38. portray   v  изображать, описывать

39. inclination  n  тенденция, склонность, предпочтение

40. entirely  adv.  всецело, полностью, вполне

41. stick to.. v    держаться, придерживаться, оставаться верным…

42. associate n   коллега, партнер, соучастник, сторонник

43. obstacle  n  помеха, препятствие, преграда

44. tight control    строгий контроль

44. irritability n   раздражительность

45. arousal   n  пробуждение

46. rub   n  камень преткновения, препятствие, затруднение

Syn.: obstruction, difficulty

47. liability  n    здесь: помеха, источник неприятностей, обуза

48. hide (hid- hidden)  v   прятаться, скрываться

49. perks  n Pl    привилегии, льготы

50. mundane   adj.    мирской, светский, принадлежащий миру моды

51. meaninglessness  n   бессмысленность, бесцельность

52. cohesive   adj.   связанный, сплоченный, связующий

53. perceived problems осознанные, понимаемые проблемы

54. bash    - ам. гулянка, веселое сборище

Syn.: party

55. thriving culture    процветающая, бурно развивающаяся культура

     Unit 8. Socio-psychological climate within and outside  

a company.

Text 1. Ensuring socio-psychological climate in business.

It is the vital task of executives to create a company morale , they should “lend an ear” to each staff member, use “carrot and stick” motivation, otherwise staff will be unable to operate profitable, and that, in turn, will influence company existence in the whole. Top managers should pay great attention to the organizational conflict management, which can change the whole face of any firm. The conflict management must provide step by step measures to capture the “right” staff morale as the important task of in-company communication.

There are different ways companies can reduce their employees’ burnout and ensure the social and psychological climate (SPC) within a company:

- to allow employees to talk freely to one another, and motivate them;

- to reduce personal conflicts at work any time;

- to talk openly to employees and keep the promises;

- to recognize and reward employees for their accomplishments and contribution;

- to treat all employees on principle of equal competitive condition;

- to mind a source of dislike and don’t put pressure on staff to take your decision;

- to be able to build an effective team of professionals and coordinate their work;

- to create training programs;

- to succeed with crisis action approach;

To hire the experienced personnel, respect them equally and do not care which sex they are.

This is a good advice and it helps any company to form the trustful internal relations; due to it professional executives should set the true tone in up-to-date business. But the point is – they first should know “how to manage their personal stress”.

People, according to their nature, education, experience, habits, life style, vary widely; and that can open the door to misunderstanding. When individual identity needs and ethics are ignored they can move to self-centered, uncaring, non-cooperative behaviour; and on the contrary, if the intellectual and identity needs are in agreement, ethical decisions are easily to make, and individuals stand on their principles. Otherwise, they become egoistical, self-centered, interested only in their own well-being; they resist any change in their organization, and that is to be taken into account.

By managing people, it is important to distinguish between the attitude and behaviour: the way we view things is called “attitude”, the way we do things is known as “behaviour”. To achieve its objectives, a firm should have its code of discipline drawn up and agreed with all employees and written into their service contracts. The shortest way to achieve and maintain a good staff discipline is to ensure a high morale that is the important task of any company.

Text 2. Managing Yourself

The experience of a first-time supervisor or manager is often one of the most trying in their career. They rarely have adequate training for the new management role - they were promoted because of their technical expertise, not because of their managerial expertise. They suddenly have a wide range of policies and other regulations to apply to their subordinates. Work is never “done”. They must represent upper management to their subordinates, and their subordinates to upper management. They’re stuck in the middle. They can feel very alone.

Guidelines to Manage Yourself

Everyone in management has gone through the transition from individual contributor to manager. Each person finds their own way to “survive”. The following guidelines will help you keep your perspective and your health.

Monitor your work hours

The first visible, undeniable sign that things are out of hand is that you’re working too many hours. Note how many hours you are working per week. Set a limit and stick to that limit. Ask your peers or boss for help.

Recognize your own signs of stress

Different people show their stress in different ways. Some people have “blow ups”. Some people get very forgetful. Some people lose concentration. For many people, they excel at their jobs, but their home life falls apart. Know your signs of stress. Tell someone else what they are. Ask them to check in with you every two weeks to see how you are doing. Every two weeks, write down how you are doing—if only for a minute. Stick in it a file.

Get a mentor or a coach

Ideally, your supervisor is a very good mentor and coach. Many people have “been there, done that” and can serve as great mentors to you.

Learn to delegate

Delegating is giving others the responsibility and authority to carry out tasks. You maintain the accountability to get them done, but you let others decide how they will carry out the tasks themselves. Delegation is a skill to learn. Start learning it.

Communicate as much as you can

Have at least one person in your life with whom you are completely honest. Hold regular meetings with staff - all of them in one meeting at least once a month, and meet at least once every two weeks with each of your direct reports. A common problem among new managers and supervisors (or among experienced, but ineffective ones) is not meeting unless there’s something to say. There is always something to communicate, even if to say that things are going well and then share the health of your pets. New managers and supervisors often assume that their employees know as much as they do. One of the first signs of an organization in trouble is that communications break down. Err on the side of too much communication, rather than not enough.

Recognize what’s important from what’s urgent

Fix the system, not the problem. One of the major points that experienced manages make is that they’ve learned to respond to what’s important, rather than what’s urgent. Phone calls, sick employees, lost paperwork, disagreements between employees all seem to suddenly crop up and demand immediate attention. It can seem like your day is responding to one crisis after another. As you gain experience, you quit responding to the crisis and instead respond to the problem that causes the crises. You get an answering machine or someone else to answer the phone. You plan for employees being gone for the day—and you accept that people get sick. You develop a filing system to keep track of your paperwork. You learn basic skills in conflict management. Most important, you recognize that management is a process—you never really “finish” your to-do list—your list is there to help you keep track of details. Over time, you learn to relax.

Recognize accomplishments

Our society promotes problem solvers. We solve one problem and quickly move on to the next. The culture of many organizations rewards problem solvers. Once a problem is solved, we quickly move on to the next to solve that one, too. Pretty soon we feel empty. We feel as if we’re not making a difference. Our subordinates do, too. So in all your plans, include time to acknowledge accomplishments - if only by having a good laugh by the coffee machine, do take time to note that something useful was done.

Text 3 .Dealing with Difficult Employees

All managers will have to deal with difficult employees during their careers. First, there will always be difficult employees. Second, it’s your job as the manager to deal with them. If you don’t deal the problem, it will only get worse.   

Why Are Difficult Employees Like That?

Difficult employees are that way simply because it is a behavior that has worked for them in the past. They may not know any other behavior or they may choose this behavior when they think it will be most effective. You will be successful in dealing with difficult employees only to the extent that you can make these undesirable behaviors no longer effective for them. In many ways, it’s like dealing with children. If every times a child screams, its parents give it candy, what will the child do when it wants candy? It will scream, of course. The same is true for the employee who “blows up” whenever anyone disagrees with him. When he does that people stop disagreeing with him and he thinks he has won.

How Can a Manager Deal with Difficult Employees

Evaluate 
       It is important when dealing with difficult employees to act quickly. Often you will need to act almost immediately to neutralize a dangerous situation. However, it is always appropriate to think before you act. Clearly if an employee comes to work with a gun, you will need to act more quickly than when someone complains that another employee is always taking credit for her work. In either case, take the appropriate amount of time to evaluate the situation before you act. You don’t want to make it worse.

Recognize that most employees can be “difficult” from time to time. This can be caused by stress on the job or away from it. Some employees are difficult more often than others. It is not always your least-productive employees who are difficult. So take a moment to evaluate each situation for the unique situation it is.

  Do your homework 
Always act on facts. Don’t base your actions on gossip or rumor. The person spreading the gossip is a difficult employee in their own way. If you have not seen the inappropriate behavior yourself, look into it. Ask the people reportedly involved. Collect all the facts you can before you act.

Don’t use the fact that you haven’t seen the inappropriate behavior as an excuse to delay doing something. It is important to act promptly.

Make sure you aren’t part of the problem. It will be much more difficult to remain calm and impartial in confronting the difficult behavior if you are partly responsible. If that’s the case, be sure you acknowledge your role in it, at least to yourself.

  Develop a plan 
You’re a manager. You know the value of planning. This situation is no different. You need to plan the timing of the confrontation. You need to select a quiet, private place where you won’t be interrupted. You need to decide whether you need to have others, like an HR representative, present in the meeting. Plan the confrontation and then make it happen. When you have prepared, it is time to act. You do not need to act impulsively, but you must act quickly. The longer an inappropriate behavior is allowed to continue, the harder it will be to change it or stop it.

Confront the problem 
Don’t put it off. It may not be pleasant, but it’s an important part of your job. It will not “fix itself”. It can only get worse. You have planned this confrontation. Now you need to execute.

Deal with the behavior, not the person. 
Your goal is to develop a solution, not to “win”. Focus on the inappropriate behavior; don’t attack the person.

Use “I” statements like “I need everybody on the team here on time so we can meet our goals” rather than “you” statements like “you are always late”.

Don’t assume the inappropriate behavior is caused by negative intent. It may be from fear, confusion, lack of motivation, personal problems, etc.

Give the other person a chance to develop a solution to the problem. They are more likely to “own” the solution if they are at least partially responsible for developing it.

Try to draw out the reasons behind the behavior.

 As you talk with the difficult employee, actively listen to what they say. Stay calm and stay positive, but remain impartial and non-judgmental. Ask leading questions that can’t be answered in one or two words. Don’t interrupt.

When you do respond to the difficult employee, remain calm. Summarize back to them what they just said, “so what I understand you are saying is”, so they know you are actually listening to them.

If you can find out from the difficult employee what the real source of the inappropriate behavior is, you have a much better chance of finding a solution.

Sometimes these confrontations will go smoothly, or at least rapidly, to a conclusion. Other times it will require several sessions to resolve the problem.

  Repeat as necessary.

  Minor problems, like being late for work, you may be able to resolve with a simple chat in your office with the employee. An office bully, who has used that behavior successfully since elementary school, may need more than one confrontation before a solution can be reached. Be patient. Don’t always expect instant results. Aim for continuous improvement rather than trying to achieve instant success.

Know when you are in over your head

Sometimes the underlying issue with a difficult employee will be beyond your capabilities. The employee may have psychological problems that require professional help, for example. Learn when to keep trying and when to refer the employee to others for more specialized help. Your company may have an EAP or you may need to use resources from the community

Know when you are at the end 
While the goals is always to reach a mutually acceptable solution that resolves the difficult employees inappropriate behavior and keeps your team at full strength, sometimes that is not possible. When you reach an impasse and the employee is not willing to change his or her behavior then you need to begin terminations procedures in accordance with your company’s policies.

Coming to a Solution

The desired result from confronting a difficult employee’s inappropriate behavior is an agreed upon solution. You know that this inappropriate behavior will continue unless you and the employee agree on a solution. The employee needs to know what is inappropriate about their behavior and they also need to know what appropriate behavior is. The need for a manager to communicate clearly is always high. It is especially important in these situations. Make very sure the employee understands the requirements and the consequences.

Text 4 . The 20 Bad Habits. Challenges in Interpersonal Behaviour.

1. Winning too much: The need to win at all costs and in all situations.

2. Adding too much value: The overwhelming desire to add your 2 cents to every discussion.

3. Passing judgment: The need to rate others and impose your standards on them.

4. Making destructive comments: The needles sarcasm and cutting remarks that we think make us witty.

5. Starting with No, But, However: The overuse of these negative qualifiers which secretly say to everyone that I’m right and you’re wrong.

6. Telling the world how smart we are: The need to show people we’re smarter than they think we are.

7. Speaking when angry. Using emotional volatility as a management tool.

8. Negativity or “Let me explain why that won’t work”: The need to share our negative thoughts even when we weren’t asked.

9. Withholding information: Refusing to share information in order to maintain an advantage over others.

10.Failing to give proper recognition: The inability to give praise and reward.

11. Claiming credit that we don’t deserve: The most annoying way to overestimate our contribution to any success.

12. Making excuses: The need to reposit our annoying behaviour as a permanent fixture so people excuse us for it.

 

13. Clinging to the past: The need to deflect blame away from ourselves and onto events and people from our past; a subset of blaming everyone else.

14. Playing favorites: Failing to see that we are treating someone unfairly.

15. Refusing to express regret: The inability to take responsibility for our actions, admit we’re wrong, or recognize how our actions affect others.

16. Not listening: The most passive-aggressive form of disrespect for colleagues.

17. Failing to express gratitude: The most basic form of bad manners.

18. Punishing the messenger: The misguided need to attack the innocent who are usually only trying to help us.

19. Passing the buck: The need to blame everyone but ourselves.

20. An excessive need to be “me”: Exalting our faults as virtues simply because they’re who we are.

 

Questions to Unit 8

1. Why is it important to create the “right” morale in a company?

2. What are the ways which can help to ensure social and psychological climate inside a company?

3. What is the difference between “attitude” and “behaviour”?

4. What things can help a company to form the trustful internal relations?

5. How can misunderstanding arise in a company?

6. What difficulties is a first-class manager often confronted with?

7. What are the main guidelines to manage your self?

8. Why is the ability to monitor your time important for a manager?

9. How can you explain the rule “communicate as much as you can”? Why is the ability to communicate so important for managers?

10. How can you recognize what’s important from what is urgent?

11. What does it mean “acknowledge accomplishments?”