Various interaction processes constantly occur in the life of society, and their basis is leadership. This, in its most general form, is an activity to control the progress of any processes. It is always associated with responsibility and results. We will talk about the main characteristics of leadership, its functions and types, as well as the methods and styles of its implementation.
The concept of leadership in management and psychology
The management of various processes needs centralization, which allows for increased efficiency. Leadership is a complex, multidimensional concept. The first meaning of this word is associated with exercising control over the progress of any activity. In the second case, leadership refers to people who make decisions and exercise control.
In psychology, this term refers to a mechanism that motivates a team to complete assigned tasks. In management, leadership is the process by which a leader is given authority over subordinates. Most often, the concepts of “leadership” and “management” are synonymous, and they denote responsible and qualified management of various resources in an organization or team.
Ways to resolve conflicts
The process of resolving conflict situations between colleagues or management and subordinates consists of several stages:
- Studying the situation.
- Identifying the causes of the conflict.
- Collecting information about participants and witnesses of a conflict situation.
- Motivations for resolving a conflict situation.
The last stage of conflict resolution is the development of ways to resolve the current situation, depending on the desired result.
Good team management is easy to spot. Employees love their work, want to develop professional skills, gain new experience, and show respect for their manager.
Management as science and practice
The systematic study of management begins with the formation of the capitalist mode of production. Management is the management of various processes; it is the systematic implementation of various actions to achieve set goals and objectives.
To improve the efficiency of production processes, increase sales and optimize costs, management methods and techniques are being actively studied. Traditionally, management has several functions: control, forecasting, planning, analysis. They are all interconnected and united by an activity known as leadership. This is the main function of management associated with influencing the team in order to increase the efficiency of the enterprise or division.
In management science, the term “leadership” is used to name people who influence subordinates and to designate this process as a whole. In practice, this word is usually used to identify one person or group of people who exercise control.
Principles
The psychology of personnel management is based on a number of principles:
- Complexity. In order to objectively evaluate the process, it is necessary to take into account the factors that may influence it.
- Economical. Minimal costs should be sufficient to manage personnel.
- Simplicity. For a management system to work effectively, it should not require the use of complex tactics.
- Prospects. It is necessary to apply different methods of enterprise development.
- Scientific. It is necessary to use modern scientific achievements.
- Consistency. A complex management system must be divided into separate hierarchical units that are coordinated with each other.
- Autonomy. The management structure must be independent.
- Transparency. Team management should be built on the basis of a single concept.
- Progressivity. The development of a company requires the use of domestic and foreign techniques.
- Comfort. The management system should be comfortable for every employee. Workers should be given freedom to be creative and make decisions.
- Sustainability. It is important to have special functions (regulators) that will put a person who deviates from work standards and requirements at a disadvantage.
- Multidimensionality. The manager must use different methods of monitoring and coaching staff.
Subject and object of management
Considering people management as a process, its sides should be determined, i.e. subject and object. The subject of management is the manager, the person who directly carries out management. The object of management can be structural divisions of the organization, independent enterprises, personnel, and individual employees.
Paradoxically, one and the same structural unit in an organization can simultaneously act as both an object and a subject of management. For example, at a toy factory the director will be the subject, and the employees of departments and workshops with their management will be the objects of management. But at the level of a structural unit, the shop manager will already be the subject, and the staff will be the object. At the same time, the director of the plant becomes the object of management, if we consider him in relations with the ministry, the president of the country.
What is management
The term “management” has many interpretations. In essence, they, taken together, convey the most complete content of this concept.
For example, Joseph Massey , an 18th-century British political economist, believed: “Management is the process by which an organization, a group, directs actions towards achieving common goals.”
James L. Lundy , a 20th-century American politician, understood management as the fundamental task of planning, coordinating, motivating, and controlling efforts to achieve specific goals.
The father of the classical school of management, Henri Fayol, stated: “To manage means to predict, plan, organize, command, coordinate and control.”
The American scientist Peter F. Drucker (1909-2005) , one of the most influential management theorists, understood management as “a multi-purpose body that manages the business, managers, employees and work” [8, p. 8].
Some scientists view management as the art of most effectively accumulating human efforts to achieve the goals of a large social group.
The concepts of “management” and “governance” are interpreted differently; the first is used in a narrow sense, the second in a broad sense.
The scope of management includes a theoretical foundation and practical work aimed at outlining and achieving the company’s goals by rationalizing the use of resources [5, p. 4], incl. human.
The term “ management ” refers to a more general phenomenon, namely the organization of work performed by other people , including planning, distribution of rights and responsibilities of elements of a given social system, motivation and control over processes to achieve common goals in an optimal way [5, p. 6].
Manager's functions
A manager, as part of his professional activities, implements the basic functions of management: planning, organization, motivation, control. These global production goals and objectives are transformed into private functions in the activities of an individual manager. Management researchers talk about the following types of leadership functions:
- Strategic. A manager at any level must not only carry out current tasks, but also forecast his activities, as well as plan processes occurring in his structural unit.
- Motivational. The most important function of management is to find a balance between material and non-material methods of encouragement, control and discipline in relation to subordinates. A leader must be able to “ignite” his team, lead them forward, and interest them in productive work.
- Organizational. The manager must give orders and instructions; his tasks include optimizing production processes and regulating them. Management is carried out through administrative actions: issuing documents, delegation of powers, distribution of responsibilities, rewards and penalties.
- Controlling. An important function of a manager is control over the execution of orders and instructions.
- Communicative. Management must establish and regulate communications both within the organization and with the outside world: with the media, with the public, with partners, with competitors.
Environmental factors
Management psychology is an applied science based on the study of the experience of various organizations. It’s not just internal relationships that influence team performance. There are a number of environmental factors:
- consumers;
- suppliers;
- partners and competitors;
- creditors;
- government regulation;
- technological resources;
- location, climatic conditions;
- mentality and culture;
- demography.
Not all factors simultaneously affect the performance of an organization. Management psychology determines the intensity of influence and, taking this into account, builds a strategy for further development.
Types of guidance
Management presupposes the existence of various options for managing. In this regard, there are several types of guidance:
- Linear. In this case, the head of the institution, for example, the general director, influences the heads of structural divisions, and they, in turn, manage their subordinates.
- Functional. Such leadership is associated with the performance of certain responsibilities in the organization. An example of such management would be enterprises that have the positions of director of development, purchasing, sales, etc. Each such leader solves his own range of problems.
There is also a classification within which management is distinguished at different levels: lower, middle and senior management. Each level has its own specifics.
Why do people go to work
Although it is possible to work remotely, most are not ready to give up the usual format, which involves working in a team. One of the reasons is the reduced level of responsibility compared to remote work, the second is the inability to perform work outside the enterprise due to the specifics of the profession. So, you can make a part or bake bread only in a workshop. There are many professions that require a person to be at the workplace: salesman, conductor, driver, builder.
Other reasons that psychology takes into account in current personnel management:
- reluctance to change field of activity;
- stability;
- desire to communicate;
- an opportunity to feel important.
Organization management
The success and productivity of an enterprise largely depends on the professionalism of the manager. At the same time, he must not only have an excellent understanding of the intricacies of the production process, but also possess many personal and psychological qualities.
The manager must realize that he is the most important part of his enterprise. In this regard, the term “organizational leadership” appears, which implies the implementation of activities to establish the job responsibilities of team members, develop corporate rules of conduct, and develop an organization development strategy.
The natural “successors” of organizational leadership are project and operational management.
Components of the position
The position includes several important components:
- job responsibilities – certain responsibilities of an employee corresponding to the job position held and some requirements for his work activity. This includes compliance with certain standards, criteria and work efficiency, compliance with rules of conduct and work routine, representative functions and the employee’s intellectual and behavioral suitability for the position held;
- job privileges – a set of benefits and allowances provided to an employee. Depending on the status characteristics of the position, the set of privileges may vary. The higher the position an employee occupies, the greater the number of privileges he can receive - in terms of work, rest and material subsidies;
- remuneration directly depends on the position held and job responsibilities of the employee. Remuneration of employees may provide for certain bonuses, subsidies, material incentives for increased workload or the introduction of certain innovations in the work of the organization;
- responsibility also depends on job responsibilities and position held and usually correlates with salary. Depending on the position, responsibility involves compliance with safety regulations or maintaining the secrecy of the labor process, or other types of organizational responsibility.
Leadership styles
Style is understood as a certain stable pattern. An experienced manager develops a typical way of solving repetitive tasks. Style is made up of worldview, personal characteristics, and temperament. Psychologists say that every person has a unique communication style, but there are also typical traits. Therefore, we can say that there are common styles and methods of leadership.
Traditionally, there are three main styles:
- authoritarian,
- democratic,
- liberal.
In the first case, all power is concentrated in one hand. For example, all key decisions are made exclusively by the CEO, without consulting or listening to subordinates. An authoritarian leader often makes mistakes because he cannot grasp all the information and is at the mercy of his stereotypes.
The second style is also called collegiate. In this case, decisions are made based on meetings and majority opinion. Boards of directors usually work according to this principle, in which one manager cannot make an important decision. This is considered to be the most productive method of leadership.
The third style is also called permissive. The manager in this case delegates many, if not all, decisions to the sphere of his subordinates. A liberal counts on the conscience of his employees, but usually lack of control leads to negligence.
Emergency situations
The management team's literacy is checked in non-standard situations. This happens in any enterprise. The tasks of managers are to instantly respond and coordinate the actions of the entire team. To do this, a good boss must have charisma, that is, evoke a desire to follow his orders.
We are talking not only about difficulties in production. The most common emergency situations are related to interpersonal interactions between employees. A competent leader can sort out the conflict between subordinates and determine who is right. Different methods are used for this:
- individual communication with each participant in the conflict;
- confrontation of all participants with a detailed analysis of claims;
- interviewing witnesses.
A forward-thinking manager has some knowledge of psychology to carry out such procedures. To increase literacy on this issue, you can seek advice from a psychologist who will help build the right relationship with the team. He will teach you how to determine the most appropriate communication style for each personality type. Many top managers regularly undergo training and strive to improve their skills, as they understand that management psychology is an important aspect of their successful work.
Management psychology is a science that helps build effective activities in any team: from a company of three or four people to an enterprise with many departments. It covers all aspects of the relationship between superiors and subordinates. Today this section of psychology is extremely popular. Many trainings are aimed at increasing the effectiveness of directors and HR departments. Reading useful literature in this direction is the most useful aspect of self-development for every manager.
Characteristics of a leader
Leadership is a complex activity that requires a large amount of knowledge and skills, in addition, it requires the manager to have certain qualities. Psychologists say that a good leader must be responsible. The ability to make decisions and the full extent of their consequences on oneself is extremely important for a leader.
Also, a professional manager must be competent in the area where he has to work. A leader must have a whole range of emotional and volitional qualities, for example, purposefulness, determination, discipline, and integrity. He must be passionate about his work and be able to “infect” his subordinates with this.
Important intellectual qualities of a leader are the ability to analyze and forecast, observation, logic, and the desire for knowledge.
Rule 1. Create the right atmosphere for employees to discuss
If the work was not very successful, then the general background of the discussion still needs to be made positive. The technique is simple: the manager can invite everyone present to express a few words of gratitude to two or three colleagues for what really helped them work together. It would be right if the manager is the first to thank someone, only indicating what specifically for. Celebrating the success of employees also sets them up for further work. What you encourage, people try to do, maybe not right away, but they get used to a good attitude and respond in kind.
Main problems of management
Managing people is not an easy process and not always a joyful one. Only a person far from management can think that being a manager is simple and always pleasant. Management is associated with many problems, both personal and organizational.
The manager is always responsible for his enterprise and his employees. He is responsible to his partners, society, his family, and himself. Such a load is difficult to carry. In addition, the main problems of a manager include high risks and stress. He must encourage, and sometimes force, employees to perform their duties well. This often leads to conflicts and psychological problems in management.
