IV.

MANAGING PEOPLE
1. Motivation
The ability to motivate others and improve morale is a 'soft skill' — difficult to acquire and
almost impossible to measure. Four key thinkers contributed to this field in the 1950s and 60s,
and their work is still the basis for contemporary approaches :

a. Maslow developed his 'hierarchy of needs'.

 self-actualization needs
 ego (self-esteem) needs
 social needs
 security needs
 physiological needs

We move to the next stage up only when the lower need is met. And as soon as any need is
met, then it is no longer a motivator. The bottom two are usually not an issue in business
(unless you are hungry or in danger). After that, our next need is to feel accepted and part of a
group (social need). If that happens, then next we have ego needs : recognition and
acknowledgement from others, as well as a sense of status or importance. Finally, if that need
is met, we want self-fulfilment ('selfactualization' in Maslow's terms) : to achieve, to develop
to our fullest potential.

b. Herzberg expressed similar ideas. He agreed that the most important motivators at
work were sense of achievement, earned recognition and interest in the job itself. But
then there was another set of job factors ('hygiene' or 'maintenance' factors) that do
not motivate employees, but can cause dissatisfaction if they are missing. These
include salary, job security, working conditions and good relations with co-workers.
c. McGregor observed that managers generally fall into two categories : Theory X and
Theory Y. Theory X managers believe that most people dislike work and must be
controlled and directed to achieve the organization's goals. Theory Y managers believe
that most people like work and actively seek responsibility. They believe in
empowerment (= giving employees the authority to make decisions without traditional
managerial approval) and enabling (= giving them the tools).
d. Drucker believed in 'management by objectives' (MBO). MBO calls on managers to
work with employees to formulate clear, ambitious but achievable goals. There has to

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 be monitoring and measurement to ensure objectives are being met, and workers who
achieve their objectives can be rewarded with pay rises, bonuses, etc.
2. Communication
Communication is two-way : top-down and bottom-up. It can also be external : the PR
(public relations) function handles this.

Inside an organization, informal communication happens all the time : everyone enjoys
discussing 'office politics' at the water cooler and picking up information 'on the grapevine' (=
passed from one person to another in conversation). Formal communication is through the
medium of meetings, presentations, reports, etc, and these are covered in the second half of
this book. But two other key communication skills are not possible to practise in a book :

• 'Active listening'. This means listening with full attention, not interrupting except to
ask for clarification, and giving consideration to the other person's point of view.
• 'Assertiveness'. This means stating your needs and opinions confidently and clearly,
without on the one hand being indirect or 'suffering in silence', or on the other being
aggressive and rude.

3. Teamwork
A team (or 'taskforce' or 'working party') needs a variety of personality types to perform well:

• 'Head' people who are good at thinking and problemsolving.

• 'Hands' people who are good at doing and acting,
• 'Heart' people who are good at networking and resolving conflicts.
Once a team has been set up, it usually goes through the five stages of development
identified by Bruce Tuckman :

a. Forming. People get to know each other.

b. Storming. This refers both to 'brainstorming as ideas get suggested for the first time,
and also to conflicts that arise as team members clarify their roles and expectations.
c. Norming. Members sort out a way of working together and begin to 'own' and share
the team objectives.
d. Performing. Members focus on solving problems and doing tasks. Progress can be
seen as they pass various milestones (= events that mark an important stage in a
process).
e. Adjourning. The job is finished, and there is often a public recogni tion and celebration
of achievements.

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 MANAGING PEOPLE : EXERCISES
4.1. Fill in the missing letters :
a. The level of confidence and positive feelings that people have, especially people who work
together, is their level of ‘mo_______________e' (slightly different to 'motivation', which is
linked to doing things).
b. When we have the recognition and respect of others, it adds greatly to our 'self-es_________m'
(= feeling that we are valued and important).
c. When we have been successful, it is good to have the 'ackn_________________nt' (= public
recognition and thanks) of others.
d. Developing to our fullest potential was called 'selfactualization' by Maslow A more common
term is 'selfful________________________ment
e. Being successful after a lot of effort gives us a 'sense of ach_____________________nt'.
f. Giving people more control over their work is called 'emp___________________nt'.
g. Giving someone the tools and skills to do something is called 'en________________ng' them
h. Successful managers are neither passive nor aggressive.
i. Instead, they are 'ass________________ve
j. Business leaders need to have vision and 'comm_______________nt' (= enthusiasm,
determination and a strong belief in what they are doing).
4.2. Decide whether the phrases below best describe managers (M) or leaders (L).
a. welcome change _______________ b. good at motivating______________
c. welcome stability_______________ d. good at supervising_____________
e. look at the details_________________ f. four make a team_______________
g. look at the big picture_____________ h. four is three too many____________

4.3. Read the text then answer the questions below.

The work of Maslow and Herzberg has been developed into the theory of 'job enrichment'. This
theory states that there are five characteristics affecting an individual's motivation and performance
:
• Skill variety. The extent to which a job demands different skills,
• Task identity. The degree to which a job has a visible outcome.

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 • Task significance. The degree to which a job has an impact on the work of others.
• Autonomy. The degree of freedom and choice that people have in scheduling work and
determining procedures,
• Feedback, The amount of direct and clear information
The first three factors above contribute to the meaningfulness of the job, The fourth gives a feeling of
responsibility, The fifth contributes to a feeling of achievement and recognition.
Job enrichment tries to maximize the above five factors within the constraints of the organization. It
also includes two specific strategies :

• job enlargement - combining a series of tasks into one challenging and interesting assignment
• job rotation - moving employees from one job to another.

Find a word in the text which means :

a. making something better and more enjoyable
b. result
c. power to make independent decisions
d. quality of being serious, useful and important
e. making something bigger
f. piece of work that you must do as part of your job or course of study
4.4. Read about a decision-making process at Xerox.

1
In the 1990s Xerox was in trouble. 2Anne Mulcahy a company insider, realized how serious the
situation was customers were leaving, morale was low, and the company product line was too
unfocused. 3She became CEO in 2000 and immediately began a listening tour, seeking insights from
employees, customers and industry experts on where the company had gone wrong. 4 What strategic
options were open to Xerox? 5 it could focus on laser or ink-jet, high-end or low-end, single-function
or multi-function. 6And which areas of the business were going to be cut ? 7 R&D was traditionally
strong at Xerox but used up a lot of internal resources. 8 Mulcahy and her team worked out a plan.
9
Firstv they would focus on cash generation, second they would cut costs wherever possible (R&D was
saved from this), and finally they would focus exclusively on areas where Xerox had a competitive
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advantage. Mulcahy took time to explain this plan to front-line employees. t 'In addition, she made
sure that everyone explained it to customers as well, and made many customer visits herself.
Now write the sentence numbers that match the stages below.
a) Accept there is a problem ; define the situation. 2__
b) Collect information and ideas.__________
c) Analyse information and develop alternatives. ___________ to __________
d) Make a decision on the best alternative______________ to __________
e) Communicate the decision and begin implementation._________
4.5. Study the collocations related to decision making

achieve, define, establish, fail in, fall short of, an objective fulfil, identify, An adjective
meet, reach, set
address, cause, clear up, create, deal with, a problem give rise to, handle, A problem
overcome, resolve, solver tackle
accept, agree to / with, come up with, make, offer,,put forward, reject, rule A suggestion
out, take up, turn down
arrive at, come to, defer, make, overrule, overturn, a decision postpone, put A decision
off, reach, reverse, take
collective, critical, crucial, difficult, hard, important, decision joint, key, Decision
major, tough, unanimous
anticipated, desirable, eventual, expected, outcome favourable, final, likely, Outcome
satisfactory, successful

Now divide the words in each box into three groups,

based on their meaning,

achieve, meet, reach define, identify, fail in, fall, short of an objective
fulfil establish, set
a problem
a suggestion
a decision
decision
outcome

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 4.6. Match the team roles in the box to the descriptions below. This exercise is based on the
ideas of Belbin and Margerison-McCann.

Coordinator ; Innovator ; Evaluator ; Finisher ; Implementer ; Promoter ; Shaper ; Specialist ;

Team worker

a. 'Head' people
1. _____________ solve difficult problems with creative ideas ; not affraid to chalenge norms ;
may ignore details
2. __________________ thinks carefully and accurately about things ; listens patiently ; may
lack energy to inspire others
3. ____________________has expert knowledge in key areas ; may be uninterested in all other
areas
b. 'Hands' people
4. ___________________takes basic ideas and makes them work in practice; methodical and
organized; can be slow
5. ____________________gets involved quickly with lots of energy; more interested in the final
result than the process;
6. ___________________likes completing things on time, on budget, and to specification; can
worry too much
c. 'Heart' people
7. ___________________central person who makes sure everyone works well together ; helps
everyone focus; be seen as too controlling
8. ___________________caring, a good listener, and works hard to resolve problems ; may have
difficulty making decisions
9. __________________enthusiastic, sees the big picture and good at explaining it to people
outside the group ; can be too optimistic and lose initial energy
4.7. Change each adjective describing people into its opposite.
a. accurate ________accurate / ________precise
b. careful care________
c. conservative inn _______ve / ra______
d. decisive _______decisive/ hes_________
e. Efficient ________efficient / wa_____eful
f. Enthusiastic _______enthusiastic / b_____ed
g. Flexible _______flexible / r____id
h. hands-on l__________ez-f________
i. lazy h__________-w_________ing
j. patient ________patient
k. polite __________polite / r__________
l. reliable _____________reliable

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