Reference no: EM132163641

Summative Assessment
 
Question 1

The employed personnel should always be familiar with their work flow to make sure that the products are of high quality. Polies and procedures are the best tools to be used in guiding the employees so as they can meet the expectations of the organizations. The two ensure that everyone complies with the organization's objectives, due to the following reasons:

They articulate the required steps in an organization. Polies and procedures helps in laying down the correct steps needed for a particular task to be done. With the polies and procedures at hand, it is easy for the employees to meet the expectations of an organization. Like for example; a waiter in a restaurant has to know the policies and procedures to use while serving customers and with that at hand, he/she will meet all the expectations of that restaurant.

Also the policies and procedures can be used as tools for measuring the performance of the employees. That can be used by following up to ensure that they were correctly followed. Like for example a receptionist should follow the right answering phone procedures and policies as he/she knows that if they are not followed, he can be tracked down.

Consistency of an organization can be complied with by the use of policies and procedures. They ensure that things are done as it is expected by the organization and that all the necessary steps are followed and none of them is ignored.

Policies and procedures can be used as a training tool for the employees in an organization. Training is very important in any organizations. The employees can be trained through well detailed job descriptions. The job descriptions can be written in terms of policies and procedures.

It will reinforce the expectations of an organization. These policies and procedures can also be used in incorporating the experience of workers. If they are incorporated well, the lessons learnt by employees will help in ensuring good quality good and services plus legal and safety compliance.

Also, new employees are normally not well familiarized with the organization's work process and thus likely to make mistakes. Therefore, policies and procedures can be used as the best way of treating and training them on the work flow. At the end they will comply with the expectations of the firm and they will be a reminder of the steps and expectations of the organization.

Lastly, it is obvious that every organization aims at improving its process. Therefore, the policies and procedures can be reviewed well with the new organizational expectations and it can serve the employees, customers, and the quality data well. They can be used as template to helping the organization improve what is normally done and also in return help it in improving its current processes. At the end the organization will be able to meet all its expectations by the use of the policies and procedures.

It is therefore important for every organization to put everything in writing through the use of policies and procedure manuals. The manual should then be well shared among employees to ensure that all the expectations and objectives of an organization are met.

Question 2

Learning style preferences is normally used in referring to the characteristics of someone's preferences, strength and weaknesses when it comes to taking the information in, processing it and finally retrieving. The learning style preferences of a person can be biologically imposed.

When it comes to learning difficult and new academic information, the learning style preference can develop from; quiet or the background noise, low or bright light, casual or formal seating, intermittent or uninterrupted breaks, perceptual modes, intake or no intake, mobility or passivity, analytical or global processing styles among others.

In a family, different members tend to have very different learning style preferences. As parents have very different learning style preference and children tend to take partial styles from each parent. This is why siblings of the same parents tend to perform differently from one another. A person's learning style preferences can also be due to motivation, more or less structure, nonconformity versus conformity and also their sociological learning preferences.

For some people, the learning style preferences tend to change with time. When some is taught with resources and strategies that compliment his/her preferences, the person is likely to achieve more. There are those people who can learn through an incompatible style, especially when the information is basic, but when it come to professional learning, the style of learning style preferences must be applied. As a learner, you just have to know that there is no step that is better than the other.

There are various learning style preferences. There are those people who prefer written and verbal. This style is mostly for those learners who are very comfortable with learning by reading. For such people to remember any information, they must see it written down before they can make it their long term memory.

Such people are also comfortable in expressing what they learn through writing it down. Another learning style preference is Aural/auditory oral. Here, learners easily process the information when they hear it. A good auditory learner read out loud when they come across a very difficult part of any written text they are trying to learn about. Such people enjoy group discussion studies. Some of these aural learners are comfortable in expressing their thought orally instead of writing. There are those whose learning style preference is Visual/graphic style.

Such learners memory information fast using matrices, grids, concept maps, graphs, pictures and other visual information representations. Visual learning is important when dealing with subjects such as biology, physics, economics and other sciences. The visual learners more often try converting the information they have into maps or even organize papers using a map and not the usual linear outline.

There are the kinesthetic/tactile concrete learners that learn using their whole body; touch, movement, smell, sight and colors. They comprehend information first using material manipulation, hand on training, manipulating and creating models and application of information learnt into the real world, touching, simulations and color-coding. In short, such people learn best through doing things.

Lastly, there is active/reflective learning style preference. These learners learn in a moment. They just process information at a go. Such people are those who benefit most from studying and discussing with others. The learners normally prefer internal processing of information. They take the information in and spend some time thinking about it before they can feel comfortable to join any discussion group. These are often the class silent killers.

Question 3

As a leader you must ensure that your team is well engaged in the work, they feel satisfied and also ensure that they team is performing at its best. To contain such members, you need to have strategies to use in ensuring that time and performance is maximized:

1. Clarify exact problem at work

As a leader, reprimanding an employee is sometimes stressful and unpleasant, same as to the person on the other end. This causes leaders to sometime soften the message so as not to hurt the feeling of their team member. However, it is crucial as a leader to ensure that your team members walk away from any discussion your hold with them with an understanding of the areas they have to improve and also what they have to correct. Other leaders employ sandwich method when dealing with their team member; positive, negative.

Positive in such a way that makes the employees feel they are valued even if they are told to improve on their performance. But still, a leader should just ensure that the members have a clear picture of the areas they have to improve and how different the area should look like after their improvement.

2. Field their criticisms

A leader should always be ready to listen to any suggestion or critique from his/her team members. They also try to invite feedback from the members. Be in negative or positive. If there is a member who is not satisfied with your performance, as the leader and he thinks that you are hindering his ability to succeed, you should try to work together with him and ensure that you reach a common solution. Do not just shut him off.

Welcoming criticism from your team and working with them to come to a conclusion with enhance trust and confidence in you as a leader. If you properly listen to your member, you will easily to a solution of any problem bothering you. Like for example, if they complain of a noisy working environment, move them to a quiet area. All you have to do is ask them, because you will never know if you do not ask.

3. Individualize every approach

There is no one method of motivation and leadership for everyone in a work place. As a leader, you have to understand the various style your members and tailor their coaches to each member's unique needs. Like for example, for those members who need little supervision and straightforward communication, do not try over explaining things to them or try holding their hands throughout the process. It is also applied in setting goals.

Know all your members with their potentials and identify who works well with normal check-ins and those who prefer working alone before they bring forward the final product for approval. As a good leader you should aim at improving your team members' strength instead of just focusing on criticizing their weaknesses. This will help in building confidence in members and bring good result rather than creating fear of failure among members.

4. Set clear goals

A good leader has to ensure that his team members are well familiarized with what is expected of them. You have to tailor you approach depending on every member's need and set a date of monitoring the progress. You have to ensure that the members are aware of the date they have to complete the assigned task.

You can also try to work with that troubled member so as to understand what is really disturbing them. Also your have to assign team members tasks according to their interests. Find out the interests of each member. Show them an honest interest in their success; this will help in igniting their passion. At the end you will get very good results.

5. Reward improvement

As a leader you have to make your employees know that you acknowledge and appreciate their works. While doing that, you have to ensure that you do not appear to be patronizing them.

Showing appreciation to your employees is not just about gifts, you can show it through; bonuses, verbal praise and even promise of a career advancement. Therefore, as a leader you just have to look for a way of making a clear impression that you recognize what your employees are doing.
 
References

Oleszek, W. J. (2013). Congressional procedures and the policy process.Sage.

Gupta, A. K., &Govindarajan, V. (1984).Business unit strategy, managerial characteristics, and business unit effectiveness at strategy implementation.Academy of Management journal, 27(1), 25-41.

Reid, J. M. (1987). The learning style preferences of ESL students.TESOL quarterly, 21(1), 87-111.