ORGANISAION BEHAVIOUR

UNIT – V

Stress Definition

Stress is defined in terms of how it impacts physical and psychological health; it includes
mental, physical, and emotional strain. Stress occurs when a demand exceeds an individual’s
coping ability and disrupts his or her psychological equilibrium. Stress occurs in the
workplace when an employee perceives a situation to be too strenuous to handle, and
therefore threatening to his or her well-being.

Stress at Work

While it is generally agreed that stress occurs at work, views differ on the importance of
worker characteristics versus working conditions as its primary cause. The differing
viewpoints suggest different ways to prevent stress at work. Different individual
characteristics, like personality and coping skills, can be very important predictors of
whether certain job conditions will result in stress. In other words, what is stressful for one
person may not be a problem for someone else.

Stress-related disorders encompass a broad array of conditions, including psychological

disorders (e.g., depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder) and other types of
emotional strain (e.g., dissatisfaction, fatigue, tension), maladaptive behaviors (e.g.,
aggression, substance abuse), and cognitive impairment (e.g., concentration and memory
problems). Job stress is also associated with various biological reactions that may ultimately
lead to compromised physical health, such as cardiovascular disease.

Categories of Work Stress

Four categories of stressors underline the different causal circumstances for stress at work:

1. Task Demands – This is the sense of not knowing where a job will lead you and whether
the activities and tasks will change. This uncertainty causes stress that manifests itself
in feelings of lack of control, concern about career progress, and time pressures.

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 2. Role Demands – Role conflict happens when an employee is exposed to inconsistent or
difficult expectations. Examples include: interole conflict (when there are two or more
expectations or separate roles for one person), intrarole conflict (varying expectations of
one role), person-role conflict (ethics are challenged), and role ambiguity (confusion
about their experiences in relation to the expectations of others).

3. Interpersonal Demands – Examples include: emotional issues (abrasive personalities,

offensive co-workers), sexual harassment (directed mostly toward women), and poor
leadership (lack of management experience, poor style, cannot handle having power).

4. Physical Demands – Many types of work are physically demanding, including

strenuous activity, extreme working conditions, travel, exposure to hazardous
materials, and working in a tight, loud office.

Causality factors of Organizational Stress

Work stress is caused by demands and pressure from both within and outside of the
workplace.

Work-Related Stress

Problems caused by stress have become a major concern to both employers and employees.
Symptoms of stress can manifest both physiologically and psychologically. Work-related
stress is typically caused by demands and pressure from either within or outside of the
workplace; it can be derived from uncertainty over where the job will take the employee,
inconsistent or difficult expectations, interpersonal issues, or physical demands.

Although the importance of individual differences cannot be ignored, scientific evidence

suggests that certain working conditions are stressful to most people. Such evidence argues
that working conditions are a key source of job stress and job redesign should be used as a
primary prevention strategy.

Studies of Work-Related Stress

Large-scale surveys of working conditions—including conditions recognized as risk factors

for job stress—were conducted in member states of the European Union in 1990, 1995, and
2000. Results showed a time-related trend that suggested an increase in work intensity. In
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1990, the percentage of workers reporting that they worked at high speeds for at least one-
quarter of their working time was 48%; this increased to 54% in 1995 and 56% in 2000.
Similarly, 50% of workers reported that they worked against tight deadlines at least one-
fourth of their working time in 1990; this increased to 56% in 1995 and 60% in 2000.
However, no change was noted in the period from 1995 to 2000 in the percentage of workers
reporting sufficient time to complete tasks (data was not collected in 1990 for this category).

A substantial percentage of Americans work very long hours. By one estimate, more than
26% of men and more than 11% of women worked 50 hours or more per week (outside of the
home) in 2000. These figures represent a considerable increase over the previous three
decades—especially for women. According to the Department of Labor, there has been an
upward trend in hours worked among employed women, an increase in work weeks of greater
than forty hours by men, and a considerable increase in combined working hours among
working couples, particularly couples with young children.

Power and Stress

A person’s status in the workplace can also affect levels of stress. Stress in the workplace
has the potential to affect employees of all categories, and managers as well as other kinds
of workers are vulnerable to work overload. However, less powerful employees (those who
have less control over their jobs) are more likely to experience stress than employees with
more power. This indicates that authority is an important factor complicating the work stress
environment.

Economics and Stress

Economic factors that employees are facing in the 21st century have been linked to increased
stress levels as well. Researchers and social commentators have pointed out that advances
in technology and communications have made companies more efficient and more productive
than ever before. This increase in productivity has resulted in higher expectations and greater
competition, which in turn place more stress on employees.

The following economic factors can contribute to workplace stress:

• Pressure from investors who can quickly withdraw their money from company stocks

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 • Lack of trade and professional unions in the workplace

• Inter-company rivalries caused by global competition

• The willingness of companies to swiftly lay off workers to cope with changing business
environments

Social Interactions and Stress

Bullying in the workplace can also contribute to stress. Workplace bullying can involve
threats to an employee’s professional or personal image or status, deliberate isolation, or
giving an employee excess work.

Another type of workplace bullying is known as “destabilization.” Destabilization can occur

when an employee is not given credit for their work or is assigned meaningless tasks. In
effect, destabilization can create a hostile work environment for employees, negatively
affecting their work ethic and therefore their contributions to the organization.

Stress Outside of the Workplace

Non-work demands can create stress both inside and outside of work. Stress is inherently
cumulative, and it can be difficult to separate our personal and professional stress inducers.
Examples of non-work stress that can be carried into the workplace include:

• Home demands: Relationships, children, and family responsibilities can add stress that
is hard to leave behind when entering the workplace. The Academy
of Management Journal states that this constitutes “an individual’s lack of personal
resources needed to fulfill commitments, obligations, or requirements.”
• Personal demands: Personal demands are brought on by the person when he or she
takes on too many responsibilities, either inside or outside of work.

Consequences of Workplace Stress

Stress can impact an individual mentally and physically and so can decrease employee
efficiency and job satisfaction. Negative or overwhelming work experiences can cause a
person substantial distress. Burnout, depression, and psychosomatic disorders are
particularly common outcomes of work-related stress. In general, individual distress

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manifests in three basic forms: psychological disorders, medical illnesses, and behavioral
problems.

Psychological Disorders

Psychosomatic disorders are a type of psychological disorder. They are physical problems
with a psychological cause. For example, a person who is extremely anxious about public
speaking might feel extremely nauseated or may find themselves unable to speak at all when
faced with the prospect of presenting in front of a group. Since stress of this type is often
difficult to notice, managers would benefit from carefully monitoring employee behavior for
indications of discomfort or stress.

Medical Illnesses

Physiological reactions to stress can have a long-term impact on physical health. In fact,
stress is one of the leading precursors to long-term health issues. Backaches, stroke, heart
disease, and peptic ulcers are just a few physical ailments that can arise when a person is
under too much stress.

Behavioral Problems

A person can also exhibit behavioral problems when under stress, such as aggression,
substance abuse, absenteeism, poor decision making, lack of creativity, or even sabotage. A
stressed worker may neglect their duties, impeding workflows and processes so that the
broader organization slows down and loses time and money. Managers should keep an eye
out for such behaviors as possible indicators of workplace stress.

Organizational Effects of Stress

Stress in the workplace can be, so to speak, “contagious”—low job satisfaction is often
something employees will discuss with one another. If stress is not noted and addressed by
management early on, team dynamics can erode, hurting the social and cultural synergies
present in the organization. Ultimately, the aggressive mentality will be difficult to remedy.

Managers are in a unique position when it comes to workplace stress. As they are responsible
for setting the pace, assigning tasks, and fostering the social customs that govern the work
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group, management must be aware of the repercussions of mismanaging and inducing stress.
Managers should consistently discuss job satisfaction and professional and personal health
with each of their subordinates one on one.

Strategies to cope with Stress

Stress is a normal part of life and something you cannot control, however you can control
your response to stress.

Here are seven ways to deal with stress:

1. Keep a positive attitude – sometimes the way you think about things can make all
of the difference. Your attitude can help offset difficult situations.

2. Accept that there are events you cannot control – when you know there are times
when you have given all that you can to a situation, it allows you to expend energy
where it can be more effective.

3. Learn to relax – purposeful relaxation, such as deep breathing, muscle relaxation

and meditation is essential in training your body to relax. Relaxation should be a part
of your daily regimen.

4. Be active regularly – being active also helps your body more easily fight stress
because it is fit.

5. Eat well-balanced meals – staying on track with healthy eating habits is a great way
to manage stress.

6. Rest and sleep - your body needs time to recover from stressful events, so sleep is an
important part of caring for yourself.

7. Find your stressors and effective ways to cope with them - remember that you
can learn to control stress because stress comes from how you respond to stressful
events.

Conflict – Meaning and Types

Conflicts are natural in all walks of daily life – both at workplace and home. Thus, conflict is
ever present and both charming and maddening. But conflict is a complex and big subject.

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There are many sources of conflict. Conflict occurs when individuals or groups are not
obtaining what they need or want and are seeking their own self-interest.

Sometimes the individual is not aware of the need and unconsciously starts to act out. Other
times, the individual is very aware of what he or she wants and actively works at achieving
the goal. It would be better to identify conflict at an early stage and come to an understanding.

The concept of conflict is controversial. Psychologists and sociologists have given different
meanings. It is being defined as a process by few, an obstructive behavior, and goal
incompatibility by others. Conflict can be expressed as:

Conflict is a process, where perception (real or otherwise) leads to disruption of desirable

state of harmony and stability in an interdependent world.

Characteristics of Conflict:

1. Conflict is a Process:
Conflict occurs in ‘layers’. First layer is always misunderstanding. The other layers are
differences of values, differences of viewpoint, differences of interest, and interpersonal
differences. It is also called a process because it begins with one party perceiving the other
to oppose or negatively affect its interests and ends with competing, collaborating,
compromising or avoiding.

2. Conflict is Inevitable:
Conflict exists everywhere. No two persons are the same. Hence they may have individual
differences. And the differences may be because of values or otherwise, lead to conflict.
Although inevitable, conflict can be minimized, diverted and/or resolved. Conflict develops
because we are dealing with people’s lives, jobs, children, pride, self-concept, ego and sense
of mission. Conflict is inevitable and often good, for example, good teams always go through
a “form, storm, norm and perform” period.

3. Conflict is a Normal Part of Life:

Individuals, groups, and organizations have unlimited needs and different values but limited
resources. Thus, this incompatibility is bound to lead to conflicts. The conflict is not a
problem, but if it is poorly managed then it becomes a problem.

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4. Perception:
It must be perceived by the parties to it, otherwise it does not exist. In interpersonal
interaction, perception is more important than reality. What we perceive and think affects
our behavior, attitudes, and communication.

5. Opposition:
One party to the conflict must be perceiving or doing something the other party does not like
or want.

6. Interdependence and Interaction:

There must be some kind of real or perceived interdependence. Without interdependence
there can be no interaction. Conflict occurs only when some kind of interaction takes place.

Types of Conflict

On the basis of involvement:

Conflicts may be intrapersonal (conflict with self), interpersonal (between two persons) and
organizational. Organizational conflict, whether real or perceived, is of two types -
intraorganizational and interorganizational. Interorganizational conflict occurs between two
or more organizations.

Interpersonal conflict-once again-whether it is substantive or affective, refers to conflict

between two or more individuals (not representing the group of which they are a part of) of
the same or different group at the same or different level, in an organization.:

Interpersonal conflict can be divided into intergroup and intergroup conflict. While the
former— intragroup-occurs between members of a group (or between subgroups within a
group), intergroup-occurs between groups or units in an organization.

On the basis of Scope:

Conflicts may be substantive and Affective. A substantive conflict is associated with the job,
not individuals, while an affective conflict is drawn from emotions. Substantive conflicts may
be over the facts of a situation, the method or means of achieving a solution to the problem,
ends or goals, and values. Thus it includes task conflict and process conflict in its scope.

Procedural conflicts can include disagreements about factors such as meeting dates and
times, individual task assignments, group organization and leadership, and methods of
resolving disagreements. Unresolved procedural conflicts can prevent work on collaborative

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projects. Substantive conflict can enhance collaborative decision-making. Substantive
conflict is also called performance, task, issue, or active conflict.

On the other hand, an affective conflict (also called as relationship or opposite of agreeable
conflict) deals with interpersonal relationships or incompatibilities and centres on emotions
and frustration between parties.

For example, when collaborators disagree on the recognition and solution to a task problem
because of personal prejudices (e.g. prejudices stemming from strong social, political,
economic, racial, religious, ethnic, philosophical, or interpersonal biases) they are seldom
able to focus on the task.

On the basis of Results:

Conflict can be Constructive or Destructive, creative or restricting, and positive or negative.
Destructive conflicts are also known as dysfunctional conflicts, because such conflicts
prevent a group from attaining its goals.

Conflict is destructive when it takes attention away from other important activities,
undermines morale or self-concept, polarises people and groups, reduces cooperation,
increases or sharpens difference, and leads to irresponsible and harmful behaviour, such as
fighting, name-calling.

On the other hand, constructive conflicts are also known as functional conflicts, because
they support the group goals and help in improving performance. Conflict is constructive
when it results in clarification of important problems and issues, results in solutions to
problems, involves people in resolving issues important to them, causes authentic
communication, helps release emotion, anxiety, and stress, builds cooperation among people
through learning more about each other; joining in resolving the conflict, and helps
individuals develop understanding and skills.

On the basis of Sharing by Groups:

Conflicts may be Distributive and Integrative. Distributive conflict is approached as a
distribution of a fixed amount of positive outcomes or resources, where one side will end up
winning and the other losing, even if they do win some concessions.

On the other hand, integrative – Groups utilizing the integrative model see conflict as a
chance to integrate the needs and concerns of both groups and make the best outcome
possible. This type of conflict has a greater emphasis on compromise than the distributive

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conflict. It has been found that the integrative conflict results in consistently better task
related outcomes than the distributive conflict.

On the basis of Strategy:

Conflicts may be competitive and cooperative. Competitive conflict is accumulative. The
original issue that began the conflict becomes irrelevant. The original issue is more of a
pretext than a cause of the conflict. Competitive conflict is marked by the desire to win the
fight or argument, even if winning costs more and causes more pain than not fighting at all.

Costs do not matter in competitive conflict, and therefore, irrationality remains its main
mark. Competitive conflict is characterized by fear, which is one of the important ingredients
in a conflict becoming irrational. If one is personally invested in the outcome, this too leads
to irrational conclusions, especially if issues of self-esteem, whether personal or national, are
involved.

Competitive conflict can either begin by, or be rationalized by, conflicts of ideology or
principle. Even more, when the desire to win overtakes any specific reason for the conflict,
irrationally develops.

On the basis of Rights and Interests:

Conflict of rights means where people are granted certain rights by law or by contract or by
previous agreement or by established practice. If such a right is denied, it will lead to conflict.
Such a conflict is settled by legal decision or arbitration, not negotiation.

On the other hand conflict of interests means where a person or group demands certain
privileges, but there is no law or right in existence. Such a dispute can be settled only through
negotiation or collective bargaining

Understanding of Organizational Structure Departmenation

Definition: Departmentalization or Departmenation is a process wherein jobs/teams are

combined together into functional units called as departments on the basis of their area of
specialization, to achieve the goals of the organization. So, in this way, the entire organization
is divided into parts, i.e. departments which comprise of a group of employees, who carry
out activities of similar nature.

It determines the functions/activities which are to be housed together and coordinated at the
same place. Further, it groups the personnel, who will undertake the delegated
functions/tasks.
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In a corporate ladder, every level below the top is departmentalized, and each subsequent
level is further differentiated into departments.

The top-level executives, groups activities in various departments, such as production,

marketing, finance, human resource, research and development, etc. These departments are
headed by senior executives, called as managers of the respective department. The
departmental managers can delegate tasks and duties to the subordinates, and they are
accountable to the chief executive for the performance of the department.

Departmentalization of activities results in the increase in efficiency of the management and

ultimately the enterprise. It is helpful in fixing responsibilities and accountability.

Methods of Departmentalization
Departmentalization by Function: When the creation of department is on the basis of
specified functions, such as production, marketing, purchase, finance etc. In this method,
all the activities related to a function or which are of similar nature are combined in a single
unit, to give proper directions to the entire group in one go.

Departmentalization by Process: In Departmenation by the process, the activities are

grouped as per the production processes. These departments require manpower and material
so as to carryout operations.

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Departmentalization by Product: When the activities related to product development and
delivery are combined into a particular division, it is called as product departmentalization.
It is appropriate for large-scale multi-product enterprises.

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Departmentalization by Customer: The grouping of the organization according to the
different classes of customer or clients. It focuses on special customer needs.

Departmentalization by Territory: When the division is based on the geographical area, it

is called as territorial departmentalization. This is suitable for the organizations, that have
widespread operations at different locations.

Departmentalization by Project: In project departmentalization, the organizational

activities are classified by differentiated or special ventures or activities.

The choice of departmentalization basis is influenced by the factors such as the degree of
specialization, coordination, control, cost consideration, adequate attention to key areas, etc.

Modern Organizational Designs

“Post-bureaucratic” organizational structures continue to be developed to enhance how

organizations do business and remain competitive. Let’s talk about some of these new
options, designed to help organizations do business in today’s world.

The Team Structure

In an organizational structure based on teams, the structure breaks down department

barriers and decentralizes decision making to the level of the team. Team structures usually
require employees to be generalists as well as specialists.
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A team structure can define a whole company. Whole Foods Market boasts a team-based
organizational structure, with the teams shaped around their departments within the store—
there was a produce team, a meat team, and so on. Based on the shape of the organizational
chart in Figure 1, you can understand why Whole Foods refers to its mission statement as
the “Declaration of Interdependence.” Indeed, each of the teams is dependent on and answers
to the other members of their own team and the other teams.

Figure 1. Team-Based Organizational Chart

More often than not, when larger organizations decide to use teams, they do so as a part of
a bureaucratic structure rather than a straight team structure. Moving from a bureaucratic
to a team structure requires a great deal of change, so larger organizations will assemble
teams and add a quasi-team structure into their bureaucratic org chart.

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Virtual Organization

A virtual organization is a small, core organization that outsources major business functions.
Think of it as “renting” departments rather than owning them.

Back in the early days of Hollywood, movies were made by big studios with large bureaucratic
organizational structures and a laundry list of celebrities. Now, when you sit down to watch
a movie, you see several different production companies’ logos on the screen before the movie
even starts. It might begin with “Paramount.” And then you see “Bad Robot.” And maybe two
other companies. Each one of those companies has played a role in making the film. During
the credits, you see animation companies and sound editing companies. Paramount may be
acting as the central “organization.” The businesses to which Paramount sends work would
make up the balance of the virtual organization.

Figure 2. Virtual Organizational Chart

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The chart in Figure 2 illustrates a typical virtual organization, which includes employees that
practice flex-time in a home office, ones that are in satellite offices domestically and
internationally, and then a group of independent contractors, telecommuters and vendors.

Paul Newman’s food product company, Newman’s Own, runs on a virtual organizational
structure. Newman’s Own employs only 18 people, and outsources almost everything—
manufacturing, procurement, shipping and the like.

Large organizations dabbling in the virtual organizational structure usually do so to

outsource manufacturing. Thousands of well-known organizations are virtual in one way or
another. General Motors, Nike, and Cisco are just a few of them. The flexibility a virtual
organization provides is hard for organizations to resist, as it allows them to contract out any
function they feel another organization can do more cheaply than them.

The virtual organization is definitely on the other side of the spectrum from bureaucratic
organizational structure. The bureaucratic organizational structure seeks control in multiple
levels and, if there is a downfall to the virtual organizational structure, it is that there is far
less control over the different parts of the business.

Boundaryless Organizational Structure

American business executive and former CEO of General Electric, Jack Welch, coined the
term “boundaryless organization” when he described his ideal General Electric. He wanted to
eliminate vertical and horizontal boundaries within GE and break down barriers between the
company and its customers and suppliers.

When an organization removes the vertical boundaries, the hierarchy flattens. Status and
rank are minimized. Functional departments create horizontal boundaries, and those
boundaries can stifle interactions between departments. Functional departments can be
replaced with cross-functional teams, and activities can be organized around process.

General Electric used tools like 360 performance appraisals, where peers, subordinates and
managers could evaluate an employee’s performance. They put together cross-hierarchical
teams and employed participative decision making processes.

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The boundaryless organizational structure, when fully operational, breaks down barriers to
external partners (suppliers, customers, etc.) and barriers created by geography.
Telecommuting blurs organizational boundaries as well. In fact, this structure relies heavily
on technology to achieve, and so sometimes it’s called the T-form structure.

Holacracy

Brian Robertson of Ternary Software in Exton, Pennsylvania, developed the system of

Holacracy by experimenting with more democratic forms of organizational structure. It’s a
flat organization system, meaning there are few or no levels of middle management between
staff and executives. The objective behind a flat organizational system is that employees are
more involved in the decision making process rather than being directly and closely
supervised by many layers of management.

The essential elements of Holacracy include:

• Roles instead of job descriptions. An individual can hold multiple roles within this
construct. Roles are defined by each circle—or team—via a collective governance
process.
• Circle structure. Each circle is a team. Circles are organized hierarchically and each
circle is assigned a clear purpose and accountabilities by its broader circle. But the
employees within that circle need to determine how to best achieve its goals. Each circle
has a “lead link” and “rep link,” and those people sit in the meetings of both their circle
and the broader circle to ensure alignment with the organization’s mission and strategy.
• Governance process. Circles use a defined process to create and regularly update its
own roles and policies.
• Operational process. Circles align around operational needs and requires that each
member of the circle fulfill duties. Members have a lot of autonomy and authority and
can decide on their own how to best achieve these goals.

Zappos is famously using the Holacracy model in their work, and they chose to use that
model so they could provide excellent customer service. Their theory was that they were able
to put customer service decisions into the hands of the employees and eliminate burden on
upper management.

It should be noted that the term “Holacracy” is a registered trademark of HolacracyOne, LLC.
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 Organizational Development Values
The underlying values of Organizational Development are humanistic:

• Enabling people to work as human beings instead of being treated as mere resources
in the huge productive process.
• Encouraging organization members to achieve their full potential. Organizations have
the opportunity to grow and live by their core values.
• Taking into consideration all the goals of the organization when the Organizational
Development consultant seeks to increase its effectiveness.
• Laying the foundations of a challenging work environment that keeps members
motivated and excited.
• Offering the chance for organization members to change how they relate to the
environment, the organization, and their individual work.
• Viewing each person as an organization member that has needs that are highly
significant to their life and work.

Organizational Development Objectives

The main objectives of the process are:

• Increasing trust among the members of the organization at an inter-personal level.

• Boosting the members’ level of commitment and satisfaction.
• Promoting confrontation and fixing of problems instead of postponing and neglecting
them.
• Handling conflicts in an effective way.
• Increasing the collaboration and cooperation among employees within the working
environment.
• Promoting a problem-solving approach within the organization.
• Increasing awareness of the organization’s vision among its members. Organizational
Development aims to align the employees’ vision with the firm’s.
• Smoothing the transition from formal authority to personal skills and knowledge.
• Achieving a trustworthy working environment that enables new implementations.

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 Organizational Development involves

Change management

Involving committees and other departments into the planning and implementation of high
priority changes within the organization (space changes or reorganization).

Talent Management

Aiding managers accurately evaluate the workforce in order to ensure the right employees
occupy the right jobs according to their skills.

Group problem-solving

Supporting a group in identifying key issues, gathering enough data about it and drafting
plans or decisions to tackle the issue.

Team development

Enabling a team to find ways to work more efficiently together.

Customized training

Helping a group to develop a new set of skills, values or knowledge that help it get one step
closer to the common objective.

Organizational Development techniques

An organization will work together with a team of change agents in order to draft up the
intervention plan and agree on the changes and techniques that are to be implemented.
The following activities aim to help both organizations and employees get closer to and
fulfill their potential.

1. Survey feedback

The survey technique involves data be collected via a questionnaire. The collected
information is meant to help managers make decisions. The answers to the survey feedback
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will range from quality of work, working condition, working hours, salaries, and employees’
attitude in relation to all of the above.

The team of managers proceeds to analyze and interpret the gathered data. They pinpoint
problems, assess the results and start drafting plans for solutions. All the members of the
organization are expected to submit this data. Manager meetings are meant to bring
subordinates and superiors together in order to discuss the information and interpret it. All
levels of management play an active role in this technique whose end result is
implementing necessary changes.

2. Team building

Team buildings have been increasing in popularity as an independent component of

Organizational Development. Within OD, team buildings are designed to improve the
capacity of the organization’s members of working together in a harmonious environment.
Organizational effectiveness can be boosted through enhancing work group dynamics and
promoting a safe and understanding working place.

In order to help team members open up and speak their minds on work related issues, the
professional trainer will lead group discussions. The trainer does not actively participate in
the discussion, but merely guides the conversation in order to ensure maximum efficiency.
Team buildings’ main purpose is to increase sensitivity to team members’ behavior by
promoting a healthy group functioning. Interpersonal interactions and behavior play a
significant part of team buildings, encouraging employees to express their views.

3. Sensitivity Training

One of the most popular Organizational Development techniques, sensitivity training asks
employees to interact in order to better understand each other. As a result, team members
get better acquainted, form bonds, cease to be judgmental and prone to become more
motivated and efficient in the working environment.

Carrying out free communications and forming interpersonal relationships are bound to
improve their group experience as a team, offering members the chance to unequivocally
express themselves in a safe and controlled workplace. Sensitivity training will not only

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increase awareness of self but also awareness of others. These two are some of the main
pillars of Organizational Development, on which trust and comfort are meant to build a new
order within the company.

4. Brain Storming

This Organizational Development technique involves six to eight managers coming together
and pitching ideas for solving a problem. Brain Storming aims to promote creative thinking,
whilst bringing team leaders together and helping them engage in a lucrative discussion of
fixing a common issue. The participants are required to critically assess the matter that is
put forward. They are then asked to contribute new ideas or new angles on tackling the
conflict. The principle behind brain storming is that managers come together and build a
plan based on all of their suggestions.

No expert conducts the discussions, which encourages all leaders to speak freely and make
suggestions. The brain storming technique is meant to get participants to debate potential
solutions and choose the best ones. All of this is done in a safe environment where
members can express themselves freely.

5. Management by Objectives

Part of Management Development, this technique is also successfully used in

Organizational Development as a method of reviewing and assessing performance.
Management by Objectives implies clearly pinpointing the goals of the organization and
assigning them to managers. Their responsibility is to deliver results in a time efficient
manner.

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This result oriented technique is meant to promote the joint effort of team leaders, laying
the grounds for an excellent appraisal system. The accomplished objectives will be used to
measure the performance of the managers.

The Management by Objectives technique is generally carried out in four essential steps:

• Objectives set by top management.

• Individual targets and objectives.
• Autonomy in choosing strategies.
• Performance review and appraisal.

6. Quality circles

This technique requires up to a dozen team members to come together on their own accord
in order to discuss important work related issues and come up with efficient solutions that
can be implemented by the management team. The method that has its roots in the 60s is
meant to be carried out once a week during working hours. Any team member who feels
they can bring their contribution is free to join the discussion.

Quality circles have been shown to heighten moral, reduce costs and boost quality in the
working environment. All the success of the technique is owed to the effort of the
participants who are willing to devote their time in order to pitch solutions and join forces
to fix problems.

7. Process consultation

An expert or an Organizational Development consultant gives feedback to the trainee and

offers insight into solving problems. Process consultation can help team members
experience a change of perspective and experiment with various problem fixing suggestions.
The clear insight provided by the expert or consultant is extremely valuable since it offers
both team members and top managers guidelines on how to approach, handle and tackle a
wide array of work-related problems.

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