Leadership and Management - Assignment Example

?Task I Concepts of leadership and management: Leadership and management in any health organization directly influence the quality of the services offered, thereby impacting lives of many people. When an inspiring leadership is coupled with a reliable management, it produces remarkable results for the healthcare organization. Management is the art of getting work done through coordination and contribution of the employees within the organization or a business, in order to achieve the desired objectives. Similarly, leadership is a process of influencing as well as facilitating others to reach the expected target. A good leadership, in general, has the capacity to improve the effectiveness of the group and thereby the entire organization. Often, the terms, leadership and management are used interchangeably, which leads to an ambiguous debate, although the meanings are intertwined. Both the terms possess distinct functions, as the management is directed towards coordinating the organizational activities for getting the job done, while leadership is about motivating and inspiring the employees towards specific objectives. According to Rost, “leadership is a multidirectional influence relationship and management is a unidirectional authority relationship.” (Northouse 2012, 13). Management and leadership theories: Management and leadership emphasizes on building efficient organizational activities which will maximize the productivity of the company. The complexity of the healthcare organization could be sensed with the help of the management theories, facilitating better control and coordination in the functioning. Management theories are proposed with a view to provide differing schools of thoughts to the organizational managers for managing their organizations. However, management is an art, not a science, so the managers could find different strategies for the different situations, issues, etc., that may arise in an organization as well as for the different employees working there. That is, instead of following a similar strategy for all the situations, issues, employees, etc., relevant strategies could be followed in line with the situational theory. In addition, other management school of thought such as Contingency theory, Classical theory, Behavioral theory, Systems theory and Chaos theory also imply on adopting different strategies. It will help the managers to choose the right type of theory that would best meet the requirements of the issue in hand and employees who are involved in. Speaking of employees, successful management theory would provide the managers efficient ways to coordinate with the human resources department of the organization to bring out the best in their employees. Similarly, various leadership theories such as Mark Follett’s Situational Leadership Theory, or White & Lippitt’s Authoritarian, Democratic and Laissez-faire Theory, or Eric Berne’s Transactional Leadership theory provide similar perspectives of how leader should act according to the situations in hand. It is essential for the leaders to evaluate the inner traits and behaviors of the employees, and then exhibit appropriate leadership traits. “Setting a direction, motivating and inspiring people, being credible and visionary, and anticipating and coping with change are also characteristics associated with leadership.” (Clarkson 2009). Challenges in practice: While practicing management and leadership in a healthcare organization, both technical and adaptive challenges are bound to occur. It is essential to realize that an effective management is required to solve the technical challenges while the adaptive challenges need to be handled by leadership. It is essential for them to identify and allocate among themselves the challenging issues related to healthcare organization such as safety, quality of services, clinical knowledge and skills. Thus, they need to share and distribute the resources for achieving the objectives. Task II Motivational Theories: By providing optimum motivation, healthcare organizations can best use their human resources to achieve their desired goals. Motivation theories focus on the internal and external factors which could influence and direct the goal-oriented efforts among the employees. Some of the content theories of motivation include Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, Alderfer’s ERG Theory and McClelland’s Learned Needs or Three-Need Theory, etc. When the individuals are rightly motivated by satisfying their needs, it would in turn energize and direct their behavior towards organizational success. According to Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory, individuals are motivated through the satisfaction of the five basic needs, and that includes physiological, security, social, esteem and self-actualization needs. The fulfillment of the lower level needs motivates them to reach for the next level of hierarchical needs. In healthcare organizations, when the lower level need of pay and safe working conditions are fulfilled, the employees would motivate themselves for career advancement, improved quality of services and challenging job responsibilities. Similarly, ERG theory suggests that the fulfillment of Existence, Relatedness and Growth in turn facilitate motivation for challenging and fulfilling job requirements. Role of leadership and management in Motivation: In a healthcare organization, the role of management and leadership in the motivation of the employees is indispensable. The management has to initiate policies that provide fair treatment, adequate compensation and attractive incentives for motivating the employees. In addition, the working environment affects the employees’ potential and development, and so it is duty of the management to provide a barrier free communication channels for the employees to air their ideas, feedbacks and also grievances. “By improving communication processes, for example through staff meetings, patient care activities and team briefing meetings, organizations can encourage innovation and creativity which, in turn, will promote job enlargement and enrichment.” (Curtis and Connell 2011, 33). Leaders, for their part, can accentuate motivation by being positive role models for the employees, and also by acting in an unbiased manner. In order to attain appropriate, efficient and sustainable health services, a good functional management and leadership is essential. Performance Management: It is essential for the management to monitor the organizational progress towards the set objectives, so they can make appropriate adjustments to ensure that the all the organizational components would work together effectively to reach those objectives. In case of the healthcare organizations, the contribution of performance management is vital as it helps in identifying and prioritizing the objectives, determining the progress, setting appropriate standards for results measurement, tracking the progress and establishing ways for improving it. In addition, on the part of the employees, performance management needs to include activities such as setting individual goals, monitoring individual achievements, sharing the feedback, evaluating the performance of the employees and rewarding them. This method of management design would help both the leaders as well as the managers to review the overall goals of the organization and thereby act accordingly for long-term benefits. Task III Development of teams: As teamwork is a vital necessity to develop a strong organization, building effective teams would probably result in improved organizational performance and profitability. An effective team can strongly establish the objectives of the organization by working in an interdependent manner. Development of teams is a continuous ongoing process which includes major stages - Forming, Storming, Norming, Performing and Transforming. In order to develop a successful team, the management has to focus on the key aspects such as establishing goals for the group, then deciding the main authority, eliminating conflicts, sharing accountability and responsibility among the team members. In addition, providing effective training and development paths for the team members would strengthen the team, and also motivate them to optimally work together with mutual trust. Also, the organization has to provide its constant support during tough times and offer rewards for team success, which would results in the development of highly performing, goal-focused successful team. Roles and models of team leadership: Leadership has a considerable influence on the organizational team performance, because of their role in the creation and handling of effective teams. Effective team performance can only be achieved if the leader has the ability to create synchronization within their teams. “The success of the leader in defining team directions and organizing the team to maximize progress along such directions contributes significantly to team effectiveness.” (Zaccaro, Rittman and Marks 2001, 452). The role of the leader lies in not only creating cohesiveness within the team, but also in creating individual performance expectancies within the team. It ensures continual development of the individual and allows the leaders to communicate effectively within the teams. “The development of strong and effective production and managerial teams will lead to the potential for higher performance and increased job satisfaction.” (Harvey, Millett and Smith 1998, 1). Application of different models of leadership during team formation and functioning in a way helps in establishing team integration, building morale, and thereby improving the productivity of the healthcare organizations. Role and usefulness of teams: Successful teams are considered to be essential in the today’s business scenario as it offers many benefits to the organizational structure and its performance. The role of teams and teamwork in any healthcare organizations includes strategic development and greater level of involvement in accomplishing organizational goals. In addition, efficient functioning of the teams would benefit the organization by increasing organizational efficiency and also by achieving goodwill and positive employee-management relationship. Teams help in increasing the capabilities of the organization because organized teams could achieve much more than that of the individual performances. Also, teamwork utilizes the unique and specific skills of each employee to the advantage of the team, leading to organizational effectiveness. Thus, effective teams can optimize organizational functioning and success. References: Clarkson, Megan. 2009. “Leadership and Management in Nursing.” Waikato Institute of Technology. Accessed June 13, 2013. http://researcharchive.wintec.ac.nz/532/1/ Research_Project_2009_HLNU902_FINAL.pdf> Curtis, Elizabeth and O’Connell, Rhona. 2011. “Essential Leadership Skills for Motivating and Developing Staff.” Nursing Management 18 (5). Harvey, Satrina., Millett, Bruce and Smith, Don. 1998. “Developing Successful Teams In Organisations.” Australian Journal of Management & Organisational Behaviour 1(1): 1-8. Northouse, Peter G. 2012. Leadership: Theory and Practice. SAGE. Zaccaro, J. Stephen., Rittman, Andrea L and Michelle, Marks A. 2001. “Team Leadership.” The Leadership Quarterly 12: 451–483. Read More