My Expressions

Factors Influencing Perception

2026-04-01T19:52:00.000-07:00

Never miss first opportunity …

2025-02-10T01:06:00.000-08:00

A young man wished to marry the farmer’s beautiful daughter. He went to the farmer to ask his permission. The farmer looked him over and said,” Son, go stand out in that field. I’m going to release three bulls, one at a time. If you can catch the tail of any one of the three bulls, you can marry my daughter.”

The young man stood in the pasture awaiting the first bull. The barn door opened and out ran the biggest, meanest-looking bull he had ever seen. He decided that one of the next bulls had to be a better choice than this one, so he ran over to the side and let the bull pass through the pasture out the back gate.

The barn door opened again. Unbelievable. He had never seen anything so big and fierce in his life. It stood pawing the ground, grunting, slinging slobber as it eyed him. Whatever the next bull was like, it had to be a better choice than this one. He ran to the fence and let the bull pass through the pasture, out the back gate.

The door opened a third time. A smile came across his face. This was the weakest, scrawniest little bull he had ever seen. This one was his bull. As the bull came running by, he positioned himself just right and jumped at just the exact moment. He grabbed… but the bull had no tail!

Life is full of opportunities. Some will be easy to take advantage of, some will be difficult. But once we let them pass (often in hopes of something better), those opportunities may never again be available. So always grab the first opportunity . . .

Inspirational, Management Stories, Motivation

9 Leadership Styles of Top Performers – Which One Defines You?

2025-01-31T01:07:00.000-08:00

Leadership is not one-size-fits-all. Different situations call for different leadership approaches, and the best leaders know how to adapt their style based on the needs of their team and organization.

This insightful framework highlights 9 distinct leadership styles demonstrated by some of the world’s most successful leaders.

Leadership isn’t about titles—it’s about impact.

Some leaders inspire, some delegate, some take control, and some empower. The best leaders? They know when to adapt.

A crisis may need decisiveness. A creative team thrives on autonomy. A growing organization demands coaching.

There’s no single formula for great leadership—but knowing when to shift gears can set you apart.

💡 What leadership style do you resonate with the most? Let’s discuss!

#Leadership #Growth #Strategy #Management #Success

Organizational Politics - Types

2025-01-20T21:11:00.000-08:00

What is ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS

The term ‘organizational politics’, also known as workplace politics or office politics, refers to the agenda of each employee within a company and the activities they engage in to acquire, increase, and wield power and resources to gain a desired outcome.

Organizational politics is present in most organizations. Every business has a hierarchy, and with this hierarchy comes an uneven distribution of power. Certain employees are more likely to pursue this power than others, which is considered political behavior in the workplace.

All employees experience the impact of organizational politics throughout their careers, whether positive or negative. For some, it means engaging in office gossip or acting as part of a clique, while for others, it means climbing the career ladder and being as productive and efficient as possible at work.

Understanding political behavior in organizations helps reduce the negative or dysfunctional effects, support employees, and engage in positive political behaviors that benefit the entire organization.

TYPES OF ORGANIZATIONAL POLITICS

Organizational politics in the workplace can have many forms, ranging from subtle maneuvers to overt power plays. These actions can significantly impact the culture, effectiveness, and morale of an organization. Understanding the different types of organizational politics can help professionals navigate and manage workplace dynamics more effectively.

Self-promotion

When an employee acts to further their career without regard for the impact on others around them. This includes things like taking credit for the ideas of others and putting coworkers down to build themselves up.

Office politics

When one employee or group attempts to influence another employee or group through persuasion, manipulation, influence, or pressure. This can be positive if it means getting a group of skeptics on board with an organization’s vision or project, but the downside is that it can lead to tension and arguments if someone believes that the win is coming at their expense.

Factionalism

A group becomes split based on common tasks and common interests, and these smaller groups form alliances that align with their goals. In larger organizations, this can help to increase innovation and agility. However, it will often have negative consequences as each faction commits to winning at any cost.

Gatekeeping

An employee or group of employees who already have a certain degree of power block other employees and ideas. They do this to maintain their power and avoid being challenged. However, this stifles innovation and prevents talent from rising through the organization.

Territorialism

An employee becomes extremely attached to a certain role or task and will not allow anyone else to undertake it. For example, a manager who refuses to hand over the reins of a project.

FACTORS CONTRIBUTING TO POLITICAL BEHAVIOUR

There are several factors, for instance, in the form of traits that influence political behaviour. Individual and organisational factors influence political behaviour and result in favourable results for the entire organisation.

Individual factors

A particular set of factors at the individual level reflects a higher engagement in organisational politics.

1. Individuals who are high self-monitors exhibit more skills when it comes to political behaviour. This set of individuals is more sensitive when it comes to cues of the external environment and indulge in higher political behaviour since they manipulate situations according to their self-interest. High self-monitors usually believe they can control their setting and might use manipulative tactics to soothe their interest.

2. An employer’s investment in the organisation also shapes how the employee indulges in politics. The more the desire to reap future benefits from the organisation, the less likelihood of indulging in illegitimate means.

3. An employee with a high expectation of success from legitimate means is less likely to indulge in politics. In the same way, a person that has a low expectation of success from illegitimate means is less likely to use polished political skills.

4. If an employee has alternative job opportunities and possesses a specific skill set, it is more likely that the employee is to risk illegitimate political action.

Organisational factors

Employees operate in a social context that shapes their work and function in an organisational setup. Evidence suggests that more than how individual factors influence politics, the organisational factors in the form of cultures and situations play a considerable role. In the case of scarcity of resources, offers for promotions and changing priorities, it becomes crucial to bring politics into the picture, where politicking surfaces. Politicking thus refers to the activities that people might engage in when they face paradoxical situations full of ambiguity. They will utilise all their influence to cater to their goals and interests. Any organisation can turn into a politics-free zone if there is no scarcity of resources and clear-cut outcomes one strives for.

1. Cultures, for instance, influence the level of politicking, especially where there is mistrust, unclear roles, self-focused managers and rising pressures to perform. Therefore, high trust should be able to minimise political behaviour.

2. Role clarity is another way by which engaging in politics can be minimised. Employees usually engage in politics when there are unclear roles; that way, the ambiguity increases, and thus, the scope expands to engage in any form of political behaviour.

3. Performance evaluation criteria help employees stay motivated toward the organisation’s goals. Since different departments have conflicting goal priorities, engaging in differential objective criteria that encourage employees to work with tremendous enthusiasm becomes essential. Therefore, a subjective performance criterion might give rise to organisational politics since the win-lose approach in the middle of conflicting and differing priorities might create situations that involve winning at the expense of others losing.

ADVERSE SIDE EFFECTS OF ORGANISATIONAL POLITICS

Increased stress: Constant fear of the unknown and the threat of losing an important task or a job is always there.

Decrease in employee productivity: Due to the constant fear of office politics, employees focus less on the work. This eventually leads to less satisfaction for the employee and employer as the output gets heavily affected.

Less concentration: The urge to get engrossed in political tactics often leads to less engagement at the work front. The focus on the satisfaction of personal agendas results in a shifting of priorities.

Cynicism: Constant manipulative tactics and the urge to drive personal satisfaction can lead to lower productivity and satisfaction levels. High employee turnover: The employees who are creative and passionate about work may often leave a highly politicised organisational setup due to a lack of focus on tasks.

Demotivation: Often, employees with no experience in politicking suffer because they get dragged into messy work politics. Seeing manipulative employees getting raises often is a demotivating factor for the hardworking employees lacking political tactics.

Miscommunication: The effective communication channel gets distorted when the manipulation by some employees leads to miscommunication by spreading edited versions of events and situations.

Resentment and decrease in overall productivity: The organisational politics will eventually make few employees, especially low selfmonitors, suffer. These employees will drift away from the manipulative employees and the company itself. With all the negativity around the workplace, the employees will have less satisfaction in the workplace. Finally, the productivity levels will get hampered, damaging the entire workplace culture.

Job Analysis

2018-07-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

Job analysis helps in the understanding of a unit of work and its linkage with other units of work. More specifically, the uses of job analysis may be summarized as follow:

Manpower planning: Job analysis helps in forecasting human resource requirements in terms of knowledge and skills. By showing lateral and vertical relationships between jobs, it facilitates the formulation of a systematic promotion and transfer policy. It also helps in determining quality of human resources needed in an organization.
Recruitment: Job analysis is used to find out how and when to hire people for future job openings. An understanding of the skills needed and the positions that are vacant in future helps managers to plan and hire people in a systematic way.
Selection: Without a proper understanding of what is to be done on a job, it is not possible to select a right person
Placement and orientation: After selecting people, we have to place them on jobs best suited to their interests, activities and aptitude. Similarly, effective job orientation program will help the employee in learning the activities and understanding duties that are required to perform a given job more effectively.
Training: If there is any confusion about what the job is and what is supposed to be done, proper training efforts cannot be initiated. Whether or not a current or potential job holder requires additional training can be determined only after the specific needs of the jobs have been identified through a job analysis.
Counselling: Managers can properly counsel employees about their careers when they understand the different jobs in the organization. Likewise, employees can better appreciate their career options when they understand the specific needs of various other jobs. Job analysis can point out areas that an employee might need to develop to further a career.
Employee safety: Job analysis reveals unsafe conditions associated with a job.
Performance appraisal: By comparing what an employee is supposed to be doing (based on job analysis) to what the individual has actually done, the worth of that person can be assessed. Ultimately, every organization has to pay a fair remuneration to people based on their performance. To achieve this, it is necessary to compare what individuals should do (as per performance standards) with what they have actually done (as per job analysis).
Job design: Once the jobs are understood properly, it is easy to locate weak spots and undertake remedial steps. We can eliminate unnecessary movements, simplify certain steps and improve the existing ones through continuous monitoring. In short, we can redesign jobs to match the mental make-up of employees.
Job analysis helps in finding the relative worth of a job, based on criteria such as degree of difficulty, type of work done, skills and knowledge needed, etc. This, in turn, assists in designing proper wage policies, with internal pay equity between jobs.

Power - Sources

2018-03-05T21:06:00.001-08:00

Meaning of power

The word ‘power’ is defined differently by different people. In simple words, power is the ability to influence other people. It is an exchange relationship that occurs in transactions between an agent and a target. The agent is the person who uses the power, and target is the receipt of the attempt to use power. White and Bednar have also defined people or things, usually obtained through he control of important resources.

Sometimes, people consider power, influence and authority as synonymous. However, these mean different meanings. We have just defined power as the ability to influence someone else. Power being an ability, individuals can learn to use it effectively. Influence is the process of affecting the thoughts, behaviour, and feelings of another person. Authority is the right to influence another person. In other words, authority is a legitimate right to influence others.

Bases Or Sources Of Power

Where does power come from? French and Raven have answered this question by identifying five sources a manager drives power. They are reward, coercive, legitimate, referent and expert power.

Reward Power: Reward power is based on the agent’s/manager’s ability to control rewards the target/employee wants. The common examples of reward power are managers control rewards of salary increases, bonuses, and promotions. This power is based on old saying that ‘wealth is power’. People comply this power because they get benefits out of its compliance.

Coercive Power :Coercive power is opposite of reward power. Coercive power is based on manager’s ability to cause an unpleasant experience for its people. To cerce someone into doing situation, it may be in the form of action for or threat for dismissal, suspension, demotion, or other method of embarrassment for the people working in organisations.

Legitimate Power : Legitimate power is power that is based on position and mutual agreement. Both the agent and target agree that the agent has the right to influence his employees. In organisational setting, such legitimate power is in the form of authority which is delegate to the positions of organisational members. In our culture, age has still certain premium and the aged people have legitimate power and the members of the society believe in his right to influence the decisions in their lives.

Referent Power : Referent power in an elusive power that is based on interpersonal attraction. The agent has referent power over the target because the target identifies with or wants to be like the agent. Charismatic individuals are often thought to have referent power. Such power may take place without organisational context as most of the people take somebody as ideal and behave accordingly upto a certain stage.

Expert Power: Expert power exists when the agent has information or knowledge that the target needs. It is based on the proverb, ‘knowledge is power’. For expert power to work, three conditions need to be fulfilled. First, the target must trust that the information given by the agent is accurate and correct. Second, the information given should be relevant and useful to the target. Third, the target must consider the agent a an expert. It is important to mention that if an agent considers himself/herself as an expert but not the target, then the expert power will not be effective.

Steps for Effective Communication

2017-11-15T07:31:00.000-08:00

Clarity in idea.

The communicator should be quite clear about what he wants to communicate. Communication is a process starting with ideation, which includes generation of ideas, which are meant, for communication. This is the subject matter of communication and may include opinion, attitudes, feeling, views suggestion orders etc.

Purpose of Communication

Every communication has some purpose, the basic purpose of any communication being to get behavioural response from the receiver of the communication. However the ultimate objective may be extended further.

Empathy in Communication

The way for effective communication is to be sensitive towards receivers needs, feeling and perception. This is what psychologist called empathy in communication. When the sender of message looks at the problems from the receiver point of view, much of misunderstanding is avoided.

Two Way Communications

Communication is a two way process and this fact must be realized in communication. Two-way communication brings two minds together which is the basic core of any communication. It involves a continuous dialogue between the sender and the receiver of the message. Upward communication becomes a reality in the organization if this fact is recognized.

Appropriate Language

The subject matter of communication is transmitted by decoding into some symbols. Such symbols may be in the form of words, either spoken or written and gestures. If the words are used, the language used for communication should be such which is understandable by the receiver. Technical terminology and jargons though impressive creates trouble to the listener. One way of making communication simple is to use repetitive language, which the receiver is familiar with.

Supporting Words with Action

It is often said that action speaks louder than words. While communicating the sender may use the actions to emphasis a point. This enhances understanding as well as emphasis the important point in communication. Further the sender of message must also follow in action what he says to others. This will ensure seriousness in communication/

Credibility in Communication

One criterion for effective managerial communication is that it has credibility or believability. The subordinates obey the orders of the superior because he has demonstrated through his competence that he is worth of trust. He must also maintain his trust and credibility. Subordinates will follow thus any communication, which is based on this trust and credibility.

Good Listening

A communicator must be a good listener too. By this process he is not only giving chance to other to speak but he gathers useful information for further communication. By concentration on the speaker’s explicit and implicit meaning the manager can obtain a much better understanding of what is being said.

Qualities of a Leader

2017-10-02T22:44:00.000-07:00

Leadership means the ability to influence the behaviour of others hence a leader should have certain traits to be able to exert his influence on the group around him. Leadership qualities can be divided into two classes.

1. Personal traits

2. Managerial traits

Personal Traits

A successful leader should have the following personal qualities.

Dynamic Personality

A leader should possess a charismatic, charming, cheerful and bubbling personality. He should have vitality. He should be strong, have good health, and have a cool temperament and an optimistic outlook. His behaviour should be decent and he should be able to communicate clearly.

Intellectual Capacity

A leader should be able to think scientifically and logically. He should be able to analyse a situation. He should be able to interpret both data and human behaviour clearly and concisely. He should have an insight into business problems.

Initiative

A successful leader must be able to visualize and take a correct sequence of actions. He should have a good sense of timing. He should be able to apply intrinsic ideas. He should be able to develop new ideas and formulate new methods of doing things. He should have great creative ability and initiative. He should be able to inspire teach and guide people. Only then will he get the voluntary co-operation of the employees around him.

Foresight

A successful leader should be imaginative. He should be able to visualize potential trends and on the basis of these develop polices and programs logically.

Emotional Stability

A leader should have a balanced temperament. He should be emotionally stable. He should be able to overcome his own personal disappointments. He should also be able to correct his won inconsistencies.

Flexibility

A leader should be flexible and have an open mind. But the final decision should be his and should be based on various inputs, which should reach a balance in the final decision. He must always try to accommodate as many points of view as possible.

Sense of Responsibility

A leader must always be responsible for his actions. He should bear the burden of his decisions. He should not try to escape by putting them on somebody else. He should always remember,

That he derives his authority from his followers and
Authority and responsibility are inter linked.

Character

A leader should be a man of great character. He should always remember that he is a symbol for his followers hence he must carefully consider the effects of his actions on grounds of morality and efficiency.

Managerial Traits

A successful leader should possess the following managerial trait.

Technical Knowledge

A leader should know the technical details necessary in his field. He should know them minutely and be able to apply them in hands on situation. Only then will his followers respect him. A leader who instructs but cannot do will never be respected.

Organizing ability

The main aim of every leader is to organize what others are doing. To be able to do this he should be able to divide the organisation into segments and use his technical knowledge and knowledge of his followers’ capacity to divide work, allocate responsibility, direct the action, set goals and produce results. He should be able to bring together the money, materials, men and machines.

Ability to deal with people

A leader should be able to deal with the behaviour of his followers under normal conditions and in emotionally stressed conditions. He has to inspire and motivate people in both the situations

Ability to judge and decide promptly

A leader should use all the abilities mentioned above to judge both people and situations. He should also be able to act decisively promptly and effectively so that the organization benefits from his decision with the minimum amount of effort for his followers.

How Hiring Process Impacts Performance

2017-05-12T07:45:00.001-07:00

One Fine Day.....

2016-07-08T09:03:00.000-07:00

One fine day, a bus driver went to the bus garage, started his bus, and drove off along the route. No problems for the first few stops - a few people got on, a few got off, and things went generally well.

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight,built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, " Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back.

Did I mention that the driver was five feet three, thin, and basically meek? Well, he was. Naturally, he didn't argue with Big John, but he wasn't happy about it. The next day the same thing happened - Big John got on again, made a show of refusing to pay, and sat down. And the next day, and the next.

This grated on the bus driver, who started losing sleep over the way Big John was taking advantage of him. Finally he could stand it no longer. He signed up for body building courses, karate, judo, and all that good stuff.

By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself. So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!"

The driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, " And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, " Big John has a bus pass."

Management Lesson: "Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one."

Competencies/Skills Essential for Managers

2016-05-17T20:57:00.001-07:00

Management Skills

Managers need certain skills in order to perform the duties and activities associated with various functions. Katz found that managers need three essential skills or competencies. They are technical sills, interpersonal skills and conceptual skills. It is reported that the relative importance of these skills varied according to the managers level with in the organization. As managers’ progresses from lower level to senior level, he is expected to acquire more of human relations and conceptual skills.

Managerial Skills

Technical skills

This refers to acquisition of knowledge and proficiency in a certain specialized fields. For example, mechanics work with tools, and their supervisors should have the ability to teach them how to use these tools. Similarly accountants apply specific techniques in doing their job.

First line manger, as well as middle level managers, is required to acquire mastery over the technical aspects of the organizational work operations. Technical skills include knowledge of and proficiency incertain specialized fields, such as engineering, computers, finance, manufacturing etc. Kanz proposed that technical skills becomes less important as manager moves into higher level of management, but even top managers need some proficiency in the organization’s specialty. For example, senior executives with an IT background are required to know the different types of operating systems and the current developments in the software industry to use their IT skills frequently in their position as managers when it comes to handling new projects.

Interpersonal Skills

It is ability to work with people; it is cooperative effort; it is team work; it is the creation of an environment in which people feel secure and free to express their opinions

Human or interpersonal skills represent the ability to work well with and understand others to build cooperative effort within a team to motivate and to manage conflict. These skills are important for manages at all levels. Managers need to be aware of their own attitudes, assumption and beliefs as well as being sensitive to their subordinate’s perceptions needs, and motivations.

It is important to note that theses skills are called as soft skills and it is proved that the organizations nurturing those soft skills within the organization are so successful in their business operations. Some of the important soft skills include communicating, motivating, and leading, delegating and negotiating skills. As managers deal directly with people within as well outside the organization, such types of interpersonal skills are crucial in maintaining effective interpersonal relations. Manager with good interpersonal skills are to get the best out of their people. They know how to communicate, motivate, lead and inspire enthusiasms and trust.

Conceptual Skills

It is the ability to see the ‘big picture’ to recognize significant elements in a situation to understand the relationships among the elements

Managers must also have the ability to conceptualize and to think about abstract situations. They must be able to see the organization as whole with holistic approach and able to see the big picture of he organization. The manager must understand the relationships among various subunits and to visualize how organizations fit into this broader environment. These abilities are essential to effective decision-making, and all managers must involve in making decisions. All managers at all levels need conceptual skills. Katz proposed that these skills become more important in top management positions. The reason for this is that the top management managers often deals with abstract ideas, where as lower-level manager normally spend more time dealing with observable technical day-to-day operational activities.

One Fine Day...

2016-03-28T11:30:00.000-07:00

At the next stop, however, a big hulk of a guy got on. Six feet eight,built like a wrestler, arms hanging down to the ground. He glared at the driver and said, " Big John doesn't pay!" and sat down at the back.

By the end of the summer, he had become quite strong; what's more, he felt really good about himself. So on the next Monday, when Big John once again got on the bus and said, "Big John doesn't pay!"

The driver stood up, glared back at the passenger, and screamed, " And why not?"

With a surprised look on his face, Big John replied, " Big John has a bus pass."

Management Lesson: "Be sure there is a problem in the first place before working hard to solve one."

Are you a Micromanager ?- Take this Quiz

2016-01-18T21:31:00.000-08:00

Definitions of Organizational Development (OD)

2015-03-26T07:09:00.000-07:00

Definitions

The nature and needs of organizations are changing dramatically. Correspondingly, the profession of organization development (OD) has been changing to meet the changing needs of organizations. Therefore, it may be most useful to consider several definitions of organization development.

“Organization Development is an effort planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization's 'processes,' using behavioral-science knowledge.”  -- Beckhard, “Organization development: Strategies and Models”, Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, 1969, p. 9.

"OD is a planned process of developing an organization to be more effective in accomplishing its desired goals." Human Resources Management & Development Handbook

"OD is a planned intervention aimed at improving individual and organizational health and effectiveness." Jac Fitz-Enz

"Organization development practitioners help companies manage change and align people, process and practices or success.,, In its simplest form, OD work aims to be a catalyst that helps the organization get from where it is today (point A) to its desired state (Point B)" - ASTD American Society for Training and Development

"Organizational development is a long-term effort led and supported by top management, to improve an organization's visioning, empowerment, learning, and problem-solving processes, through an ongoing, collaborative management of organizational culture-with special emphasis on the consultant-facilitator role and the theory and technology of applied behavioral science, including participant action research." Organization Development, [French & Bell, 1999]

"Organizational development is the application of behavioral scientific principles and methods to increase an organization's effectiveness". US Government Office of Personnel Management

"Organizational development is a management field that focuses on helping organizations to develop their full potential". University of Massachusetts

"Organization Development (OD) is the process of improving organizations". Chicago OD Network

"Organizational development is an effort, planned, organization-wide, and managed from the top, to increase organization effectiveness and health through planned interventions in the organization's processes, using behavioral-science knowledge" Richard F. Beckert

"Organizational Development is the field of study and practice that focuses on various aspects of organizational life, aspects that include culture, values, systems and behavior. The goal of O.D. is to increase organizational effectiveness and organizational health, through planned interventions in the organization’s processes or operations. Most often, O.D. Services are requested when an organization (or a unit within an organization) is undergoing a process of change". University of California

"Our purpose as professionals is to facilitate processes by which human beings and human systems live and work together for their mutual benefit and mutual well-being". The OD Network

“Organization Development is the attempt to influence the members of an organization to expand their candidness with each other about their views of the organization and their experience in it, and to take greater responsibility for their own actions as organization members. The assumption behind OD is that when people pursue both of these objectives simultaneously, they are likely to discover new ways of working together that they experience as more effective for achieving their own and their shared (organizational) goals. And that when this does not happen, such activity helps them to understand why and to make meaningful choices about what to do in light of this understanding.” -- Neilsen, “Becoming an OD Practitioner”, Englewood Cliffs, CA: Prentice-Hall, 1984, pp. 2-3.

"Organization development is a system-wide application of behavioral science knowledge to the planned development and reinforcement of organizational strategies, structures, and processes for improving an organization's effectiveness." -- Cummings and Worley, "Organization Development and Change", Sixth Edition, South-Western Publishing, 1997, p.2.

"Organization Development is a body of knowledge and practice that enhances organizational performance and individual development, viewing the organization as a complex system of systems that exist within a larger system, each of which has its own attributes and degrees of alignment. OD interventions in these systems are inclusive methodologies and approaches to strategic planning, organization design, leadership development, change management, performance management, coaching, diversity, and work/life balance." -- Matt Minahan, MM & Associates, Silver Spring, Maryland

"OD is a field directed at interventions in the processes of human systems (formal and informal groups, organizations, communities, and societies) in order to increase their effectiveness and health using a variety of disciplines, principally applied behavioral sciences. OD requires practitioners to be conscious about the values guiding their practice and focuses on achieving its results through people."- Arnold Minors, Arnold Minors & Associates, Toronto, Canada

Source:

1. http://www.odnetwork.org/?page=whatisod

2. http://www.odportal.com/OD/whatisod.htm

3. http://managementhelp.org/organizationdevelopment/od-defined.htm

Influencing - Characteristics That Differentiate Leaders From Non-Leaders

2014-11-29T23:58:00.001-08:00

There are three categories of leadership theories which highlight the key determinants of leadership effectiveness. They are Trait Theories, Behavioral Theories and Situational Theories.

Trait Theories:

There are six traits associated with effective leadership include drive, the desire to lead, honesty and integrity, self-confidence, intelligence and job-relevant knowledge.

Drive: Leaders exhibit a high effort level. They have a relatively high desire for achievement, they are ambitious, they have a lot of energy, they are tirelessly persistent in their activities and they show initiative.

Desire to lead: Leaders have a strong desire to influence and lead others. They demonstrate the willingness to take responsibility

Honesty and Integrity: Leaders build trusting relationship between themselves and followers by being truthful and non-deceitful and by showing high consistency between word and deed.

Self-confidence: Followers look to leaders for an absence of self-doubt. Leaders therefore need to show self-confidence in order to convince followers of the rightness of goals and decisions.

Intelligence: Leaders need to be intelligent enough to gather synthesize and interpret large amounts of information; and to be able to create vision, solve problems and make correct decision.

Job-relevant knowledge: Effective leaders have a high degree of knowledge about the company, the industry and technical matters. In-depth knowledge allows leaders to make well-informed decision and to understand the implications of those decisions.

Behavioral Theories:

They identified behaviors that differentiated effective leaders’ from ineffective leaders. Based on these people could be trained to be leaders. The following are three types of behavioral styles of leadership

i) Autocratic Style: A leader who tended to centralize authority, dictate work methods, make unilateral decision and limit employee participation

ii) Democratic Style: A leader who tended to involve employees in decision making to delegate authority, to encourage participation in deciding work methods and goals, and to use feedback as an opportunity for coaching employees

iii) Laissez-faire style: A leader who generally gave the group complete freedom to make decision and complete the work in whatever way it saw fit.

Research results revealed that employee-oriented leaders were associated with high group productivity and higher job satisfaction. Leaders who exhibited high level of consideration and high level of task orientation achieved high subordinate performance and satisfaction. Some studies reported that democratic style of leadership was most effective, although later studies showed mixed results

Situational Theories:

Situational theories of leadership studies revealed that choosing the appropriate style of leadership depends upon the situation will yield more effective results than following same type of leadership style across all the time. Among various situational theories of leadership Fiedler’s contingency model and Hersey and

Blanchard’s Life Cycle Model outlined the importance of situational factors while choosing the appropriate style of leadership.

Fiedler’s model highlighted that task-oriented style of leadership will be more effective in both the extreme situations such as highly favorable and highly unfavorable situations. If the situations are moderately favorable, relationship-oriented style will be more effective.

Hersey and Blanchard model reported that if the employees are highly matured Psychologically and possess job competency, the enforcing delegating style will be more effective. Similarly if the employees are not adequately possessing job competency and very low in psychological maturity, the enforcing directing style will be more effective.

Trait Approach - The Big Five

2014-11-11T10:42:00.001-08:00

The Trait Approach

A trait is what we call a characteristic way in which an individual perceives, feels, believes, or acts. When we casually describe someone, we are likely to use trait terms: I am, for example, somewhat of an introvert, a pretty nervous person, strongly attached to my family, frequently depressed, and awesomely intelligent. I have a good sense of humor, fond of languages, very fond of good food, not at all fond of exercise, and a little obsessive. You see: I have just given you ten traits that actually go a long way towards describing me!

Psychologists, especially personologists, are very interested in traits. They are especially interested in finding which traits are broad and possibly genetically based, as opposed to ones that are rather peculiar and can change easily. Over the years, we have had a number of theories that attempt to describe the key traits of human beings.

 Agreeableness refers to how you interact with other people, and it involves the level of intimacy you maintain in your personal relationships and how helpful and sympathetic you are. Characteristics of an agreeable personality include trust, straightforwardness, altruism, compliance, modesty, and tender-mindedness.

Conscientiousness refers to your work style. It involves your general dedication to activities; how hard you work and how efficient and focused you are. Conscientious people are typically competent, orderly, dutiful, achievement striving, self-disciplined, and deliberate.

Extraversion refers to how you express yourself. This trait considers your sociability, positive emotionality, assertiveness, and activity or energy level. If you are extraverted, you're probably warm, gregarious, assertive, active, seek

excitement, and tend toward positive emotions.

 Neuroticism refers to your emotional style. It involves the extent to which you experience negative emotions such as worry, self-doubt, stress and tension. Most neurotic personalities display anxiety, angry hostility, depression, self-consciousness, impulsiveness, or vulnerability (or some combination of these characteristics).

 Openness describes your intellectual style - the extent to which you are open to new ideas and innovative approaches, and have an active imagination. Some characteristics of openness include fantasy, appreciation of art, the tendency to have a variety of emotions, action (not reaction), and individual ideas and values.

Test yourself by clicking the link below.

1.http://drphil.com/shows/bigfivepersonalityquiz

2.http://www.personalitytest.org.uk

3.https://www.123test.com/personality-test/

Memo Writing

2014-09-23T07:40:00.001-07:00

Memorandum comes from the Latin noun memorandum and has the same root as memorare, memorare translates as to recount, to mention or call to mind.Memos are used within organizations to communicate everything from routine details to complete proposals and reports. Memos are often only a few short paragraphs, but they can be much longer, depending on their purpose.

Here are some typical uses of memos:

to inform others about new or changed policy, procedures, organizational details
to announce meetings, events, changes
to present decisions, directives, proposals, briefings
to transmit documents (internal)

Memo Format

Company and/or department name (without address)

Heading

To (who gets it)
From (who sent it)
Subject (what it’s about)
Date (when it was sent)

Body (conveys message)

Introduction
Main points

Close

Memo Style

Concise: Make your sentences, paragraph, and overall memo as brief and as focused as possible.
Clear: Get your purpose straight before you start, then plan what you want to say and in what.
Order. Use your memo layout to help your reader (headings, bulleted lists, white space, as appropriate).
Direct: Speak directly to your reader, as you would in person or on the phone. Do not pad your ideas with unnecessary details. Think of what questions your reader wants answered, and then answer them.
Clean: Reread, revise, copyedit, and proofread.

Memo Structure

Subject Line: Summarizes the main idea; think of it as being preceded by the words "This memo is about."

Introductory paragraph: Quickly orients the reader to what the memo is about.

Give your purpose for writing.

Supply any relevant background information.

Identify any task the memo is related to.

Body: Conveys the information and supporting details relevant to the memo's purpose

Keep paragraphs short and focused; one main idea per paragraph.

Keep sentences tight and informative

Use bullets to list information

Close: End courteously (think of a phone call or face-to-face meeting), stating any expected outcome, action, or other information appropriate to your purpose. For example,

“Please send me your comments and suggestions by January __.”

"Let's meet next week to go over the next stage in the plan."

Mintzberg Management Roles

2014-08-04T07:46:00.000-07:00

Management Roles

Mintzberg proposed ten managerial roles a typical manager has to perform in discharging his day-to-day activities. Mintzberg’s ten managerial roles can be grouped as those concerned with interpersonal relationships, those concerned with transfer of information, and those concerned with decision- making.

Interpersonal Roles:

This refers to those types’ of managerial roles that involve people and other duties that are ceremonial and symbolic in nature. There are three types of interpersonal roles:

. i) Figure head Role: Manager performs a role as symbolic head and accordingly he is obliged to perform a number of routine duties of a legal or social nature. The typical activities include greeting visitors, signing legal documents etc.

. ii) Leader Role: As a leader of the department, manager gives direction to his employees and other subordinates to fulfill the assigned goals and objectives. He is responsible for the motivation and activation of subordinates. Also he is response for staffing, training and associated activities. Some of the typical activities include goals setting, providing guidance, review the progress of work etc.

. iii) Liaison Role: The manager is required to maintain contact with external sources that provide valuable information. These sources are individual or groups outside the managers unit and may be inside or outside the organization. For this he as to maintain self-developed network of outside contacts and informers who provide favors and information, for example, acknowledging mail, doing external board work etc.

Informational Roles:

This refers to those types of managerial roles that involve receiving, collecting and disseminating information. There are three types of informational roles:

. iv) Monitor: Typically, manager is spanning the boundaries of the organization and trying to get information from outside though various sources such as reading magazines, taking with other to learn current developments, movements of competitors planning, program etc. Manager seeks and receives variety of special information (much of it current) to develop thorough understanding of organization and environment. He emerges as nerve centre of internal and external information about the organization.

. v) Disseminator: M anager acts as conduits of information to organizational members. He is expected to transmit information received from outside or from subordinates to member of the organization. Some information is factual and some may involve interpretation and integrating of diverse value positions of organizational influencers. Some of the typical activities of this role include holding informational meetings, making phone calls to relay information etc.

vi) Spokesman: Manager represents the organization to outsiders by performing the role as spokesman. In this context, the manager transmits information to outsiders on organization’s plans, policies, results, achievements, serves as expert on the chosen field by giving value suggestion to the community etc. As mentioned earlier, he holds board meeting periodically and gives information to the media.

Decisional Roles:

This refers to those types of managerial roles that revolve around making decision. There are four types of decisional roles.

. vii) Entrepreneur: As entrepreneur, manager initiates and oversees new projects that will improve their organization’s performance. He thoroughly analyses the strengths of the organization and the opportunities available in the environment and takes initiative to implement improvement projects to bring about worthwhile changes with in the organization and continuously supervise designing new developmental projects. Some of the typical activities include organizing strategy and review sessions to develop new programs, instrumental in venturing novel projects etc.

. viii) Disturbance Handler: As disturbance handler, managers take corrective action in response to unforeseen problems within as well as outside the organization. Whenever any conflicts occur among the subordinates regarding the sharing of resources, allocation of funds etc, and the manager intervene appropriately and resolve those issues. He is responsible for corrective action when organization faces important, unexpected disturbances.

. ix) Resources Allocator: Manager is responsible for the allocation of organizational resources – physical, human, monetary resources of all kind and in effect, the making or approval of all significant organizational decision. In order to perform this activity, he will be schedule meetings, requesting authorization, and performing any activity that involves budgeting and the programming of subordinates work.

. x) Negotiator: Manager also performs as negotiators when they discuss and bargain with other groups to gain advantage for their own units. Manager will negotiate with business partners in case the organization is seeking alliances to venture projects or extend their operation in new marketing.

Famous Failures

2014-07-30T06:02:00.001-07:00

Organisational Politics - Causes

2014-07-21T02:46:00.001-07:00

According to Aristotle, politics stems from a diversity of interests. To fully understand the politics of the organization, it is necessary to explore the processes by which people engage in politics. Consistent with Aristotle's conceptualization, it is a given that, within the organization, all employees bring their own interests, wants, desires, and needs to the workplace.

To help us understand organizations, we might consider them as political systems. The political metaphor helps us understand power relationships in day-to-day organizational relationships. If we accept that power relations exist in organizations, then politics and politicking are an essential part of organizational life.

Politics is a means of recognizing and, ultimately, reconciling competing interests within the organization. Competing interests can be reconciled by any number of means. As mentioned, organizations need mechanisms whereby they reconcile conflicting interests. Hence, organizations, like governments, tend to "rule" by some sort of "system". This "system" is employed to create and maintain "order" among the organization's members.

Systems of rule within organizations range from autocratic to democratic at the extremes. Between these extremes we find bureaucratic and technocratic systems. Whatever the system, each represents a political orientation with respect to how power is applied and distributed throughout the organization. Each type of organizational "rule" simply draws on different principles of legitimacy.

According to Farrell and Peterson(Farrell and Peterson, 1982), the successful practice of organizational politics is perceived to lead to a higher level of power, and once a higher level of power is attained, there is more opportunity to engage in political behavior

For purposes of understanding organizational political behavior, Farrell and Peterson (1982) proposed a three-dimensional typology. The dimensions are:

• where the political activity takes place -- inside or outside the organization,

• the direction of the attempted influence -- vertically or laterally in the organization, and

• the legitimacy of the political action.

Causes of Organisational Politics

Change

Change is unsettling and often results in winners and losers. When this is the case, it is hardly surprising that more extreme – subtle, underhand, covert or just downright devious – behaviours surface. Individuals start to position themselves in advance of the change. Simply preserving the status quo can often generate such behaviour or even sabotage. It is little wonder that so many change initiatives fail.

Limited Resources

Not surprisingly, when businesses set budgets to drive down costs and end prices to the customer, there is enormous pressure to hold down expenditure and investment. Consequently, department heads have to compete with colleagues for a share of a pot that is rarely large enough. Finance Directors who make these allocations will find themselves on the receiving end of bribes, threats, propositions, sales pitches, gifts, violence and affection – except, of course, we don’t call it that, we call it politics. Relationships may become strained, perhaps even permanently damaged, within a group of people who are supposed to collaborate with each other to best effect on a daily basis.

Subjectivity of Evaluation

Cuts in the cost base often reduce opportunities for promotion. The result is more aggressive behaviour on the part of ambitious individuals, who are driven to get ahead of colleagues if they are to obtain the scarce senior roles they aspire to. Aggressive does not mean using fists, but it does entail competing against other members of staff who just happen to be in the same team.There is nothing underhand in this. Everyone ‘knows the score’, which only serves to perpetuate a climate of suspicion, rumour and gossip to the detriment of getting the job done. Unfortunately, staying out of the fray simply isn’t an option if you want to succeed.

Information

The very speed at which businesses move these days requires that roles are frequently amended and job descriptions often lag behind the new way of doing things. Matrix structures and an orientation to project teams often result in ambiguity over who is responsible for what. Objectives set at the start of the year quickly become overtaken by events, which leads to confusion and vagueness between colleagues. The outcome is often marked by a lack of trust, accusations of exceeding authority and territorial infighting. The rumour mill cranks up and soon individuals are swayed by all manner of perceptions and assumptions that have no basis in fact, but everything to do with the way we choose to interpret others’ behaviour.

Compliance or Commitment

Following orders from positions above self may be in the nature of mere acceptance of directives or of internalization of the intent of the directive. In case of compliance, the change brought about is one that is easily reverted to null at the slightest instance. Although, compliance results due to position power of the directing figure, an internalization of the idea has not percolated down the hierarchical levels. This speaks volumes about the issues of employee involvement and empowerment not only as a part of enhancing acceptability of an initiative, but also towards preserving the power of the superior.

TEAM WORK

2014-07-17T02:15:00.002-07:00

Organization Components

2014-07-16T02:15:00.000-07:00

People

People are the main component of any organization that has to be managed. Every individual has a personal goal to be achieved. Organizations must identify the need spectrum of individuals and take suitable steps for its fulfillment to enable them to perform effectively so that they complete their allotted task in time. Relationship between the workers, with subordinates and superiors should be established based on full understanding and complete faith based on mutual trust so that it is easy to communicate and understand each other’s views. Work teams and Groups play a vital role in the organization. Individual may have to keep his personal interest aside if it conflicts with team or group goals. It is the team goals, accomplishment of which contributes towards achieving organizational goals. Apart from managing internal workforce, it is also important to manage customers who are the end persons using organization’s products or services. Utmost interest of stakeholders, government, employees, social groups and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) must be kept in mind as they play a dominant role in the society. Apart from the above, adequate consideration should also be given to competitors, regulatory agencies, labour force, suppliers and resource persons.

Structure

There are two types of organizations, formal and informal. Informal organizations do not have a specified structure. Formal organizations are build based upon the objective set for it. Organizational structure in such organization is hierarchical in nature, with people at each level having their own objectives, which contributes towards fulfillment of over all organizational objectives. In such organization people at lower levels report to higher level managers. The tier system has the principle of unity of command inbuilt in it. The organization structure may depend upon the size, number of products/services produced, skill and experience of the employees, managerial staff and geographical location of the organization. An organization may have several levels and pyramid like organizational structure or flat structure. The efficiency of the organization will depend upon the free flow of the information, efficient communication system prevailing in the organization, well-defined authority and responsibility supported by detailed policies, rules and regulations. The organization must have well laid out systems, which are understood by workers, supervisors and managers. The leader must keep open mind while dealing with subordinates and exercise full control over various systems, levels and ensure planned productivity and achieve high level of job satisfaction.

Technology

Managing technology is an important job of any management. It is an important element of any unit. Selection of technology, procurement, installation, operation and maintenance is important and no compromise should be made in procuring latest or advanced technology. Various systems and sub- systems should support technology that exists in an organization. Based on the technology, an organization should formulate job structure and resultant procurement of human resource so that they are complimentary to each other. Adequate attention is also be paid to service industry. For example an appropriate drill, procedures are installed in hospital industry to ensure that the patients’ record is maintained properly. On line operations of all systems relating to admission record, past treatment, drugs, availability of beds, schedule of operations maintained so that the level of patients satisfaction is raised. In minimum number of days, maximum numbers of patients should be treated. Various processes required to regulate these functions form the important part of service industry.

Jobs

Job is an assignment assigned to an individual. It encompasses various tasks within it. For example, Personnel manager wants to fill up twelve vacancies in production department within three months. Job will have various tasks inbuilt in it like designing of job specification, selection of media, advertising vacancies, scheduling of selection and recruiting process. Manager, therefore have to manage various tasks to accomplish a particular job. This may form a part of managerial functions. Adequate delegation, supervision, application of various control techniques makes the job simpler for the manager. Introduction of computers have made managerial functions simpler, as required information is available for decision-making.

Processes

Management of processes and its inter-dependence is very crucial to high productivity and higher job satisfaction. What is important for a manager is to ensure high morale of the work force. To ensure this, he must identify various managerial dictums. Select appropriate subordinates to carry out a job based on aptitude, personality traits, mental build up and attitude. He should also involve himself and lead subordinates by personal example. In defence services, it is the quality of leadership, which motivates troops to achieve near impossible task where every thing appears to be going wrong. Various role models assist leaders in identifying as to which process, method or approach would be suitable to mold subordinates in suitable frame that may be required by any organization. Nothing motivates workers better if you give them their entitlements in full and train them to take up higher jobs. By doing so, manager must develop and build an organizational culture that will bind employees to a common cultural bond. During day-to-day functions, managers must be transparent and maintain a high degree of value system and display ethical behaviour. There are no short cuts to this and will pay rich dividends in times to come.

External Environment

What we have so far discussed is various components of an organization that should be managed properly. External environment also plays an important role in managing the points discussed above. When we talk about managing people in the organization, what we have to study and manage is the influence of culture and its impact on the individual. A manager should examine as to how he is going to cope up with the changes. Study of external environment is very wide and encompasses economic, cultural, social, government rules and regulations, legal aspects, political climate, demographics and its impact. If one scans the external environment that is prevailing in Indian context, one will find that individuals are racing to catch up the upper class as it relates to standards of living, material possession, higher education, attempt to copy western culture, food habits, dressing pattern and the like. Beauty parlors, pubs and cyber cafes around each corner are an ample evidence of the impact of external environment. This trend has an impact on what products or services are on priority in the society and Indicates the behaviour of an individual. If the above factors are evaluated appropriately, a manager will be able to examine and predict human behaviour in the organization. It is therefore important to evaluate market situation, competitors, and availability of raw material, technology, availability of skilled, semi skilled and non-skilled personnel. In addition, evaluate prevailing culture and how individuals are likely to respond to the call of the organization. Some factors like government rules, and political stability keep changing, the organizations must cater for such contingencies. Manager must therefore keep in mind the internal and external factors and make the best amalgam and work to achieve organizational effectiveness.

Attitude

2014-07-13T22:46:00.000-07:00

Organisational Behavioural Modification (OB Mod)

2014-06-12T00:20:00.001-07:00

Companies have been forced to change their corporate cultures and their standards of operation. The change has been forced on them by globalization of markets and competition, growth of immediate digital information and communications, growth of the service-based economy and changes in rules affecting corporate governance and trade relationships. Organizational structures have trended from tall, hierarchical bureaucracies to flat, decentralized operations that encourage innovation. Such change doesn't happen automatically. Organizational behavior modification, called OB-mod, plays a key role.

OB Mod or Behavioral modification has its roots in modern behaviorism, which draws heavily on the work of B.F.Skinner. It is based on the operant conditioning approach to learning, which advocates that desirable behaviors should be reinforced. In simple word OB Mod represents the application of reinforcement theory to individuals in work setting. OB Mod uses these concepts to provide managers with a powerful means for changing the behaviour of employees.

In the words of Stephen Robbins “OB Mod is a programme where managers identify performance-related employee behaviour and then implement an intervention strategy to strengthen desirable behaviour and weaken undesirable behaviors”.

According to Schermerhor, Hunt and Osborn, “ OB Mod is the systematic reinforcement of desirable work behaviour and the non-reinforcement or punishment of unwanted work behaviour. It includes four basic reinforcement strategies: Positive reinforcement, Negative reinforcement, Punishment and Extinction

Steps in OB Mod

As suggested by Luthans and Kreitner, OB Mod in organization involve the following five steps.

Identification of Critical Behaviour. The manager should try to identify behaviors that are desirable and undesirable from the point of view of the organization. The critical behaviours that have significant impact on the employees performance must be given due attention because it gets repeated time again and again. If such behaviour are modified good results could be expected afterwards. Critical Behaviours may be identified through discussion with the particular employee and his immediate superior as both are closely intimated with the job behaviours. A Behavioural audit can also be carried on to identify such behaviour. Some of the behaviours, which greatly influence job performance, include absenteeism or attendance, tardiness or promptness, complaints or constructive criticism.

Measurement of Behaviours. This step requires the manager to develop some base line which allows the manager to determine his success in changing the subordinates behaviour. It may also provide insight into the circumstances associated with each critical behaviour.

Functional Analysis of Behaviour: It is necessary to analyse the patterns of continued behaviour that requires modification. This may require insight and evaluation of individual differences in behaviour. If through this process an inventory of positive reinforce can be developed, the next step of intervention is greatly simplified. Since only contingent consequences of behaviour have an impact on subsequent behaviour, functional analysis must make sure that contingent consequences are identified. Functional Analysis often reveals that there are many competing contingencies for every organizational behaviour.

Development of Intervention Strategy: For the successful implementation of OB Mod, this stage involves a) developing a strategy for changing the behaviour b) implementing the strategy and c) measuring the frequency of the resulting behaviour. A record is kept of how often the problem behaviour is repeated. There are several strategies that can be used at this stage. These include positive reinforcements, negative reinforcement, extinction and punishment. The use of a particular strategy will depend upon the type of situation faced as discussed in the previous chapter.

Evaluation: The purpose of evaluation of strategies of OB Mod is to know their effectiveness. This would reveal whether the undesirable behaviours have been substituted by desirable behaviours or not. This would also reveal if the employees have undergone a permanent change in behaviours. Lastly, the manager should appraise the improvement in performance which is the basic purpose of OB Mod measures like quality, turnover, absenteeism, grievances, tardiness etc. may be used to evaluate success of the OB Mod programme.

Psychology behind Colours

2014-06-09T02:22:00.003-07:00

Colour is a powerful communication tool that can be used to signal action, influence mood and cause psychological reactions. Colour can also be deeply personal and are often rooted to our own experience or culture. While Perceptions of colour are somewhat subjective, there are some colour effects that have universal meaning. The psychology of colour changes with lighter or darker shades of the colours below are often associated with much different meanings. And remember for the World Wide Web, and different cultures have differing views on the meaning of colour. Below is a quick overview of the meaning of basic colours.

Black is authoritative and powerful; because black can evoke strong emotions too much can be overwhelming. A classic colour for clothing possibly because it makes the wearer appear thinner and more sophisticated. How the colour black affects us physically and mentally; 1. Feeling inconspicuous, 2. A restful emptiness 3. Mysterious evoking a sense of potential and possibility.

WHITE projects purity, cleanliness, and neutrality. Doctors don white coats, brides traditionally were white gowns and a white picket fence surrounds a safe and happy home. How the colour white affects us mentally and physically: 1. Aids mental clarity 2. Encourages us to clear clutter or obstacles 3. Evokes purification of thoughts or actions 4. enables fresh beginnings

BLUE is the overwhelming "favourite colour." Blue is seen as trustworthy, dependable and committed. The colour of sky and the ocean, blue is perceived as a constant in our lives. Electric or brilliant blues become dynamic and dramatic, an engaging colour that expresses exhilaration. How the colour blue affects us physically and mentally 1.Calming and sedate 2.Cooling 3.Aids intuition

GREEN occupies more space in the spectrum visible to the human eye and is second only to blue as a favourite colour. Green is considered the colour of peace and ecology. How the colour green affects us physically and mentally; 1.Soothing 2.Relaxing mentally as well as physically 3. Helps alleviate depression, nervousness and anxiety 4. Offers a sense of renewal, self-control and harmony

YELLOW shines with optimism, enlightenment, and happiness. Shades of golden yellow carry the promise of a positive future. Yellow will advance from surrounding colours and instil optimism and energy, as well as spark creative thoughts. How the colour yellow affects us mentally and physically 1. Mentally stimulating 2. Stimulates the nervous system 3. Activates memory 4. Encourages communication

RED has more personal associations than any other colour. Recognized as a stimulant red is inherently exciting and the amount of red is directly related to the level of energy perceived. Red draws attention and a keen use of red as an accent can immediately focus attention on a particular element. How the colour red affects us mentally and physically 1. Increases enthusiasm 2. Stimulates energy 3. Encourages action and confidence 4. A sense of protection from fears and anxiety

BROWN says stability, reliability, and approachability. It is the colour of our earth and is associated with all things natural or organic. How the colour brown affects us physically and mentally 1. Feeling of wholesomeness 2. Stability 3.Connection with the earth 4. Offers a sense orderliness

GRAY is timeless, practical, and solid. A longstanding favourite suit colour, grey can mix well with any colour. Although well like and often worn, people rarely name grey as a favourite color possibly because Gray also is associated with loss or depression. How the colour grey affects us physically and mentally 1. Unsettling 2. Expectant.