Welcome to Open Campus Soft Skills Course, module 8,
Corporate Culture.
In this module, you will learn about the unwritten corporate
rules, about conducting productive meetings,
and about teamwork and collaboration.
Well, what is corporate culture?
Corporate culture is the shared values, attitudes, standards,
and beliefs that characterize members of an organization.
For the purpose of this module, we
will focus on the areas of unwritten rules,
productive meetings, teamwork, and collaboration.
There are three types of organizational structure.
These main types are functional structure,
divisional structure, and matrix structure.
When we look at our functional structure,
we're looking at a hierarchy or a class
vocational organizational structure,
which is based on your function or purpose.
When we look at the divisional structure,
we're looking at more of an umbrella type
organizational structure that's classified by division,
department, or location.
And then there's the matrix organizational structure,
which is actually a combination of
both functional and divisional organizational structure
models.
I will say it's important to know what type
of organizational structure you're working in,
because that will help to kind of guide
your movement through the office environment,
and it will also provide for you the chain
of command as in who you're directly
responsible to as far as your immediate supervisor,
and then knowing who are the actual higher
ups in the top management positions,
more of the executive and corporate headquarters,
all the way down to the different departments
and responsibility.
So knowing your organizational structure is key.
Now let's take a look at each of the individual organizational
structures.
First, let's look at our functional organizational
structure.
This is an example of a nonprofit organizational
structure where we have the chairman of the board
as the head, and then keep in mind
it's a hierarchy that goes from one person down to the next,
or one department down.
So then from the chairman, you have your executive officers.
And then from your executive officers,
there is a branch of equal responsibility or power,
for lack of a better word, that you
will have the board of directors, as well
as your advisory board.
And then from there, out of those two areas,
we then have the committee structures,
or each of those groups both of them
can be involved in one of the different types of committees.
When we look at the divisional organizational structure,
this is a basic model of a for profit organization
where you have your CEO, and then
the divisions' products that each report back to the CEO.
But if you notice, everything is departmentalized.
Division A, B, C, D--
they all have under the next tier
functions that are marketing, operations, and finance.
So each division provides the same functions,
but for a specific product.
Now when we look at our matrix organizational structure,
this is also a for profit diagram.
You'll notice that there is still the president,
but then from the president, there are managers.
You have a marketing manager, a sales manager,
and a finance manager.
And then under each of those particular management areas,
you then have a team member that will work with a project team
leader.
So this is how it's a combination of a hierarchy, as
well as departmental.
So if we're coming down the chart,
you have your marketing manager, your marketing team A.
And then if you look to the immediate left,
you'll see project A team leader.
And if we go straight across, horizontally we'll
see that there is a representative from marketing,
as well as sales, as well as finance
that make up project A's team.
If you look down with Project B team,
there's still a representative from marketing, from sales,
from finance.
So there is engagement across the different categories
when you looking at the matrix organizational structure.
Now let's talk about office politics.
When we are talking about our organizational structure
and we're working with different individuals,
there are times that office politics can come into play.
And if you are aware of office politics
or how to be able to maneuver them,
and how to make it more of an asset instead of something that
is a negative, you can take a situation
that may be a part of office politics
and try to work and make it work for your advantage.
So let's look at the different definitions, the definition
of office politics.
It's the use of one's individual or assigned power
and social networking within the workplace to gain advantages
or to achieve changes that may benefit the organization
or individuals.
Sometimes with office politics, people
can try to take their assumed power or perceived power
to get an advantage or a step up from other people,
but when you're able to know how to maneuver through office
politics, then you won't get caught up
in the drama that can oftentimes take place
within an organization.
Here are some areas that you can work
toward looking office politics in a win-win situation
by you can take advantage by focusing
on the goals of the business organization,
observe the unspoken rules of the organization,
avoid gossip and backbiting, engage
in fact-finding missions, observe
the behaviors of respected employees,
always rise above conflict, use your influence, not just power,
when dealing with individuals within the office,
and always listen carefully to what's being said,
and be sure to build the right relationships.
As I mentioned earlier, office politics
often is perceived as being something negative.
But these are tips, are ways that you
can look at office politics and find ways to maneuver
through the negativity to find a win-win,
to find something positive, or to find a solution that
will be not just for one particular person's betterment,
but also for the organization.
Now when we're talking about productive meetings,
there there's always a few pointers
that you want to focus on when attending a meeting
and let's look at these in detail.
When attending a meeting, a way for it to be productive,
and when we talk about productivity
or being productive in a meeting,
we're talking about having an effective meeting.
But you can help by showing up on time, being prepared,
focus on listening and understanding,
don't speak just to be heard, don't multitask,
stay on task when you're in a meeting.
That means avoid being on social media,
avoid texting, avoid any type of distraction.
Stay focused on the task at hand.
And also, do what you say you will do.
If you commit to a particular responsibility
as a part of a takeaway form meeting,
make certain that you do it.
And finally, follow up on action steps,
so not only commit to taking on a task,
but also provide timely follow-up after the meeting
to let people know your progress.
Now when you are leading a meeting,
here are a few more pointers to always remember.
And let's take a look at them in detail.
When you're leading a meeting, always
start your meeting on time even if people are absent.
This is a way for you to show respect
for those who are on time.
Use an agenda.
The agenda will help you to manage the flow of the meeting.
Distribute the agenda prior to the meeting.
This gives people an opportunity to know
what to expect during your time together.
Always assign a note taker.
If you're on a committee, generally there
is a secretary that's appointed.
But if not, always ask for someone
to take on that responsibility.
Keep it short.
Keep your meetings between 30 to 45 minutes.
Sometimes most meetings are generally
accepted to be an hour, and it helps if you keep a time keeper
or assign a time keeper to stay on track.
Stay on topic and follow your agenda.
Remember, your agenda helps to guide the flow of your meeting.
Don't multitask.
Focus on the task at hand.
That's a note from when you're attending a meeting as well.
And let's go back up to listen to what is being said.
As the person that's leading the meeting,
it's important that you're listening to everyone's input
and how to connect the dots if needed
so that you can have more productivity in your meeting.
Be prepared.
As the leader, be prepared and encourage others to do so.
Clarify and follow up on action items.
When you're leading a meeting, you
need to clarify the particular tasks that have been assigned,
and then be sure to follow up on your end
as well to check on the progress of the people that
are involved with the project.
Cancel the meeting if you aren't prepared.
Don't just hold a meeting for the sake
of holding it knowing that you do not have all of your ducks
in a row.
It's best to always cancel the meeting
and reschedule when you are better prepared than to hold
a meeting, and you're leading, and you're not prepared.
And always end the meeting on time, if not early.
Now the final part, we're going to look
at teamwork and collaboration.
Now when we're talking about teamwork,
we're looking at being able to work together,
sharing your ideas, being effectively
able to communicate, being responsible and accountable
as a group, and to be respectful of others' differences.
When we're looking at collaboration,
we're able to communicate our expectations with others,
to set goals, to foster creativity,
to get to know each other, and to focus
on strengths of the team.
One of the things for you to remember
when you're dealing with corporate culture
is to always find a way to be able to be a team player
and to collaborate with others in the office.
This concludes module 8 Corporate Culture.
We'll now have our quiz for this module.