Ogranisation Behaviour

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 Team Dynamics - What Team Roles Do You Prefer? 3

3.0 Workplace Emotions and Attitudes - Team Tower Power 5

4.0 Foundations of Employee Motivation - A Question on Feedback 7

5.0 Organizational Justice - Winter Survival Test 9

6.0 Communicating in Teams and Organizations - Cross Cultural Communication Game 10

7.0 Perception and Learning in Organisations - The Learning Exercise 12

8.0 Conflict & Negotiation in the Workplace - The Dutch Test for Conflict Handling 14

9.0 Leadership in Organizational Settings - Leadership Diagnostic Analysis 16

10.0 Conclusion 18

11.0 Reference List 19

12.0 Appendices 21

Appendix A: Individual Reflections 21

Appendix B: Individual Skill Builders 42

Appendix C: Group Skill Builders 79

Appendix D: Equity of Contribution Policy 94

1.0 Introduction

This portfolio aim to help team members better understand possible individual behaviour that we may encounter in an organization. We will be entering the workforce in the near future and it is important to understand how the organizational leaders work through the different types of theories.

Organizational behaviour allows us to better understand and counter issues going on in the workplace. We learnt and understand through the topics covered such as how team works, how individual reactions can affect one another's emotions, how to motivate employees and help them achieve high performance and understand the types on conflicts that are present in teams and how to counter them. These theories learnt throughout this module, were made into actual practical scenarios through the weekly activities we did in class.

The team members have compiled this portfolio report for our course of study for Organizational Behaviour. The report consists of a brief summary of key findings, which are members' results; and reflections and key learning points on the weekly activities completed in class over the 8 weeks of study.

2.0 Team Dynamics - What Team Roles Do You Prefer?

In this exercise, we identified our strengths and weaknesses on four roles in a team in a table below (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione 2010).

Team Roles Description Preferred Roles Least Preferred Roles

Encourager Praising and supporting ideas of members Cecilia, Sau Ming Clara

Gatekeeper Encouraging discussion from everyone Chrystal, Li Ching, Sau Ming, Clara, Yi Ling -

Harmoniser Reducing tension and mediating internal group conflicts - Chrystal, Li Ching, Clara, Yi Ling

Initiator Identifying goals and ways to work on goals Clara Li Ching

Summariser Keeping track of meeting discussions - Cecilia, Sau Ming,

Yi Ling

Team roles are important elements of team development because roles help teams to 'achieve its goal and maintain relationship within the team' (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione 2010, p. 314). McShane, Olekalns and Travaglione (2010, p. 314) propose although members are assigned specific roles, these roles tend to change to 'suit their personality and values as well as the wishes of other team members'. Davis and Kanaki (2006) agreed with their views that members find it easier to have a role that fits their characteristics.

Most of our least preferred role is the role of a summarizer and harmoniser. We agreed to work on our weaknesses by taking notes and assigning a mediator for each discussion. We learn from each other's strengths and improve our skills by questioning doubts and keeping an open mind.

Group members who obtained similar results expressed happiness. This is due to the need for members to feel belonged, especially when the 'team is part of the member's social identity' (McShane, Olekalns & Travaglione 2010, p. 303). The team wanted to build rapport and aimed to understand one another.

Difference in individual team roles helped members to compensate and balance each other weaknesses and strengths. Everyone come from different background with different mental models, and was brought up through different cultures and religions. Diversity in this case is an advantage because members gain more perspective and insights by working interdependently with one another. However, it is suggested that diverse teams 'take longer to become high-performing teams' because we take longer to bond with each other (McShane, Olekalns, & Travaglione 2010, p. 304).

Davis and Kanaki (2006, p. 639) believed that 'although the leader is the single most influential member of a group, the collective influence of the remaining members can easily exceed the leader's influence'. This theory was proven in one of our meetings where the leader's decision was overthrown by a majority vote. In 1981, 1993 Belbin argued that 'what is needed for effective teams is not well-balanced individuals but individuals who balance well with one another' (cited in Davis & Kanaki 2006, p. 639). However, a study by Davis and Kanaki (2006, p. 647) found that 'effective teams could be built from a combination of some of Belbin's team roles'. Our team has well-balanced individuals, but to work towards an effective team, we must strive to balance well with each other.

3.0 Workplace Emotions and Attitudes - Team Tower Power

This activity aims to help us understand team roles, team development and other issues in the development and maintenance of effective teams in organisation. We substituted the Lego bricks as instructed with 10 sheets of A4 paper.

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