978-1305502215 Chapter 10 Part 2

Unlock access to all the studying documents.

View Full Document

4. Perform a weekly review. Once a week, review your complete Next Actions list and your

calendar for the coming week. Scan the entire list of outstanding projects and actions so

that you can make efficient choices about using your time.

5. Now do it. Once you have collected, processed, organized, and reviewed your current

commitments, you will have a better sense of what needs to be done, enabling you to

make better choices about how to use your time.

This approach to self-management can help you get a handle of all the various things you have to

do and approach them in a systematic way with a clear mind.

Discussion Question #9: How do you think a system for self-management such as the five-step

system described in this chapter could benefit you as a student? What parts of the system seem

particularly useful to you? Explain.

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

VII. STRESS AND STRESS MANAGEMENT Exhibit 10.11

Stress is a physiological and emotional response to stimuli that place physical or psychological

demands on an individual and create uncertainty and lack of control when important outcomes

are at stake. These stimuli, called stressors, produce some combination of frustration and

anxiety.

A. Challenge Stress and Threat Stress Exhibit 10.12

Challenge stress fires you up, whereas threat stress burns you out. Stress up to a certain point

challenges you and increases your focus, alertness, efficiency, and productivity. After that

point, however, things will go downhill quickly and stress compromises your job

performance, your relationships, and even your health. The point at which things tip from

challenge stress (good) to threat stress (bad) may vary with each individual.

People’s responses to stressors vary according to their personality, the resources available to

help them cope, and the context in which the stress occurs. When the level of stress is low,

stress can be a positive force, stimulating desirable change and achievement. However, too

much stress is associated with many negative consequences, including sleep disturbances,

drug and alcohol abuse, headaches, ulcers, high blood pressure, and heart disease. People

who are experiencing the ill effects of stress may withdraw from interactions with their

coworkers, take excess time off for illnesses, and have more health problems.

B. Type A and Type B Behavior

1. Researchers have categorized people as having one of two behavior patterns.

a. Type A behavior is a behavior pattern characterized by extreme competitiveness,

impatience, aggressiveness, and devotion to work.

Understanding Individual Behavior •

b. Type B behavior is a behavior pattern that lacks Type A characteristics and

includes a more balanced, relaxed lifestyle.

2. Type A individuals can be powerful forces for innovation and leadership within their

organizations. However, many Type A personalities cause stress-related problems for

themselves and sometimes for those around them. Most Type A individuals are high-

energy people. Type B individuals experience less conflict with other people and a

more balanced lifestyle.

C. Causes of Work Stress

1. Work-related stress is on the rise worldwide. Managers can better cope with their

own stress and establish ways for the organization to help employees cope if they

define the conditions that tend to produce work stress. One way to identify work

stressors is to place them in four categories.

a. Task demands are stressors arising from the tasks required of a person holding a

particular job such as decisions made under time pressure, those that must be

made with incomplete information, and those that have serious consequences.

Task demands also sometimes cause stress because of role ambiguity, which

means that people are unclear about what task behaviors are expected of them.

b. Interpersonal demands are stressors associated with relationships in the

organization. Interpersonal relationships can be a source of stress when the group

puts pressure on an individual or when conflicts arise between individuals. Role

conflict occurs when an individual perceives incompatible demands from others.

D. Innovative Responses to Stress Exhibit 10.13

Organizations that want to challenge their employees and stay competitive in a fast-

changing environment will never be stress-free. Because many consequences of stress

are negative, managers need to participate in stress management for themselves and for

their employees. But healthy workplaces promote the physical and emotional well-being

of their employees.

1. What You Can Do to Combat Stress

a. Seek and destroy key sources of stress. Being well organized, planning ahead,

and using various time management techniques are highly effective ways to

manage and prevent stress.

b. Find meaning and support. If you feel you have lot of support, you’re less

susceptible to the negative effects of bad stress.

c. Meditate and manage your energy. Meditation can be an important part of an

overall healthy lifestyle.

Understanding Individual Behavior •

d. Find work-life balance. People who live balanced lives typically accomplish

more than those who push themselves.

2. What Managers and Organizations Can Do

a. Create a psychologically healthy workplace. The number one way to lessen

employee stress is to create a healthy corporate culture that makes people feel

valued. This includes making sure that people don’t have unreasonable

workloads, providing opportunities for growth and advancement, and offering

suitable salaries and benefits.

b. Provide wellness programs and training. Wellness programs that offer access to

nutrition counseling and exercise facilities can be highly beneficial in helping

people cope with stressful jobs. Training programs and conferences can help

people identify stressors and teach them coping mechanisms.

c. Train managers in stress intervention. Training managers to recognize warning

signs of stress overload is critical. Manager intervention is a growing trend in

enlightened companies.

d. Make sure people get to have some fun at work. Particularly for jobs that have a

high degree of task-related stress, allowing people to blow off stream by having

fun can make all the difference in the stress level.

Work-life practices also communicate that managers and the organization care about employees

as human beings. Managers’ attitudes make a tremendous difference in whether employees are

stressed out and unhappy or relaxed, energetic, and productive.

Discussion Question #10: Why do you think workplace stress is skyrocketing? Do you think it is

a trend that will continue? Explain the reasons for your answer. Do you think it is the

responsibility of managers and organizations to help employees manage stress? Why or why

not?

NOTES________________________________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

SUGGESTED ANSWERS TO END–OF-CHAPTER DISCUSSION

QUESTIONS

1. Why is self-awareness important for being a good manager? Can you think of some specific

negative consequences that might result from a manager with low self-awareness?

Understanding Individual Behavior •

themselves, they remain grounded and constant, and people will know what to expect of

them.

If managers have low self-awareness then there is a mismatch between how managers think

of themselves and how others perceive them. A manager who considers herself to be friendly

and approachable could be perceived by her employees as cold and aloof. This could result in

employees being too weary to approach her when they first encounter a problem and are

more likely to figure out their own way to fix it. Should this approach fail, the manager will

only become aware of it much later, often after it has blown up to a greater proportion. It is,

therefore, necessary that managers work toward enhancing their self-awareness.

2. As a manager, how might you deal with an employee who is always displaying negative

emotions that affect the rest of the team? How might you use an understanding of

attributions and emotional contagion to help you decide what to do?

3. What are some specific tips that you would give a new manager for building trust with

subordinates? With other managers?

4. The chapter suggests that optimism is an important characteristic for a manager, yet some

employees complain that optimistic managers cause them significant stress because they

expect their subordinates to meet unreasonable goals or expectations. How might an

employee deal with a perpetually optimistic manager?

emotional arguments, but will find it more difficult to refute objective data that contradict their

expectations.

Of course, if the data does not support the notion that the manager’s goals or expectations are

truly unreasonable, then the employee will probably need to resort to more conventional ways of

dealing with stress, such as exercise, rest, a healthful diet, engaging in creative hobbies, etc.

5. Studies have suggested that extroverts contribute less to teams and are poor listeners, yet

other studies suggest that they are more likely to earn six-figure incomes, even in today’s

collaborative, team-oriented workplaces. Discuss why you think this might be the case.

6. Surveys by the Conference Board show that job satisfaction has declined from 61 percent of

people surveyed in 1987 to 45 percent in 2009, and one workplace analyst has said a high

level of dissatisfaction is “the new normal.” What are some factors that might explain this

decline in satisfaction levels? Do you think it is possible for managers to reverse the trend?

Discuss.

One possible factor is that work is increasingly knowledge-based, and the outputs of knowledge-

7. Which of the four components of emotional intelligence do you consider most important to an

effective manager in today’s world? Why?

The four components of emotional intelligence include self-awareness, self-management, social

awareness, and relationship awareness. The most effective of those in today’s world for

managers would be self-awareness, the basis for all the other components. It means being aware

of what you are feeling. People who are in touch with their feelings are better able to guide their

own lives and actions. Self-management refers to the ability to control disruptive or harmful

emotions and balance one’s moods so that worry, anxiety, fear, or anger do not cloud thinking.

Social awareness is the ability to understand others and practice empathy, putting yourself in

someone else’s shoes, recognizing the feelings of others without being told. Relationship

awareness is the ability to connect to others, build positive relationships, respond to the emotions

of others, and influence others.

8. How might understanding whether an employee has an internal or an external locus of

control help a manager better communicate with, motivate, and lead the employee?

People differ in terms of what they tend to attribute as the cause of their success or failure. Their

locus of control defines whether they place the primary responsibility within themselves or on

9. How do you think a system for self-management such as the five-step system described in this

chapter could benefit you as a student? What parts of the system seem particularly useful to

you? Explain.

10. Why do you think workplace stress is skyrocketing? Do you think it is a trend that will

continue? Explain the reasons for your answer. Do you think it is the responsibility of

managers and organizations to help employees manage stress? Why or why not?

Workplace stress is skyrocketing, in part, because the advancements in technology that were at

one time expected to give us a great deal more leisure time have, instead, resulted in people

Understanding Individual Behavior •

difficult for people to “disconnect” from work, psychologically or otherwise. As a result, people

experience very little down time and have less and less time to recharge either physically or

APPLY YOUR SKILLS: SELF-LEARNING

Personality Assessment: Jung’s Typology

Personality assessments based on the work of psychologist Carl Jung are widely used. No one is

a pure type; however, each individual has preferences for introversion versus extroversion,

sensing versus intuition, thinking versus feeling, and judging versus perceiving. Based on the

scores in the survey, students can read the descriptions of their types in the chart. They can then

discuss whether they feel that the description fits their personalities.

APPLY YOUR SKILLS: GROUP LEARNING

Attribution Theory and Personality Role Play

Understanding Individual Behavior •

After reading the case study presented in the exercise, students gather in groups to discuss

specifics of the case and how they will solve a problem. Then, students role play the problem-

solving approach, taking turns until everyone has participated, and give each other feedback after

each role play.

APPLY YOUR SKILLS: ETHICAL DILEMMA

Should I Fudge the Numbers?

1. Make the previous numbers work. Kristin and the entire team have put massive amounts of

time into the project, and they all expect you to be a team player. You don’t want to let them

down. Besides, this project is a great opportunity for you in a highly visible position.

2. Stick to your principles and refuse to fudge the numbers. Tell Kristin you will work overtime

to help develop an alternate proposal that stays within the budget by providing more training

to employees who work directly with customers and fewer training hours for those who don’t

have direct customer contact.

3. Go to the team and tell them what you’ve been asked to do. If they refuse to support you,

threaten to reveal the true numbers to the CEO and board members.

APPLY YOUR SKILLS: CASE FOR CRITICAL ANALYSIS

A Nice Manager

1. What does nice mean to you? Is being considered nice a good trait for managers to have or

the kiss of death?

2. Is nice related to any concepts in the chapter, such as agreeableness, conscientiousness, or

emotional intelligence? Discuss.

Understanding Individual Behavior •

3. If Harry is passed over for promotion, what feedback and advice should he be given about

how to improve his management skills for possible future promotions?

ON THE JOB VIDEO CASE ANSWERS

Mike Boyle Strength & Conditioning: Understanding Individual Behavior

1. Does Mike Boyle appear to be self-aware? How does his level of self-awareness affect the

way he runs his business?

2. As you watch the video, focus on Marco’s comments about himself and Mike’s comments on

Marco. Then use the four components of emotional intelligence to evaluate Marco as an

employee and explain whether you think he is or is not emotionally intelligent.

Emotional intelligence includes four basic components:

means putting himself in his client’s shoes. He assesses the mood that his client is in and works

with him or her, recognizing what this person is feeling during the training session.

• Relationship management. Marco has the ability to connect to others and has built a positive

relationship with Mike Boyle. If issues arise, they have a staff meeting, and Mike gives Marco

more direction and guides him with a firm hand. Marco has listened to Mike and used his

comments constructively to be a better trainer.

Marco shows a high degree of emotional intelligence and is a valuable employee.

3. Listen to Mike Boyle describe some of the characteristics and behaviors he requires of his

employees, and then compare these to the Big Five personality traits. Pretend you are Mike

Boyle and write out how valuable you think each of these traits is in the workplace. Rank

them in order of importance, according to Boyle.

Answers may vary and students may have a lively discussion about how Mike Boyle would rank

these traits. Here is a suggested ranking.