Chapter 4 talks about Culture and Subcultures. The authors mention that the members of a subculture identify themselves with a distinct group within the larger culture, interact regularly with this group, and often share perceptions and understandings of central problems.
While reading this I was trying to think how this is at work. I was initially part of one group in IT and then transferred to another group last year. Even though there are a lot of things in common, there were some clear differences in the way the took groups look at certain things. Most of the things are directly related to the work we do and how we prioritize the work we do. Each group has a different perception on which is important and have their own definition of which is more important.
I have a team now and we are going to work on "Communication and Cultural Considerations for Global Teams". We will try to narrow the topic down further so that we can cover it in detail rather than trying to cover too much material and not having clarity in the final product. I planning to find how local cultures effect communication styles, the effect of gender on communication, what type of English we need to use as this is very important when communication with people who do not use English regularly and is not natural for them, also thinking of looking into details about guidelines on how to conduct a multicultural conference call. What effect does local power /authority have on communication styles etc., There is so many thing of interest over the next week we have to come up with some outline on what we will focus on.
I want to research into something that would be helpful for me in my day to day duties at work. One thing I think sometimes as a team we have trouble with is communicating with global teams. Teams that are not in US and are from a different culture. I would like to research on "Communication and Cultural Considerations for Global Teams". In this I would like to concentrate on one or two cultures like Japan, India, Germany etc., and try to analyze how the cultural differences between them and US like work patterns etc., affect communications. Need to understand what are some of the must do's and what are definite no-no's.
I anyone is interested in this topic, I am looking to team up with them so that we can do more elaborate research.
Chapter 15 talks about features of language. The authors present very interesting things about this. One thing that was really interesting was the use the use of "Active versus Passive Voice". This raised more questions for me and i tried to do some reading on which is better to use. I was not able to come to any conclusion except that it depends on the situation in which the message is being composed for and the audience. But still what is the correct way might depend on the perspective of the readers. I think we can use sentences like "It has been decided" but we definitely should make sure that the message includes some details on how some one can express their concerns or questions they might have.
Chapter 15 talks about four categories of data gathering: artifacts, surveys, interviews and observation.
I think out of the four techniques interviews provide the most reliable and productive way of data gathering when we are trying to obtain details or opinion about something that is ongoing or current. Even though this is more time consuming, if the process is important this gives personal one on one time with people from whom you would like to gather information and people are more likely to get involved in the discussion and provide more useful information than just going through the motions. Survey's might be effective in some cases as well, but they might not help people express their opinions and tend to be more Q & A (yes/no).
When implementing new systems or process in a company if we send e-mails or surveys to collect the requirements, most likely people end up missing at least some of the requirements. If we conduct meeting with people not necessarily individually but with groups, we can understand the requirements better and this eliminates the need to make changes or modification later.
In Chapter 15, authors talk about reputation and how a positive reputation can be built. For communications with in the organization or with other organizations having a consistent message with reliable information together with actions that back up the message the information are very important to establish credibility an build positive reputation.
At work, we had a senior manager who was in in charge of setting up guidelines, standards and procedures for IT support for all the customers with in the organization who sends out messages which are very descriptive and clear with very well laid out explanations on how to deal with a task or process. But most of the people in the organization do not really value his message or respect it. When discussing with other people i found out that are mainly two reasons for this one is that the tone he uses is the e-mails is very authoritative and lot of people who worked there for a long time have a issue with that and feel he tells people what to do but does not provide details why he wants it to be done in a particular way. The second one is lot of people pointed out instances where he himself was not following the procedures therefore they feel that it is not important. I think we need to make sure we are following the message we are communicating with others
Chapter 3 talks about the Emotionality in Organizational Life. Developing a casual atmosphere at work I thinks helps in creating a better environment. We are by nature emotional beings and by thinking about ideas or proposals with some emotion might help us come to some decision easily. Also, when there dis-agreements if we can discuss and come to a common ground. If employees do not show some emotion, may be they might just agree to everything which might not be helpful.
As long as we can manage our emotions and do not let them get the better of us they can be really helpful.
Chapter 3 talks about the flow of information, information overload, information under load,and information quality.
I think most companies today need as much information as they can get. In today's markets, where slightest details can make a huge difference, information is very important to remain competitive. With careful planning and some amount of research and work done upfront we can save a lot of time with tasks like information processing, report generation etc.,
If we have a process that simplifies data management it becomes easy to manage and people will not end up spending lot of time on generating reports etc., that are not really very important. In our company, we designed some standard very simple to use tools that any person can use with little to no guidance using which he can generate data that he wants. To achieve this there are defined rules like all the data should follow particular format etc., and after that we just put them in the correct places and send links to management so that they can get what they want.
In Chapter 2 authors talk about the Self-Organizing teams. I wanted to share some of finding from a research article that I read recently. (Source of Information: How to Lead a Self-Managing Team Author(s): Vanessa Urch Druskat, Jane V. Wheeler)
The article talks about how to lead self-managing teams that are left to run themselves with some guidance from an external leader. Below I will list some of the important points made in the article.
Some surveys report that 79 percent of companies in the Fortune 1000 and 81 percent of manufacturing organizations currently deploy such “empowered,” “self-directed” or “autonomous” teams.
The most important skill that external leaders that contributed most to their team’s success have is “managing the boundary between the team and larger organization”. External leaders who excel at four functions of relating, scouting, persuading, and empowering were able to drive their teams to superior success.
The hardest part for the external managers is that even though they are not directly managing the teams they are held accountable for any wrong decisions that the teams might make. The job of external leader exists squarely in the middle of a managerial no-man’s land.
The external leader must avoid any heavy-handed attempts at managing. Case studies have shown that external leaders who struggle with their role usually end up exerting too much control, which then undermines self-managing team’s ability to get work done.
Four Functions, 11 Behaviors:
To making self-managing teams work is to delegate considerable authority to the group, granting its tremendous flexibility in making its own decisions.
1. Relating:
External leaders must continually move back and forth between the team and the broader organization to build relationships. Success in this are requires three behaviors:
Being Socially and Politically Aware
Building Team Trust
Caring for Team Members. (Authors say that in their study, average leaders were more likely to see the personal problems of the team members as impediments to getting work done, where as superior leaders more often recognized them as opportunities to build relationships)
2. Scouting:
To scout efficiently, external leaders must demonstrate three behaviors
Seeking information from Managers, Peers, and Specialists.
Diagnosing Member Behavior
Investigating Problems Systematically
3. Persuading:
Effective Persuasion requires two behaviors
Obtaining External Support
Influencing the Team
4. Empowering:
External leaders can empower self-managing teams by demonstrating three behaviors
Delegating Authority
Exercising Flexibility Regarding Team Decisions (“It’s not what I think; it’s what you think”)
Coaching (teach people to manage)
The article says superior leaders in their study were able to develop strong relationships both inside the team and across the organization. An important thing to remember about team autonomy is that self-management is not an either-or condition. Instead, it’s a continuum, and external leaders should also be constantly guiding and developing their teams so that they become increasingly independent.
Page 34 and 35 in Chapter 2 talk about Alternative Organizational Structures.
While reading it i was trying to find out into what system the organization or group i am working in will fit into. Below are some of the features my group has (I work in an IT organization) - a high level of education and training for most organizational tasks. - there are fixed positions for individuals - there is a high degree of interdependence - there is some regard to seniority - innovation as priority - All the members in the group have a set of tasks they all do. (First Level Support) - Then we breakdown into specialized teams under a manager specializing and responsible for one or two areas. - there are projects all teams work together
I am not quite sure of this fits into one specific type of structure. This is more of a hybrid of different forms of organization.
In Chapter 2 the authors talk about structure and agenda. The authors say that organizational structures emerge from communication processes and may, in turn, replace future communication processes.
The authors mention that structure gives shape to our actions overtime. Setting a agenda for meetings is a very important part of communication. This keeps the meeting son track and the focus remains on the issues to be discussed.
Agenda becomes much more important when the meetings have audience from various countries and are over the phone and not face to face. When a meeting is between people from different cultures who are geographically separated and might not have meet each other in person the agenda acts a tool to keep the meeting following and in control.
We constantly have meeting with teams worldwide. Sometimes teams in some countries do bring up things that are not expected to be discussed, this sometimes catches people unprepared to answer those and sometimes wastes time as people in headquarters try to reply even though they do not have complete information. But for the same situation if there is an agenda set, the meeting organizer can say that they will come back to that after all the items on the agenda are discussed, this not only keeps the focus on the issues that were planned to be discusssed but also gives other people in the meeting a chance to think about how to respond to the issue or question raised.
Page 370 in chapter 12 talks about how companies can use FAQ etc., to help reduce their need to respond directly to customers.
At work my manager always wants us to prepare mass communication messages (messages sent to more than 100 people) in a Q & A format. Even though he is a very busy person, he spends a lot of time with us after we come up with a initial draft. When we started doing this, in the beginning i used get little frustrated thinking its just an e-mail and my manager is wasting time with little things.
Last month we introduced a new process to which we were expecting a lot of resistance, as I knew my manager wants the message to be very clear, if spent some considerable amount of time preparing it and then reviewing it with him. When the message was sent out I was surprised to see that there was only one reply and that to was just some one saying they really like the change. Previously when such messages we sent, we used to get at least 10 to 20 messages asking questions. This made me realize that spending time while preparing the message not only sends a clear message but in the end it also saves time as we do not have to spend time replying to questions.
Here are few thing I think we need to concentrate when sending e-mail to large group of people:
1. Does the message clearly address why we are sending it and what information we need to convey? 2. Does it address all the questions we can think that the people receiving the e-mail might have? 3. If the message is informational, does it convey that it is informational people do not have to respond. 4. If the message is about some change in process, does the message have all the advantages that the new process has and is it composed in a positive. 5. If there is no way we are going change the decision does not the message put forth this message in a positive tone. (I thought this was impossible to do, but after learning from manager i feel this can be done in most cases). 6. We do not want to put too much information in the e-mail, so does the message contain pointers for people to find more information about the message if they want. 7. Does it clearly specify e-mail addresses of specific people to contact in case the have questions, this helps in stopping people from just doing a reply-all.
From page 365 in Chapter 12 authors talk about e-commerce and e-business. I would like share my views on buying online. I make most of my non-routine purchases online.
Most of the electronic items I bought over the last five years are online. I feel this gives me a better chance with making the correct decision.
If we go to a store to purchase and talk to the sales person, I feel that we are talking to someone who has a vested interest in making a sale and might try to make the product sound more impressive than it is. Even though there is a direct (Synchronous) communication here the information might not be complete and is dependent on the sales person's knowledge. The time we get with the sales person depends on how busy the store is.
If we do the same thing online, we get a chance to visit multiple sites and read customer & expert reviews, rating etc., Also we do not need to have a fixed idea on what we need to buy and can try researching various products available before narrowing down our choices. This is not so easy to do in a store as no single store will have same range of products as we have online.
Also, I am more comfortable with pricing online as we get to compare them at various sites and also check easily for deals in sites like deals2buy.com etc., and make the purchase when we are comfortable with pricing.
Internet & e-commerce makes transmission of information like peoples experience with the products etc., available to us easily. Even though there is no guarantee that the information is accurate, i think its better than having no information or views of people already using them.
Page 362 in Chapter 12 talks about the first-level and second-level effects of telecommuting.
The general consensus in a lot of studies today is that people who telecommute full time or on a part time basis are more productive than if they work at office. It also has a positive impact on the environment and gives people time to spend quality time with family by not wasting time in commuting.
From my personal experience, i think telecommuting also improves communication between peers or between employees and managers. At my work place,our group director now works from a remote location and visits office once every fours months for a week. He makes sure that we have a face to face meeting with him each time he visits. This was not the case when he was working from office full time, we hardly ever had any conversation with him. Some of my friends working in other companies also feel that they or their managers normally spend more time communicating with remote teams in different location or countries than people working in the same office, as they feel it is important to communicate with them as they are in present in person all the time and they do not take the issue with same seriousness with people working locally.
Also, I feel people socialize more with people working remotely when they meet in person than with people who work with them in person as they feel they are the host for people working in some other location and visiting.
Chapter 12 talks about different types of media. While reading that, I started thinking about how many types of communication mediums I use everyday and its different types.
I normally use e-mail, internet, 3 different types of messengers, cell phone, desk phone, email on cell phone, internet on cell phone. Recently the new additions to this list is a soft phone on the computer that dials using the desk phone from my computer anywhere (VoIP). Companies introduce new things everyday using terms like Unified Communications etc.,. But its very difficult to get rid of the existing tools as people are used to them.
The definition of communication overload is different for different people. In my opinion the more different types of communication tools we use the more distractions there are at work. I know a lot of people would say we have to efficient in using them but individual efficiency in itself might not help most of the times.
These tools even effect our personal life's in a certain way. I do not think many people check their work e-mail at home if they have to log in to work and check if they are not expecting anything important. As we get email on blackberry's etc., we get addicted to using them just because we have them.
In Chapter 12, the authors talk about Synchronous and Asynchronous communication. Telephone, cell phone which provide immediate feedback are treated as Synchronous communication and e-mail, voice mail etc., are treated as Asynchronous.
I agree to some extent with the authors in that Asynchronous communication might save time and make it possible for communications to proceed interactively, outside of "real time". But this in my opinion also has some ill effects. A common work place issue today is too much e-mail, so it is very difficult to assume that if something important needs to be communicated e-mail is the best medium due to the volume of e-mail people get. Trying to reach them by phone might have a better success rate in such situations.
Also, due to the ease of sending an e-mail people start using it and send messages that are not needed and some that can be easily misunderstood as some people spend very little time in composing them. Due to lack of attention messages might not always come out properly, leaving the possibility of misunderstanding and confusion leading to more wastage of time. In those situations in person or telephone conversations might be better.
I think both types have their advantages, but proper usage of them determines their success and productivity from them.
Recently my organization started a new ethical reporting system that provides employees a way to report issues either online or through a ethics hot line. Ethics Reporting System provides avenues for you to report ethics violations, fraud, abuse or misconduct.
Companies make employees sign the Business and Ethics standard when they join the organization and they have to clear a yearly certification. Great Cultures create Great Organizations. In Organizations that are serious about Ethics standards we will clearly see they are not doing things just for the sake of it and are serious about it. Organization provide training to its employees and manager about the ethics and how to help maintain them etc.,
The text book notes some important things about the ethics code. 1. they unite a community of professionals, 2. they offer a basis for making important distinctions, 4. they are used to sanction violators; and 4. they offer standards for ethical excellence.
Employees should also take responsibility in maintaining ethical standards along with employers. Employees should make sure that they are up to the standards and they report anything that is not in order.
When reading the What about Communication? section in Chapter 14 I remembered a conversation I had with my friend in which he was talking about how one of his friends was let go by his company and there was no hint of that happening or no severance package provided. He was of the opinion that this is very common in US and companies do not show any responsibility towards their employees.
This I think is not true, most companies in US do follow reasonable procedures in handling these situations by providing some severance, helping them in finding other jobs, providing references etc., Here the roles of values of the company plays a big role in their determination of whether their behavior is ethical or not. Even though there are no rules binding them to follow a particular process, its the values of the company that determines their response.
In some situations even when Organizations want to be Socially responsible etc., they might not be able completely achieve that because of various financial and market constraints that they might be facing.
The textbooks make an important statement about the importance of ethics " It is the clash of different ethical principles or duties that make many moral decisions difficult."
The ethical principles of a particular society or a person i think are dependent on their culture. I feel that Ethics are learned from the society and people around you by observing them and treating what others treat as acceptable to be ethical. The textbook listed some practical reasons for ethics like ethics help us get together, ethics help us to get along with each other, ethics gives us hope for betterment, ethics keep things going and ethics puts ideals into practice.
Ethics should be about doing the right thing are not some rules that people need to follow. We see a lot multinational organizations do things that they never do in one country but do them in others, as that culture might not respond to their behavior in same way. I think its very difficult to understand whether people or companies are "really being ethical" or just doing so to look like that.
This Section of the chapter talks about how growing number of global organizations are seeking to adapt their products and strategies to local markets. The term "glocal" comes from blending the terms "global" and "local". It is very interesting to note things like how in US we associate McDonald's and Big mac, but in India most of the McDonald's does not even serve Big Mac, as Cows are considered sacred in India. This shows how organizations are adapting today globally to make them receptive in the local cultures. Also companies should be very careful in how they communicate in different cultures. We should never assume what works or considered correct in one culture works in others. There are multiple examples for big blunders like this. One classic example is the slogan used by Vacuum cleaner company Electrolux in UK "Nothing Sucks like Electrolux". But sucks has a completely different usage in US and it was a big blunder. Global Companies should do their research about local cultures before making any decisions, planning mass communications, launching new campaigns etc., as taking incorrect decisions there might create irreparable damage.
