UNIT-5

What is Organizational Behavior?

Organizational behavior just as the name states, is the process
of understanding and managing human behavior within an
organization. An organization not only runs on profits, work
and schedules but also takes into consideration the human
values. Organization have come up with a theory that the
organization runs well when the employees are treated well and
understood well as the entire organization depends upon the
human resources.

Organization behavior examines and gathers the insights on

employee behavior, as how to drive them with the proper
motivation by understanding them a little better. Organizational
behavior should start with the role of the managers and how
well they incorporate moral and support down the hierarchy.
Managerialism is not just about gaining profits, and executing
control but, creating a safe space for interaction of different
opinions and to be able to work as a group and achieve
organizational goals. As they say, there is no I in Team. The
organization that works together, grows together.
It all comes down to the question of, what role should the
manager play, keeping in mind what should be expected of
him/her with respect to organizational behavior?
Role of Managers :
1. Interpersonal Role :
 Figure Head –
In this role, the manager performs duties of ceremonial
nature, such as, attending an employee’s wedding, taking the
customer to lunch, greeting the tourist dignitaries and so on.
 Leader Role –
In this role, the manager is a leader, guiding the employees
in the right path, with the proper motivation and
encouragement.
 Liaison Role –
In this role, the manager cultivates contacts outside the
vertical chain of command to collect useful information for
the organization.
2. Informational Role :
 Monitor Role –
In this role, manager acts as a monitor, perpetually scanning
the environment for information, keeping an eye on the
 liaison contacts and subordinates and receive unsolicited
information.
 Disseminator Role –
In this role, manager acts as a disseminator by passing down
privileged information to the subordinates who would
otherwise have no access to it.
 Spokesperson Role –
In this role, manager acts a spokesperson by representing the
organization before various outside groups, which have
some stake in the organization. These stakeholders can be
government officials, labour unions, financial institutions,
suppliers, customers, etc. They have a wide influence over
the organization, so the manager should coin their support
by effectively managing the social impact of the
organization.
3. Decisional Role :
 Entrepreneurial role –
In this role, the manager acts as an entrepreneur, always
thirsty for new knowledge and innovation to improve the
organization. Nowadays, it doesn’t matter if the organization
is bigger or better, but it is necessary that it grows
consistently. Innovation is creating new ideas which may
either result in the development of new products or services
or improving upon the old ones. This makes innovation an
important function for a manager.
 Disturbance handler role –
In this role, the manager acts a disturbance handler, where
the manager has to work reactively like a firefighter. The
manager should come up with solutions to any problem that
arises and handle it in an orderly way.
 Resource allocator role –
In this role, the manager acts as a resource allocator where
the manager must divide work and delegate authority among
his subordinates. The manager should plan out which
subordinate will get what based on the abilities and who will
be more suited into a particular task.
 Negotiator –
In this role, the manager acts as a negotiator where the
manager at all levels has to spend considerable time in
negotiations. The president of a company may negotiate

with the union leaders about a new strike issue or the

foreman may negotiate with the workers about a grievance
problem, etc.

Workflow of Role of Managers

Best methods of staff selection:

Ability Tests:
It helps in the measurement of mental abilities of an employee
such as his/ her verbal, reasoning, mathematical ability and the
reading ability.
Integrity Tests:
It helps in measuring the attitude and experiences of a particular
employee. Also helps in relating the individual with his honesty,
the art of dependability and the nature of trustworthiness.
Personality Tests:
These personality tests help in the assessment of certain traits
that help in the development of an employee and help pave the
way to the road of success.
Data revealing biodata tests:
This test allows the employee to write about his personal
characteristics, his interests, likes and dislikes and so on.
It focuses on how effectively the employee has performed in the
past and will perform in the near future.
Situational Tests:
Generally, crisis management is the most given situation in
these tests as it showcases how well an individual handles it and
leads the company in worst times too.

OLDHAM HACKMAN JOB CHARACTERISTIC

MODEL:

It states that there are five core job characteristics (skill variety,
task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback) which
impact three critical psychological states (experienced
meaningfulness, experienced responsibility for outcomes, and
knowledge of the actual results), in turn influencing work
outcomes (job satisfaction, absenteeism, work motivation, etc.).
The five core job characteristics can be combined to form a
motivating potential score (MPS) for a job, which can be used as
an index of how likely a job is to affect an employee’s attitudes
and behaviors.
 Hackman and Oldham’s job characteristics theory proposes that
high motivation is related to experiencing three psychological
states whilst working:

. Meaningfulness of work
That labour has meaning to you, something that you can relate
to, and does not occur just as a set of movements to be repeated.
This is fundamental to intrinsic motivation, i.e. that work is
motivating in an of itself (as opposed to motivating only as a
means to an end).
. Responsibility
That you have been given the opportunity to be a success or
failure at your job because sufficient freedom of action has
given you. This would include the ability to make changes and
incorporate the learning you gain whilst doing the job.
. Knowledge of outcomes
This is important for two reasons. Firstly to provide the person
knowledge on how successful their work has been, which in turn
enables them to learn from mistakes. The second is to connect
them emotionally to the customer of their outputs, thus giving
further purpose to the work (e.g. I may only work on a
production line, but I know that the food rations I produce are
used to help people in disaster areas, saving many lives).
In turn, each of these critical states are derived from certain
characteristics of the job:

. Meaningfulness of work
The work must be experienced as meaningful (his/her
contribution significantly affects the overall effectiveness of the
organization). This is derived from:

 Skill variety
Using an appropriate variety of your skills and talents: too many
might be overwhelming, too few, boring.
 Task Identity
Being able to identify with the work at hand as more whole and
complete, and hence enabling more pride to be taken in the
outcome of that work (e.g. if you just add one nut to one bolt in
 the same spot every time a washing machine goes past it is
much less motivating than being the person responsible for the
drum attachment and associated work area (even as part of a
group).
 Task Significance
Being able to identify the task as contributing to something
wider, to society or a group over and beyond the self. For
example, the theory suggests that I will be more motivated if I
am contributing to the whole firm’s bonus this year, looking
after someone or making something that will benefit someone
else. Conversely I will be less motivated if I am only making a
faceless owner wealthier, or am making some pointless item
(e.g. corporate give-away gifts).

. Responsibility
Responsibility is derived from autonomy, as in the job provides
substantial freedom, independence and discretion to the
individual in scheduling the work and in determining the
procedures to be used in carrying it out)
. Knowledge of outcomes
This comes from feedback. It implies an employee awareness of
how effective he/she is converting his/her effort into
performance. This can be anything from production figures
through to customer satisfaction scores. The point is that the
feedback offers information that once you know, you can use to
do things differently if you wish. Feedback can come from other
people or the job itself.
Knowing these critical job characteristics, the theory goes, it is
then possible to derive the key components of the design of a
job and redesign it:

. 1. Varying work to enable skill variety

. 2. Assigning work to groups to increase the wholeness of the
product produced and give a group to enhance significance
. 3. Delegate tasks to their lowest possible level to create
autonomy and hence responsibility
. 4. Connect people to the outcomes of their work and the
customers that receive them so as to provide feedback for
learning.

STRESS:
There are many definitions of stress. Just as there are many
definitions of fatigue, of mental health and upset. These terms
describe a wide range of experiences and not entirely clear cut.
Stress is a negative experience/ feeling, associated with new
physical symptoms. These including increased heartbeat,
swiftness of breath, dry mouth, upset stomach and sweaty palms
and over the longer term, more serious digestive upset, cramp
and raised blood pressure/cardiovascular disease.
Psychological symptoms range from racing thoughts and
speech, , lack of impulse control, and feelings of being
overpowered, losing control and fearfulness generally. People
behave differently to their 'normal' behaviour when under stress.
They may be angrier, more confrontational, show less time for
others and impose an urgency on situations which is unrealistic
for those around them.
Other characteristics can include fatigue, proneness to upset,
withdrawal, self neglect and depression. There is no telling
which way a person will react to the stress situation, but each
person will behave differently to their previous non-stressed
state.
When we are aware of our feelings, thoughts and behaviours as
well as our bodily reactions, we can assess ourselves as either
relaxed, under slight pressure which we are coping with, under
pressure we are finding challenging but acceptable, or under
excessive pressure which is causing us stress.
Stress is one of the biggest causes of health problems in the
workplace. In general terms, stress is a reaction to pressure or
harassment at work.

The Health and Safety Executive’s (HSE) definition of stress is:

“The reaction people have to excessive demands or pressures,
arising when people try to cope with tasks, responsibilities or
other types of pressure connected with their job, but find
difficulty, strain or worry in doing so.”

Stress can be difficult to identify in an organisation as

employees may not admit to feeling stressed.

What causes stress?

Stress can be caused by a number of factors including:

 long hours and shift work;

 lack of control or insecurity;
 lack of job satisfaction, boredom or isolation;
 fear of violence, bullying or harassment;
 bad relations with other work colleagues;
 problems with the working environment (such as noise,
temperature, overcrowding and poor facilities);
 low pay.

What illnesses can be caused by stress?

Stress can cause mental and physical illnesses such as anxiety,

depression, altered appetite, headaches, backache or difficulty in
sleeping. Over time, heart disease or ulcers may also develop.

People may also try to reduce the symptoms of stress with

alcohol, cigarettes, tranquillisers or other drugs, which can lead
to further, more serious health issues.

Read more about alcohol, drugs and substance abuse.

What are the laws on stress in the workplace?

 The law says that employers are responsible for the safety of
their employees while they are at work, and this includes stress.
Certain levels of stress are normal and may even be helpful.
However excessive levels of stress can be destructive and lead
to psychiatric injury for which the employer may be liable for a
claim in a county court, or Sheriff Court in Scotland, for
negligence depending upon the circumstances.

Causes Of Stress In Project Management

Imaging the project deadline is 2 weeks away and there are still
some critical issues to be resolved. To make it worse, one of your
key team members has been hospitalized. Customer is unhappy
and management is requesting for a daily review. The source of
stress in Project Management can be many and varied. Some
common sources are listed below:

1. Unrealistic timeline
2. Working in a matrix system which PM does not have the full
control of the resources
3. Lack of resources – human and/or equipment
4. Proliferation of virtual teams and cross cultural influences
5. Inter-group conflict in organization
6. Project environment

Stress Management Techniques

Project Manager must first acknowledge or recognize that he or

she is being under stress and then develop self-discipline before
proceeding to learn and practice what are the techniques to
manage stress. Learning to manage stress successfully begins with
our willingness to take an honest look at ourselves.

Many techniques can help to manage stress. There is no-one-size-

fits-all technique and no technique will be able to eliminate stress
totally. Each person must decide what will work best for him or her.
 A few techniques should be explored to determine which works
best and once they have found some strategies that work,
commitment to practicing them is the key for managing stress.

1. Detach or dissociate: Consider the team meeting where you are

extremely frustrated by seeing wasted time or the personal
posturing from a team member. To use detachment or
dissociation, allow yourself to mentally “check out” of the meeting
as much as is appropriate, letting your mind wander to a more
pleasant image. Obviously, these approaches are used selectively
and discretely.
2. Monitor “what if?” thinking: In the middle of a stressful event, it
is natural to engage in “what if thinking,” asking ourselves “What if
we’d only done this in the past, then we might not be in this crisis
right now?” As is evident, this form of “what if” thinking involves a
focus that is not present oriented. An alternative to this form of
thinking is to focus very much in the present, such as posing this
question to yourself: “It’s Thursday at 3:17 PM, I’ve just received
bad news about the project. What can I do in the next hour to take
a small step towards improving the situation?”
3. Develop potent conflict resolution skills: We add stress to our
work lives by either under reacting to the stressful situation
(avoiding or denying it) or over reacting to the stressful situation
(coming on too strong). Both approaches increase our stress. A
menu of conflict resolution skills (which will help reduce stress) is
found in Flannes and Levin (2005).
4. Know when enough is enough, and stay away from debating: A
natural but often unproductive approach to resolve a stressful
situation is to debate another person about the wisdom of your
point of view. This does not mean you should not assert your
belief, but you should know when to stop, often when your
message has been heard. At this point in the dialogue, if we
continue try to be seen as “right,” we are actually increasing our
stress. It’s better to stop earlier than later; it can be a matter of
diminishing returns to continue to be seen as “right.”
5. Look for a paradoxical component in the situation: In the midst
of a situation that is legitimately stressful, we may find ourselves
taking ourselves, or the situation, too seriously. Cognitive
behavioral psychologists would say that we are engaging in
“catastrophizing” behavior, in which we take a singular, negative
event, cognitively “run with it,” and then find ourselves believing,
for example, that the entire project is probably doomed because of
this one serious problem. An antidote to this is to find a
paradoxical cognition that you can hold onto, something that will
put your stress and worries in perspective.

Other Techniques:

Prioritize: Put up a priority matrix and assign every task based on

its urgency and importance. Focus on the tasks that are urgent and
important. Don’t overwhelm yourself by worrying about your entire
workload.
Avoid extreme reactions: Why hate when a little dislike will do?
Why generate anxiety when you can be nervous? Why rage when
anger will do the job? Why be depressed when you can just be
sad?
Applying NLP (Neuro-Linguistic Programming) to Stress
Reduction: NLP provides a number of excellent tools and concepts
to empower individuals to cope with or change non-resourceful or
negative stress to resourceful or positive resources.With NLP you
can change overwhelming, immobilizing feelings into powerful
motivating forces.
Exercise: Take some time off from your busy schedule and plan for
some physical activities, whether it’s jogging, cycling, hiking or
other activities to work off stress.
Meditation: Learn how to best relax yourself. Meditation and
breathing exercises have been proven to be very effective in
controlling stress. Practice clearing your mind of disturbing
thoughts.

Ethical and Professional concerns

Ethics relates to the moral obligation to respect the rights and
interests of others – goes beyond strictly legal responsibilities
Three groups of responsibilities:

 Responsibilities that everyone has

 Responsibilities that people in organizations have

 Responsibilities relating to your profession or calling

Ethical Issues in Project Management (& How to Deal with

Them)

 Accountability. When things go wrong, it's human nature

to try to avoid the consequences and place the blame
somewhere else. ...
 Conflicts of Interest:

As a project manager, you should make sure that all parties

involved in a project understand your company’s standards for
bidding and vendor selection, and that the definition of a
conflict of interest is clear to everyone.

 Workplace Culture.
Project managers should be very familiar with their company’s
code of conduct and should ensure that all employees,
contractors and business partners understand what is expected of
them.

 Health and Safety Concerns.

On large enterprise projects, the stakes are high, and so is the
pressure to get the job done. Unfortunately, this pressure
sometimes leads stakeholders to ignore or even conceal issues
that might jeopardize the health and safety of project team
members or the public.
Main ethical issues in software project management are in:
 Honesty
 Transparency
 Confidentiality
 Respect
 Loyalty
In this section we are going to discuss problems caused by these
ethical issues in S.P.M and in next section we will discuss that
why these issues occurs. And what are the specific issues related
to SPM.

Honesty
Honesty is the trait of a good leader. But in the software
industry a dishonest project manager causes lot of damage to his
or her organization. A software project manager who is not
honest will cause damage in the following ways:
Informal Managerial Processes
If he is not honest with his organization and due to lake of
professional ethics he will use informal practices to do his tasks
and made informal plans to complete the task.
Corruption
Dishonesty sometime leads to corruption, as the project manager
is also responsible with project costs. An unethical project
manager shows his dishonesty and does dishonest things with
funds. He will take the cost of a small project to very high level
only due to frauds and corruption in funds.

Transparency
Transparency is the main pillar of good governance. Software
project management must be transparent about all their
activities, as this will build thetrust of employees to the
management team. But in project management activities are
only limited to management team and no one knows about this.
Sometimes employees are talking about suspicious activities of
project manager and in other cases employees are not clear
about project scope because it is not fully explained by top
management.

Confidentiality
Confidentiality includes rules, promises and restrictions that
limit access of information to specific person or place.
A Software project manager must be a trustworthy person
because he has lot of information about ongoing projects, their
time, budget and they also knows about company weakness and
strengths. In some cases management team is provoked by other
competitors to leak the confidential information of their
company.

Respect
Respect is a feeling that is expressed to admire someone or
something due to their qualities, achievements and abilities.
Software project management team is a bridge between clients
and employees of a company; they must respect their employees
in order to get better results from them. But in some
organizations software project managers don’t know how to
respect their employees. They just give deadlines and want that
work on the given deadline. They don’t know that admiring
someone is the key to getting more work done.

Loyalty
Software project manager must be loyal to his work and to his
employees. He is the main person or software project
management team is the main department to be responsible for
successful completion of their work so, they must be loyal to
each other with their juniors and with their clients in order to
make everything done and achieve excellent results.
Communications genres:
 Communication is a critical factor in project management.
There are instances where projects have failed because of
miscommunication and communication gaps.
 Project managers fill this gap by devising a good
communication mechanism that will help him to
communicate with the team members as well as
stakeholders, sponsors, top-tier management and all the
people who are connected to the project.
 If an effective communication methodology is not
followed by the project manager, it may lead to many
discrepancies and ultimately may also lead to project
failure, which is not appropriate for the organization.
 It is also important that the right information is delivered
to the right person.
 So, project managers have the responsibility to properly
channelize the communication process, so that the right
persons receive the right information.
 Another important point that project managers must make
a note of is that the information sent must be clear, concise
and informative.
WHY IS COMMUNICATION IMPORTANT IN
LEADERSHIP?
A leader is someone who inspires positive, incremental
change by empowering those around them to work toward
common objectives. A leader’s most powerful tool for
doing so is communication.

Effective communication is vital to gain trust, align efforts

in the pursuit of goals, and inspire positive change. When
communication is lacking, important information can be
misinterpreted, causing relationships to suffer and,
ultimately, creating barriers that hinder progress.

If you’re interested in enhancing your leadership

capabilities, here are eight communication skills you need
to be more effective in your role.

Communication plans:
A project management communication plan identifies how
important information will be communicated to stakeholders
throughout the project. It also determines who will be receiving
the communication, how those people will receive it, when
they'll receive it, and how often they should expect to receive
that information.
Steps For successful communication plans:
1. Define the Purpose and Approach
Plan Purpose is the first item in the document. I would however,
highly recommend creating it last, so that you can pull from the
entire plan and make sure that you’ve hit all the high points.
2. List Goals and Objectives

Above mentioned are the Components of Project

Communication
  Promote awareness of the project inside the company or
outside of it
 Increase employee acceptance or increase project traction

company-wide
 Give an avenue for stakeholders to provide feedback

3. Research and Assign Roles

Some roles will have more responsibility than others. The
project lead will be expected to contribute more through the
course of the project than the project sponsor. On the other
hand, each individual or group will be expected to provide the
proper communication when it’s requested.
4. Determine Methods
The tools and methods you’ll be using can span a variety of
mediums. Some messages will need to come in the form of
presentations or meetings. Others can be accomplished using an
email or text message.
5. Pinpoint High Level Communications
Taking things a step further for important communication
events, you must clearly outline the methods, frequency, and
roles within the project communication plan. These can be
internal status reports, staff meetings, project update
presentations, or the kick-off.
ESSENTIAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS FOR
LEADERS
1. Ability to Adapt Your Communication Style
Different communication styles are the most frequently cited
cause of poor communication, according to the Economist
Intelligence Unit (pdf), and can lead to more significant issues,
such as unclear priorities and increased stress.

It’s essential to identify your leadership style, so that you can

better understand how you’re interacting with, and perceived by,
employees across the organization. For example, if you’re
an authoritative leader, you likely have a clear vision for
achieving success and align your team accordingly. While an
effective approach for some, it might fall flat for others who
seek more autonomy in their role.

Every employee’s motivations are different, so knowing how to

tailor your communication is essential to influencing others and
reaching organizational goals.

Related: 4 Tips for Developing Your Personal Leadership

Style

2. Active Listening
Effective leaders know when they need to talk and, more
importantly, when they need to listen. Show that you care by
asking for employees’ opinions, ideas, and feedback. And when
they do share, actively engage in the conversation—pose
questions, invite them to elaborate, and take notes.

It’s important to stay in the moment and avoid interrupting.

Keep your focus on the employee and what it is they’re saying.
To achieve that, you also need to eliminate any distractions,
including constant pings on your cell phone or checking
incoming emails.

3. Transparency
In a survey by the American Management Association, more
than a third of senior managers, executives, and employees said
they “hardly ever” know what’s going on in their organizations.
Transparency can go a long way in breaking down that
communication barrier.

By speaking openly about the company’s goals, opportunities,

and challenges, leaders can build trust amongst their team and
 foster an environment where employees feel empowered to
share their ideas and collaborate. Just acknowledging mistakes
can encourage experimentation and create a safe space for active
problem-solving.

Every individual should understand the role they play in the

company’s success. The more transparent leaders are, the easier
it is for employees to make that connection.

4. Clarity
When communicating with employees, speak in specifics.
Define the desired result of a project or strategic initiative and
be clear about what you want to see achieved by the end of each
milestone. If goals aren’t being met, try simplifying your
message further or ask how you can provide additional clarity or
help.

The more clear you are, the less confusion there will be around
priorities. Employees will know what they’re working toward
and feel more engaged in the process.

5. Ability to Ask Open-Ended Questions

If you want to understand employees’ motivations, thoughts,
and goals better, practice asking open-ended questions. Jennifer
Currence, president of consulting firm The Currence Group, said
to the Society of Human Resource Management to use the
acronym TED, which stands for:

 “Tell me more.”
 “Explain what you mean.”
 “Define that term or concept for me.”
By leveraging those phrases when speaking with your team, you
can elicit more thoughtful, thorough responses and ensure you
also have clarity around what they need from you to succeed.
6. Empathy
There’s a reason empathy has been ranked the top leadership
skill needed for success. The better you get at acknowledging
and understanding employees’ feelings and experiences, the
more heard and valued they’ll feel.

In a recent survey (pdf), 96 percent of respondents said it was

important for their employers to demonstrate empathy, yet 92
percent claimed it remains undervalued. If you want to improve
your communication and build a stronger, more productive
culture, practice responding with empathy.

Related: Emotional Intelligence Skills: What They Are &

How to Develop Them

7. Open Body Language

Communication isn’t just what you say; it’s how you carry
yourself. Ninety-three percent of communication’s impact
comes from nonverbal cues, according to executive coach
Darlene Price.

To ensure you’re conveying the right message, focus on your

body language. If you’re trying to inspire someone, talking with
clenched fists and a furrowed brow isn’t going to send the right
message. Instead, make eye contact to establish interest and
rapport and flash a genuine smile to convey warmth and trust.

8. Receiving and Implementing Feedback

Asking for feedback from your team can not only help you grow
as a leader, but build trust among your colleagues. It’s critical,
though, that you don’t just listen to the feedback. You also need
to act on it.
If you continue to receive feedback from your team, but don’t
implement any changes, they’re going to lose faith in your
ability to follow through. It’s likely there will be comments you
can’t immediately act on—be transparent about that. By letting
your employees know they were heard and then apprising them
of any progress you can, or do, make, they’ll feel as though you
value their perspective and are serious about improving.