Organizational Skills
William Martin
(Based on presentation by)
Harishwaran ‘Hari’ Hariharan
August 29th 2010
Outline
• Actual Organizational Skills
– Physical
– Electronic
– Data security
• Management
– Different type of leaderships
– Appropriate leadership style
• Negotiation
– Various points to ponder
July 12, 2016 Slide 2
Physical Organizational Skills
• State of desk/workspace
• Backpack/messenger bag/briefcase
• Folders/Binders
• Car
• Home
Random internet clipart
(courtesy gifted homeschoolers forum)
July 12, 2016 Slide 3
Electronic Organizational Skills
• Logical File Structures
• Centralization of data
• Messy Desktop
• Archiving
This is bad
(from Deviant Art – by Ruth Ortiz)
July 12, 2016 Slide 4
Electronic Organizational Skills
• Centralization of data
• Backpack/messenger bag/briefcase
• Folders/Binders
• Car
• Home
July 12, 2016 Slide 5
Electronic Organizational Skills
• Logical File Structures
• Centralization of data
• Messy Desktop • Archiving
This is bad
(from Deviant Art – by Ruth Ortiz)
July 12, 2016 Slide 6
Electronic Organization Skills
• Logical File Structures
• Centralization of data
• Messy Desktop
• Archiving
– Date Stamped .zip files
– Dropbox, SugarSync, etc.
– Github?
– SVN?
July 12, 2016 Slide 7
Data Security - Organizational
Skills
• Computer failure
– Matter of when, not if
– Inability to recover data a definite possibility
• How to prevent data loss
– External hard drive
• Pros
– Can function as both data back-up and extra storage
– Relatively low, one time cost
– Can store enormous amounts of data
• Cons
– Must actively back-up files
– No way to know if external hard drive has crashed
– Usually in same physical location as computer
» Fire? Flood? Robbery? Local Zombie Apocalypse?
July 12, 2016 Slide 8
Data Security - Organizational
Skills
• How to prevent data loss
– Cloud Back-up
• Pros
– Passive, regularly scheduled back-ups
– Generally unlimited storage
– Versioning
– Access files from any computer or mobile device
– Not in same physical location as computer
• Cons
– Can be very expensive
– Data is in “someone else’s hands” (security)
– CPU/bandwidth usage
– What if server farm catches fire?
– Ideal – do both (cloud backup and external)
July 12, 2016 Slide 9
Outline
• Actual Organizational Skills
– Physical
– Electronic
– Data security
• Management
– Different type of leaderships
– Appropriate leadership style
• Negotiation
– Various points to ponder
July 12, 2016 Slide 10
Leaders versus Managers
• Managers have legitimate or
positional power as a result
of their post
• For leaders, the source of their
ability to influence others comes
from their expertise or from their personality
• Possible to be a leader without being a manager
• Also, possible to be a manager with no leadership
skills
• Typically, though, the best managers are also
leaders
July 12, 2016 Slide 11
Lewin, Lippitt, and White
Studied boys in arts and crafts clubs led by
adults (1930s)
• Autocratic leaders
– Leaders dictated what sorts of models they
would make
– They sometimes praised or blamed them but
did not explain their comments
• Democratic leaders
– They discussed various possible projects and
allowed the boys to make their own decisions
(built consensus)
– They explained their comments
• Laissez-faire (free reign) leaders
– They left the boys very much to their own
devices
– They did not become involved and generally
participated little in the group's activities
July 12, 2016 Slide 12
Lewin, Lippitt, and White
Studied boys in arts and crafts clubs led by
adults (1930s)
• Autocratic leaders
– Leaders dictated what sorts of models they
would make
– They sometimes praised or blamed them but
did not explain their comments
• Democratic leaders
– They discussed various possible projects and
allowed the boys to make their own decisions
(built consensus)
– They explained their comments
• Laissez-faire (free reign) leaders
– They left the boys very much to their own
devices
– They did not become involved and generally
participated little in the group's activities
July 12, 2016 Slide 13
Lewin et al. Findings
• Those under Autocratic (Task centered) leaders
– Aggressive towards each other
– Submissive to leader
– Two types of members
• Aggressive: members become rebellious
• Apathetic: Place fewer demands on the leader and less
critical of leader
– Higher productivity than other groups
– Lower quality of products
July 12, 2016 Slide 14
Lewin et al. Findings
• Those under Democratic (Person centered) leaders
– Got along well with each other (high morale)
– Approaches to leader were task related
– Accomplish less work than autocratic (moderate
productivity)
– When group leader leaves, group continues to be
productive independently
– Fair amount of originality
– Higher quality
July 12, 2016 Slide 15
Lewin et al. Findings
• Those under Laissez-faire (free reign) leaders
– Worst groups of all
– Aggressive towards each other
– Very little work done
– Low productivity
– Little cooperation and place great demands on leader
– Show little ability to work independently
July 12, 2016 Slide 16
Fiedler’s Contingency Model
• Task oriented is most effective when
–
–
–
–
Relations are good
Task is highly structured
Leader has substantial power and authority
Or the exact opposite of the above conditions
• People oriented (relations approach) is most effective when
– Relations are only moderately good
– Leader has a degree of power and authority
• In general, best managers are those that place
– High concern for people
– AND high concern for task
July 12, 2016 Slide 17
http://www.nwlink.com/~donclark/leader/leadstl.html
Appropriate Leadership Style
•
Factory employee who is
new to the job
•
Autocratic
•
The employee is new and
needs to learn what to do
•
Laundry worker who
sorts laundry
•
Bureaucratic
•
Employee is performing a
routine task over and over
•
Three long-time
receptionists ask for
same day off for
legitimate reasons
•
Democratic
•
Employees are used to
working together and can
help solve the problem
•
Employees are receiving
CPR training
•
Bureaucratic
•
Safety or security training
must be done the same way
each time
•
A programmer refuses to
follow the company’s
coding policies
•
Autocratic
•
Employee is challenging the
manager’s power
•
District salesperson who
spends most of the year
on the road
•
Laissez-faire
•
Employee is able to perform
work w/o supervision
Bureaucratic – Management “by the book.” This manager is really more
of a police officer than a leader. He or she enforces the rules.
July 12, 2016 Slide 18
Outline
• Actual Organizational Skills
– Physical
– Electronic
– Data security
• Management
– Different type of leaderships
– Appropriate leadership style
• Negotiation
– Various points to ponder
July 12, 2016 Slide 19
Negotiation Skills
July 12, 2016 Slide 20
Negotiation Skills
• Definition
• Goals
• Trading
• The relationship
• Power
• The consequences
July 12, 2016 Slide 21
Negotiation Skills
• Definition
– Negotiating helps people reach decisions jointly “in a civilized
way”
• Goals
– What do you want to get out of the negotiation?
– What do you expect the other person to want?
• Trading
– What do you and the other person have that you can trade?
– What might you each be prepared to give away?
www.mindtools.com
July 12, 2016 Slide 22
Negotiation Skills
• Definition
– Negotiating helps people reach decisions jointly “in a civilized
way”
July 12, 2016 Slide 23
Negotiation Skills
• The relationship
– What is the history of the relationship?
– Could or should this history impact the negotiation?
– Will there be any hidden issues that may influence the
negotiation?
– What has the outcome been in the past, and what precedents
have been set?
www.mindtools.com
July 12, 2016 Slide 24
Negotiation Skills
• Power
– Who has what power in the relationship?
– Who controls resources?
– Who stands to lose the most if agreement isn’t reached?
– What power does the other person have to deliver what you
hope for?
July 12, 2016 Slide 25
Negotiation Skills
• The consequences
– What are the consequences for you of winning or losing this
negotiation?
– What are the consequences for the other person?
– If you don’t agree, what alternatives do you have?
– How much does it matter if you do not reach agreement?
– Does failure to reach an agreement cut out future
opportunities?
July 12, 2016 Slide 26
Negotiation Skills
• More Negotiation Tactics and Advice
July 12, 2016 Slide 27
Homework 1
• Consider each of these statements below
– Think of a time when you, or a leader over you, used the
• Authoritarian (autocratic) style of leadership
• Participative (democratic) style of leadership
• “By the book” (bureaucratic) style of leadership
• Delegative (free reign) style of leadership
• Write some comments about each statement
– Did it work? Could a different style have worked better?
– How did the employees feel about the decision?
– Did everyone learn from that style and what did they learn?
– Which style is easiest to use, and why?
– Which style do you prefer the leaders over you to use, and why?
• Post your write up on your webpage (~one page)
July 12, 2016 Slide 28