Unit 7 Who’s Calling the Shots

精品文档，仅供学习与交流，如有侵权请联系网站删除【精品文档】第PAGE页Unit7Who’sCallingtheShots?TEACHER:Goodmorning.Hopeyouhadagoodweekend.Todaywe’regoingtostarttalkingaboutstylesofbusinessmanagement.Stylesofmanagementvaryfromcountrytocountry,companytocompany,and,frompersontoperson.Oneapproachtogoodmanagementnowconsideredimportantworldwideisteambuilding.Teambuildingisonlypartofwhatmakessomeoneagoodmanager,butitunderliesmanygoodmanagementpractices.Whenteambuilding,themanagerdoesthingstohelpemployeesworktogethereffectivelyasagroup,asateam.Thisisbasedontheideathatthemanager’sjobisn’tsimplytotellpeoplewhattodo,buttohelpsolveproblemsandhelppeoplecommunicatesotheyworkwelltogether.Thisapproachemphasizesemployeerelations,anditbenefitsthecompany.Ithasn’talwaysbeenthisway.NotsomanyyearsagotherewasanattitudeinAmericancompanies,of“Whatthemanagersaysgoes.”Employeeswereexpectedtodowhattheyweretold.Butwe’reseeinganewparadigmbecausecompanieshaverealizedthatemployeesdon’tdotheirbestworkwhenthey’retreatedlikethis.ThiswasabigchangeinAmericanmanagementstyle,perhapsinfluencedbytheJapanesemodel.First,inordertobuildateam,agoodbusinessmanagerknowsthatdifferentpeoplearegoodatdifferentthingsandvaluesthespecialskillsthateachemployeebringstothecompany.Agoodmanagerneedstofindawaytolettheemployeesknowthattheirparticularskillsareimportanttothecompany.Theemployeesarethenmorelikelytodotheirbestwhentheyfeelvalued,andvalueeachother.Astrongmanagerknowshowtobuildateamofemployeeswhohelpeachotherdotheirbestwork.So,whatcanamanagerdotohelpemployeesfeelthey’revalued,likepartoftheteam?Let’sconsiderasituationatacompanycalledtheABCcompany.Let’ssaythere’sanewmanagerintheoffice,Mrs.Gomez,andshe’smadesomechanges.Oneday,anemployee--Mrs.Parks--decidestoapproachMrs.Gomezaboutsomeproblemssheishavingatwork.Mrs.Parkshasworkedatthecompanyformorethantenyears.Thenewchangesmakeitdifficultforhertodoherjobwell.She’sstressed,andthisisaffectingherjobperformance.So,Mrs.GomezandMrs.Parkstalk.Mrs.Gomezlistens.Sheknowsshehasmadesomechanges,andthattheofficeisn’tbeingrunlikeitwasbefore.ButshetellsMrs.Parkstotryherbest,andtogiveitmoretime.Oh,Iseeaquestion.Anna?STUDENT1:I’mnotclear.Whatkindofchangesareyoutalkingabout?TEACHER:Oh.Well,let’ssayonechangeisthat,before,yougavearoughdraftofyourreporttothesecretary,andsheediteditandsentitout.Now,thesecretarydoesn’tdothisforyou.Youhavetodoityourself.Shechangedthewaytheofficewasorganized.STUDENT1:Oh,OK.TEACHER:Laterthatnight,Mrs.GomezthinksaboutwhatMrs.Parkssaid.Shethinksit’spossiblethatotherpeopleintheofficearehavingproblems,too.Mrs.Gomezknowsthatsheneedsastrongteamtobeasuccessfulmanager.Shealsoneedsastablegroupofemployees.Shedoesn’twantpeopletoleave.Shedecidessheneedstogetanaccurateideaoftheemployees’perspectives.Shedecidestogivetheemployeesanopportunitytosharetheirideas.Shewantstoshowthemshevaluestheirworkandtheirexperienceatthecompany.So,Mrs.Gomezmakesateam-buildingplan.Shebeginsbyschedulingameetingforthenextdaytotalkaboutthechangesshehasmade,togivetheemployeesanopportunitytosaywhatproblemsthey’rehavingandtoaskquestions.Attheendofthemeeting,shegivestheemployeessomequestionstoanswerinwritingtomakeiteasyforthemtosharetheirideas.Shetellsthemshewillusetheanswerstheywriteandtheideasfromthemeetingtodecideonthenextstepintheoffice.Let’sconsiderthekindofquestionsshegivesthem.Shewantsquestionsthatfocusontheworkitself,questionsthatwouldbeeasyforanemployeetoanswerhonestly.Questionslike:A.Isitcleartoyouwhatyourresponsibilitiesare?B.Doyouknowwhototalktoifataskisunclear?C.Doyourteammemberssupportyou?Ifnot,whatspecificthingscouldtheydotohelpyoudoabetterjob?D.Whatwasdoneinthepastthatyouthinkworkedbetter?Thesequestionsareaboutthework,abouthowtheofficeisorganized,andaboutworkingtogether.Theydon’tfocusontheemployee’sfeelingsaboutthemanager.Mrs.Gomezreadstheiranswerstothequestions.Shealsocheckshernotesfromthemeeting.Shedecidestomodifythewayshehasreorganizedtheoffice.Notbigchanges--justafewsmallones.Sherealizesthatsomeoftheoldwayswerebetter.So,shemakesafewchangesbacktohowtheofficewasorganizedbefore.Shealsocomesupwithasix-monthplanforimprovement,andtellstheemployeestheywillallreviewtheplantogetherinsixmonths.Whatmessageisshecommunicatingtotheemployeesbytheseactions?Wellfirst,she’stellingthemsheconsiderstheirideasimportant;shevaluestheiropinions.Second,sheistellingthemsheisincharge,butshevalueswhattheysay.Third,she’stellingthemthatchangeisnotnecessarilygoodifthereisnogoodreasonforit.Inotherwords,shedidn’tneedtomakesomanybigchangeswhenshestartedasmanager,And,finally,sheistellingthemthatsheishuman,thatshecanadmithermistakes,andthatsheiswillingtodowhatbenefitsthegroup.Thisputsherontheroadtogainingtheirsupport,andtobeingasuccessfulmanager.Now,ontothethirdpartofherplan.Mrs.Gomezplansapicnicattheparkneartheiroffice.Theyhavelunch,playgames,andtalk,theylaughandjokeandrelax.Bytheendoftheday,theyknoweachotherbetter.Hopefully,thiswillhelpthemworktogetherbetter,aswell.Let’sreviewthethreepartsofMrs.Gomez’steam-buildingplan:Shehadameeting,shegaveemployeesquestionsabouttheofficeorganization,andsheplannedafunactivitytohelpthemgettoknoweachother.Wecanseethatherplanisbasedontheimportanceofsolvingproblems,andonthebeliefthatcommunicationisvitalinordertosucceedasateam.Thisisakeypoint:Herplanisbasedontheideaofsolvingproblemsandemployeessharingideas.Anyquestions?Felipe?STUDENT2:Well,I’vestudiedsomebusinessmanagementcourses,andIunderstandthatit’simportanttodevelopcommunicationandbuildupteamplayers,butisn’titjustawasteoftimetohavethese“fun”activities?TEACHER:Well,alotofmanagersdothinkit’sawasteoftime,especiallyintheshortterm.But,inthelongrun,it’sdefinitelynotawasteoftime.Infact,it’softenagreatwaytosavetimeinteambuilding.Let’sstophere.Todaywediscussedteambuildingandwhyithasbecomeimportant.Inthenextclass,Iwanttotalkaboutothergroupactivitiesmanagerscanusetobuildateam.We’llstarttherenexttime.That’sallfortoday.