1. Organizational dynamics is a continuous improvement of enhancing employee performance and strengthening the resources. In the publishing company where I worked, continuous improvement was in every aspect of the work. The teams were shuffled at regular intervals. One of the Team Managers was a hard task master. When a task was given to an employee, the Team Manager was literally behind the employee with a stick asking the team member to complete the task. Whenever, the team member encounters the Team Manager, the first question that she asks is about the task. This led to pressure on the team members who are to do their tasks in the style decided by the Team Manager. There is no empowerment. The decision making was centralized. There was more stress on work and hence no motivation. The leader was rude and disrespectful for the experienced employees. There was no trust in senior employees. This resulted in a high attrition rate. When the team members show signs of stress, not inspired or motivated, feel victimized and desperate, then it is a sign that the TM changes his leadership style. The team members were desperate to move to other teams which were a clear sign of leadership immaturity.
I would recommend the concerned TM to take a affiliative leadership style which allows the team members to develop a bonding and a sense of belonging to the organization. This style of leadership works best when the people feels stressed and need to rebuild their trust on their Team Manager. The concept of affiliative leadership style is “People come first”. Initially, TM needs to nurture the employees so that they come out of the trauma. A free style decision making for their work needs to be provided so that the employees feel there are accountable to what they do. This increases productivity in the organization.
2. Heuristic or the rule of the thumb is simple, efficient rules that are used for decision- making. They are short cuts to cognitive processes such as problem solving and logical thinking. The best heuristic approach is “common sense” heuristic method wherein it is a prudent approach to a problem which has a clear line of difference between right and wrong decisions. For example, in my workplace there is a committee for rewards and recognition. The committee team members were representatives from 12 different teams. The selection is based on the Team Manager’s rating for the criteria for the different awards. This is highly confidential information. I was the Team Lead for the Rewards & Recognition committee and I inspired others to follow my style of being highly ethical in maintaining the confidentiality of the program. This style of heuristic approach is called “consistency heuristic” approach.