A CASE STUDY ANALYSIS OF INTERACTION SKILLS

OF AN ORGANIZATION LEADER

AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE PRODUCTIVITY OF THE EMPLOYEES

by
GRACE B. BANDAYREL

June, 2021
 ABSTRACT

To interact means to communicate and react to the people you're involved with. As an
effective leader, it is very important to have the interaction skills that would motivate the
employees within the organization to promote productivity of the subordinates.

According to an older study, every day manager spent 70 to 90 percent of their time in
communicating and interacting with their teams and others at work place. Effective
communication act as an advantage of a leader to lead effectively. So, on the basis of the study of
previous work done by many authors in the past decade, the researcher has made an attempt to
find how interaction skills of a leader affect the productivity of the employees. What all are the
key points managers have to keep in mind while communicating with their teams and
suggestions to improve communication to make leadership more effective.

The definition of leadership has changed over the years. Cowley (1928) suggested that
leadership is not a single trait but a combination of numerous traits. He went on to say that an
adequate study of leadership should produce a list of traits which go together to make a leader.
This concept would define leadership according to specific traits. One possessing these traits
would, according to this idea, be a leader. This approach at first glance might appear to some to
be a valid one.
Shartle (1956), after reviewing leadership studies, concluded that the trait theory
approach is a less satisfactory definition of leadership than one stated in terms of performance.
He suggested that the term trait be omitted altogether in the definition. In his discussion Shartle
made the following comment:
We may think of leadership as something which influences persons. Therefore,
performance that influences others would be leadership performance. More specifically it would
be acts which influence the acts of others, that is, performance that results in others acting or
responding in an attempt to reach the same goal. Leadership is therefore judged in terms of
what others do. This approach can be considered an important one in view of the fact that it
relates leadership to the realm of interaction between the leader and those he influences.
The interpersonal relationship which the leader establishes with his group members is at
least in part dependent upon the leader’s personality (Fiedler, 1968). The situation which is most
favorable for leadership would have good relations between the leader and the group.
Fiedler’s discussion of groups is limited to interacting rather than co-acting groups. By
an interacting group is meant “ a face-to-face team situation, as a basketball team or a tank crew
in which the members work interdependently toward a common goal” (Fiedler, 1968). In this
kind of group the individual’s contribution influences the performance is usually determined by
summing the members’ individual performances.
 INTRODUCTION

It is important to know what are the interaction skills of a leader to be able to achieve the
goals of an organization in harmony with the relationship between the leader and the
subordinates.
There are cases that leaders tend to be more on task-oriented leader. In this case, this
kind of leader is very effective at completing tasks, but relationship-building is a low priority.
The approach tends to be autocratic and emphasizes completing tasks required to meet
organizational goals. While the relationship-oriented leaders who focus more on personal
connections, and they’re good at avoiding and managing conflict.
Relationship-oriented leaders are focused on supporting, motivating and developing the
people on their teams and the relationships within. This style of leadership encourages good
teamwork and collaboration, through fostering positive relationships and good communication.
They are the kind of leaders who value building relationships with their employees with loyal
workers who enjoy the vibe in the office.
In an interaction, anything you do or not do is communicating some message. If you
move closer to someone when talking to them, you are communicating one thing, if you stay
where you are, you are communicating something else. It’s very crucial to understand the
motivation, goals, interests and nature of your team members. This would bring out an effective
interaction with the team members and bring the best out of them.
Having a leader who has a good interaction skills greatly affect the productivity of the
employees. According to a research on leadership, the trust is one factor which any individual
wants to have before following anyone enthusiastically in any situation, whether it may be a
battleground or meeting room and want to get assured that the leader they are going to follow is
truthful and ethical (James Kouzes and Barry Posner, 1993). Trust is being earned thru
interaction. And interaction is part of communication. Communication enables them to share
what they have and what they expect from others. So, it is effective communication, which
makes leaders to lead successfully (Frese. et.al. 2003, Deborah J. Barrett, 2006).
Work relationships are incredibly important to employee well-being. It’s about more
than just “getting along” with a co-worker. As humans, we crave contact and connection with
other people. Unfortunately, for many employees, work can be a very lonely place. And while
you’re probably familiar with the phrase, “I’m here to work, not to make friends,” it’s important
for employers to understand just how important social connections in the workplace really are.
Full-time employees spend a majority of their time at the office. Which is why work
relationships can either positively or negatively affect an employee’s stress levels, productivity
and general feelings of happiness. These factors not only affect an employee’s work
performance, but it affects employee health too.
 Strong social connections make people happier and physically healthier, which can
translate into work performance. Leaders who support social connections in the workplace and
help employees form strong relationships with one another help build a successful workforce.
To achieve the definite goal while communicating, it is important to manage the process
of communication effectively. Interaction management is realized during all the stages of the
communication process, and its effectiveness depends on the persons’ abilities to manage their
specific interaction behaviors. Thus, interaction management is based on the people’s abilities to
start a conversation effectively, to develop the topic, to terminate a conversation with references
to the interests of the persons participating in it.
To achieve the definite goal while communicating, it is important to manage the process
of communication effectively. Interaction management is realized during all the stages of the
communication process, and its effectiveness depends on the persons’ abilities to manage their
specific interaction behaviors. Thus, interaction management is based on the people’s abilities to
start a conversation effectively, to develop the topic, to terminate a conversation with references
to the interests of the persons participating in it.
From this point, an ability to orient to the needs of the other persons and an ability to feel
the people’s interest in conversation are important to develop the effective communication
resulting in certain positive outcomes. Interaction management in intercultural communication
can be discussed as more complex because it is necessary to pay attention to the aspects of
cultures and traditions in order to manage the process of communication according to the rules
which are typical for the definite society.
The abilities of people to manage their interactions can be different in relation to their
skills in perceiving the information, interpreting it attentively, and responding to the facts
adequately or appropriately to the concrete situation. If the communication process develops
positively and results in outcomes which are satisfactory or advantageous for all the parties, it is
possible to speak about the high level of interaction management.
A person who is good in interaction management knows when to start the effective
conversation, how to develop the topic with references to the interests of all the parties, and how
to meet the needs of the participants. For instance, starting a conversation with an employee on
the issue of the low performance, a manager assesses the emotional state of the employee and his
readiness to perceive the message provided by the manager.
Any changes in the behavior of the employee should be perceived by the manager as a
good communicator in order to be able to change the line of a conversation and achieve the
primary goal of communication. In this case, interaction management is closely associated with
the ability to predict the development of the conversation and to focus on the behavior and needs
of the other parties as the indicators of the communication’s effectiveness.
However, many people focus only on their own needs and interests while
communicating. They usually ignore the preferences of the parties and signals provided by them.
Thus, those persons who have undeveloped abilities in relation to interaction management often
start conversations with the people who are not interested in communicating at the moment, and
they do not provide the party with the opportunity to present the personal point of view.
For instance, during coffee breaks, persons can be involved in the conversation with their
colleagues who have the intention to discuss their personal problems without references to the
interests of the other persons participating in the conversation. The initiator of a conversation can
be discussed as a dominator in this case, but the whole interaction process is ineffective because
of drawbacks in the interaction management.
Interaction management is important for people to learn how to communicate effectively.
Managing the process of communication, people can avoid extremes in their communication
strategies and achieve the higher results in their interactions. The development of interaction
management abilities guarantees the progress in the communication competence.
This study aims to discover what are the interaction skills of a leader should possess to
effectively manage a team and how it affects their productivity.
 RESEARCH CASE PROCESS

Even many researches have explained the concept that it is effective communication that
takes an individual from lower level to the leadership spot. In fact, it has been proved that
individual who can communicate exceptionally, capable of taking significant decision and are
able to get the work done by others is recommended more frequently for leadership position in
an organization (Bowman, Jones, Peterson, Gronouski, & Mahoney, 1964).
A leader should make sure that communication is continuous as well as interaction and
also ensure the appropriate use both informal and formal approaches (Bill Back). It is very good
to use a combination of formal and informal approaches while communicating. Informal means
of communication helps to get exact and more regular evaluations to report concerns more
rapidly. Informal interaction during breakfast meetings, roundtable meetings are always proved
effective and helpful for discussing and finding solutions of various issues like trust and
credibility whereas formal approaches require proper planning and execution.
Now the question comes, why a leader is required to build trust among stakeholders? The
answer to this question is; Leaders are the individuals who are followed by many peoples
because they trust him. They don’t follow the leader they cannot trust on (Diane Bean). Trust is
an influential tool that can increase reliability, integrity and gives you an added advantage in case
uncertainty. One cannot build trust as trust cannot be built, but gained or earned. By sharing
essential information with employees, leaders can develop a culture of trust and can easily build
associations with employees and other business channels that facilitate organizations to grow
more rapidly. Trust on administrators is defined as willingness of employees with the attitudes
and actions (Mayer and others, 1995). Organizational trust is the employees’ willingness to be
informed organization as well as trust in the fairness of the other individuals and groups
depending on the organization’s cultural structure and ability of communication (Mishra, 1996).
The researcher based on previous researches and expounded those into this case study.
 CASE PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Fiedler’s contingency model of leadership effectiveness was tested in a field experiment.

Subject were 86 nursing students from a large mid-wester hospital.
The meaning of Fiedler’s “psychological distance” was investigated by determining the
nature of the verbal behaviors of group leaders.
Results of the study were as follows:
1. With regard to the “discrimination hypothesis” there was no evidence that differently style
leaders varied in the number of responses made to specific individuals in their respective groups.
Furthermore, there were no significant differences among types of leaders with respect to the
extent to which they responded qualitatively differently (using different verbal categories) to
different members of their groups. Also, there were no significant differences among the types
of leaders in the variance concerning change in the number of responses made to various
individuals in their groups. Thus, the discrimination hypothesis was not supported in this study.
2. High Least Preferred Co-Worker (LPC) score (representing relationship-oriented leaders)
were found to be positively correlated with group effectiveness, regardless of whether the task
were structured or unstructured. Leader-group member relations, as measured by sociometric
questions, were not found to significantly influence group effectiveness.
3. It was found that task-oriented leaders (leaders who obtained low LPC scores) addressed their
group members relatively early in the problem-solving sessions, whereas high LPC, relations-
oriented leaders addressed their group members relatively later in the session. On the average,
however, there was no evidence that the two types of leaders addressed their groups with
different frequency.
4. It was found that, in general, task-oriented leaders interacted more with their group member
than did relation-oriented leaders.
The interpretation of the similarity measure as measure of distance is spelled out in a
number of Fiedler’s papers. Leaders who obtain low similarity scores when rating their least
preferred co-workers, and “in general to be psychologically more distant from others. This type
of leader is, according to Fiedler (1967), more aloof, more reserved, not warm nor accepting. It
should be noted that the generalization is based on the relationship between the leader and his
least preferred co-worker. More important, and most relevant to this study, is the fact that
Fiedler has not systematically obtained data concerned with how the distant or close leader
behaves as a leader.
Butterfield (1967) offers another possible interpretation. Rather than representing a
reserved, aloof, and psychologically distant leader, he suggests that the distance can be taken to
mean simply a leader who recognizes differences between people. He further points out that
presumably this ability to discriminate is accompanied by a corresponding ability to behave
toward other in a manner consonant with the perceived differences between them. This
interpretation is appealing in that it takes into account intrapersonal individual differences. In
other words, the leader may well behave differently towards different people in his group.
There are three principles in interaction that were considered in this research, which are
1. Maintain or Enhance Self-Esteem
2. Listen and Respond with empathy and
3. Ask for help and encourage involvement.
It has been evident when the self-esteem of the team members are being maintained or
enhanced they are more motivated, committed to work and creativity and collaboration among
them are born. Otherwise, the leader will have a hard time to motivate team members and it will
decrease the productivity level of the team.
. When a team member feels he is understood, then, the person will become receptive to
understand viewpoint of the leader. Once the leader uses empathy, the high level of negative
emotion will go down and the rational of the team member will go up. In effect, empathy can
defuse negative emotions that will allow the leader to meet practical needs and it will also show
that the leader cares for the personal needs and not only the practical needs of a team member.
One of the most obvious reasons why interaction management is important is because it
fosters healthy relationship with all the individuals involved in the business. Through this
service, a leader can make all of the employees and customers happy. Having this disposition
will make it very easy for the employees to work at their best and at the same time hitting the
objective of the organization.
When the employees have low morale, it won’t be long before their negativities will
flood the public and can become the reason of not attaining the organizational goals. One of the
easiest and best ways to resolve employees’ low morale is to ensure that positive interaction is
practiced in the workplace. A leader can achieve this by using interaction management as a
platform to determine the workload, general personality traits, and talents of the employees.
With all of the information a leader can gain from interaction management, the leader will be
able to define which of the current strategies are working or not. This information can also
become your basis to streamline the efforts to spend more resources in improving weak areas and
avoid spending more on strategies that are already effective.
All the leader’s efforts can eventually boost the employees morale as they can feel
empowered and supported as the leader improve the internal processes for them.
Groups are cooperative and require each member to participate in different interactions.
Benne and Sheats (1948) proposed a classification of roles in three broad categories: (1) task
roles, (2) group-building and maintenance roles, and (3) individual roles. Your group will need
to discuss how they will communicate about and assign tasks related to preparation, organization
and delivery.
 Task roles, group maintenance roles also play a vital role in the group’s progress.
Relationships within a group must be built and maintained simply because they are composed of
individuals with different personalities, work styles, expertise, and availability. Your job as a
group is to determine the best communication strategies for this speaking group. The strategies
should support and enhance learning about and working with the differences. Although time
restraints may limit the sophistication and quantity of your strategies, a communication plan for
interaction roles should not be skipped. The best place to start is by selecting a group leader with
the most appropriate leadership style to help the group maintain credibility within the group,
among the audience, in the assignment and its assessment, and during the delivery. Selection
success hinges on everyone being familiar with leadership styles. Thus, all group members
should be aware of three small-group leadership styles—highly directive, participatory, and
negligent (Brilhart, Galanes & Adams, 2001).
A highly directive leadership style is where a leader uses an authoritarian method of
dealing with group members. The participatory leadership style centers around a designated
leader who offers guidance, suggestions, listening, and concern for members while also showing
concern for completing the task. A negligent (or laissez-faire) leadership style is characterized by
a leader who offers little guidance or direction. The group leader may guide the communication
planning by first initiating a conversation about what communication media are accessible to
group members. Some group members may not have access to a smartphone, text capability or
all social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook; and may not have consistent access to
email or the Internet. For example, it is not uncommon for a student in a class to have Internet
access only during open lab or library hours. You should not assume everyone wants to use text
messaging or email.
Finally, keep in mind that some individual schedules or user-styles do not allow them to
check email at the same daily frequency or dictate the same response style. All members should
be careful not to criticize, judge or insult nonusers, limited users, and even overusers of
technology. The focus of the conversation should be about commitment, that is, for this speaking
group which communication vehicle(s) will each group member commit to using with some
frequency in order to meet the group’s assignment. The gathering of contact information may be
accomplished within the context of this conversation. The group leader can facilitate
communication about member experience in the areas of presentation planning, organization,
and delivery.
Further, you will need to maintain ethical relationship boundaries with group members as
appropriate to your interaction roles. Thus, when interacting as a member of a new or returning
group it is important to think about your familiarity with and use of participatory communication
modes such as a preparedness to listen, assertiveness, clear verbal and nonverbal communication,
confidence and empathy.
 SOLUTIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The principles in interactions are important to meet the personal needs of the team
members. Personal needs like to feel appreciated, listened to, understood and involved. As you
meet the personal needs, the leader encourages two-way communication that will build
enthusiasm and momentum to meet the practical needs of the team members. Practical needs
like accomplishment of tasks and high productivity level.
It is important to practice the principles in interactions:
1. Maintain or enhance self-esteem, if a leader would like to maintain the self-esteem
of a team member, a leader should find ways to sustain it against decline. This is true especially
when a team member committed a mistake, left unaccomplished task, is part of a conflict or is
resisting to change. Therefore, the leader should choose the right words to say, focus on facts,
give respect and support and clarify motive of the team member involved. However, I a leader
would like to enhance the self-esteem of a team member, he should find ways to increase it in
value. This is true specially if the team member is performing well in the workplace, trying
something new or is facing challenge. Enhancing the self-esteem will reinforce behaviors the
leader wants the team member to repeat. The leader can recognize accomplishments,
acknowledge good ideas or express confidence to the team member. When a leader chooses to
say something to maintain or enhance the self-esteem of a team member, it must be specific and
sincere. The leader is required to describe the action in detail, its effect and express it in a
meaningful way. In this way, it will have a powerful impact to reinforce good behavior and
performance.
2. Listen and respond with empathy- Sympathy is the inclination to think and feel
alike, emotionally and intellectually. Sympathy is equated to pity the other person. Thus, the
leader has the tendency to agree on the belief and opinion of the team member. Therefore,
empathy is best to use especially if the person is full of emotions that affects the behavior.
Empathy does not mean that the leader agrees, it means that the leader only understands the
experience and viewpoint of the team member. When a team member feels he is understood,
then, the person will become receptive to understand viewpoint of the leader.
When the emotion is high, the logic is low. At this stage, the team member will not listen
to the opinion of the leader.
Once the leader uses empathy, the high level of negative emotion will go down and the
rational of the team member will go up. This is the point where the team member has
psychological air, and the defenses are down because the person felt he was understood. The
person is now ready to communicate and interact well with the leader. In effect, empathy can
defuse negative emotions that will allow the leader to meet practical needs, and will also show
that the leader cares for the personal needs, and not only the practical needs of a team member.
Thus, the leader is making sure that he understood the person, and the person feels confident that
the leader understood him.

In summary, the following are important when using empathy:

1. Non-verbal behavior like facial expression, gestures and other body language.
2. Perceiving feelings and listening like focusing on perceptions, feelings and problems.
3. Responding verbally like paraphrasing, reflection of feelings and summarizing.
4. Respect of self and others by accepting the beliefs, values and norms of the other
person.
5. Openness, honesty and flexibility to express self and listen to the other person.
But there are also barriers in emphatic listening:
a. Evaluating- in which the situation of the person based on previous
experience either by verbal or non-verbal agreement;
b. Probing- or asking questions based on personal experience;
c. Advising- wherein the leader advises the person to act based on
personal values and beliefs.
3. Ask for help and encourage involvement.
Asking for help is not a sign of weakness. In fact, the leaders who are high performers
are always improving the way they do things, & humble enough to admit that better ideas come
from the team members close to the situation.
If the leader is so used to do things by himself, he has to realize that:
- the team members are sources of help, &
- ideas are based on their work responsibility.
This will help the leader draw out the expertise of people resource around him.
Involving others will increase the chance for innovative ideas and solutions to come out.
When the ideas are given by the team members who will perform the task, commitment is
evident and success is more likely to be achieved.
The leader should make a team member involved in the work by: refraining from offering
own opinion but rather building on the ideas of the person. The team leader can use open-ended
questions that will invite participation, stimulate creativity and give importance to the
contribution of the team.
 This will also encourage responsibility through involvement in planning and organizing
task towards achievement of goal. It has been evident that team members are not only after their
salary but they are much interested to find satisfaction in their job. Involving the team members
in the decision and work process that will affect them will bring the greatest satisfaction.
A leader should be mature to courageously express himself and considerate to the other
person during interaction. If the leader has the right to express himself, the team member has
also the right to receive respect from others. The leader should have assertive response that will
recognize his feelings, express it and focus on the behavior of the other person. A mature leader
will have an intention to express himself in an honest, clear and direct manner, express both his
positive as well as his negative feelings and focus on the behavior of the other person.
The leader also knows when to give feedback. His feedback is effective when: it is
timely given, strengthens positive behavior or best performance and corrects negative behavior
or poor performance.
There are different types of feedback but one of the best is reinforcement, where a
positive feedback is given to reinforce good behavior or performance and constructive feedback
is given to correct behavior or performance.
Sources:

https://www.mcgill.ca/engage/files/engage/effective_leadership_is_all_about_communicating_ef
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Interaction Management, Development Dimensions International (DDI)

Performance Coaching and Counseling Skills Career System Inc. (CSI)

https://www.amazon.com/Theory-Leadership-Effectiveness-Edward-Fiedler/dp/0070206759

“Effective leadership is still largely a matter of communication.”

- Alan Axelrod. Elizabeth I, CEO:
Strategic Lessons from the Leader Who Built an Empire.

Kouzes and Posner's Transformational Leadership Model in Practice: The Case of Jordanian
Schools

https://www.mcgill.ca/engage/files/engage/effective_leadership_is_all_about_communicating_ef
fectively_luthra_dahiya_2015.pdf