Introduction
Personality is a very essential aspect in any management behavior. It involves the overall pattern that any manager exhibits. This involves his or her individual belief, feelings, and even behaviors which influence the management style adopted. There are different personality types among various managers.
People-oriented personality is one type which tends to focus more on a management style that is more people-involving (Osadume, 2010). Managers who use this style in their leadership are known to enjoy teaching, communicating, and motivating their employees.
Management seems to become easier when those working in one organization are able to understand each other. This is why this personality type emphasizes on the importance of effective communication and building of trust among both employees and employers.
Many managers when appointed in this post in their organizations often desire an efficient and productive time in their leadership. These managers, therefore, often adopt various management theories in order to become successful in the management of their organizations. This enables them to plan, organize, lead, and even control various aspects of their organizations.
Management theory
There is a growing need in adopting effective communication with an aim of improving performance in all organizations in the recent past (Richmond, McCroskey & McCroskey, 2005). The era when managers kept the contribution of the subordinate employees aside and managed to propel the organizations on their own is running out of practice.
This is because most organizations have seen the benefits of involving all employees in the learning of their organizations. More and more organizations are adopting the behavioral management theory that focuses on improving the job satisfaction of the employees who in turn improve their productivity and customer satisfaction, thus helping the organization to meet its goals (McNamara, 2010).
Various organizations are doing this through improving the employees’ working conditions, changing their attitudes towards the junior employees, and seeking employee participation in the learning of the organization.
Strategies in the management theory
Most organizations operate more effectively through a democratic leadership style since this style tends to be more participative. With this style, all the employees of the organization take part in ensuring that the organization meets its goals. In this management style there are various strategies that make it effective in the learning of the organization.
One area where the personalities of the managers seem to be tested when relating with the organizational employees is in the area of communication. Communication is very important in both large and small business environments.
It is the aim of every business to develop effective and long lasting communication skills since this provides benefits that are beyond interpersonal dynamics. This is because they determine how the organization’s employees interact with their employers, within themselves and even with external partners like the clients.
When all employees in an organization develop effective communication skills, this becomes a benefit to the running of the business. This is because the business attains a great competitive advantage, making it attract more growth due to increase in the customer satisfaction and good relationship with other external partners like the suppliers and stakeholders.
Management that has adopted behavioral theory values effective communication in its approach. Within the working environment effective communication is the foundation of established trust within the working teams and improvement of productivity through effective performance. In an organization where the manager utilizes participative management, the importance of effective communication cannot be overlooked.
Effective communication is a process that begins with the individual’s ability to make the purpose for the message known to the audience. This is achieved through first identifying the objective of the conversation and ensuring that ones argument is clear and precise.
In order to communicate coherently, the individual must learn to remain focused on the topic of the conversation and avoid introducing other unrelated topics in the middle of a conversation as this may lead to confusion among the audience. Secondly, it is important for one to identify the audience that the message is being passed to.
This enables the speaker to modify and shape the communication in order to make it relevant to the recipient. The communication an individual uses with familiar fellow employees is different from that used to interact with the manager and the unfamiliar clients, thus the need to learn who the audience is and their characteristics.
Another aspect of effective communication is the ability to convey all significant information. This is characterized by the ability to provide enough details concerning a certain topic in order to bring out a clear image of the topic under discussion.
For instance, when communicating some important information concerning an organizational meeting to the employees, the speaker should ensure that important details like the dates and time of an event are not left out especially if it is a meeting that is to be held. Such information would also require some details on the expectation to be met by the employees.
The other aspect that is important in any communication is the appropriate use of non-verbal skills. Non-verbal skills remain a core area of communication thus it cannot be overlooked. This is especially when one is communicating with the audience face to face.
For effective communication to be achieved, the speaker need to maintain an eye contact with the audience in order to demonstrate interest in what is being communicated and also use facial expressions that reflect the right attitude depending on the topic. It is also necessary for the speaker to use the appropriate tone and keep off negative comments in the conversation.
Decision-making is another essential area that behavioral theory considers significant in meeting the organizational goals. This theory is based on the notion of team building with the aim of increasing collaboration among the organizational employees.
When making management decisions, managers therefore focus on developing their employees since they believe that through training and supervision, all employees can improve their productivity.
In these organizations, the management believes in involvement of their employees in the process of decision making (Wertheim, 2000). In their attempt to increase the team spirit, the contribution of all members of the organization is valuable and relevant in the process of coming up with appropriate decisions. The leader remains the overall authority but appreciates and utilizes the employees’ contributions.
Effectiveness of management by personality
There are various reasons why management by personality is the most effective for most organizations. Firstly, clash of personalities contributes to most conflicts within any organization. This occurs when, for instance, a manager who is achievement oriented works with employees who are people oriented and are sociable.
Management by personality provides a solution to such a crisis since there may be reassignment of tasks where each individual is given a task that suits his or her abilities. On the other hand, both the manager and the employees may be trained on how to deal with the differences in their personality through adjusting their attitudes and behavior for the benefit of the organization.
Secondly, through understanding each employee’s personalities, the manager is able to know which style is appropriate in dealing with each employee. This is because some individuals have a personality that demands independence with minimal control while others prefer a more dependent approach.
This knowledge enables the manager to avoid conflicts within the working environment and increase employees’ satisfaction in their tasks thus helping the organization meet its objective.
This is because changing the personality of any individual is impossible but through the understanding of their actions and needs that their personalities produce, both managers and employees are able to come up with effective communication and collaborations through sharing of their knowledge.
Conclusion
Effective managers are able to develop their own skills and competences through analysis of their own personalities and that of their employees. This is because each individual in any working environment has a unique personality which may lead to a conflict if not well managed. It is important to understand that management goes beyond a theory.
This is because the managers’ personality and leadership style counts in an attempt to achieve the organizational goals.
Effective communication is an aspect that may be very beneficial to any organization. This is because it leads to development of effective relationships and prevents many conflicts within the organization. Behavioral theory of management also values the contribution of all employees in the process of decision making
References
McNamara, C. (2010). Historical and contemporary theories of management. Web.
Osadume, C. (2010). Personality management. Web.
Richmond, J., McCroskey, V., & McCroskey, J. (2005). Organizational communication for survival: making work, work. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc.
Wertheim, E. G. (2000). Historical background of organizational behavior. Web.