EMIS 8364
ENGINEERING MANAGEMENT
Fall 2009
Ganesh Harpavat, Ph. D., M.B.A.
Tel. No. (972) 691 - 2850
Lecture # 5
Topic: Motivation and Leading Technical People
Management Tasks:
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Planning
Organizing
Staffing
Leading ( or directing or motivating)
Controlling (or measuring)
Motivation:
“Motivation is the willingness to exert high levels of effort to reach organizational goals”
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The direction of an individual’s behavior (measured by the choice made when
several alternatives are available)
The strength of that behavior once a choice is made
The persistence of that behavior
“There is only one way to get people do what you would like them to do, and that is by
making them want to do it. Motivation flows from within the individual”
McGregor’s Theory X & Theroy Y:
The way we try to motivate someone depends on our assumptions about their basic
nature. There are two contrasting sets of assumptions about the basic nature of people:
Theory X:
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Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive
enterprise, money, material, equipment, people etc. in the interest of economic
ends.
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With respect to people, this is a process of directing their efforts, motivating
them, controlling their actions, modifying their behavior to fit the needs of the
organization.
Without this active intervention by management, people would be passive even resistant - to organization needs. They must therefore be persuaded,
rewarded, punished, controlled - their activities must be directed. This is
management’s task …..
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The average person is by nature indolent – works as little as possible
He lacks ambition, dislikes responsibility, prefers to be led
He is inherently self-centered, indifferent to organizational needs
He is by nature resistant to change
He is gullible and not very bright
McGregor’s Theory Y:
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Management is responsible for organizing the elements of productive
enterprise, money, materials, equipment, people etc. in the interest of
economic ends.
People are not by nature passive or resistant to organizational needs. They
have become so as a result of experience in organizations.
The motivation, the potential for development, the capacity for assuming
responsibility, the readiness to direct behavior toward organization goals are
all present in people. Management does not have to put them there. It is the
responsibility of management to make it possible for people to recognize and
develop these human characteristics for themselves.
The essential task of management is to arrange organizational conditions and
methods of operation so that people can achieve their own goals best by
directing their own efforts toward organizational objectives.
Content versus process theories:
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Content theories are based on human needs and people’s (often unconscious)
efforts to satisfy them.
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Process theories assume that behavioral choices are made more rationally,
based on the expected outcomes.
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Physiological needs
Safety needs
Love needs
Esteem needs
Self-actualization ( or self-fulfillment)
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An unsatisfied need acts as a motivator
Herzberg’s two factor theory:
1. Growth or motivation factors are intrinsic to the job: (in order of decreasing
importance):
Achievement
Recognition for achievement
The work itself,
Responsibility, and
Growth or advancement.
2. Hygiene or Dissatisfaction - avoidance factors are extrinsic to the job: (in
order of decreasing importance):
Company policy and administration
Supervision
Interpersonal relationships
Working conditions
Salary
Status and
Security.
Lower level needs, if absent , create dissatisfaction and if present do not create
satisfaction. Higher level needs, if absent, do not create satisfaction but also do not create
dissatisfaction.
Money is primarily a hygiene factor - lack of it can create dissatisfaction but by itself it
may not be enough for motivation.
Job enrichment to increase the content of motivators in a job
McClelland’s trio of needs:
1. Need for achievement
2. Need for power
3. Need for affiliation
Process Theories:
Expectancy Theory:
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Effort-to-performance expectancy
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Performance-to-outcome expectancy
Behavior Modification (Reinforcement Theory):
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Positive reinforcement
Negative reinforcement
Punishment
Extinction
Leadership:
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Formal (Appointed)
Informal (Emergent)
Leadership/ Management Styles:
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Administrators – by the book and very formal
Time Servers – older and low motivation
Climbers – extreme personal ambitions
Generals – likes to rule and manipulate power
Supporters – work through people to get to goals
Nice Guys – more interested in being liked
Bosses – bully their staff and like to have their own way
The Leadership Grid: Blake & McCanse
1.1 - Impoverished management
1.9 - Country club management
9.1 - Authority compliance
9.9 - Team management
Leadership Traits:
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Physical qualities – health, vitality, endurance
Personal attributes – personal magnetism, cooperativeness, enthusiasm, ability
to inspire, persuasiveness, forcefulness, tact
Character attributes – integrity, humanism, self-discipline, stability, industry
Intellectual qualities – mental capacity, ability to teach others, scientific
approach
Engineering managers generally exceed in the perceived need for the following
categories:
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Health
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Endurance
Scientific approach to problems
Vitality
Forcefulness
Engineering managers are not so successful in meeting expectations in the following
categories:
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Ability to inspire
Tact
Persuasiveness
Stability
Enthusiasm
Meyers-Briggs Preference:
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Extroversion E vs. Introversion I
Intuition N vs. Sensing S
Thinking T vs. Feeling F
Judging J vs. Perceiving P
Engineers & Scientists are frequently ENTJ or INTJ
Successful Engineering managers are frequently ENTJ
Successful researchers in technical areas are frequently INTJ
Only 2% of Total Population fall in these two categories
Leadership Continuum:
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Autocratic (telling)
Diplomatic (Selling)
Consultative (Consulting)
Participative (Joining)
The Professional Defined:
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They have expertise stemming from long, specialized training.
They merit and seek a measure of autonomy in defining the means and ends of their
work.
They have a commitment to their work and their profession.
They identify with their profession and their peers therein.
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They aspire to be ethical, unemotional, and unselfish in the conduct of their
professional activities.
They collegially take responsibility for setting and maintaining standards in the
profession.
Attributes of the professional:
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Be seen by the organization as more interested in their narrow specialties than in
solving organizational problems.
See the organization as too pragmatic, solving problems by the seat-of-the-pants
approach.
Be less loyal to and more critical of the organization.
Place less importance on money and more on freedom to pursue projects of interest
and on the quality of facilities and support services.
Accept authority based on expertise rather than hierarchy.
Emphasize professional values over organizational goals.
General Nature of the Technical Professionals:
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High need for achievement
Autonomy
Tendency to identify first with their profession
Maintain their expertise
Dimensions of Technical leadership:
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Coach for peak performance
Run organizational interference
Orchestrate professional development
Expand individual productivity through teamwork
Facilitate self-management
Things Managers should not say to employees:
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“Just Make it happen.”
“You need to work smarter, not harder.”
“That’s a no-brainer.”
“I don’t want to hear any excuses.”
“You are lucky I don’t fire you.”
“I’ve got my eye on you.”
“I don’t pay you to think.”
Things to tell employees every day:
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“I like what you’re doing.”
“You never know what the tide will bring in.”
“How would you do this if it was the most important decision you’ll ever make.”
“Do my customers get it.”
“What’s standing in the way.”
“Take some time to think.”
“Where’s the fun?”
Poem form Chinese Philosopher Lao Tsu (600 B.C.):
A leader is best
when people barely know he exists.
Not so good when people obey and acclaim him.
Worse when they despise him.
But of a good leader, who talks little,
when his work is done and his aim fulfilled,
they will say, “We did it ourselves.”
Delegation:
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Most managers spend a considerable amount of time on tasks which could be
effectively delegated.
Managers who cannot delegate will often say “ if you want it done properly, do it
yourself”.
Use of Motivational Theories by Engineers:
Engineering managers are most familiar with:
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MBO
Quality Circles
In Search of Excellence
Maslow
McGregor
Hertzberg
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Guidelines for Giving Feedback
Giving "feedback" is a way of helping another person to consider changing his or her
behavior. Used properly, it can be a helpful "guidance control" mechanism that the
feedback recipient can use in altering his or her behavior.
Here are some guidelines for giving useful feedback:
1. Describe the other person's behavior and the impact of the behavior on you/team.
Avoid "judging" language so that the other person will feel less defensive.
Example: (Ineffective!) - "You're dominating."
Example: (Effective!) - "During our discussion, you interrupted me
several times. That caused me to feel my ideas were unimportant to
you."
2. Use specific rather than general terms.
Example: (Ineffective!) - "You did a really good job."
Example: (Effective!) - "During your presentation, you engaged the
audience by asking questions."
3. Be sincere, give feedback with the intent of helping the other person. Feedback can be
destructive when it serves only the needs of the person who gives it.
Example: (Ineffective!) - "I've been meaning to tell you that the team
and I don't like your patronizing attitude. There, I said it."
Example: (Effective!) - "I have a suggestion for how you might be more
effective when interacting with the team."
4. Discuss behavior that the other person can do something about. Frustration is only
increased when a person is reminded of some shortcoming over which he/she has no
control (for example, stuttering).
5. Be aware that feedback is more effective when requested than when "dumped." The
person who requests feedback is more likely to consider it and make any necessary
changes.
6. Give feedback as soon as possible after the behavior has occurred. However, you
may sometimes want to wait for emotions to cool down to avoid embarrassing the
person in front of others, and so on.
7. Give distributed feedback over timer versus "LAZY" (leave alone, zap you!)
feedback.
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8. Check to make sure that what you have said is clear. After you have given feedback,
ask the other person to try to rephrase what you have said.
Guidelines for Receiving Feedback - "The Flip-Side" of Giving Feedback
1. Request specific descriptive information from your feedback source.
Ex: "What did I do or say to cause you to think I was not
listening closely to people's suggestions during the meeting?"
2. Ask for clarification of feedback without putting your feedback source in a defensive
position.
Ex: "Could you give me an example?"
3. Be willing to receive both negative and positive feedback. Listen with an open mind.
Try to be unbiased regarding your strengths and weaknesses.
4. Encourage your feedback source to avoid evaluative or emotion-laden terms.
Ex: "You said I am often inflexible. Would you tell me what I did or
said to cause that impression?"
5. Acknowledge feedback without becoming defensive. Offer justification or
commentary on your actions only if requested to do so. You are receiving feedback,
not an evaluation.
6. Warn your feedback source when you feel uncomfortable with the feedback you are
receiving. Tell them when you feel your capacity for effectively processing feedback,
especially negative feedback, has been reached.
7. Think of ways to keep negative incidents from recurring. Ask your feedback source
for suggestions if you have no ideas.
8. Take notes on the feedback you are receiving.
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BALANCE
In a university commencement address several years ago, Brian Dyson, CEO of Coca
Cola Enterprises, spoke of the relation of work to one's other commitments: "Imagine
life as a game in which you are juggling some five balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and spirit - and you're keeping all of these in the air. You
will soon understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But
the other four balls - family, health, friends and spirit – are made of glass. If you drop
one of these, they will be irrevocably scuffed, marked, nicked, damaged or even shattered.
They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your
life."
How?
Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others. It is because we are
different that each of us is special.
Don't set your goals by what other people deem important. Only you know what is best
for you.
Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart. Cling to them as they would your
life, for without them, life is meaningless.
Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future. By
living your life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life.
Don't give up when you still have something to give. Nothing is really over until the
moment you stop trying.
Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect. It is this fragile thread that binds us
to each together.
Don't be afraid to encounter risks. It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.
Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find time. The quickest way to
receive love is to give; the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly; and the best
way to keep love is to give it wings.
Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where
you are going.
Don't forget, a person's greatest emotional need is to feel appreciated.
Don't be afraid to learn. Knowledge is weightless, a treasure you can always carry easily.
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Don't use time or words carelessly. Neither can be retrieved. Life is not a race, but a
journey to be savored each step of the way.
Yesterday is History, Tomorrow is a Mystery and Today is a gift: that's why we call
it The Present.
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