A critical theoretical and visual analysis of my experience of work Essay - 1

A critical theoretical and visual analysis of my experience of work - Essay Example The following images represent my expreinces at work during an internship. With the help of these images and relevant theories, I will carry out an anlaysis into my experience at work to help explain how people and their behaviours have an effect on the workplace and the organization in general. Source: www.cel.sfsu.edu Conflict (Emotions at work) Any setup with more than one person, whether work or any other, is bound to see a difference of opinion that in the end results into conflict. Both Classical and non classical theorists looked at conflict as one aspect that must be totally avoided because it brings with it imbalance. Contingency theorists on the other hand look at it as inevitable but one that can be properly managed (Miner, 2001). While working as an intern at a research firm, I came face to face with conflict within an organization when there was lack of a clear chain of command in my department and had to take orders from two different people who were equals in the manag erial hierarchy. As an intern, I was charged with the task of data capture and preliminary analysis, a task that required guidance and proper directions from my seniors at the department. Often, I would receive conflicting instructions from the two seniors and this left me not only confused, but also demoralized as it became very difficult to know what the right thing was. As a remedy, I resorted to making references to the organization’s operations manual for guidance and making rational judgments in cases where proper procedures were not provided in the operations manual (Bernhard & Glantz, 1992). Contingency theory therefore came in handy in this situation and a reference to studies by Chandler that involved about four major American corporations made a lot of difference. According to Chandler, managers can only be effective if they have the ability to swiftly adapt to changes in their respective environments. He also explained that an organization must be rational, chrono logical and linear in its actions to be in sync with changes in the environment (Griffin & Moorehead, 2012). I therefore borrowed from this theory and looked as myself as a manager, analyzed my situation and made a decision to draw my references to the operations manual in situations where the instructions from my two managers were in conflict. This decision was informed by my desire to be efficient while keeping a good relationship with my seniors. I was certain that should any discrepancy appear in my line of responsibility, either of the two managers would most likely not take responsibility and would find it comfortable to leave the blame on me. In case such a situation arose, I would clearly find refuge in the operations manual and use that as my defense. An organization should work towards minimizing conflicts by having a clear organization structure that ensures every employee is accountable for both their time and decisions, the roles and responsibilities should not cross to avoid blames and lay emphasis in personal responsibility by managers (White & Bednar, 1991). As Chandler puts it, operations and decision processes should be linear, sequential and chronological to minimize the possibility of conflict. Receiving instructions from two mangers at the same managerial level, like was in my case during internship, was a definite recipe for conflict. Source: liferesolutionsaustralia.files.wordpress.com Groups and Teams The success of an organization is entirely