EMPOWERING EMPLOYEES Empowerment Giving employees authority and responsibility to make decisions about their work. Sharing Information and Decision-Making Authority Keeping them informed about company’s financial performance. Giving them broad authority to make workplace decisions that implement a firm’s vision and its competitive strategy. Linking Rewards to Company Performance Employee stock ownership plans Stock options

TEAMS Team Group of employees who are committed to a common purpose, approach, and set of performance goals. Hold selves mutually responsible and accountable for accomplishing objectives. Ability to work on teams often emphasized during the hiring process. Work team A group of people with complementary skills who are committed to a common purpose. Two-thirds of U.S. firms currently use them.

1.Work teams 2.Problem-solving teams 3.Self-managed teams 4.Cross-functional teams 5.Virtual teams FIVE BASIC TYPES OF TEAMS

TEAM CHARACTERISTICS Team Size Can range widely, but most have fewer than 12 members. Research says ideal size is often six or seven members. Team Level and Team Diversity Team level Average level of ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team. Team diversity Variances or differences in ability, experience, personality, or any other factor on a team.

Stages of Team Development 1.Forming 2.Storming 3.Norming 4.Performing 5.Adjourning

Team Cohesiveness and Norms Team cohesiveness Extent to which team members feel attracted to the team and motivated to remain part of it. Team norm Informal standard of conduct shared by team members that guides their behavior. Team Conflict Conflict Antagonistic interaction in which one party attempts to thwart the intentions or goals of another. Cognitive conflict Focuses on problem-related differences of opinion. Affective conflict Strongly decreases team performance.

THE IMPORTANCE OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION Communication Meaningful exchange of information through messages. Managers spend 80 percent of their time in direct communication with others. Company recruiters rate effective communication as the most important skill they’re looking for in hiring new college graduates.

The Process of Communication Step 1: the sender composes and transmits a message through a communication channel, such as a conversation or message. Step 2: People who receive the message, called the audience, decode the message. Step 3: Feedback from the audience helps the sender determine whether the intended message was received. Noise affects each transmission. Noise = any interference that influences the transmission of the messages.

All communication occurs in a situational or cultural context. Low-context and high-context cultures Basic Forms of Communication Oral and written Formal and informal Verbal and nonverbal communication Listening Receiving a message and interpreting its intended meaning by grasping the facts and feelings it convey. Cynical listening, offensive listening, polite listening, and active listening Grapevine Internal information channel that transmits information from unofficial source.

EXTERNAL COMMUNICATION: CRISIS MANAGEMENT External communication Meaningful exchange of information through messages transmitted between an organization and its major audiences. Keep operations functioning Maintain position in the marketplace Build customer relationships by supplying information about topics such as product modifications and price changes Crisis management Stick to facts and avoid misstatements Communicate through images Acknowledge problems and explain solutions