develop the unfortunate trait of learned helplessness which is the opposite direction from empowerment.

My former director also did not allow for much autonomy. She wanted things done in a particular order and in a particular way which did not leave much room for personal choices in designing my tasks. She also had the habit of taking the spotlight away from me and shining it on herself. Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that a method of creating empowerment is through personal consequence. “Empowered people have a sense that when they act, they can produce a result” (Whetten and Cameron, 2016, 370). I never felt like my actions produced any results. One of the first times I put together the Board reports; I had just finished and had given them to my director to review. Within about fifteen minutes, the former VP of Finance came into the suite to determine the status of the reports. My director proceeded to explain how she had been working on them all day and was just finishing up. From that point on, I did not feel like my work had a purpose. I do not actively seek recognition, but the fact that my work was claimed by my director was extremely demotivating.

My former director also never took the time to develop a trusting relationship with not only me but the other accountants in the department. Since she did not trust us, the lack of trust was reciprocated throughout the department creating a lack of communication and a common goal. The former Controller was let go about four years ago due to conflicts with the new VP of Finance. My new supervisor was the budget director, and it didn’t take me long to realize that this would be a totally different leader/follower relationship.

The first thing I noticed was that my new director was much more open with providing information. According to Whetten and Cameron (2016), information is a crucial part of leadership and providing followers with more as opposed to less information creates a sense of empowerment. My director would give me updates regarding what happened in the Board Meetings, the direct support meetings, and changes taking place at the college. Receiving information was a new concept for me and began to create a sense of empowerment.

My new director quickly developed a clear goal for the accounting of the Foundation. We were able to get on the same page regarding the budget process, the investment allocation process, and how the board reports were to be put together. I felt empowered having a say in what processes would be used. It was a new feeling for me and began to increase empowerment.  Whetten and Cameron (2016) described the five levels of followership. With my previous director, I fell into the ask what to do before acting stage due to the learned helplessness her leadership methods created. The leadership methods of my new director allowed me to increase my level of followership. I was now able to initiate action and report only when necessary, and it felt great.

I recall an instance where I felt empowered to accomplish a task, which was the first audit with my new supervisor. The transition to my new director took place at the beginning of audit preparation. Once everyone was settled in, I went to her and asked the first task in beginning audit preparation. She looked at me like I had four heads and asked why I was coming to her asking questions about the audit. I then explained to her that the previous management assigned me tasks to do until the audit book was complete. She got up from her desk, grabbed the audit book from the previous year, handed it to me, and said, “I trust you do put together the book. Take a look at last year and run the same reports for this year. I will be here if you have any questions.”  I was not only taken aback but floored. What was going on?

Whetten and Cameron (2016) listed the five dimensions of empowerment as self-efficacy, self- determination, personal consequence, meaning, and trust. When my director gave me the authority to put together the audit, all five of the dimensions of empowerment were affected. I began to develop a sense of self-efficacy or competence to perform a task successfully. I also now had a sense of autonomy. I had the power to work on the audit that way I wanted to. I did not have to do things in a particular order because of the preference of my supervisor. I also began to develop a sense of personal consequence in believing that my work could produce a result. I began to believe that my work had meaning now. I was working toward putting the audit paperwork together on my own. I was no longer tasked with trivial things. The most important thing my supervisor accomplished by allowing me to work on the audit was to develop a sense a trust. I immediately saw that she trusted me and that trust was reciprocated. We still have a very trusting and open bond.

The final result was a clean audit with no audit remarks. Throughout the process, I had to go to my supervisor for advice on a couple of issues because the information was never shared by the previous manager. Overall, I completed the majority of the audit without assistance which caused my confidence to grow and allowed me to develop a sense of empowerment.

This example offered several lessons that I could apply to my followers. The first being trust and communication. I have stated in several blogs that communication is one of the most important things a leader must practice to be successful. Open communication creates trust which in turn creates a sense of empowerment.  Support is another critical factor in creating empowerment. A leader who establishes support with their followers creates a sense of empowerment and empowered workers tend to be more communicative and productive. So, Why not try to create empowerment as a leader?

Reference

Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson

A635.6.3.RB - EcoSeagate- Trey McNeil

I must admit, before this week I had never heard of Seagate Technologies. According to Forbes (n.d.), Seagate Technology is a Dublin based producer of attached storage, data protection, internet hard drives, flash storage, etc. and has a worth of about 7.5 billion dollars. The company’s place in the business world was not as intriguing to me as their yearly outdoor lab experience called EcoSeagate. According to Brown (2011), EcoSeagate was formed as a way to prove the value of teamwork.  CEO Bill Watkins began the outdoor retreat as a way to change the culture and morale of Seagate. 

According to Brown (2011), when Watkins took over as CEO in 2000, the company was known by the name of Slavegate by its employees due to the propensity the former CEO had of firing employees at an alarming rate. Watkins knew that something must be done to save the organization, so EcoSeagate was formed in 2000.

What is EcoSeagate?  EcoSeagate is a yearly outdoor lab experience where the company brings 200 employees (out of thousands that applied) to the mountains of New Zeeland for a week’s worth of outdoor team building exercises (Brown, 2016). If you are the type of person who enjoys mountain biking, kayaking, mountain climbing, running, walking through the woods with a very undescriptive map, and crossing canyons on cables to help build a better team environment, then this retreat sounds perfect for you! The most enticing aspect for the participants is that they get to go to the mountains of New Zeeland on the company’s dime, but hard work is required, so they must be prepared.

As I read about Seagate’s outdoor lab experience, I began to question the significance of the event. According to Brown (2011), the retreat costs upward of $2 million yearly, and Watkins has not been able to prove that EgoSeagate produces qualitative results. As an accountant who always thinks about issues in terms of funds, this was a bit intriguing to me. According to Brown (2011) outdoor labs are relatively new, and details of their effectiveness remain undocumented. “If labs are not introduced with planning and followed up correctly, they can become expensive topics of conversation at coffee breaks” (Brown, 2011, p. 276). So, why would the company continue to spend a large amount of money for an event that they cannot prove adds value to the company?  According to Watkins, there is a gut feeling that the event is working (Brown, 2011).

The glaring question here is, is the experience worth the cost? As I pondered that question, I was met with met with a blend of both uncertainty and belief in the event. My initial thought was personally I do not believe I would put myself through the rigorous activities in the name of teamwork. I told myself that I was a great teammate and would not succumb to that much physical activity to prove the point. But, as I watched videos of the process, I began to change my mind. I began to realize the outcome depended on the individual. First, the individual must not be there for a free company vacation. There must be a mindset that this will be hard work but in the end, it will be rewarding and help construct team building and trust. According to Seagate’s, CEO, Bill Watkins, “You go with the program, you get in here and yell and scream, you start talking to people, you start doing it, and I make this promise right now you’ll have the experience you’ve never had in your life” (EcoSeagate, 2008, n.p.). The individual must have the correct mindset and put in the work to receive the rewards.

I have always believed trust and communication are critical to the success of an organization. 

Without trust, not only between leaders and followers but also co-workers to co-workers, the culture begins to establish a little crack in the foundation that without being fixed could send the organization crashing down. Trust is also a major topic at EcoSeagate. The leaders believe that trust is the cornerstone of everything that occurs at the company and without trust, the company could suffer. The team building activities are designed to build trust. One individual uses a bungee to tie his bike to the bike of his teammate in case the teammate becomes tired. This action shows trust, compassion, friendship, and the mindset that the team is more important than the individual. As I watched the video, it was evident that the participants were developing the opinion that team was the most important factor, which was the purpose of the retreat.

Another aspect I found interesting was the cohesiveness created by the chanting and dancing activities. The videos showed the team members teaching each other the chants and dances and then competing in chant/dance competition (EcoSeagate, 2008).  The joy on the faces on the winning team showed the bonding that took place during the exercise. The team was able to face a challenge that I am sure they never thought they would complete, and become a much more cohesive and united team while learning the chanting exercise.

I believe this type of outdoor lab experience would be beneficial for a high-performance team. As I mentioned before, the events available at EcoSeagate offer team building, trust building, and overall department building activities. If individuals can learn to trust one another enough to pull each other up the sides of mountains or through river rapids then discussing the plans for next quarter’s growth or developing the next product should be no problem.

I also believe this type of activity on a smaller scale would be greatly beneficial to my department. I believe we trust each other to a certain extend in the department, but with different generations and backgrounds working in the department, trust and cohesiveness could always be made stronger. If we were able to compete in trust and team building activities to strengthen our department cohesiveness, the department could only benefit.

References

Brown, D. R. (2011). An experiential approach to organization development (8th ed.). Boston: Prentice Hall.

Eco Seagate 2008 1/3. (2008, April 25). YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zCOfOFMiLtE&feature=youtu.be

Eco Seagate 2008 2/3. (2008, April 26). YouTube. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Etwuap-_Azk&feature=youtu.be

Forbes.(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/companies/seagate-technology/

A520.6.3.RB-Conflict Resolution-Trey McNeil

Conflict is a factor of life that we all must occasionally face. Friends, siblings, neighbors, co-workers and even spouses all have conflicting views on certain subjects that at any time could raise its weary head. This week I pondered situations I have been in regarding conflict and how these issues were resolved. I thought about several professional situations but elected to write about a personal situation which took place last Thanksgiving break. According to Whetten and Cameron (2016), this conflict was considered a people-focused conflict and could lead to feelings of resentment.

 First, let me give you a little back story about the situation. I am from Mississippi but now live in Florida. Every year I try to go home to see my family for Thanksgiving. Last year the plan was to travel home the Tuesday before Thanksgiving to visit family. A week before Thanksgiving, I received a call from my girlfriend’s father saying that he had two tickets to the Ole Miss game taking place the Saturday before Thanksgiving (or a couple of days from the call). Knowing that we would not be in town until after the game, I politely declined. As I began to think more about the situation, I realized I wanted to go to the game badly. Free tickets to an Ole Miss- LSU game are rare.  

The main reason we were not going to travel to Mississippi until the Monday or Tuesday before Thanksgiving was because my girlfriend was in graduate school at the time and assignments were due on Sunday. I am not a person that usually does things for me. I always feel bad doing things that I consider selfish. I would much rather do things for other people, but I had a strong desire to attend the game, so I spoke to my girlfriend about the situation. Through effective communication, we were able to come up with a game plan to allow her to finish her schoolwork in time for me to make the game. Everything is going great! I get to see the game. She gets all of her school work finished, and we get a couple of extra days in Mississippi! But, unbeknownst to me, a conflict was on the horizon.

I called my mom to tell her the news that plans had changed and that we would be in town Friday afternoon instead of Tuesday afternoon. She was ecstatic as she informed me that Thanksgiving lunch was scheduled to be held at my grandparent’ house that Saturday, so the timing could not be better. Apparently, there was a lack of communication, because I was under the impression that dinner would be on Thanksgiving Day as always. But this year was an anomaly because my grandparents would be out of town the week of Thanksgiving.  I had to have the difficult conversation and inform her that I was coming home early to attend a football game and could not make the scheduled lunch.  This conflict was the first, but unfortunately not the only conflict that would occur during the trip.

According to Brown (2011), the compromising style to conflict resolution involves a mix of concern for self and concern for others where a compromise between the conflicting parties is sought. Ury (2010) described that a conflict should be addressed by “going to the balcony” (n.p.). In this metaphor, the balcony resembles a place of perspective or a place to oversee the conflict. Whetten and Cameron (2016) suggested that the parties should invent options for mutual gains.  As I was on the phone with my mom, I immediately began trying to reach a compromising solution. I told her that we would be driving all day, but I would hate to miss my grandparents, so a small dinner at her house would be ideal. We worked out a plan that we would come by our way through town for a dinner on Friday night. Great! Conflict resolved with effective communication, and now I get to spend some time with my grandparents. Awesome! Only, the conflict was not resolved and in fact just beginning.

During the drive that Friday morning, I received a call from my mom saying she had been on the phone all morning with her family and the Thanksgiving lunch scheduled for Saturday afternoon was now a Thanksgiving dinner scheduled for later that night. I understand that she believed she was doing something nice for my girlfriend and me so we could see the family, but from my perspective, there were several issues with the new plan. First, by this point, we had been awake over twenty-four hours and still had several hours of driving until we got home. Also, my grandparent’s house was an additional three-hour round trip. Given the amount of time we had been awake and additional driving, I knew we would be zombies if we tried to make the dinner, which was the reasoning for me requesting a small dinner at her house. I had to tell her that it would not be possible for us to make it and it was not taken well at all.

There were several attempts at negotiations including her asking if I would miss the game if she moved it back to Saturday (which I politely declined), and me asking to go back to the previously agreed plan of meeting at her house (which she politely declined since many other family members changed their plans). From my family’s perspective, I was the initiator of this conflict. I was the individual refusing to alter my plans for the family. In my perspective, I was the responder, and my mom was the initiator. This conflict was created by adjusting the plans without communication.  In the end, we agreed to disagree, and I missed the Thanksgiving dinner. Unfortunately, we were not able to reach a conflict resolution before the dinner but were eventually able to have a positive discussion.

We met later in the week and discussed communication and how to better our interactions. We had a long chat about why I felt like I was put into a difficult situation when asked to drive an additional three hours after driving all day. The conversation ended with no hard feelings and a stronger bond of communication. I was also able to see several of my aunts and uncles before I returned home and spent some time with my grandparents at Christmas. We usually do not head home on both Holidays but did last year. Though this conflict was resolved between my mother and me, it did open up another conflict that I did not know existed among other family members.  Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that interpersonal relationships could have lingering effects due to personal disputes, and unfortunately, the effects of this situation still exist, but that is a different blog for a different day.

So, what could I have done differently to eliminate this conflict? Whetten and Cameron (2016) argued that one solution to conflict resolution is to “persist until understood” (p. 322). I should have made an attempt to make my side of the agreement clearer. Maybe I was not adamant about why I wanted to have dinner at her house or at least in town. Did she not understand that I did desire to see my grandparents but did not want to drive an additional one hundred and fifty miles?   If I were more persistent with my desires, maybe the plans would have never been altered, and the conflict could have been avoided.

Whetten and Cameron (2016) also discussed encouraging a two-way discussion where both parties express opinions and ask questions as a form of conflict resolution. Maybe if we had encouraged more of a two-way discussion, then the conflict could have been avoided. As I think back to the first conversation, she did not ask questions about why I felt the way I did. Because I did not encourage a two-way discussion, miscommunication, and a lingering conflict was created.

Though this conflict was a personal and not a professional conflict, it did teach me the proper process for handling a professional conflict. I learned that effective communication could help to avoid a conflict. Both parties need to clearly define their feelings regarding a situation to avoid conflict. This conflict also taught me to “go to the balcony” (Ury, 2010, n.p.) and attempt to find a compromising response to the conflict.

References

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organizational development (8th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

Ury, W. (2010). The walk from “no” to “yes”[TEDGlobal]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/william_ury

Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson

A635.5.3.RB-Video debrief of team MA- Trey McNeil

Apple is one of my favorite companies. I do not know where I would be without my IPhone or IPad. The first computer we had when I was a child was a Macintosh.  My girlfriend recently purchased an Apple watch, and I now want one. In fact, I loved my IPod before the phone was released. Apple has never made a product that I did not like. Steve Jobs changed the history of technology when he co-founded Apple in 1976. In 1985, after a dispute with the other partners of Apple, Jobs began his subsequent journey starting the computer company NeXT. This week I had the pleasure of viewing a short 1985 documentary going behind the scenes of the start-up team of NeXT entitled Steve Jobs brainstorms with NeXT team.

As I watched the video, I pondered how I would fit in with the other members of the start-up team. Would I get along with the group? What could I bring to the table to help the company grow? I came to realize that as much as I love Steve Jobs as a technological innovator, we may not be the best leader/follower team. One thing I noticed in the video was that he was the brain trust of the company and was not afraid to let anyone know. My interpretation of Steve in the video was that he was the innovator of the company, and his ideas were going to be used. I believed his demeanor illustrated that this was his company and ideas, and everyone else must format their thinking to fit his ideas. EveryVideo (2014) stated that Jobs constantly disrupted other members of the team to reiterate the focus of his vision.

Last month I was able to take part in a management assessment profile (MA) survey conducted by Nextsteps Research. According to my MA results, I am driven by goals that are set internally. Whetten and Cameron (2016) stated that intrinsic motivation includes a sense of purpose or accomplishment. I am not motivated by goals that are externally produced, so I am not sure if I would vibe with the goals that were set by Steve Jobs. On the other side of the coin, if I were able to establish an internal goal as a member of the start-up team, I believe I would be a highly contributing member of the team. According to my MA results, I am very highly motivated to achieve and also very highly motivated by challenges.

In general, a concern I have about fitting into the start-up team is the basic thought of starting up a computer company. According to my MA results, I have a strong desire to follow a structure and dislike creating or conceiving new processes or inventing new products. My characteristics show that I would not enjoy being on a team that is driven by creativity. I strive in a work environment where a secure structure already exists.

When Steve Jobs left Apple to start NeXT, he was taking a risk. How would he be seen by the public? What would he do next regarding developing technology? I am sure there many other questions were asked in the summer of 1985 when Apple’s co-founder left the company. But, Jobs was already a successful business person and millionaire. I believe the biggest risk was taken by the 11 Apple employees that decided to follow Jobs on his new technological adventure. EveryVideo (2014) showed the staff talking about the timeline and dates that the computer must be launched to keep the company afloat, or as I hear it… to save your jobs.

Everyvideo (2014) mentioned that the majority of these employees had great jobs at Apple but followed their leader when he left the company. On that principle alone, I do not think I would ever be part of the start-up team. According to my MA results, I have a low desire for personal risk. I do not believe I would have left my career at Apple to go and work for a start-up. I always weigh my risks extensively and do not believe I would have taken the risk of leaving Apple.

Another area I would not fit in with the team is problem-solving. The second retreat consisted of solving “actual problems in time to meet critical deadlines” (EveryVideo, 2014, n.p.).  According to my MA results, I am more highly motivated to the find problems and less motivated to solve problems.  The sole purpose of the second NeXt company retreat was to solve problems. The team members discussed launch date, costs, coming up with a name and logo, the design of the computer, the design of the operating system, how to distribute the finished product, and the best target market. This retreat was full of problems that had to be solved for the company to continue. My MA results hint that I would not thrive in a work environment that possesses the problems that a start-up company must solve.

My MA results also revealed that I have more of a desire to work alone than I do in a team setting. So, the basic definition of a team may defer me from fitting in with the start-up members. The tension of trying to stay on schedule would also be an area of concern for me. Brown (2011) discussed some of the major stressors in a work environment as: lack of participation in decision making, conflicts with other people, and not enough time to do expected duties. According to Everyvideo (2014), the second retreat contained several stressors. A lot of finger pointing, conflicting views, and he said/she said were taking place. I believe the stress would be too much for me, and I would not be able to be a part of the team.

I have mentioned many areas where I believe I would not fit in with the NeXT startup team, but there are a couple of areas in which I believe I could coexist with the team. One personality trait that I believe Steve and I would share is the pursuit of perfection. According to my MA results, I have a high desire to achieve perfection. If Steve and I were able to share the same idea or direction, our mutual desire for perfection could have been a boost for the company.

One other area where I could have helped the company is the budgetary concerns. As an accountant and former budget accountant, I have worked with shrinking budgets. Of all of the ideas and concepts discussed in the Everyvideo (2014) documentary, I would be most comfortable with the shrinking budget.

According to Hormby (2012), NeXt was sold to Apple in 1996, and Jobs returned to work at as an advisor. The company did not have the impact on technology that Jobs had hoped, but his return to Apple opened the door for the next line of technology including the IPhone’s, and IPad’s  that we could not live without today.

References

Brown, D. (2011). An experiential approach to organizational development (8th ed.).  Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall

EverySteveJobsvideo. (2014, January 1). Steve Jobs brainstorms with the NeXT team (1985) [Video File]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNeXlJW70KQ

Hormby, T. (2013). The NeXT Years: Steve Jobs before his triumphant return to Apple. Retrieved from http://lowendmac.com/2013/next-years-steve-jobs-before-triumphant-return-apple/

Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson

A520.5.3.BG-What makes us feel good about work?- Trey McNeil

What is motivation? What motivates us while at work? According to Cherry (2016), motivation is “the process that initiates, guides, and maintains goal-oriented behaviors” (para. 1). In Lehman’s terms motivation is the reason behind the way we act or things we do. Whetten and Cameron (2016) described motivation as the combination of desire and commitment. So, what motivates us to work? According to Ariely (2012), the motivation or drive that pushes us to work is a purpose. Does the outcome of this particular task mean anything to me? Will there be a sense of achievement or accomplishment after I finish the job? These are the questions most individuals contemplate before beginning working on a task.

In describing one of his experiments to determine motivation Ariely (2009), discussed the Sisyphic condition based on the story of Sisyphus who was punished to roll a rock up a hill only for the gods to send the rock rolling back down the hill when he reached the top. I am sure Sisyphus never felt a sense of purpose from his work because he was never allowed to complete his given task. In my line of work as an accountant, I sometimes feel like Sisyphus. We are on a never-ending monthly schedule that starts with bank reconciliations the first week, investment reconciliations the second week, accounts receivable reconciliation and billing the last two weeks. At times this cyclical work does not offer much motivation as it is a never-ending process of doing the same thing over and over again each month. But, there are some aspects of my job that intrinsically motivate me greatly and give me a sense of purpose.

One area of my job that gives purpose is my involvement in the awarding of scholarships. Higher education is a big passion of mine. I believe everyone should have the chance to pursue higher education and with rising tuition costs, more individuals are losing that ability. When I entered community college, I was given a small scholarship for my ACT score which helped burden the costs. When I transferred to a state college, I was awarded a scholarship for my GPA at the community college. Both scholarships were much needed and appreciated, so I understand how the individuals who receive the scholarships feel.

I put a significant amount of work into the scholarship process. As the accountant for the college’s Foundation, I process about $900K annually in scholarship expenses. As the treasurer for the Professional Council, I am on the committee to select scholarship applicants for the Professional Council’s scholarship. I also participate in ranking scholarship participants for all scholarships. The process involves combing through the application and looking at their qualifications, essays, and references. Scholarships awards and review take up a portion of my work schedule at the beginning of each semester, but I would not have it any other way. My motivation and purpose are met when a student speaks at a Foundation Board meeting or Professional Council meeting to thank the members for the scholarship and explain how much it means to them and the plans they have after finishing school. I feel pride in the helping hand I provided in allowing the student the opportunity to learn.

Every April the Foundation must be audited by an external auditor. When I took over as the Foundation accountant, the word audit was a four letter word. I was terrified and wanted nothing to do with it. I saw how much work the previous accountant put into the audit. The process involves running reports, reconciling various accounts, verifying all the balances are correct, making sure all journal entries follow the accounting and state guidelines, etc. And after all of the work is done the auditors come in and grade your work to make sure you are in compliance? No thank you! But, I describe the process to say that I now find purpose in the annual audit. I am glad I am not a gambler because I would have never bet that I would enjoy the audit process. I was terrified of all aspects of the audit, and now I find the outcome motivates me.

Every year I spend the majority of January, February, and March (sometimes working overtime) to neatly put together an audit binder containing our prior year activity. The auditors usually come on site for about three days and have me perform the flight of the bumblebee where I am constantly pulling journal entries or checks for their review. All of this work is validated by receiving a clean audit with no remarks or recommendations. If I know we will receive the letter stating that we had a clean audit, I will put in the work and make sure everything is entered correctly, and that is the driving and motivating force behind my effort. Whetten and Cameron (2016) described the need for achievement as a “competition with a standard of excellence” (p. 281). I know I have a need for achievement regarding the yearly audit, but it also brings me a sense of purpose.

Another motivating and purpose filled task at work is the yearly budget. The budget is another grueling and time-consuming task but when it is presented to the Board and approved, I feel a huge sense of accomplishment and validation. The Foundation is the fundraising arm of the college, so presenting a budget represents the bigger picture to me. Earlier this year the college received Foundation funds for EMS and fire safety training equipment. I know I just created the budget for the Foundation, but the fact that part of the funds were used to train future firefighters and paramedics brings me purpose.  I recall another instance where Foundation funds were used to buy “dummies” for the respiratory health and nursing departments. Knowing that these “dummies” will be used to train nurses that may, at some point, save a life is very rewarding to me. Ariely (2009) argued that meaning was very important in working tasks. I agree. When I see the bigger picture of my work and understand the meaning; I am more motivated to do the job.

Whetton and Cameron (2016) described autonomy as having the freedom of how and when an individual does their job functions. I have never been a big proponent of autonomy as I see myself there just to do what I am asked. But I began to think how I would feel if I were forced to follow and exact order and process for each task. What would happen if I had to do the exact processes at the same time every single day including the time I was allowed to take lunch? I think I would go a little crazy if I did not have a choice as to when my job duties were completed. After this week’s readings, I have come to the conclusion that autonomy is a motivating factor to me.

In my department, it is common place to shuffle employees around and give them different job duties. One of my fears is that I will one day be asked to be the accountant for another area of the college, and the factors that motivate me will no longer be present. I fear that without the driving and purpose-filled tasks, my effort may decline.

References

Ariely, D. (2012). What makes us feel good about work? [TEDGlobal]. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/dan_ariely_what_makes_us_feel_good_about_our_work

Cherry, K. (2016). Motivation: The psychological factors that guide behavior. Retrieved from https://www.verywell.com/what-is-motivation-2795378

Whetten, D. & Cameron, K. (2016). Developing management skills (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson