Reflection On The Management Competence - 1932 Words

1) What specifically have you observed and learnt from the experience focussing on one management competence? The act of influencing is a major management competence, and can be defined as one’s ability to affect another’s behaviour, beliefs, and attitudes. (Buchanan and Huczynski, 2013) Throughout our group assignment, we showed several different styles and approaches, both directly and indirectly. The styles also changed as we developed through the project. Figure.1 A matrix of influencing styles and approaches (Guirdham.M, 2002) At the beginning of the assignment, one of our initial tasks was to choose a â€Å"How-to Topic†. Our main influencing style in the group was high affiliative with dependency (Figure 1. bottom left), as we†¦show more content†¦This is a clear example of Festinger’s dissonance theory (Festinger, 1857), whereby he did not complain because he wanted to reach an agreement. Therefore, a benefit of this was his desire to discourage future contrariety (Guirdham, M. 2002) by not creating any further conflict in our group. Further, his refusal to influence the group may be elucidatory of Hovland and Sherif’s involvement theory (Sherif and Hovland, 1964), because he felt he couldn’t persuade everyone else to change their minds. Throughout the â€Å"How to topic†, two people managed to influence the group the most by using the high affiliative and dominative styles of direct influence. First, our project manager influenced us heavily by using a propositional style. Firstly, he asked everyone, â€Å"We need to sort out what topic we are doing, guys† (Appendix B). This helped the group start the discussion, and therefore lead to a positive result of voting and choosing conflict between staff members. However, he may only have had high influence on the group due to his legitimate power as project manager. Another team member influenced the group by proposing, â€Å"I like the look of resolving conflict between staff† (Appendix B), as she had previous experience in this topic, which meant she had expertise power. Therefore, the group felt they could trust and follow her. (pull style) A following task was to choose our roles. Each team member