Managing And Leading Human Service Organizations: Team Analysis

The ability to work well both individually and within a team to develop an organization’s goals, is an important attribute for managers to possess in their roles within their agency. To create a common team spirit in an organization, it becomes crucial for a manager to involve his/her employees in both discussions and decision-making processes. In Effectively Managing and Leading Human Service Organizations, Ralph Brody and Murali Nair describe a group effort as, “[t]he combined contributions of members equals more than the sum of their individual efforts” (p.219). Managers that are able to foster productive, efficient teams who have a unified vision, are able to maintain the overall goals of the organization and help build trustworthy, meaningful

Leaders in human service organizations are interested in ensuring that the goals of their organization are carried out, as well as maintaining the core values within the mission statement. By doing so, team leaders use, “transactional, structure-initiating, monitoring, authoritative, and directive leadership” (Kozlowski & Ilgen, 2006, p. 110). I believe that this characteristic is essential to the success of a team, and overall the entire organization, because the team leader is able to effectively lead the team by providing clear goals, and ideas of approaching them. I would say that this is an area of strength for me, as I like to look for different ways of coming up with a solution, and then communicating it to co-workers and upper management. As previously mentioned, our clients’ goals are important to our residence; as such, I am able to create a step-by-step plan that indicates the appropriate procedures needed to ensure that the client is able to follow a relatively easy plan. For example, some of our clients have goals associated with weight loss, others with joining a dance class, and so forth. I am able to set clear objectives and follow through with them to ensure that these goals are

Also, team leaders should be able to adapt to ongoing changes both with internal and external environments. As a leader, it is important to be able to remain calm in situations of conflict, and find the best way to resolve any conflict. In Module 7, Team and Organizational Effectiveness, Shea (2012) states that, “[c]ompromise and collaboration are the only truly effective means to resolve conflict. To come to a resolution, it is helpful if someone in the agency has conflict management skills” (p.5). These skills are crucial for a leader within a team, as issues are common, but can be successfully resolved to produce the best results. I believe this is an area that I need improvement on, as I tend to let other staff deal with problems, when I should be utilizing my verbal communication skills to help resolve the conflict. However, I recognize that if I step up to look for solutions and focus on leading by example, I would be able to progress as an effective team