Unit 7Who’s Calling the Shots(10页).doc

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1、-Unit 7 Whos Calling the Shots?TEACHER: Good morning. Hope you had a good weekend. Today were going to start talking about styles of business management. Styles of management vary from country to country, company to company, and, from person to person. One approach to good management now considered

2、important worldwide is team building. Team building is only part of what makes someone a good manager, but it underlies many good management practices. When team building, the manager does things to help employees work together effectively as a group, as a team. This is based on the idea that the ma

3、nagers job isnt simply to tell people what to do, but to help solve problems and help people communicate so they work well together. This approach emphasizes employee relations, and it benefits the company.It hasnt always been this way. Not so many years ago there was an attitude in American compani

4、es, of “What the manager says goes.” Employees were expected to do what they were told. But were seeing a new paradigm because companies have realized that employees dont do their best work when theyre treated like this. This was a big change in American management style, perhaps influenced by the J

5、apanese model.First, in order to build a team, a good business manager knows that different people are good at different things and values the special skills that each employee brings to the company. A good manager needs to find a way to let the employees know that their particular skills are import

6、ant to the company. The employees are then more likely to do their best when they feel valued, and value each other. A strong manager knows how to build a team of employees who help each other do their best work.So, what can a manager do to help employees feel theyre valued, like part of the team? L

7、ets consider a situation at a company called the ABC company. Lets say theres a new manager in the office, Mrs. Gomez, and shes made some changes. One day, an employee-Mrs. Parks-decides to approach Mrs. Gomez about some problems she is having at work. Mrs. Parks has worked at the company for more t

8、han ten years. The new changes make it difficult for her to do her job well. Shes stressed, and this is affecting her job performance.So, Mrs. Gomez and Mrs. Parks talk. Mrs. Gomez listens. She knows she has made some changes, and that the office isnt being run like it was before. But she tells Mrs.

9、 Parks to try her best, and to give it more time. Oh, I see a question. Anna?STUDENT 1: Im not clear. What kind of changes are you talking about?TEACHER: Oh. Well, lets say one change is that, before, you gave a rough draft of your report to the secretary, and she edited it and sent it out. Now, the

10、 secretary doesnt do this for you. You have to do it yourself. She changed the way the office was organized.STUDENT 1: Oh, OK.TEACHER: Later that night, Mrs. Gomez thinks about what Mrs. Parks said. She thinks its possible that other people in the office are having problems, too. Mrs. Gomez knows th

11、at she needs a strong team to be a successful manager. She also needs a stable group of employees. She doesnt want people to leave. She decides she needs to get an accurate idea of the employees perspectives. She decides to give the employees an opportunity to share their ideas. She wants to show th

12、em she values their work and their experience at the company. So, Mrs. Gomez makes a team-building plan. She begins by scheduling a meeting for the next day to talk about the changes she has made, to give the employees an opportunity to say what problems theyre having and to ask questions. At the en

13、d of the meeting, she gives the employees some questions to answer in writing to make it easy for them to share their ideas. She tells them she will use the answers they write and the ideas from the meeting to decide on the next step in the office.Lets consider the kind of questions she gives them.

14、She wants questions that focus on the work itself, questions that would be easy for an employee to answer honestly. Questions like:A. Is it clear to you what your responsibilities are? B. Do you know who to talk to if a task is unclear?C. Do your team members support you? If not, what specific thing

15、s could they do to help you do a better job?D. What was done in the past that you think worked better?These questions are about the work, about how the office is organized, and about working together. They dont focus on the employees feelings about the manager. Mrs. Gomez reads their answers to the

16、questions. She also checks her notes from the meeting. She decides to modify the way she has reorganized the office. Not big changes-just a few small ones. She realizes that some of the old ways were better. So, she makes a few changes back to how the office was organized before. She also comes up w

17、ith a six-month plan for improvement, and tells the employees they will all review the plan together in six months. What message is she communicating to the employees by these actions? Well first, shes telling them she considers their ideas important; she values their opinions. Second, she is tellin

18、g them she is in charge, but she values what they say. Third, shes telling them that change is not necessarily good if there is no good reason for it. In other words, she didnt need to make so many big changes when she started as manager, And, finally, she is telling them that she is human, that she

19、 can admit her mistakes, and that she is willing to do what benefits the group. This puts her on the road to gaining their support, and to being a successful manager.Now, on to the third part of her plan. Mrs. Gomez plans a picnic at the park near their office. They have lunch, play games, and talk,

20、 they laugh and joke and relax. By the end of the day, they know each other better. Hopefully, this will help them work together better, as well. Lets review the three parts of Mrs. Gomezs team-building plan: She had a meeting, she gave employees questions about the office organization, and she plan

21、ned a fun activity to help them get to know each other. We can see that her plan is based on the importance of solving problems, and on the belief that communication is vital in order to succeed as a team. This is a key point: Her plan is based on the idea of solving problems and employees sharing i

22、deas.Any questions? Felipe?STUDENT 2: Well, Ive studied some business management courses, and I understand that its important to develop communication and build up team players, but isnt it just a waste of time to have these “fun” activities?TEACHER: Well, a lot of managers do think its a waste of t

23、ime, especially in the short term. But, in the long run, its definitely not a waste of time. In fact, its often a great way to save time in team building.Lets stop here. Today we discussed team building and why it has become important. In the next class, I want to talk about other group activities managers can use to build a team. Well start there next time. Thats all for today.第 10 页-