During Monday’s class we covered Chapter 8 titled, “Participation, Teams, and Democracy at Work. We began by taking a look at what workplace democracy entails and the necessary steps towards building workplace democracy. Employee participation is implemented within the organizational structure and gives employees power and the ability to identify with organizational goals with a more balanced approach to control. The outcomes of successful employee participation are increased productivity and job satisfaction. (Sounds like a good way to develop more theory Y driven employees, right?) The book gives a case example on Levi Strauss & Co. and their employees opinions on the implementation of more employee participation and team-based models as opposed to their previous assembly line individualized production model. There were several advantages and disadvantages listed, and in my opinion the advantages seemed to far outweigh the disadvantages as far as benefitting their workplace as a whole. We also covered managerially driven programs of employee participation that included problem solving or decision-making teams, restricting of work processes and activities, and ownership as an economic investment in overall governance.
We did a group activity where we were able to role play different personalities of a group. Also, as a class, we were given the ability to exercise our own democracy by making changes to our existing class calendar as well as giving our own suggestions and opinions as to what we would like the remainder of our semester to look like. Something interesting to think about is how our country’s government model of democracy transcends into the workplace and organizations. Our founding fathers believed that democracy was the best way to run a country and now we implement that same model into our organizations—giving the people and employees some buy-in by allowing them to make decisions and participate in the overall function of the whole. Can you think of some similarities and differences between our government and democracy within organizations?
I tried to think of examples of teams and groups and decided that the most relatable examples would be sports teams and group projects. Most of us have probably been a member of a sports team where, as players, you all had similar skills and a communal commitment to an overall goal. This is usually a long-term goal; such as a championship. However, in a group project for class you are placed in groups for the duration of that assignment with a goal to complete the project. Can anyone share experiences they’ve had in either very successful or very unsuccessful teams or groups and why you think that was the case? Were there obvious roles that each person played? I will leave you with a quote about the kind of buy-in that is instilled in our own Alabama football team…this is from Rolando McClain after winning the 2009 National Championship when he played while he was sick. “My team needed me. They needed me to be a leader and out there…For them, I’d do anything. I love them. My team needed me. I had to play.” Do we get this type of passion for a team in the workplace? Why is it harder to implement the model of democracy and team-orientation in some settings than others when it seems so beneficial in any setting?
A final thought for those of you looking for jobs soon: Because of recent team trending, more than ever employers are looking for potential employees who can work well and are willing to work in a team setting. Are there some things we need to be working on before we enter the democracies, groups, and teams of the real world?
Sydney McWaters
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