Each person can benefit from studying individual behavior and group dynamics within organizations. At some point, everyone will work within a group or team, either as students or as professionals. When it comes to organizational behavior, there is no difference between the Los Angeles Lakers players or the members of the Disney marketing team. Each of these organizations will have to overcome the same obstacles within their team. There are countless areas included in organizational behavior, but there are a few that turn out to be more imperative. Organizational leaders must study and understand these issues so that they can improve their team in every way possible. These topics include conflict, communication, culture, and control.
• Conflict: If a person has ever been part of a group, whether they know it or not, they have experienced a conflict. What leaders can learn from studying conflict is how to diagnose and resolve it. Sometimes diagnosing a conflict is not an easy task because the conflict can be healthy or harmful. To facilitate this task, leaders must develop trust within the group. A group of friends is more likely to be comfortable arguing with each other than a group of acquaintances, right? Members can openly participate and define conflict when they trust each other. When it comes to conflict resolution, the two best ways to do it are to collaborate or compromise. The first technique a leader must try to resolve a conflict is collaboration. Collaboration can be defined as having an in-depth discussion of the conflict and reaching a resolution that is suitable for both parties. This technique will make everyone in the group satisfied. If this doesn’t work, leaders should try to compromise. Through compromise, each party will have to give up something to reach a solution, but this method is not optimal because it may not improve the conflicting relationship.
• Communication: as seen in the previous topic, good communication can make a team very successful. The leader of a team needs to communicate effectively. One of the best ways to communicate is to listen. Reflective listening, or attentive listening and repeating the message, is possibly the best way to communicate. This type of listening will help the listener to understand the meaning of the communicator and allow him to solve problems. Recognizing non-verbal communication also goes hand in hand with reflective listening. Non-verbal communication makes up most of what people communicate with each other. If leaders can recognize the non-verbal expressions being conveyed to them, they will be able to better understand what the communicator is trying to communicate.
• Culture: Having an established culture within an organization or team is the best way to shape the behavior of team members. By creating team norms and values, team members will know exactly what is expected of them. These rules can be formal, informal, verbalized or written. As long as rules exist, they can be effective in influencing behavior. An established culture allows members to find their identity within a team. By finding its role, the team will increase its cohesion and will be able to work better as a unit.
• Control: Control is synonymous with power and influence. These are very important traits that leaders need when leading a team or group. If leaders have effective influence or power over their team, they will be more likely to achieve their goals. Even if leaders have authority, it doesn’t mean they have power or influence. Obviously, everyone would rather be charismatic, loved and admired. When people don’t have the charisma or charm, what are they supposed to do? There are many different types of power, but people will listen to leaders who are experts. If a person has complete knowledge of a subject, who can question him? The answer is nobody. Leaders can influence their members effectively if they have the knowledge or skills they need.