Management Unit 12004

NAPIER UNIVERSITY
School of the Built Environment
Built Environment Postgraduate Programmes
BE71014: Management
Unit 1: Human Resource Management
Professor Brian Sloan

Management Unit 1
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Author: Professor Brian Sloan

Edited by: Professor Brian Sloan
Napier University
Seventh Edition, 2004
No part of this study material may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted, in any form, or
by any means, without the prior permission of the publishers. Enquiries concerning
reproduction outside the terms stated here should be sent to the publishers at the
Edinburgh address printed on this page.
Published by:
Napier University
School of the Built Environment
10 Colinton Road
Edinburgh
EH10 5DT
Scotland
United Kingdom
Human Resource Management Professor Brian Sloan

Management Unit 1
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Unit 1
Human Resource Management
Index
Learning Outcomes 3
Introduction 4
Motivation 14
Managing People 28
Leadership 35
Managing Stress 41
Communication 57
Verbal Communication 71
Non Verbal Communication 87
Public Speaking & Presenting 94
Written Communications 110
Negotiation 128
Summary 136
WWW Search 136
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Human Resource Management 1 Professor Brian Sloan
Management Unit 1
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Unit 1
Human Resource Management
Suggested Study Time

It is recommend that you spend a minimum of 30 hours studying this complete Unit.
This should enable you to read the course material, undertake the activities and make your own
notes.
The suggested time does not cover you for undertaking any Further Reading which you might wish
to supplement these course notes, nor does it allow for undertaking a WWW Search.
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Unit 1
Section 1: Introduction to Management and

Management Processes
Learning Outcomes
Once you have studied this Unit and completed the activities it contains, you should
be better able to:
apply management theory on motivation, leadership and behavioural

science to human resource management
analyse and synthesise the components necessary for personal

effectiveness in management.
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Preamble
The following series of notes are designed to cater for the needs of a wide range of
learners with very differing prior levels of study of the topic of management.
You will need to read around and beyond the material explicitly covered here and there
are reference sources in the text to facilitate this.
The material has been compiled over many years lecturing experience and comprises
the thoughts and theories of a large number of experts in the field. Where the original
source is remembered is has been given full credit. Any uncreditted use is
unintentional; copying is the most sincere form of flattery.
Introduction
In this Unit you will gain a systemic understanding of management principles applied
to the Construction Industry and the Property Professions. This will be achieved
through a study of the principles of management and their historical development.
You will also study the interactive processes of management, forecasting, planning,
organising, decision-making and controlling. You will consider the duties,
relationships, authority and accountability of the manager within organisations. In
addition, you will look at the behavioural aspects of the individual, the characteristics
and interaction of groups in attaining objectives.
The Unit consists of two sections, which will focus on primary aspects of effective
management - motivation, leadership and communication. This Unit comprises:
Introduction Section 1
Management Processes
Motivation
Leadership
Managing Stress
Communication Section 2
Negotiation
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Activity (Suggested Time: 10 minutes)
Before studying this Unit, undertake the following activities which will help you appreciate the topic of
management which you are about to commence studying.
Set out below your definition of ‘Management’.
Name 3 well known managers:

1.
2.
3.
Why do you think each has been successful?
What qualities do you think are needed to be a successful manager?
What qualities do you possess which you consider will help you to be an effective manager?
As you go through this Unit, reflect on your answers to the above questions, asking yourself how your
new knowledge affects your undertanding of management.
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What Managers Do - An Introduction
The debate on what managers do, as illustrated in the management literature of this
century, reveals sharp differences of opinion.
An early, prevalent and persistent view was expressed by Henri Fayol in 1916 [1].
Fayol, representing the ‘classical school’ of management, said that "... to manage is to
forecast and plan, to organise, to command, to co-ordinate and to control". He
defined these five elements in this way:-
• Forecast and plan: ‘examining the future and drawing up the plan of action’.
• Organise: ‘building up the structure, material and human, of the undertaking’.
• Command: ‘maintaining activity among the personnel’.
• Co-ordinate: ‘building together, unifying and harmonising all activity and

effort’.
• Control: ‘seeing that everything occurs in conformity with established rule

and expressed command’.
Fayol also summarised the lessons of his own experience in fourteen General
Principles of Management, which he did not assume to be universally applicable, but
which, nevertheless, include some which are enduring. Pugh et al [2] write that,
"Fayol's pride of place in this field is due not so much to his principles of how to
manage.... as to his definition of what management is. He is the earliest known
proponent of a theoretical analysis of managerial activities - an analysis which has
withstood almost a half century of critical discussion. There can have been few writers
since who have not been influenced by it; and his five elements have provided a system
of concepts with which manager may clarify their thinking about what it is they have to
do".
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Fayol's work received impetus in the 1930's from Gluick [1] who gave managers one
of their early acronyms in response to the question, "What is the work of the Chief
Executive? What does he do?". The answer is POSDCORB - derived from the initials
of the following activities:-
• Planning, working out in broad outline the things that need to be done and the
methods for doing them to accomplish the purpose set for the enterprise;
• Organising, the establishment of the formal structure of authority through which

work subdivisions are arranged, defined and co-ordinated for the defined objective;
• Staffing, the whole personnel function of bringing in and training the staff and
maintaining favourable conditions of work;
• Directing, the continuous task of making decisions and embodying them in

specific and general orders and instruction and serving as the leader of their
enterprise;
• Co-ordinating, the all important duty of interrelating the various parts of the
work;
• Reporting, keeping those to whom the executive is responsible informed as to

what is going on, which thus includes keeping himself and his subordinates
informed through records, research and inspection;
• Budgeting, with all that goes with budgeting in the form of fiscal planning,
accounting and control.
This statement of work of a chief executive is adpated from the functional analysis
elaborated by Henri Fayol [1] in his Industrial and General Administration. It is
believed that those who know administration intimately will find in this analysis a
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valid and helpful pattern, into which can be fitted each of the major activities and
duties of any chief executive.
An alternative view of the work of the manager is expressed by Henry Mintzberg [3],
whose study falls into the ‘work activity school’. Mintzberg made a study of chief
executives' work by observation. Others in this school have used the diary method as,
for example, Rosemary Stewart in her study of 160 senior and middle managers in
Britain [4].
Mintzberg's criticism of the classical school is to be expected, the work activity school
standing at the other extreme from it. He writes that "POSDCORB permeates the
writings of popular theorists such as Peter Drucker and industial leaders such as
Ralph Cordiner; it appears when managers are asked to describe their work or when
their job descriptions are read....". In reference to planning, organising, co-ordinating
and controlling he says that ".... these four words do not, in fact, describe the actual
work of managers at all. They describe certain vague objectives of managerial
work...". On the other hand, the work activity school is that "of inductive research,
in which the work activities of managers are analysed systematically; conclusions are
drawn only when they can be supported by the empirical evidence".
Amongst other things in his study, Mintzberg (a) identifies some distinguishing
characteristics of managerial work, (b) discovers ten roles for managers, and (c)
suggests eight managerial job types.
According to Mintzberg the distinguishing characteristics of managerial work are:-
• much work at unrelenting pace;
• activity characterised by brevity, variety and fragmentation;
• a preference for live action;
• attraction to the verbal media;
• communication between his organisation (own area of responsibility) and network

of contacts;
• blend of rights and duties.
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What managers do, according to Mintzberg's study is shown in the ten roles which he
describes. (A role is identified as an organised set of behaviours belonging to an
indentifiable office or position). He divides managerial activities into three groups -
those concerned with interpersonal relationships, those dealing primarily with the
transfer of information, and those that essentially involve decision making - and for
this reason adopts three groups of roles - interpersonal, informational and decisional.
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Human Resource Management 9 Professor Brian Sloann
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The roles are as follows:-

Role Description Indentifiable Activities from Recognition in the Literature
Study of Chief Executives
Interpersonal
Figurehead Symbolic Head; obliged to perform a number Ceremony, status requests, Sometimes recognised,
of routine duties of a legal or social solicitations but usually only at
nature highest organisational
levels
Leader Responsible for the motivation and Virtually all managerial Most widely used
activation of subordinates; responsible activities involving recognised of all
for staffing, training and associated subordinates managerial roles
Liaison Maintains self-developed network Acknowledgements of Largely ignored, except

of outside contacts and informers mail;external board work; for particular empirical
who provide favours and information other activities involving studies (Sayles on lower
and middle level managers,
Neustadt on U.S. Presidents,
Whyte and Homans on
informal leaders)
Informational
Monitor Seeks and receives wide variety of Handling all mail and Recognised in the work
special information (much of it current) contacts categorised as of Sayles, Neudstadt,
to develop thorough understanding of concerned primarily with Wrapp aand especially
organisation and environment; emerges receiving information Aguilar
as nerve centre of internal and external (e.g. periodical news,
information of the organisation observational tours)
Disseminatior Transmits information received from Forwarding mail into Unregognised except for
outsiders or from other subordinates organisation for Papandreau discussion
to members of the organisation; some informational purposes, of “peak coordinator”
information factual, some involving verbal contacts involving who integrates
interpretation and integration of diverse information flow to influencer preferences
value positions of organisational subordinates (e.g. review
influencers sessions instant
communications flows)
Spokesman Transmits information to outsiders on Board meetings, handling Generally acknowledged

organisation’s plans, policies, mail and contacts as managerial role
actions, results etc; serves as expert on involving transmission of
organisation’s industry information to outsiders
Decisional
Enterpreneur Searches organisation and its Strategy and review Implicitly acknowledged,
environment for opportunities and sessions involving but usually not analysed
initiates “improvement projects” to initiation or design of except for economicsts
bring about change; supervises design improvement projects (who were concerned
of certain projects as well largely with the establishment
of new organisations) and
Sayles, who probes into
this role.
Dusturbance Responsible for corrective action when Strategy and review Discussed in abstract way
Handler organisation faces important, sessions involving by many (e.g. management
unexpected disturbances disturbances and crises by exception)but analysed
carefully only by Sayles
Resource Responsible for the allocation of Scheduling; requests for Little explicit recognition
Allocator organisational resources of all kinds authorisation and activity as a role, although
- in effect the making or approval of all involving budgeting implicitly recognised by
significant organisational decisions and the programming of the many who analyse
subordinates’ work organisational resource
allocation activities
Negotiator Responsible for representing the Negotiation Largely recognised (or

organisation at major negotiations recognised but claimed to
be managerial work) except
for Sayles
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Mintzberg goes on to suggest the existence of eight managerial job types and indicates
their most important roles.
Managerial Job Type Key Roles
Contact Man Liaison, figurehead

Political Manager Spokesman, negotiator
Entrepreneur Entrepreneur, negotiator
Insider Resource allocator
Real-time Manager Disturbance handler
Team Manager Leader
Expert Manager Monitor, spokesman
New Manager Liaison, montitor
There is a similarity between three of these types and three of Rosemary Stewart's
five job profiles. She identifies:-
• Emissaries: who spend much of their time away from the company and are
figureheads and representatives
• Writers: who may be backroom specialists and advisers and spend much time
working alone
• Discussers: who spend much time with colleagues and their boss - less with their
own staff
• Trouble shooters: who deal with crises, are very much ‘man managers’ and have
fragmented patterns of work
• Committee men: who spend large amounts of time in group discussions.
Other authors have yet other labels for different categories of managerial jobs.
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This briefly introduces an arbitrarily-selected range of authors on what managers do.

It is intended to lead you into the literature and it is suggested that you read samples
of the literature on managers and their jobs as you work through the activities in this
and later Units which reflect on empirical studies, theory and categories of managerial
types, and seeing in what ways your job is similar to any of those identified in the
literature. Use the outcomes of your reflections to criticise your job performance and
improve your effectiveness.
Brief biographies and summaries of these and many more early management theosists
are contained with:
Management, Stoner & Freeman, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall International.
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Summary
What do managers do? We have seen from the writings of Fayol, Mintzberg, Stewart
and Gluick that managers are involved actively in their organisations in the following
activities:
Planning - outline of what needs to be done and the methods to accomplish the set
purpose
Organising - Establishment of the formal structure
Staffing - personnel function
Directing - decision-making, ordering and leading
Co-ordinating - interrelating the various parts
Reporting - keeping everyone informed
Budgeting - accounting and control
Use the acronym, POSDCRB to help you to remember the primary functions of a
manager.
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MOTIVATION
Having briefly considered a general introduction to the work of a manager, let us move
on to the toopic of motivation. Before reading the study material, complete the
questionnaire below to help you understand your own primary motivation factors.
SELF ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE
This will help you gain an insight into your own motivation at work.
There are 12 pairs of statements. In each case, SHARE 5 POINTS between the two
alternatives, depending on the extent to which you agree with each. Possible scores
are 5-0, 4-1, 3-2, 2-3, 1-4, 0-5.
Example
The more important thing to me about a job is:
A Work conditions are good, with proper meal breaks and reasonable hours.
or
D I have a position of authority, controlling other people.
A D
If you agree fairly strongly with D, and not particularly with A,
you could score like this 1 4
or A D
If you don't particularly agree with either but are slightly more
inclined to A, you could score like this 3 2
Questions
1. I am likely to make more effort and achieve more if:
B. I can help other people in their jobs

or B D
D. I am given a greater say in the overall running of the company. • •
2. My motivation will suffer if:
B. My job is a `one man' job, and there are no colleagues with

whom I can discuss or share my work
or B A
A. The job I have to do is not clearly defined. • •
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3. It is more important to me that:
C. The job makes full use of my skills and abilities

or C D
D. I can aim to get right to the top of the company I • •
work for.
4. With a possibility of promotion I would be concerned about:
D. Whether the new job provides a real challenge through increased

responsibility
or D A
A. Whether there is more risk of my coming unstuck in the new job • •
5. I get more satisfaction at work from:
C. Knowing that I'm doing a good job

or C B
B. Being accepted as a member of a team. • •
6. I would be more likely to leave if:
A. There is too much pressure of work, with unreasonably long

hours, and no real time for meal breaks
or A C
C The job doesn't provide the opportunity to use my skills. • •
7. My motivation will suffer if:
D. I'm not given enough responsibility for handling people

or D C
C. I'm not given the right resources to do the best possible job. • •
8. The most important thing to me about a job is:
A. There are good schemes for pensions and sickness

or A D
D. I get results by directing or influencing others • •
9. With a possibility of promotion I would be concerned about:
B. Whether I could establish good relations with my colleagues

at the new level
or B C
C. Whether there is an opportunity to further develop my skills • •
to a new level.
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10. I would be more likely to leave if:
D. There is little or no prospect for advancement

or D B
B. There is a lot of personal friction with other staff. • •
11. I am likely to make more effort and achieve more if:
C. I am given the opportunity to work to high standards

or C A
A. The company is sound and I am confident of my job security. • •
12. The more important thing to me about a job is:
A It pays enough to meet the needs of my famility and me

or A B
B. I have close, friendly relations with my work colleagues. • •
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SCORING SHEET: SELF ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE
Add up scores for each letter seperately (A,B,C, D). As a check, the grand total
should come to 60.
Shade in the totals in this chart.
0 5 10 15 20 25 30
A BASIC NEEDS
B ACCEPTANCE NEEDS
C ACHIEVEMENT NEEDS
D POWER NEEDS
A BASIC NEEDS
- needs of survival, security and'comfort' at work
B ACCEPTANCE NEED
- need to be accepted and appreciated by others
C ACHIEVEMENT NEED
- need to do own job well, with knowledge of performance
D POWER NEED
- need to influence and control others
Your scores provide rough indicators of the relative strength of each type of need. A
high basic score (A) means that your main concern at work is for ‘comfort’ - either
through sufficient pay and job secuity to look after your family, or through
satisfactory conditions and a good working atmosphere. A high score in one of the
three higher level needs (B, C or D) means a dominant drive for acceptance,
achievement or power.
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Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory

Maslow [5] identified what he called a Hierarchy of Needs, which comprise:
Diagram 1: Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
1. Physiological Needs - fundamental to man's existence.
2. Safety Needs - security and the avoidance of physical danger.
3. Social Needs - affiliation and general belongingness.
4. Esteem Needs - desire for strength, achievement, confidence,

independence, adequacy and freedom.
5. Self-actualisation Needs - self-realisation, self-fulfilment; to be what you

want to be.
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Relevant Current Research
Existence, Relatedness and Growth (ERG) Theory conducted by Alderfer, Clyton.
The Alderfer theory corresponds to that of Maslow [5] as follows:-
Alderfer Maslow
Existence needs - Physiological needs

Safety needs of material type
Relatedness needs - Safety needs of an interpersonal type

Love or belonging needs
Esteem needs of an interpersonal type
Growth needs - Esteem needs that are self-confirmed,

self-actualisation.
General discussion and criticism
• Though Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs Theory has become widely known for
some years, little evidence has been found which supports it.
• Maslow made general assumptions about human motivation, but the

assumptions are subject to change, as man is capable of learning new motives,
and his motives may differ as they are related to different aspects of an
organisation.
When you apply Maslow's general assumptions to the construction industry,

it becomes complicated to precisely motivate building operatives.
When you begin to think about motivation within a comprehensive welfare state (as in
the UK), it becomes quite difficult to generalise about the operative's motivation to
work.
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• Man's ‘existence needs’, like food, shelter, clothing, etc., could be obtained
with money. This often leads to the introduction of an ‘incentive bonus
scheme’ (as a motivator), aimed at offering monetary reward for increased
effort. However, the problems associated with this are:-
a. setting targets
b. getting comprehensive records for the targets.
c. those related to the ‘quality of work produced’.
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Motivation Hygiene Theory
Motivation hygiene theory is a dual-factor theory presented in three volumes by

Herzberg, Mausner and Snyderman [7].
Herzberg questions whether the current methods of organising work in business and
industry were appropriate for man's total needs and happiness. He identified
‘motivators’ or ‘growth factors’ responsible for satisfaction and which, in his opinion,
stem from mans’ need to realise their human potential. These relate to:
• achievement
• recognition
• attraction of work itself
• responsibility
• advancement
Hygiene or ‘maintenance factors’ - responsible for dissatisfaction stem from man's

overriding need to avoid physical and social deprivation and are associated with:
• company policy and administration
• inter-personal relationships
• supervision
• working conditions
• salary
Herzberg concluded that these two feelings are not the opposite of one another; rather
they are concerned with two different ranges of man's needs.
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Theory X and Theory Y

This theory has been expounded by Douglas McGregor [8]. In his resaerch,
McGregor identified two characteristics groups of individuals and into which all
human beings can be categorised. He called these Theory X and Theory Y. They are
characterised as follows:
Theory X
McGregor’s Theory X individual is characterised by:
• The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if he can
• Because of this human characteristic of dislike of work, most people must be

coerced, controlled, directed, threatened with punishment to get them to put forth
adequate effort towards the achievement of organisational objectives
• The average human being prefers to be directed, wishes to avoid responsibility, has
relatively little ambition and seeks security above all.
Theory Y
McGregor’s Theory Y individual is characterised by:
• The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest
• External control and the threat of punishment are not the only means of bringing
about effort towards organisational objectives. Man will exercise self-direction and
self-control in the service of objectives to which he is committed
• Commitment to objectives is a function of the rewards associated with their

achievement. The most significant of such rewards, eg. the satisfaction of ego and
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self-actualisation needs, can be direct products of effort directed towards

organisational objectives
• The average human being learns under proper conditions not only to accept, but to
seek responsibility
• The capacity to exercise a relatively high degree of imagination, ingenuity and

creativity in the solution of organisational problems is widely distributed in the
population
• At present the intellectual potential of the average person is not fully utilised.
Theory X beliefs are widely held by practicing managers and lead to many asumptions
being made concerning the individual’s interest in and motivation to work.
In Theory Y, McGregor has attempted to combine Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs

Theory, Motivation-Hygiene Theory and Management by Objectives.
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EMPLOYEES HAVE THE ABILITY TO HANDLE

BROAD REPSONSIBILITY (HUMAN RELATIONS
MOVEMENT).
ALDERFER'S ERG:
You may remember that we referred a short time ago to Aldelfer. He identified
motivators as relating to three basic needs. Before moving on through the Unit,
undertake the Activity set out below.
ACTIVITY (Suggested Time: 5 minutes)

Refer back in the Unit and refresh your memory on Alderfer’s ideas and how they compare
with those of Maslow (P19).
McClelland [9]
David McClelland in his book, The Achieving Society, sets out the characheristics he
identified as applying to individuals who had a high desire to succeed in business and
he states that they are characterised by certain traits:
Desire to be successful
THE ACHIEVEMENT MOTIVE
Need to avoid failure
Accomplishments and Results
HIGH NEED ACHIEVER How to do things better
A goal-setter and planner
Concern for career advancement
McClelland also believes that individuals who are self-motivated:
• set moderately difficult goals for themselves
• like to be challenged - and tend to work harder when opportunities for success are
not too great
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• have a realistic approach to risk - are a moderate risk taker, not a gambler
• prefer to assume personal responsibility for difficult tasks - have high confidence in
their own ability
• need specific, concrete feedback - like feedback often and soon after their efforts.
In addition, McClelland characterises these individuals as:
• restless
• works long hours
• often neglects family
• has no time for ‘friendly’ interactions
These characteristics are often associated with the following types of individuals:
√ ENTREPRENEURS
√ EXECUTIVES AND MANAGERS
√ SELLING ACTIVITIES - SOME SALESPERSONS
Individuals are also charachetrised by their need for affiliation (belonging):
Pleasure of being loved

THE AFFILIATION MOTIVE
Pain of being rejected
An individual who has a high need for affiliation can be characterised as:
• having a high concern for intimacy and understanding in inter-personal relationships
• seeking warm and friendly relationships
• likely to console or help someone in trouble
• working to restore or replace social relationships which are disrupted
• enjoying friendly social activities - parties, reunions, bull sessions
• tending to gravitate toward the ‘helping’ professions.
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These types of individuals are often found amongst the following groups:
√ SOCIAL WORKERS
√ TEACHERS
√ NURSES
√ SOME SALESMAN
√ SOME MANAGERS
Other individuals may be characherised by their need for power.
Need to be in control
THE POWER MOTIVE
Need to exert or maintain control over
others
This may be viewed at two extremes of an continuum, where:
* at one level DOMINANCE and SUBMISSION OF OTHERS
Low N-ACH Like to manipulate and control activities

Strong authoritarian
values An exploitive relationship
* at another level CONCERN for group goals and effectiveness
High NEED-ACH
Strong Democratic Values
This type of individual often:

• seeks positions of leadership
• is a good talker, frequently argumentative
• is forceful and outspoken
• is sometimes hard headed and demanding
• enjoys teaching and public speaking
These types of individuals are often found amongst the following groups:
√ POLITICIANS
√ TOP LEVEL EXECUTIVES AND MANAGERS
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REINFORCEMENT THEORY
Think of an event in your working life where you were praised for a job well
done.
What effect did this have on your subsequent performance?
Does this lead you to believe that the statement in Diagram 2 below is true?
‘A pat on the back is only a few vertebrae removed

from a kick in the pants, but is miles ahead in
results’
L J Peter,The Peter Prescription (10)
The Effect of Praise on Motivation

(According to L J Peter)
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Managing People in the Construction Industry

The following notes are based on an article by Barry Fryer and Marilyn Fryer
then of Leeds Polytechnic, UK published in the International Journal of
Construction Management and Technology, 1985.
The management of construction is complex. Because construction is a labour-

intensive industry, its managers need to understand people as individuals and as
groups. This calls for a perspective on construction organisations and projects as
networks of people and relationships, rather than charts, locations and machines.
Some managers intuitively manage people well; others do not. Construction managers
recognise the importance of managing people, yet the human skills of management are
often neglected in comparison with the technical aspects of the job. Systems thinking
has shown that the components of an organisation are interlinked, so that human and
technical aspects of management cannot be considered separately. Information is also
vital in managing the social, technical and commercial elements of business. The
manager's technical and commercial success depends, therefore, on a combination of
skills for managing people and information.
Construction managers need a wide range of human skills and a knowledge of human
behaviour. Research in psychology and management has provided guidelines for the
management of people, but the findings have not always been readily available to
managers. Moreover, the picture is complicated because management styles used
successfully in one situation do not always work in another. A contingency approach
seems appropriate.
A study of 50 construction managers showed that they ranked their ability to deal
with people as one of their most important skills[11]. These human skills include
effective leadership and communication and the ability to understand behaviour,
influence and persuade people, and improve employee motivation and performance.
These skills are important not only for managing subordinates, but for creating
effective relationships with peers, superiors, subcontract personnel and people
outside the organisation.
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The construction manager's prime job is to obtain high productivity from resources
and from the people who utilise those resources. It follows that the manager must
know something about human behaviour and how to influence it. In particular, he or
she must know what affects people's performance at work and what can and cannot
be done to alter it.
Human Performance
Human performance is complex and difficult to manage. Whether people work hard or
effectively depends on many factors, including their experience, skill, personality, age
and motivation. The type of job, the work group, the feedback given (or withheld) by
colleagues and managers, the organisational setting - all are important. Many of these
variables interact with one another, further complicating the picture.
Human performance depends partly on skills. Fits and Posner [12] argue that skilled
performance depends on good organisation, awareness of a goal, and feedback. People
work closer to their full capabilities when given feedback. Criteria for measuring
performance are needed to achieve this. For operative and clerical tasks in
construction, measurement is often straightforward. The performance of technical and
managerial work is less easy to measure because there are many variables. We can say
that one task is harder than another, but cannot always say how much harder.
Performance is also affected by stress, but not necessarily in a harmful way. People
often work best under moderate amounts of stress. The manager can use this
knowledge to improve performance. By balancing the factors that cause stress, the
manager can maintain the right level of stress for the individual. For instance, if the
manager needs to give an employee a demanding task, they can balance this with, say,
favourable working conditions. Listening to the radio or talking to fellow workers can
improve performance in a routine task, but may hamper a difficult task which requires
concentration. Clearly, such knowledge can guide the manager's actions.
Motivation is a key factor in human performance. However, many construction firms

have found it difficult to motivate their employees. Lack of job security, poor
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working conditions and poor leadership are among the reasons for this. Yet conditions
are in many ways more favourable in construction than in factory-based industries,
where boredom with repetitive work has meant frustration and alienation for large
numbers of employees.
An individual's motivation depends on many factors. Moreover, people vary and

what motivates one person may not motivate another. Even the same individual may
be motivated in different ways in different circumstances. The construction manager
who understands this, knows that it is a waste of time to use a single approach for
motivating a whole team.
Psychologists have done much over the last half century to help managers understand
the links between motivation, performance and management. The results have
relevance for many management tasks, such as choosing a leadership style. However,
the motivation theories cited by some management writers need careful interpretation.
Few theories embrace the full complexity of motivation; the most exciting ideas don't
always work. Instead, the theories offer the manager partial explanations and sketchy
advice about how to influence motivation processes.
Nevertheless, some psychologists have offered valuable insights into the mechanics of
motivation. A contingency approach seems most appropriate- what motivates one
person will not necessarily motivate another. For each individual, what motivates
depends on the circumstances and how the person perceives them.
Extrinsic Motivation
The theory of operant conditioning looks at the relationship between performance and
rewards. The reward, and hence the motivation, is extrinsic to the task. Skinner [13]
found that if a reward is given when a person behaves in a certain way, they are more
likely to repeat that action. There is solid evidence to support this.
To establish a desired level of behaviour, the manager must reward improvements in
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performance, until eventually they reward only behaviour which closely approximates
to the desired behaviour, and finally only the behaviour itself. Rewards should be
given regularly until the desired behaviour is well established. Ideally, the reward
should follow the desired behaviour fairly soon.
A reward is anything valued by the individual. Some people prefer tangible rewards,
others a word of praise or hint of promotion [14]. Moreover, what the individual
regards as rewarding varies over time. Even if the employee doesn't want a monetary
reward, money can be motivating if it helps them buy the rewards they want. In this
role, money acts as a secondary reinforcer.
What Skinner found out about the repetition of rewards is not widely known among
managers. First, he noted that if the performing/rewarding sequence is repeated
regularly after the desired behaviour is established, there is a gradual decline in
performance. But rewards given unpredictably lead to continued motivation to repeat
the task. This is how gamblers are rewarded; they do not know when they are going
to win and they do not always win.
Second, Skinner noted that when a person's behaviour is ignored, there is a tendency
for it not to be repeated. Thus, the absence of a suitable reward can cause
performance to decline. Reward systems can have unpleasant connotations, implying
that some controlling person offers rewards to some less influential person. In
practice, extrinsic motivation operates continuously in all aspects of human relations
and is a two-way process. Construction managers and workers reward, or fail to
reward, one another all the time [15].
Intrinsic Motivation
Even when extrinsic rewards are absent, people often work at a task simply for the
pleasure of doing it. Such a task is said to be intrinsically motivating. Bruner [16]
identifies three reasons for this:
Curiosity - we become curious about a task when it is unclear, uncertain or

unfinished. Our attention is maintained until the problem is solved. A craftsman is
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motivated in this way when they have an unusual construction detail to work out.
But motivation of this sort will only be sustained if the individual is given tasks which
are slightly different from, or a little harder than, those undertaken before. If a task is
too easy, the employee becomes bored. If it is too difficult, they become frustrated.
Either way, motivation suffers.
Setting challenging tasks for subordinates demands ingenuity and imagination on the
part of the manager. Fortunately, construction work is often more varied and
interesting than mass production and processing work, because projects are quite
challenging and diverse. The manager must look for opportunities to restructure tasks
to provide people with a challenge. The scope for this may be limited by outside
constraints, such as rigid job specifications and job demarcations agreed with the
unions. Overcoming such problems may require help from senior managers in the
firm.
Sense of Competence - it seems that most employees are motivated by a need to

become more competent. Bruner argues that unless a person becomes competent at a
job, they will find it difficult to stay interested in it. To achieve this sense of
competence, the individual must have some measure of how well they are doing,
which in turn necessitates having a clear target and some feedback on performance. A
vague task, stretching far into the future, offers little scope for measuring progress. Its
effect on motivation will be small.
The need for competence may vary with age, sex and background, and managers must
be sensitive to individual differences if they are to provide opportunities for
competence needs to be met. Construction managers recognise the need to treat their
subordinates as individuals [17] but may not recognise how much their needs differ.
Employees often have competence models - individuals with whom they work, whose
respect they seek and whose standards they wish to make their own. They identify
with such models even when the latter are not in positions of authority - hence the
success of many information group leaders. People are very loyal to their competence
models.
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The need to co-operate - many people need to respond to others and work together
towards common objectives. They satisfy this need in different ways. Some are
natural leaders whilst others contribute to the group by offering helpful suggestions,
by evaluating ideas or simply by doing what is asked of them.
Managers must be tolerant and flexible; it is in cultivating these varied but interlocking
roles that they help their subordinates to get a sense of working together. If
individuals can see how they contribute to their team's effectiveness, they are likely to
become more motivated. Construction work is often organised so that it is carried out
by small gangs. Tasks like bricklaying, which often depend on co-operation, will
encourage motivation, if properly managed.
To improve employees' performance, the manager must accept that human behaviour
is complex. They must learn that they cannot control all the variables. They must
discover which variables can be controlled and be satisfied with influencing these.
They must accept that what works on one occasion may not work on another.
Individual and Group Behaviour
It has long been thought that an individual's behaviour remains fairly consistent. But
it is now generally accepted that a person's behaviour can vary quite dramatically,
depending on the job that person is doing, fellow workers' behaviour and other factors.
An important factor affecting individual behaviour is the work group. Indeed,

construction managers operate primarily through groups of employees, who provide
wide-ranging skills. Such groups can exercise considerable power over their members
and their managers. Just as organisations have rules about what people can and cannot
do, so groups have norms about the behaviour that is acceptable or unacceptable.
These norms include standards of workmanship, language, appearance and attitudes
towards management and unions. People often conform to group norms even when
this conflicts with their personal preferences. Some people deviate from norms more
than others, but may even then be acutely uncomfortable when doing so [18]. Most
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managers can exercise some influence over group norms, but can rarely control them
completely. The successful manager must therefore operate within the group's
accepted norms and not against them.
The construction manager needs to build groups which are effective in task
performance and satisfying to their members. Schein [19] argues that this can only be
achieved if there is some degree of consensus in the work group about goals, values
and means of communication. Schein also stresses the importance of getting the right
distribution of abilities and skills within the group.
People perform various roles in their work groups. In acting out these roles, their
behaviour tends to shift towards that of other people doing similar jobs. Quantity
surveyors tend to become more like other quantity surveyors, site managers more like
other site managers. The way people behave may not be the way they want to
behave, but how they think others expect them to behave.
This applies to both the manager and his team. Problems arise when there is a conflict
between what the individual thinks he should be doing and what others in the
organisation think he should be doing (and even what he thinks others think he should
be doing!). The effective manager looks for signs of such role conflict and acts to
minimise the harmful effects.
A number of techniques have been developed for analysing individual and group
behaviour, some of which the manager can learn to use [eg.20]. They can be used in
staff development and management training to help employees and managers to:
• learn about their behaviour
• understand other people's behaviour
• assess how their behaviour affects others
• improve their social skills, so that they respond more positively to other people.
Such training has been shown to lead to better group performance. For instance,
groups often improve their decision making after a training session in which they have
studied their earlier attempts at decision making.
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What is the current situation on Leadership?

Leadership has had several distinct theoretical bases. At first leaders were felt to be
‘born’ and not ‘made’. This ‘Great Man’ theory implied that some individuals were
born with certain traits that permitted them to emerge from any situation or period of
history to become a leader.
Dissatisfaction with this approach led to a change in emphasis from the individual
leader to research on the group being led. In the group approach, leadership is viewed
in terms of the leader's behaviour and how this behaviour affects and is affected by the
group.
The next major shift in leadership theory was the situational approach. This was
originally termed ‘ZEITGERST’ or spirit of the times. The leader is viewed as a
product of the situation.
The person with the particular qualities or traits required will emerge as the leader.
This view has much historical support as a theoretical basis and can be seen as a
precursor to the contingency-based theories which are now generally accepted by
researchers as the current ‘state of the art’.
Effective leadership is central to managing construction. Evidence suggests that

different styles of leadership are needed in different situations. The manager may,
therefore, find they can lead successfully in some settings, but not others.
Handy [21] argues that a leader has two main roles vital to the performance of their
team. First, as ambassador, representing the team in dealing with others at the same
and higher organisational levels. Second, as a model, being admired by some
subordinates, who will copy their behaviour.
Managers need to know what kind of leadership behaviour will work in a given
situation. The main variables are:
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The Leader - the leader's success depends on many factors, including the kind of
person they are, their values and style of management, self-confidence and
competence, trust in the team and how they cope with stress.
The manager's chosen leadership style depends on such factors. Many construction
managers consider that they are expected to make decisions. Others feel they must get
their teams involved. Some have confidence in their teams; others mistrust them.
Some feel comfortable giving orders; others prefer working with their groups. The
leader who gives a free rein must be able to live with uncertainty. Some managers
cannot cope with this uncertainty and are, therefore, poor delegators.
The Subordinates - the manager's success partly depends on the competence of

subordinates, their attitudes towards the manager and their work, how much freedom
they want in their jobs, their goals and how long they have worked together. On
construction sites, the composition of groups changes frequently and groups may try
to balance the demands of projects with their own needs.
The more competent subordinates feel, the more they will want control over their
work. Past experience may affect the kind of leadership they find acceptable.
Younger people, reared in a more permissive and democratic society, may expect more
involvement than their elders.
The Task - the kind of operation is significant - whether it is well-defined or unclear,

important or unimportant. Repetitive construction may need tight supervision
because the job has to be done in a certain way. Conversely, research work cannot be
strictly controlled. Much has to be left to the worker's discretion, because the
manager doesn't know what the end result will be.
Many construction tasks fall between these extremes. Some operations are closely
inter-related and have to be tightly controlled, but others are one-off and must be
loosely programmed and left to the judgement of those involved.
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Key issues are whether the task requires obedience or initiative, whether it is routine
or pioneering and whether or not it is urgent. If a task has to be completed in a hurry,
the leader may be forced to use tight control. Participation takes time.
The complexity of the task will affect the leader's style. Some tasks demand a tight
rein, because operations need careful co-ordination. Yet some complex tasks may
necessitate the leader relying on subordinates' skills. For instance, novel technical
problems in the construction of a power station may force the manager to relax
control, relying on subordinates to come up with answers.
An added difficulty is that work groups often have a variety of jobs to do. Some are
well-defined and routine, whilst others are vague and novel. The type of leadership
demanded may vary with each task. It is understandable that many managers give up
trying to cope with such complexity and simply fall back on their habitual style.
The Setting - the behaviour of the manager is affected by their position in the firm,
how important and closely related to other activities their work is and
the organisation's norms and values. No manager or worker is entirely free from
organisational pressures and from systems and procedures. The power managers wield
is not static; it changes from one setting to another and this also affects their behaviour.
Fiedler [22] developed a contingency approach in his studies of leadership. He

identified three key factors:
• whether the leader is liked and trusted by the group
• how clearly the group's task is defined
• the leader's power and organisational backing.
To Fiedler, the leader/group relationship is the most important of these. The manager
who is liked and accepted by subordinates and has their confidence and loyalty, needs
little else to influence their behaviour. Fiedler found that effective leadership
depended on how ‘favourable’ the three factors were. In the most favourable
situation, the task is well-defined and the manager is popular and powerful. The
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situation is most unfavourable when these are absent. Fiedler concluded that in highly
favourable or unfavourable conditions, a more controlling approach works best. When
conditions are only moderately favourable, the leader should be more flexible and
democratic.
Thus, if a construction task is poorly-defined and the manager is unpopular, he may

have to be firm to keep control. But if the task is clear and the manager is respected,
he may be expected to take the lead - a passive manager might lose the group's respect.
Fiedler's ideas suggest that we may have paid too much attention to selecting and
training leaders, whilst neglecting other important variables.
Fiedler proposed a continuum of leadership style ranging on one extreme from the
Human Relations or ‘lenient’ style to the Task Directed or ‘hard-nosed’ style on the
other. The contingency model of leadership contains the relationship between style
and what Fiedler termed the favourableness of the situation.
Situations are favourable to the leader if all three of these factors are what is termed
high. In other words if the leader is generally accepted by his followers, the job is well
structured and a great deal of authority is formally attributed to his position then the
situation is very favourable for the leader.
Similarly, if these factors are low then the situation will be unfavourable.
Fiedler resolved to show the relationship between the favourableness of the situation
and its relationship with leadership style.
The results of the research are as illustrated overleaf. It appears that under
both very favourable and very unfavourable conditions, the Task Directed (hard-nosed)
leader is most effective. However, when the situation is only moderately
favourable or unfavourable, the Human Relations (lenient) style works best.
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Style of
Leadership
Task
Directed
Human
Relations
Very Unfavourable Favourable Very

Unfavourable Favourable
Favourableness
Fiedler’s Contingency Model
Practice makes perfect....
Most interesting theories remain simply that. Fiedler, however, took his work into
practical management applications. Management are better advised to engineer
positions so that the requirements fit the leader rather than the traditional method of
selecting and developing leaders to fit into existing jobs.
Similarly, if the leader is trained to analyse the situation in terms of favourableness,

they have the opportunity to change the situation to optimise the match between their
innate style and the favourableness of the situation.
If the situation cannot easily be changed, the further option exists to adapt the style to
match the requirements of the situation.
A few examples will help you to understand ....
The sense behind the apparent contradiction in the theory can be seen when practical
examples are examined.
If an accident occurs on site, the expert on first-aid will be ascribed a rapid rise in
position-power and will be in a very ‘favourable’ situation for directing others.
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• If co-operation is required from a number of operatives who may not ascribe great
power and authority to the site agent (say employees of several nominated
subcontractors) then the authoritarian style of direction will not be the most
effective.
• At monthly site meetings with a range of client and contractor representatives, the
human relations style will be most effective because the situation is moderately
favourable / unfavourable.
• However, if there is something which the chairman considers critical and there is
little or no agreement then clear, decisive and unequivocal decisions must be taken.
In this case the trained leader will change his behaviour to ensure compliance. This
would be an example of an unfavourable situation.
The overall conclusion is that there is no such animal as the perfect leader. A leader is
a product of the situation and their effectiveness will be determined not only by their
own position and personality but also those of subordinates.
Most importantly, it must be realised that leadership is not an innate quality but can
be taught and developed. A good leader, therefore, is flexible, assertive and can analyse
the requirements of the situation and apply a variety of behaviours to achieve
optimum effectiveness.
Handy [21] adopts a contingency view of leadership in what he calls the ‘best fit’
approach. This puts the leadership styles preferred by the manager and by
subordinates, and the demands of the task, along a scale range from tight to flexible.
Handy suggests that leadership can be improved by making changes to improve the
‘fit’ between the three factors. What changes are appropriate depends on the
situation. If the leader has strong organisational support, he may pull the group and
task towards his way of working. If he lacks this, he may have to alter his own
behaviour.
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Managing Stress
Introduction: What is Stress?
There is no agreed definition of what constitutes 'stress'. However, the basic idea is
very simple: there are forces, pressures, stresses or demands which act on individuals
and, if they cannot cope with them, there is the possibility that the individuals may
suffer damage.
On the other hand, one person's stress is another's challenge. Something is viewed as
being stressful to an individual only if he or she sees it as such, and whether they see
it as stressful is likely to depend on whether they think they can ‘cope’ with it.
Stress (particularly 'executive stress') has become a very fashionable topic for
discussions among managers in the past few years, perhaps because the pace of
managerial life has quickened (an aspect of the increasing pace of technological change
and market flexibility), but also because (let's face it) managers are flattered by the
notion that they can operate successfully in stressful situations. In other words,
consciousness of some stress is almost enjoyable so long as you think you are in
control of it. Real stress occurs when the symptoms of stress take over.
Part of the increasing awareness of the potentially harmful (and even lethal) effect of
stress stems from the book, Type A Behaviour and Your Heart, by Dr M Friedman
and R Rosenman. The authors suggest that the 'Type A' person, much valued in
middle management for many companies, exhibits the following characteristics:
- Intense drive and aggression
- Ambitious and competitive
- Constant pressure to get things done
- Sense of urgency
- Very decisive
- Speaks fast but uses few words
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- Always on time or early
- A ‘polyphasic thinker’ (capable of thinking about several things

at once)
- Schedules more in less time
BUT the Type A person is twice as prone to the onset of clinical heart disease; five
times more prone to a second heart attack; and twice as prone to fatal heart attacks.
It seems that the qualities of Type A managers are desirable in middle management but
not in top management, where wisdom is more valued than rapid decision-making.
It is possible for people to change their life-style so as to reduce their reliance on

Type A characteristics and later in these notes there is some guidance on how this might
be done; after all, it might be better to think about these things now, rather than wait
for the first heart attack (especially if it's fatal; don't forget that ‘death’ may be
‘Nature's way of telling you to slow down’).
Unfortunately many people suffer stress in comparative silence, for two principal
reasons:
- Lack of awareness as to the exact nature and source of his or her stress at
work.
- Fear of sanctions - from the company, colleagues, and boss - if he or she

admits to an inability to cope.
Sometimes people are reluctant to disclose their vulnerability because of consequences

for their career - yet the Company wants to be supportive and to offer constructive
assistance in all cases where stress is impeding effective work performance.
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Recognition of Stress
General Features are definite changes in psychological functioning (mood,

behaviour) persistently occurring over days or weeks, possibly getting worse.
Mood Changes to look for include: anger, irritability, bitterness, resentment, unease,
panic feelings, general anxiety, guilt and self-condemnation, hopelessness, sadness and
depression.
Cognitive Changes apparent at the same time are likely to be: trouble in
concentrating, difficulty in making decisions, trouble remembering things, difficulty in
‘switching off’.
Behavioural Changes: taking longer over tasks, making more errors, having to
double-check everything, using more palliatives (tobacco, alcohol, drugs, food),
increased level of absenteeism (especially in lower level jobs).
Secondary Physical Symptoms often accompanying psychological disturbance may

include: disturbed sleeping patterns, headaches, dizziness, chest pains, breathing
problems, nausea, recurrent mild infections, coupled with slow recovery from such
infections.
Possible Causes of Stress
The job: Working Conditions. In particular, there is evidence that poor mental
health is related to tasks associated with repetitive, short-cycle operations, excessive
hours, or an unpleasant work environment.
The job: Overload. This can be either Quantitative (too much to do), or Qualitative
(the task is too difficult).
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The job: Ambiguity. Tension occurs when an individual lacks sufficient information
about the work objectives associated with his role, about colleagues' expectations from
his role, and about the scope and responsibilities of his job.
The job: Role Conflict. Role conflict occurs when an individual is torn by
conflicting job demands, or by doing things he does not really want to do or does not
think to be part of his job.
Relationships at work: The Boss. When a boss is perceived as ‘considerate’ there is

more likely to be a relationship of mutual trust and respect; employees can rapidly
exhibit stress if the boss does not give them criticism in a helpful or constructive way.
Relationships at work: Subordinates. Increasingly managers are having to learn to

manage by consultation and participation; for some this is a considerable source of
resentment, anxiety and stress.
- The manager may resent the erosion of his formal role and powers.
- He may be subjected to irreconcilable pressures: to be both participative and

to achieve high production (role conflict).
Relationships at work: Colleagues. Apart from the obvious factors associated

with interpersonal rivalries and so forth, stress can also be caused by a lack of
adequate social support in different situations: in other words, by the isolation of
being a senior manager.
Career development. Two major clusters of causal factors can be identified in this
area:
- Lack of job security, fear of redundancy, obsolescence or early retirement.
- Status incongruity (under promotion or over-promotion) and frustration at

having reached one's career ceiling.
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Organisation structure and climate. The causes of stress here focus on such
elements as a feeling of little or no participation in the decision-making process, no
sense of belonging, lack of effective consultation and communication, restrictions on
behaviour (e.g. through budgets) and the impact of office politics.
Extra-organisational sources. These elements include family problems, ‘life crises’,

financial difficulties, conflict between personal beliefs and those of the company, and
the conflict of the company with family demands.
What the Individual can do to Manage Stress
Work overload. In many cases, although senior management may be directly

responsible for the allocation of tasks (and for their scheduling), the individual has
some scope for negotiation.
∗ Many people at work are frightened to admit that they can't do a given job within
the deadline specified: this sets a self-fulfilling feedback loop into operation, where
management continues to think that the job can be done, and organises future work
schedules accordingly.
∗ To escape from this vicious circle, initiative from the stressed individual is
essential: he must approach the boss openly and discuss the situation.
Work underload. This is a stressor not only because the individual is bored and
unproductive, but also he is likely to feel unimportant and inadequate.
∗ The individual must do some reality testing, ie. check with the boss about the
reasons for the work shortfall.
∗ If it is true that he is being deprived of work because of his incompetence, then this
issue is probably better confronted than left to fester; on the other hand, it may
provide positive feedback to management that the individual has spare capacity and
is capable of doing more demanding work.
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Role ambiguity and role conflict
∗ First the individual should approach the person responsible for defining his role
(usually the boss) and discuss the issue, asking for a more clear-cut agreement and
understanding about the nature of the job.
∗ Second, the boss should be encouraged to provide three separate short lists of
what he thinks:
- You should do more of or better of
- You should do less of or stop doing
- You should keep on going or maintain unchanged
∗ The individual may prepare these lists himself, if necessary - and should certainly
prepare a list of what the boss should be doing more of, etc.
∗ After the lists have been exchanged, there should be a process of discussion and
negotiation, eventually leading to a ‘deal’ between boss and subordinate (‘if you do
X, I will do Y’).
Personal Relationships at Risk. These situations are potentially the most difficult
to handle, but much can often be achieved by a direct yet friendly approach to the
other person, seeking an opportunity to discuss differences with a view to
understanding each other's position more clearly. Alternatively, it may be necessary
to avoid contacts which are likely to be inflammatory.
Career Planning. The individual should make a determined effort to acquire as much
accurate (as opposed to over-optimistic) information as possible about his career
prospects and then either adjust his personal goals to fit in with the reality, or seek
ways of overcoming any obstacles that apparently exist to his further advancement.
This is easier said than done of course, but with the aid of sympathetic and positive
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counselling, it can be achieved, the outcome being improved mental health for the
employee.
Reducing Type ‘A’ Behaviour patterns
Friedman and Rosenman recommend the following ‘drills against hurry sickness’.
1. Try to restrain yourself from being the centre of attention by constantly

talking. Force yourself to listen to others.
2. If you continue to feel the need to talk, ask yourself the following questions:
- Do I really have anything important to say?
- Does anyone want to hear it?
- Is this the time to say it?
If the answer to any of these questions is no, then remain quiet even if it means
you have to bite your lips in frustration.
3. Try to control your obsessional time-directed life by making yourself aware of

it and changing your established patterns of behaviour. Friedman and
Rosenman suggest that you deliberately seek out situations where you know
there will be a period of waiting, e.g. arrive early for a meeting, go to a
restaurant where the food is cooked after you've ordered it.
4. At least once a week, review the causes of your ‘hurry sickness’.
- What are the origins of your time-dominated behaviour?
- Is it a need to feel important? Is it really essential to the success of a

particular personal or organisational goal?
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- When confronted by a task, ask yourself whether the task will still be
important five years from now, and whether you would be better
employed thinking about the task first.
5. In an effort to direct yourself away from a time obsession, create some outside
interests (e.g. theatre, reading).
‘We have repeatedly advised our Type-A patients to attempt reading Proust's
seven volume novel The Remembrance of Things Past, not because it is one
of the great modern classics (which it is), but because the author needs several
chapters to describe an event that most Type-A subjects would have handled
in a sentence or two’.
6. Try not to make unnecessary appointments and unachievable deadlines.
7. Learn to say NO.
8. Take some stress-free ‘breathing spaces’ during the day, especially when
involved in writing long memos or reports, or sitting in front of a VDU. Do
something that relaxes you - reading the newspaper, taking a walk, talking to
people, etc.
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Sources of Stress and what you can do about them
Excessive levels of stress can be very costly to both health and performance. The
reason for this is that the stress response is a primitive, biological one, unchanged
since the Stone Age. This ‘fight or flight’response prepares you to get into a fight or
to run away. It evolved over the centuries to help our ancestors cope with the
periodic crises in their lives. Today, however, fighting and running away are generally
not appropriate responses to stressful events and conditions; consequently the ‘ight
or flight’ preparation is bottled up inside and becomes stress
The stress response is triggered by the autonomic nervous system and is sustained by
the endocrine glands (principally the thyroid and the adrenal glands). Ordinarily the
autonomic nervous system and the endocrine glands keep you in balance, but when
you perceive something as stressful, they create a new equilibrium that prepares you
for quick action. As the strain builds up, due to unexpressed fight or flight, your
performance declines and risk to your health increases. Strain puts every system in
you body under pressure, eventually causing your weak links to give out. Each of us
has some systems that are weaker than others, due to heredity, previous illnesses or
accidents, self-abusive lifestyle habits and personality. Although it is impossible to
specify what illness will be caused by excessive stress, or even how much stress has
contributed to any given illness, there is no doubt that stress is a major contributor to
many illnesses that people are experiencing today.
Today's major illnesses are not readily curable. Infectious diseases like smallpox,
typhoid and tuberculosis - the most prevalent illnesses at the turn of the century - are
now well controlled by modern medical practice. However the most likely
breakdowns due to prolonged, excessive stress or poor lifestyle habits are degenerative
processes such as cardiovascular diseases, cancers, ulcers, colitis, arthritis, back
problems, and so on which are not easily cured by modern medical techniques. Thus,
prevention and health promotion are recommended.
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Optimal pressure levels lead to optimal performance and optimal health. The issue is
not to get rid of pressure in our lives - because some degree of pressure is needed in
order to support functioning and to avoid ‘rustout’ - but to keep the pressure level at
an acceptable level. An elevated strain score suggests that too little or too much
pressure is present. If action is not taken to lower an elevated strain score, the
chances of diminished health and diminished performance are increased.
The fundamental issue is one of personal responsibility. Sustaining high levels of

performance and experiencing vitality and good health in high-pressure environments
require that you choose at a high level of commitment, to be healthy and to be in
charge of your life.
Changes on the Job and in Personal Life
Changes on the job and in your personal life are likely to be stressful to the extent that
they require you to make adjustments. The events used in the inventories on changes
on the job and in personal life have been developed in such a way that the average
degree of adjustment required can be specified for each item. Numerous studies have
found that higher scores - indicating greater degrees of necessary adjustment - are
correlated with adverse health changes and diminished performance.
Obviously, all people do not experience change events as having the same degree of
impact. Events with greater subjective impact (that is, higher novelty) are more likely
to increase the risk of adverse health changes than are those of low subjective impact.
If you wish to lower the impact of these episodic changes, you can take the initiative
to reduce their novelty by reducing the surprise element as well as the unfamiliarity
and uncertainty associated with these changes. Often surprise can be avoided or
reduced by anticipating and planning. For example, sometimes it is possible to
negotiate with others to obtain warning of necessary changes. It is also helpful to
discard the belief that once a change is in place, stability will necessarily follow
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immediately. It is likely that we will all encounter continuing change throughout our
working and home lives.
Also, unfamiliarity and uncertainty can often be reduced by actively seeking

information about the new situation brought about by a change; by developing the
skills needed to handle the new situation; and by developing a more positive,
confident, opportunity-oriented set of attitudes about the new situation. As you
review the biggest changes you have experienced on the job and in your personal life in
the past year, what additional information do you need to obtain in order to finish
incorporating the changes? What skills do you need to develop or acquire to handle
the new situation more effectively? What might you do about your attitudes towards
these changes?
Another way to reduce the overall impact of episodic stressors is to avoid further
changes in your life - to the extent that this is possible - while completing present
changes. For example, someone who is getting married and moving to a new city
would be well advised to delay any plans to start a new career until he or she has
adapted to these other changes.
Chronic, Stressful Conditions on the Job and in Personal Life
Some people experience chronic pressures, discontinuities and lack of control as being
more stressful than the episodic changes discussed previously. Because such
conditions are present every day, they engender a constant state of tension. The more
stressful the conditions that you must tolerate on a daily basis, the more likely it is
that your health, morale, and effectiveness will suffer. In addition, despite the fact
that everyone does not experience all such conditions as being equally stressful, there
is plenty of evidence that prolonged exposure to conditions like those presented in the
inventories on chronic, stressful conditions on the job and in personal life is likely to
take its toll. If your total scores on these inventories are above the fiftieth percentile,
you are encouraged to find ways to handle some or all of the stressful conditions more
effectively.
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If you wish to lower your chronic stress scores, you have four alternative ways to
proceed:
1. You may decide to leave the situation
This may involve something as minor as requesting a simple shift in work assignment,
or it may mean something as major as making a complete career change. You may also
temporarily leave a situation by taking more short breaks to catch your breath and/or
to re-establish perspective
2. If you choose to stay in the stressful situation, you can accept it as it is
This may not change anything outwardly, but if you choose not to worry about
irrelevant or unchangeable conditions, their impact on you will be lessened. It has
been estimated that 40 percent of the things we worry about never happen, that 30
percent of things we worry about are beyond our control, and that 20 percent of the
things we worry about are trivial matters.
3. If you are not willing to accept the status quo, you can do something to
change yourself
This may mean developing a more constructive attitude about the situation, acquiring
more information about the situation, or developing skills to handle the situation more
effectively. When you review the primary, chronic stressors in your life today, what
attitude, information, and skill changes would help you the most?
4. You may choose to change the stressful condition itself
This option is likely to necessitate you negotiating a change in your relationship(s)

with a spouse, a supervisor, and/or other key individuals. If you select this option, be
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prepared for some resistance. You may find that the following guidelines for dealing
with resistance to change will help:
- Establish or increase the belief that the change you wish to bring about is both
possible and desirable. People usually are reluctant to give up a present way
of operating if they do not think that the proposed change is possible or
desirable.
- Increase the level (or establish awareness) of dissatisfaction with the status
quo. People who are satisfied with a current situation generally see no reason
for making changes. In this case, the most positive way to react is to describe
a vision of how the situation could be made more desirable for all concerned.
As a last resort, you may have to threaten consequences.
- Establish clear goals for the change that are both understood and accepted. A
good definition of ‘depression’ is ‘dissatisfaction without any goals for
improvement’.
- Identify first steps. A lot of good plans for change never get off the ground
because no one knows what to do first. In most cases, a small successful first
step in the right direction is all that is needed to establish momentum.
- Consider how other people can help to ensure your success. Perhaps there is
someone who can make a change with you or who can challenge or encourage
you to maintain a change. Think also about what kinds of expert advice,
access to information, or direct assistance you will need to be successful.
Identify key people and negotiate appropriate agreements with them.
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When these guidelines are followed, resistance disappears and it becomes possible to
change chronically stressful situations. Select a few chronic stressors in you life that
you would like to change and apply these guidelines. you will be pleasantly surprised
at how much easier change becomes.
The Strain Response
As mentioned before, your natural response to prolonged, excessive stress is called

‘strain’. If you have a high strain score for an extended period of time, it becomes
increasingly likely that you will experience adverse health changes.
It is important that you become aware of which specific strain responses serve as
your early warning signals. If you can learn to read and respond appropriately to
these signals, you can protect yourself from the adverse effects of too much stress.
There are three excellent and straightforward ways to reduce your strain level:
1. Exercise regularly
For instance, you can walk, job, bicycle, or swim. All of these options are forms of
‘flight’ and as such burn or metabolise the stress hormones that have been released
into the bloodstream and are maintaining a ‘fight or flight’ readiness.
2. Engage in regular periods of relaxation
Meditation, prayer, and sitting in the garden are forms of ‘flight’ that actually cause
the hypothalamus, the part of the central nervous system that originates the ‘fight or
flight’ messages, to send different, more relaxing messages to the body.
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3. Practice sound nutrition
Good nutritional practices can help reduce strain by providing the body with plenty
of the B and C vitamins. These nutrients, which are burned rapidly when you are
under stress, serve dozens of functions in the mind and body. They are primarily in
fruits, vegetables and grains, which are often omitted in favour of convenience and
junk foods during periods of stress. Furthermore, alcohol, caffeine, sugar and tobacco,
which are often consumed in greater quantities during stressful periods are all
antagonistic to the B and C vitamins. Neglecting the body's needs for extra amounts
of these vitamins during such periods can exacerbate the effects of impaired mental
and physical functioning that are characteristic of strain.
A Few Words About Hardiness
Stress has a negative connotation for many of us. Often in our discussions of the
subject there is an implicit message that we should get rid of it or it will bring us
down. Many people, however do not succumb to intense pressure. It can be useful
to explore their hardiness - the quality they have in common that is not characteristic
of people who do succumb to stress.
A number of different studies have identified three factors that constitute hardiness
and that consistently distinguish between those who succumb to high levels of stress
and those who do not. It appears that those who have all three factors in their lives
do better than those with two out of three, and those with two out of three do better
than those with only one.
Thee three factors are commitment, control and challenge. People who are highly
committed to their activities and view them as important contributions are

consistently better able to withstand high levels of pressure than those for whom
work is just a task to be completed. Similarly, those who have a sense of control over
their lives are better able to withstand high levels of stress, than those who feel they
are innocent bystanders or powerless victims of circumstances. This does not
necessarily mean that we must control all of the events affecting us, but it does mean
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that we have control over how we react to these external events. In addition, those
who enjoy challenges and create appropriate challenges in their activities, are better
able to withstand high levels of stress than those who never stretch themselves and
seek to do the minimum necessary to get by.
Clarity can be added as a fourth hardiness factor. It has become evident that those
who have a clear sense of direction and purpose, a clear sense of how their
responsibilities and their tasks relate to results and have access to clear
communications are better able to withstand high levels of stress. Conversely, those
who live their lives without clear direction, are in ambiguity about their
responsibilities and tasks and without clear communications, cannot withstand high
levels of stress.
When one has a high degree of commitment, control and clarity as well as an
appropriate level of challenge, one moves toward the peak of the performance curve
rather than toward ‘rustout’ or ‘burnout’.
When you consider the presence or absence of each of "the four C's" (commitment,
control, challenge and clarity) in your own life, do you conclude that you are more
likely to thrive or more likely to succumb as a result of prolonged periods of high
pressure? What steps can you begin taking now to help you feel more appropriately
committed to your activities, more in control of your life, more regularly challenged in
appropriate ways, and clearer about your direction and the results you want to
achieve?
There are a range of other significant factors which must be considered but are outwith
the scope of this Unit. These include:
Outlook and lifestyle habits Psychological Outlook
The Relationship Among Perceptions, Experiences and Outlooks General Lifestyle
Nutritional Habits and Awareness Social Support
Behavioural Habits - Type A and Type B
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Communication
Construction managers are inundated with information. It comes thick and fast, much
of it poorly presented and requiring a good deal of time and effort to interpret it. In
turn, these managers are responsible for passing on much of this information, and they
must know how to put it across effectively. This is often taken for granted, yet
managers' communication skills may have improved little since their schooldays. The
firm may have to help its managers to develop their communication skills.
Communication serves many functions. It is used to give people information about

the work they are expected to do. In construction, many of the targets are available in
documents, including drawings, programmes and specifications, but managers need to
communicate them effectively. Moreover, they need skills for obtaining information
from others, including vital feedback on building costs, progress and quality.
Some communication is social. It is aimed at maintaining relationships between

individuals and groups, so that they continue to work as teams. This facilitates the
other kind of communication - business communication - which is the lifeblood of
the building process. In construction, where information channels have to be set up
for each new project, communication is vital for creating teamwork and teamwork is
vital for effective communication.
Communication also enables people to express their feelings. This may happen
spontaneously, as in an argument during a site meeting. But it may be carefully
planned, for instance, to achieve an outcome in a grievance procedure.
Common causes of communication failure are poor expression, lack of sensitivity to

the receiver, giving too much information at once, poor choice of method,
misunderstanding caused by differing experiences, perceptions and attitudes, physical
distance and status differences. Moreover, unnecessary and obscure words clutter
messages and hide their meanings. This problem shows up clearly in many reports
and letters.
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Poor communication has long been a problem for construction managers. Part of the
trouble is the way the industry is organised, with project teams made up of people
from many firms. Even when a network of communication exists, breakdowns still
occur because people fail to keep their messages simple, pass on too much or too little
data and give inaccurate or misleading information. On the receiving end, people are
flooded with paperwork they haven't time to read, yet the information they really
need often isn't available.
In small construction firms, communication is often good. It is more direct. Those

making the decisions are closer to those who implement them. But in larger firms,
managers have to rely more on the written word. This puts the message on record, but
misunderstandings cannot easily be cleared up. Information can be delayed and
distorted.
Formal communications can be slow and impersonal. The ‘grapevine’ is faster but
takes time to develop and is often discouraged. The larger the firm, the more acute the
manager's communication problems tend to be.
Poor communication skill makes matters worse. Most people, including managers, are
poor communicators and don't even recognise it. Most firms give little thought to
communication training for their staff, yet immediate improvements could be achieved
simply by making people aware of the main pitfalls and giving them feedback on their
performance as communicators.
To be effective, the manager must operate within a network of lateral, upward and
downward communication. The manager must use the network to ensure that
communications reach the right people and that messages are accurate, timely and
clear. This demands reliable sources of data, prompt action and skilful communication
by the manager.
The manager's downward and lateral communications are important not only for giving
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instructions and information to people, but for making sure they are understood,
accepted and acted on. Downward communication is used for giving orders,
explanations, information and advice.
Managers are increasingly recognising the importance of keeping employees informed,

although some companies don't even tell their managers what is happening! However,
it is widely accepted that employees ought to be kept up-to-date on developments.
Most people want to know how their work fits in with the organisation's overall
goals, otherwise a sense of isolation and alienation from the task can set in.
In times of uncertainty, construction firms and projects become even more reliant on
processing information. Schein [19] stresses that, under these conditions, managers
and workers must talk to one another on the basis of who has relevant information
rather than who reports to whom. Such communication becomes legitimised
through lateral communication channels.
Within a work group, a lot of lateral communication takes place, as people exchange
information and advice about the job. The manager must manage this lateral flow of
information to ensure it does not conflict with the usual channels of authority in the
business.
Upward communication provides essential feedback to management. It is used by

employees for reporting progress, making suggestions and seeking clarification or help,
although people often seek help from their peers before going to their bosses.
Managers may have difficulty in obtaining feedback on progress and costs, especially
when things are not going well. Upward communication for control purposes is often
delayed and distorted. Supervisors and managers are told what they want to hear, or
what subordinates want them to hear - and only when they are in the mood to take it!
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Communication with sub-contract site personnel demands special attention, because

these people have responsibilities to their own company as well as the main
contractor, so that lateral and vertical communications ‘compete’ for priority. This is
a problem in any taskforce organisation. It is vital that good communications are
established at the outset and that contractor and sub-contractor have continual, direct
contact throughout the period of their contract.
The skilful manager must recognise that each communication is more or less unique.
When he has something important to say, he must judge the situation and use all his
skills to ensure that people understand what he is trying to convey, accept it and are
willing to act on it.
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Changing People's Attitudes

Construction managers cannot always get action simply by giving orders. Sometimes
they must begin by changing people's attitudes. Many factors have a bearing on
attitude change and there are various ways of achieving it.
Persuasion is one of the more socially acceptable methods, although it raises some
moral questions, because people can be persuaded to do bad things as well as good.
Most managers rely heavily on persuasion to get results.
There are conflicting arguments about the effectiveness of persuasion. One is that
people are very malleable and can easily be persuaded to change their attitudes and
beliefs. Another, conversely, is that people are stubborn and resist change. These
opposing views partly result from early research by social psychologists at Columbia
University and experimental psychologists at Yale, who studied persuasion in
different ways.
The Yale experiments showed that persuasive communication can be very powerful if
there are no conflicting influences. The Columbia studies were only directed at
situations in which there were conflicting influences. It was found that personal
contact is more effective for changing opinions and behaviour than mass
communication. This is not a problem in small firms, but in large organisations
managers often have to use impersonal, formal communications. These may lack
effectiveness unless supported by opinion leaders - popular or respected employees
who take an interest in developments and actively seek information, passing it on to
others.
The importance of personal contact in attitude change has been demonstrated many
times. People take most notice of communications from people they admire or
identify with. Formal communications are likely to be more successful when
supported by opinion leaders and when recipients are already mildly interested. For
example, a circular letter from the construction director can help awaken latent ideas or
interest. But those closer to the workforce, such as site managers, are more likely to
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succeed in changing attitudes. In large organisations, persuasion can be made more

effective if the construction manager:
• considers the people that communication is aimed at: who they are, their lifestyles,
values and the kinds of communication they prefer;
• recognises that people may be indifferent and considers the reasons for this.
People are most interested in ideas which are in line with their existing attitudes;
• sets realistic goals for change and does not try to achieve too much too quickly;
• creates some kind of back-up communication system, helped by opinion leaders.
Some attitudes are more resistant to change than others. Such attitudes act as a prop
to the individual's self-image. If the manager can identify what function these attitudes
serve, so that the individual's self-image can be maintained in some other way, then the
manager may be able to alter that person's attitudes and hence behaviour [23].
Successful persuasion depends on the manager's understanding of the effects

communication have on people. This is important in activities like health and safety
training. If the message provokes little anxiety, people often show little interest. A
moderately alarming message is more likely to get a good response. If the message is
so alarming that it induces fear, its effect decreases because people become defensive
and ignore the message [24].
Other factors are involved, such as the complexity of the message and employees'
anxieties about the subject matter. Janis and Feshbach [25] found that anxious people
were consistently less influenced by a threatening approach than were less anxious
ones. Construction workers who are anxious about redundancy may become
uncooperative if put under pressure to accept new working practices which they feel
would increase the likelihood of redundancies. Similarly, employees worried because
they can't cope with their work are unlikely to respond positively to threats about
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what will happen if they don't improve. Low-threat persuasion has more effect on
anxious people than it does on calmer ones.
Attitudes are influenced by many sources other than the manager, including the media,
friends and family. Managers are unlikely to change attitudes by imposing their views
on people. Rather, they should encourage dialogue and show that they value
independent viewpoints.
It is important that construction team members can air differences of opinion without
recrimination. This encourages the independent thinkers as opposed to the
conformers [18]. The independent thinkers are usually the more creative team
members. To create something better, people must question and criticise. The
construction manager who welcomes suggestions and takes them seriously is more
likely to have an innovative and enthusiastic workforce.
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Managing Creativity
Creativity is becoming more important in construction. Imaginative approaches to
projects are needed in today's commercial climate. Fortunately, creativity is not a rare
commodity. Most people are capable of being more creative than they are given
opportunity to express. Employees don't always use their creative abilities, but the
manager can help them to.
One way is to encourage people to express their ideas. Many managers unwittingly
stifle them instead! The manager should listen to unusual and imaginative ideas and
show that they are appreciated.
The manager must help remove the barriers to creative thinking. In countries like
Great Britain, people aren't always encouraged to think creatively. Often the
emphasis is on finding one ‘right answer’. Alternative suggestions, which may hold
much promise, are brushed aside in favour of a predictable solution. Novel ideas are
often ridiculed. This inhibits creative thinking and stops people expressing original
ideas, because they are afraid of looking foolish.
Training methods, like brainstorming, can overcome some of the obstacles by

encouraging people to put forward ideas in an uncritical atmosphere. In brainstorming,
a group is given a problem. Participants aren't allowed to criticise one another and
self-criticism is discouraged. Ideas are not evaluated until later on. Even an
apparently unrealistic suggestion may spark off an original and valuable idea. This
will only happen if the idea survives long enough to germinate and isn't immediately
written off.
Innovation has become important in construction at a time of increasing uncertainty

and change. Creativity involves searching for fresh opportunities, thinking of ways of
using resources more effectively, restructuring existing ideas and provoking new ones.
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For many construction management problems, there is no single correct answer.

Instead, there are many possible solutions, none of which may be ideal. The manager
often has to accept a solution which is expedient, reasonable or simply the best
available. Creativity has much in common with this kind of problem, where there is
no obvious correct answer and a need to explore and compare alternative responses.
De Bono [26] has added to our understanding of creativity training through the
concept of lateral thinking. This involves breaking away from entrenched thinking
habits, which tend to stifle originality.
Creativity helps solve construction problems and forms a vital part of staff
development. Considerable work has been done on promoting creative thinking
techniques in business [27,28].
Construction managers can foster creative behaviour in several ways:
Encourage Creative Ideas - managers should encourage the exchange of novel and
independent ideas. They should listen to imaginative and unusual suggestions and
show that these are valued. They should ensure that employees are not made to feel
foolish when they are creative. People may think they are supporting creative
behaviour when in fact they are doing the reverse [29].
Remove Barriers - employees' experiences and backgrounds are among many

obstacles to creativity. Indeed, people are often actively discouraged from showing
too much originality. In western countries, ‘getting it right’ first time, through
convergent thinking, is highly valued. Managers must be aware of the barriers to
creativity and attempt to minimise them.
Reward Creative Ideas - managers should actively reward innovative ideas,

financially or non-financially. In practice, managers rarely reward creative people.
Indeed, people who produce new ideas are often less likely to be promoted than their
more unimaginative colleagues [30].
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Provide Information - there is a popular belief that creativity thrives in unstructured,

informal settings, but writers like Koestler [31] and Ogilvie [32] disagree. They argue
that creativity is built on a pool of information from which useful associations can be
drawn. Ideas cannot arise from nothing. Managers can encourage employees to be
more creative by providing information and sharing their own ideas.
It was once thought that intelligent people were also the most creative. Guildford [33]
and others have shown that this is not always so. The manager needs to know how to
recognise creativity. The unexpected ideas and behaviour of creative people
sometimes make them appear obtuse. Creative people sometimes prefer disorder, out
of which may come original ideas. They often classify information flexibly and
combine data in unusual ways when solving problems.
Conclusions
Human behaviour is complex and difficult to understand, but enough is known about it
to give the manager some concrete guidelines. This article has examined selected
aspects of management and worker behaviour. Its purpose has been to demonstrate
that the human side of construction management merits serious attention and can lead
to better performance. However, people and situations need to be treated on their
merits - a contingency approach is needed.
Many construction managers have relied for too long on personal experience. Of
course, experience is a valuable teacher. Every manager knows this. But people don't
always learn from experience. They lack some of the skills to interpret their
observations and actions. Psychologists have developed these skills. They can offer
guidance to managers, helping them to understand human behaviour and manage
people better.
To perform their organisational roles effectively, most construction managers need

social skills of a high calibre. These include skills for persuading, negotiating and
inspiring confidence, loyalty and trust. But many managers lack some of these skills.
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To get things done, they sometimes resort to the power vested in their positions, but
this is not always enough. Construction firms should consider whether some of their
managers might benefit from training in human relations. Many managers would
obtain better performance if they gained insights into people's attitudes and behaviour.
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Communications Skills
Good communications means getting the message across effectively and efficiently and
in professional life one is called upon to do this every day using a variety of media.
This section of the Unit covers the principal 'do's and dont's' of communications in
each of the media in which you are likely to be involved.
The best way to use this section of the Unit is to read any particular section of
interest, such as Public Speaking.
One major problem is that one cannot see oneself and analyse one's own behaviour in
detail. If possible, it is strongly recommend that you practice communication
techniques (eg on tape or video). Video clips particularly will highlight your individual
weaknesses and also your strengths.
Firstly you will consider verbal, face-to-face contact and the closely related topic of
non-verbal communication and body language. Later you will also consider some
specialised aspects of communications: public speaking and interview techniques.
As a professional, you will probably be called upon to enter these arenas at various
stages in your career. They are both highly stressful situations in which it is very
helpful to have a sound understanding of the communication skills required.
When considering an event where you have to communicate a messaage to others, it is

necesary to answer the following questions:
• What am I trying to achieve?
• What is the best medium?
• What barriers are there between me and the receiver?
• Where and when is the right time?
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• How will I know if my communication has been successful?
The job of communication is to transmit a message by the best means available. It is

vital to adopt the best method at your disposal.
The following points should be considered:
• Be clear about what you wish to communicate.
• What are your objectives? Are you selling, telling or asking? Carefully consider the
characteristics of the person or group with whom you are communicating.
• Decide on the most effective means of communication to fit the person or group
and the situation.
• Transmit the communication at the most appropriate time.
• You should ensure that the communication has been understood and any necessary
action taken. Has the receiver understood and reacted?
• Review the success of your communication and if necessary modify.
For communication to be effective:
Interest must be maintained. People do not readily absorb information if they are not
interested. The method adopted should be appropriate to the type of information
being imparted; wherever possible the method should appeal to more than one sense.
Memory - try to communicate the information in a way that it can be easily

remembered; again use as many senses as possible.
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Amount of Information - too much at one time is difficult to assimilate; do not

impart more information at one time than can be readily absorbed.
Barriers to Effective Communication
It is often found that communication may be ineffective because of a combination of a

variety of factors, namely:
• accent or dialect
• people are different
• people have different interests
• lack of knowledge
• poor presentation
• refusal to listen
• the communication is incomplete or innacurate
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Verbal Communication
Speech is a skill which we develop over a lifetime. Unfortunately it is not a skill in

which ‘practice makes perfect’. Bad habits become ingrained and even when they have
been highlighted they are difficult to overcome.
There are many potential and real barriers to effective face-to-face communications
and it is only by being aware of these that you can hope to overcome them.
Communication is a two-way process. It involves giving and receiving. You should not
concentrate on what is spoken; the focus should be on what is heard or perceived by
the listener.
Assertiveness
Verbal communication may fail because the speaker is not prepared; basically by not
knowing exactly what they wish to say.
Secondly, the message may be transmitted in a non-assertive way. If this happens,

people will not listen to you or not take you seriously. Similarly if you say it in an
aggressive way, you will not be listened to.
Good verbal communication means knowing what you want to say and then saying it
assertively.
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BELIEFS & RIGHTS

General (Human) Rights
We each have the right to:-
- our own opinions, views and ideas

- reasonable expression of our own opinions, views and ideas
- have needs and wants that may differ from those of others
- ask others to meet our needs and wants
- refuse a request without feeling guilty or selfish
- decide not to assert yourself in a given situation
- have others respect your rights
- expect fair treatment at all times
Job Rights
We each have the right to:-
- a contract of employment
- refuse unfair requests
- be consulted on any issue that affects your work
- to make occasional mistakes
- to clearly understand what is expected of you
- to set fair and equitable standards for subordinates
Beliefs Which Lead to Aggressive Behaviour
- aggression gets results

- other people can't be trusted to do a good job
- I know best
- I give as good as I get
- no one mucks me around
- other people should stand on their own two feet
Beliefs Which Lead to Non-assertive Behaviour
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- I'm not as important as X

- my opinions aren't very important
- if I say what I think, others might not like me
- it's best to avoid trouble and keep your head down until it blows over
- I should put other people first
- I must get this absolutely perfect
- I can't say no to the boss
Beliefs Which Lead to Assertive Behaviour
- I'm responsible for what happens to me

- I'm in control; I can choose how to behave
- I can change
- I can learn from feedback
- I believe that assertive behaviour is usually the most appropriate
Guidelines for Assertive Behaviour
Use assertive words and verbal skills
- lots of ‘I’ statements

- ‘broken record’
- negative assertion
- negative enquiry
- fogging
Use assertive body language

- make sure it matches your words
- maintain good eye contact
- sit or stand with your shoulders straight
- keep facial expressions calm and relaxed
- keep tone and pitch of voice moderate
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Build your confidence

- choose a safe relationship and situation to practice in
- develop your skills in easy stages
- practice
- do your homework before tackling a big issue
Relax
- remember that practice makes perfect
SAYING ‘NO’ ASSERTIVELY
Techniques: - the ‘broken record’
also - self disclosure

- free information
- face saving
The broken record - technique used to say ‘no’ and also to avoid manipulative verbal
traps, argumentative baiting and irrelevant logic.
This technique is especially useful when:
- in a conflict situation
- refusing unreasonable requests
- asking questions for clarification
- correcting someone who has higher status
- expressing feelings or values, especially when the other person isn't
listening
The technique requires:

- a calm, relaxed voice
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- calm, relaxed non-verbal behaviour

- avoiding emotion
- constant repetition of your stance
Saying ‘No’ to people who's friendship you value may be better handled by
combining the ‘broken record’ technique with one or more other techniques to soften
the effect. For example:
Self Disclosure - giving information about yourself to your circumstances that will
aid understanding of your stance. For example:
- “I can't attend your party because I've already made other

arrangements”.
Free Information - acknowledging their reasons as given to you. For example:
- “I can see that this will put you out but I've already made a previous
arrangement”.
Saving Face - allowing the other party to retain status. For example:
- “Well your argument is very persuasive, but I'm afraid ......”
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RECOGNISING ASSERTIVE, NON ASSERTIVE

AND AGGRESSIVE BEHAVIOUR
Non-assertive: Assertive: Aggressive:

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VOICE:
Sometimes wobbly Steady and firm Very firm
Tone may be singsong Tone is middle range, Tone is sarcastic,

or whining rich and warm sometimes cold
Oversoft or overwarm Sincere and clear Hard and sharp
Often dull and in Not over-loud or quiet Strident, maybe

monotone shouting, rises at
end
Quiet often drops away

at end
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SPEECH PATTERN:
Hesitant and filled with Fluent, few awkward Fluent few

awkward pauses hesitancies hesitancies
Sometimes jerks from Emphasises key words Often abrupt,

fast to slow clipped
Frequent throat clearing Steady even pace Emphasises

blaming words
Often fast
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FACIAL EXPRESSION:
'Ghost' smiles when expressing Smiles when pleased Smile may become
anger or being criticised 'wry'
Eyebrows raised in anticipation Frowns when angry Scowls when

(e.g. of rebuke) otherwise 'open' angry
Quick changing features Features steady not Eyebrows raised

in disbelief wobbling amazement,
Jaw relaxed Jaw set firm
Chin thrust forward
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SUMMARY OF VERBAL ASPECT OF BEHAVIOUR
Non-assertive: Assertive: Aggressive:

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VERBAL CONTENT:
Long rambling statements Statements that are brief, Excess of ‘I’

clear and to the point statements
‘Fill-in words: ‘maybe’ ‘I’ statements: ‘I’d like’ Boastfulness ‘My’
Frequent justifications Distinctions between Opinions

expressed as facts fact and opinion
Apologies and ‘permission Suggestions not Threatening

seekers’ with ‘advice’ questions
‘I should’, ‘I ought’ No ‘shoulds’ Requests as

nor ‘oughts’ instructions or threats
Few ‘I’ statements (often Constructive ‘criticism’ Heavily weighted

qualified) without blame or advice in the form of
assumptions ‘should’ and ‘ought’
Phrases that dismiss own Questions to find out Blame put on others
needs: ‘not important really’ the thoughts, opinions,
of others
Self put-downs ‘I'm hopeless’ Ways for getting round

Assumptions
problems Sarcasm and other
put-downs
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Example:
Critic: "You always ignore other peoples' feelings"
You: "Really, what makes you say that"
Critic: "You didn't listen to anybody at the meeting this morning"
You: "Oh! when did you notice me not listening"
Critic: "Well, I felt you completely missed my point when I was

talking about my ideas on the new parking arrangements"
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Fogging: use when the criticism is unjustified and you want to put over your point
of view
This technique:
- stops put-downs and manipulative criticism
- allows both parties to retain face
- retains empathy between the two parties
- defuses confrontation
it involves: - agreeing with partial truth, logic or the possibility of truth in the
criticism without confirming whether the criticism is valid or
not.
- e.g. "I can understand you thinking that". "That's a

good point"
- offering no resistance so that the critic finds it difficult to

continue.
- by listening to the criticism, you place the other person under

moral obligation to listen to you.
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HOW ASSERTIVE ARE YOU? 1 2 3 4
Often Sometimes Rarely Never
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1. In a difficult meeting with tempers running high I am able to speak up with confidence.
2. If I am unsure of something I can easily ask for help.
3. If someone is being unfair and aggressive, I can handle the situation confidently.
4. When someone is being sarcastic at my own expense or at the expense of others, I can speak
up without getting angry.
5. If I am being put down or patronised, I can raise the issue directly without being aggressive.
6. If I believe I am being taken for granted, I am able to draw attention to it without sulking or
getting upset.
7. If someone asks my permission to do something I would prefer them not to e.g. smoke, I can
say no without feeling guilty.
8. If someone asks my opinion about something I feel quite comfortable to give it even if I think
my opinion will not be a popular one.
9. I can deal easily and effectively with senior people.
10. When given faulty or substandard goods in a shop or restaurant, I can state my case well
without attacking the other person.
11. When an important opportunity is in the offing, I can speak up on my own behalf.
12. When I can see things going wrong I can draw attention to it early without waiting until it is
a potential disaster.
13. When I have bad news to give I can do it calmly and without excessive worry.
14. If I want something I can ask for it in a direct, straightforward way.
15. When someone isn't listening to what I am saying I can get my point across without getting
strident or feeling sorry for myself.
16. When someone misunderstands me, I can point it out without feeling guilty or making the
other person look small.
17. When I disagree with the majority view I can state my case without apologising or getting
high-handed.
18. I take criticism well.
19. I give compliments without being embarrassed or sounding like flattery.
20 When I get angry, I can express my point of view without becoming judgemental or feeling
I've let myself down.
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HOW YOU SCORE IN THE ASSERTIVENESS QUESTIONNAIRE
Points
20 - 25 Confident and assertive in approach to situations
25 - 35 Although you can be assertive you would benefit further from an increased
knowledge of assertiveness
35 - 50 You are unable to be consistent in your assertive behaviour and should

work to improve this
50 - 80 You need to do some considerable work to develop assertive behaviour
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Think about a situation when you reacted in either a non-assertive or an aggressive manner.
Note brief details on this sheet, reflecting on how you could have handled the situation more
assertively.
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Outline the situation, describing what occurred, who was involved and what was the outcome.
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In what ways was your approach either non-assertive or aggressive? (i.e. what you said, how
you said it, the non-verbal signals, etc.)
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How did you feel after the situation was over?
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What could you have done to handle the situation in a more assertive manner? (Try to be as
specific as possible).
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Conversation skills.
If you are in a situation where you do not know the other people present, how do you
initiate and maintain a conversation?
One tactic is to stand in a corner and hope that people will come over and talk to you.
Not very likely. The alternative is to go up to one person or a group who look
interesting and say something amounting to ‘Hello, can I talk to you because I don't
know anyone else here’.
How do you continue the conversation?
Eye Contact
First rule, look at the other person. Research into where people are looking when
conversing, showed that when talking to someone you are looking at them between 35
and 50% of the time. The listener is looking at you about 70% of the time. When the
other person starts to talk the behaviour also changes. They look at you less and you
start to look at what is now the speaker, 70% of the time.
Eye contact establishes that you are friendly, confident and have nothing to hide. Do
not stare at the person with whom you are speaking. Staring is very aggressive and
will usually cause the listener to withdraw. When you are speaking, you do not need
to look at the other person continually. You do need to look some of the time, partly
to check that he/she is still there. More importantly, you will be looking for
feedback which will tell you if the person is understanding the communication
The receiver, however, needs to look more because a large element of the
communication will be non-verbal. The eyes in particular carry much of the emotional
content of the message.
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Types of Question
If you ask a specific question such as ‘Have you heard the latest record by the
Amadeus Quartet?’, the answer is either yes or no.
If you ask open-ended questions such as ‘What type of music do you enjoy?’, then
even a very negative reply will give a cue for a further conversational gambit such as
‘What do you enjoy?’ If the other person does not have any interests then you
probably won't want to have a conversation with him/her anyway.
Open-ended questions encourage conversation flow; specific questions lead to stilted

conversation.
Free Information
Perhaps the most important conversation skill is what is termed Self Disclosing
Statements or as we saw earlier - free information.
If you are trying to have a conversation with people you have never met before, you
make a statement and then give the listener a piece of free information. This is
something about yourself that they can pick-up and respond to. If this person is a
good conversationalist then at the end of his response to your statement, he will also
give a piece of free information.
For example when you open a conversation with the standard weather gambit ‘The
weather has been very cold of late’, add-on the free information, ‘I hope it improves
for my holiday's next week’ or ‘I think I'll forget about going to the match tomorrow’.
The listener now has something to latch onto and can respond in kind. If he simply
reinforces what you said and gives no free information then you are in the position of
trying to find a new self-disclosing statement and offering this for a response. When
this situation persists, then the giver of the free information very quickly tires of the
effort and gives up.
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Reinforcing compliments
This simply means saying things which are pleasant; encouraging the other person to
open up and give more free information.
Ending the Conversation
Conversation should not be ended abruptly. Finish off with something along the lines
of ‘Very nice to meet you, hope to see you again some time’. Don't just walk away.
Also don't mumble something non-assertively and withdraw.
Let the other person speak
Let the other person speak and when he/she does speak, listen - LISTEN. It is a very
common mistake in conversation to be thinking ahead to a very clever remark you are
going to make at the next opportunity.
Listen to what the other person is saying; it will contain free information, it may be
quite interesting and be very different to what you are thinking about. If the
conversation tails off later and you wish to revitalise it, then you can throw in the
stunning remark you were considering earlier.
Human beings have evolved with

one mouth and two ears
and as a rule, aim to use these
organs in the same proportion.
When you listen to people, you are paying them a compliment. You are telling them
that they are interesting. People generally enjoy talking about themselves; after all, it
is the one subject on which everyone is an expert.
Before moving on to the next section of the Unit undertake the following activity.
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What do you consider to be assertive, non-assertive and agressive behaviour?
Give examples of each.
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Compare your answers in the previous Activity, with those set out below .
What is Assertive Behaviour?
Assertiveness involves letting people know how you feel without infringing their rights.
Statements you make are brief, clear and to the point.
High proportion of ‘I’ statements (eg. ‘I would like this’, ‘I think this’)
The opinions of others are sought. You say, ‘What do you think?’ so that the listener knows that you
are interested in their opinion.
Any criticisms you make are constructive. Do not label the person; for example, if someone regularly
comes in to work late, do not call them lazy. Say ‘You have been late four times this week’. They can
then change this behaviour; if you label that person as lazy then they are stuck with it.
Solutions are looked for. You do not simply say this is the way we are going to do it.
What is Non-Assertive Behaviour?
Statements are long and rambling, arguments are full of qualifications and difficult to follow.
A lot of ‘you’ statements. ‘I know you are busy’ or ‘would you be so kind as to ...’
There are frequent justifications; you are apologising for yourself. Frequent self put-downs - 'I know I'm
not very good at this job but...' Frequent apologies ‘I'm sorry, I'm sorry’.
Unwise to use this as a tactic to gain sympathy; it usually has the opposite effect.
What is Aggressive Behaviour?
Most people who behave non-assertively, will continue being pushed literally into a corner. At this
point they will immediately start to become aggressive. These two behaviours are therefore very closely
related.
In aggressive behaviour -
Opinions are expressed as facts. Instead of saying ‘I think this is the case’ you say ‘This is the case’.
There are threatening requests. ‘Will you do this?’ and said in such a manner that it is implied ‘or
else!’
Advice is heavily weighted. There is a lot of emphasis to it with the clear impression that it is advice
which the listener would be foolish to ignore.
Orders are blurred, not made specific and given in a rush.
Critical assumptions are made. You don't consider the other person's point of view; you assume you
know it and bulldoze through.
Excessive sarcasm is used.
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Non-Verbal Communication
If you remove the voice element from face-to face communication, what remains is
called non-verbal: stance, posture, gaze, gestures, idiosyncrasies, etc. They are a very
important element of the communication process; they tell the person who is watching
the speaker a great deal in addition to what is actually heard.
We are unaware of the existence of much of our non-verbal behaviour. People are
generally surprised by the visual impact when they see a video replay of themselves.
Posture
Non-assertive behaviour is typified by slow uncertain movement, hunched and looking

at the ground. The aggressive message is upright and quick.
The assertive message is upright and slow. Walk and move at an even pace and look
ahead.
Proximity
How near should you stand to the other person? Everyone has their own idea of what
is a safe distance to be from others. This ‘force field’ will vary according to the
situation, how well you know them, what sex they are, etc. When people are forced
to abandon the safe distance they feel very threatened. The rules of proxemics will,
for example, be temporarily suspended in the London Underground during the rush
hour. However, unless you are a regular commuter you will probably still find this
experience stressful.
Similarly the rules are deferred in lifts. In this case normally the spaces in the corners
fill up first even if there is room in the middle. When people leave the lift they
immediately re-establish their proxemic distance.
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Related to this is the fact that when you are in such a situation, you will generally try
not be too threatening to others. Staring is very aggressive, so in the lift people tend to
look at the ceiling, their shoes or the flashing lights and avoid eye contact with fellow
passengers.
There is an interesting experiment you may care to try. If you are at a social function
and meet someone for the first time, try invading their space. If you very very
gradually move towards them while still talking normally, you will probably find that
they will very very gradually back away from you without even realising what they
are doing or why.
Gaze
Eye contact should be intermittent and relaxed. Do not stare with wide-open eyelids.
Gesture
Clenched fists are very aggressive, even when held by one's sides. Pointing is also very
aggressive, especially if you actually touch the other person. Non-assertive gestures
include wringing of the hands and covering the mouth with one hand. The latter can
actually be used to encourage someone to ‘open up’ more by giving a strong signal to
them that there is no threat.
A lot of peripheral body movements are indicative of anxiety. Scratching ear lobes or
cracking knuckles show that you are uncomfortable; they are sending out non-assertive
signals and in the case of public speaking they can be a fatal distraction to your
audience.
Assertive movements are open-handed. They give the impression of confidence with
nothing to hide and therefore non-threatening.
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Personal Appearance
You should dress for your audience if you are aiming to give a certain impression. As
we will see when we consider interviews, it is very important that you do not give the
wrong impression to the interviewer as soon as you go into the interview room. This
usually means being clean and appropriately dressed for the type of position. Hence
the ‘interview suit’.
Equally there are occasions when one should ‘dress down’ for an event. If you are
trying to influence people ( and win friends ) you should dress in a style with which
they can identify. Dress to the people you are trying to reach or you will be setting
up a barrier between yourself and the audience.
Facial expression
The non-assertive expression is the ‘ghost smile’. Whoever you are talking to, you
have a half-smile on your face. This does not give the impression that you are smiling
or are pleased; the message is that you are anxious in the situation. This is usually
combined with the non-assertive gaze at the ground.
The aggressive facial expression is the wry smile that says ‘who is this idiot I'm
talking to?’ Clenched teeth and a tight jaw is like a spring ready to snap; ‘one false
move and I'll flatten you’.
The assertive message is given by smiling when you are pleased, frowning
when you are angry and keeping your features relatively steady.
Vocal cues
This relates to how you say something rather than what you say. Volume is
important; don't shout and don't mumble. Tone should be even without excessive rise
and fall.
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The rise and fall is important because it also means something and can change the
sense of what you are saying. If you say to someone ‘I want you to do this’ and let
the pitch and emphasis of your voice rise at the end, this changes the sense. You have
turned the statement into a question ‘Will you do this?’ This is known as the
interrogative pitch.
Speed is very important. If you are talking to an audience and are not getting much
feedback, there is a strong temptation to speed up. Keep speech speed moderate and
even.
When you are anxious, it is difficult not to splutter, stutter and dry-up. Speech
disturbance is usually a direct result of anxiety which has resulted in the production of
adrenalin which in turn slows the digestive system including the reproduction of
saliva. If you are nervous when talking, take time to swallow occasionally to help
prevent drying up.
Accent was once considered a major handicap to both a successful social and
professional life. It is not considered to be a barrier now, even in positions requiring a
high level of face-to-face contact with clients or the public. It is, however, essential that
one is intelligible, so unusual accents may require some moderation to aid
comprehension. An ‘extreme’ accent can also be a distraction from the content. If
you attempt to hide an accent however, it will cause you anxiety and detract much
more from your ability to communicate than the accent ever could.
How to make a request
Watch your body language. Stand straight with your weight evenly distributed on both
legs. Use eye contact. Calm pleasant normal voice pitch. Short brief statements. Be
direct. If you drop hints that you are going to ask for something, the request may be
anticipated and deflected.
Don't continually justify yourself. Give reasons for your request if you think it will
help but keep it short and honest.
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How do you refuse a request?
Don't say ‘No’.

That is agressive. Give a brief reason ‘I would like to help but I have made other
arrangements this evening’. Don't apologise profusely or ramble on about how sad
you are that you cannot fulfil their request. If you are sorry say you are; if you are
not, then don't say sorry, as it will come across as insincere. Talk slowly or you will
sound abrupt.
Acknowledge the other person's need and if appropriate thank them for asking you
(‘Thank you for asking me to speak to your staff one day next week but unfortunately I
will be unavailable’)
If you are not sure what the other person is asking, seek clarification before refusing
the request. Meet them halfway if you can. (‘No, I can't work late on Wednesday
evening but I could help out on Friday’)
Broken Record
Refer back in your notes to refresh your memory on this technique. When someone
makes a request of you and you refuse, they may not wish to take no for an answer.
A very effective technique for dealing with this is to repeat the refusal. Do not vary it
in any way.
When the request is reformulated a third time, respond with the identical refusal; like a
broken record. If you keep varying your response it becomes a negotiation situation
and you are much more liable to capitulate. If you keep thinking of reasons why you
should say no, each one will be less convincing than the previous . If you give the
same response, the other person quickly sees that absolutely no progress is being
made and they will stop.
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Telling someone you disagree
The non-assertive way is to say ‘You are probably right but...’ or ‘I am probably
wrong but....’ You are putting yourself down or saying to the other person that they
are probably right but please listen to me anyway.
The assertive way is to say ‘I disagree because....’ or ‘I think that is unlikely/incorrect

because....’
The aggressive way is to say ‘You are wrong’. Slightly less aggressive to say, ‘You
are wrong because....’ Words such as ‘rubbish’, ‘nonsense’ and even more extreme
expletives are very aggressive.
Expressing your view
The non-assertive method is given by slumped posture, standing on one leg, eyes
lowered. The voice is either too quiet or too loud with a dying fall. Typified by a very
bravado statement which trails off at the end. Alternatively the pitch will rise thus
turning the statement into a question.
The aggressive way of stating your view is head forward, wide open eyes, staring,
using either a very loud voice or else a soft voice with lots of threatening emphasis.
The aggressive way usually works the first time it is employed, but not the next time
and it is very difficult to revert and still express your view effectively.
The assertive way is upright with your weight evenly distributed on both feet, relax
your shoulders, steady gaze, look at the other person without staring. The voice
should be calm, steady and consistent throughout.
Part of the skill of assertiveness is getting the other person to be assertive with you.
That way there is the best chance of real progress being made at the staff meeting,
salary negotiation, party conversation or whatever. There is less likelihood of
misunderstanding at the end of the exchange.
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When I am speaking to a live audience, most people present will be too intimidated to
disagree with me or even to query something I have said. However if I actively
encourage them to interrupt by explaining the importance of feedback they will change
their behaviour and become more assertive.
Giving and receiving criticism
Non-assertive reasons for not giving criticism are ‘It’s not your fault’. There is a fear
of making a bad impression. There is also a fear of the consequences of this. The
aggressive reasons for criticising someone are to punish them, gain retribution or
establish dominance over them.
Assertive way to criticise someone:
• Choose your time and place wisely; don't do it in front of other colleagues or
embarass someone in front of their friends.
• Describe the behaviour and don't label the person.
• Express your feelings about the behaviour; if you are angry or disappointed, say it.
• Be specific in your criticism. Don't give general rules or rulings; say ‘You have done
this wrong’.
Spell out the consequences of the behaviour. This is not as a threat but as a helpful
reminder. If dismissal is a possible outcome of continuing the behaviour, you should
spell this out before it becomes inevitable.
Assertive behaviour is not easy. It does not come naturally to most people. Even
after you have learned how to be assertive, you still have to work at it. The efforts
however are well worth it for the rewards you will feel in terms of your professional
effectiveness and your own feelings of self-worth.
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Public Speaking
Know what you want to say beforehand. Prepare a script if possible but do not get
stuck with it. The speech should be reduced to notes consisting mainly of key words
each of which will trigger-off the talk.
If you are at all anxious or nervous and are using a script you will probably read most
of it while the audience look at the top of your head. Rehearse the talk before you try
it in front of real people.
Time yourself
Set ‘milestones’ at each main section throughout the talk whereby you can quickly
check if you are on schedule. Allow some extra material if you find that you have
been speaking too fast. This is the most common symptom of nervousness in public
speaking.
It is possible however that you may be falling behind schedule, so be prepared to

either quicken your delivery or omit sections of the talk as required. If the talk has
been written so that there is a grand finale, then you must not be forced to either leave
this out or rush through it due to time pressure.
Visual Aids
If you are using a visual aid such as an overhead projector, then lists of keywords can
be on-screen. In addition to acting as cues for you, they help your audience to follow
the structure of the talk.
Be careful not to get too dependant on technology. If you are relying totally on the
OHP then sooner or later it will let you down, possibly with dire consequences.
Check that the OHP is working as soon as you can and see if there is a spare machine
or at least a spare bulb. If using a slide carousel, ensure that the slides are in the correct
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order, the right way up and that the mechanism is operating properly. An excess of
technology can also be a distraction to your audience.
Get to know the room. It is best if you can be there before the audience and be familiar
with the feeling of standing at the lecture position. Walk around the room and see how
the lecture position appears from each aspect. Get some idea of the accoustics
(although of course these will vary greatly from an empty to a full lecture theatre).
Put your overheads or slides on screen and check that the people at the back will be
able to read them.
Another advantage of being there before most of the audience, is that you are there in
the room and the audience come in to you; normally one at a time or in small groups.
This is much less stressful than walking into a strange room and immediately being
confronted with a sea of uplifted and expectant faces.
Look at your audience: don't stare at the floor, up at the ceiling or bury your face in
a script. Don't concentrate on one or two people; scan the whole audience.
Expect to be nervous: don't assume you will be relaxed and then be surprised that
you are shaking when you try to stand up. The nervousness should ease once you
have begun, especially if you have prepared adequately beforehand.
Speak at an even pace: don't shout or mumble. Use short sentences and if possible
short passages. Don't start a long convoluted story which you will probably forget
halfway through; rather embarassing.
Avoid telling jokes if you are an inexperienced speaker. Due to anxiety you will
either laugh uncontrollably yourself and be unable to finish or you will forget the
punchline. Even if you avoid these hazards your nervousness will have affected your
timing to such an extent that any story-telling ability you may have had will have long
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disappeared. If the joke fails, as 90% will, it embarrasses you but even worse it
embarrasses the audience.
Pause occasionally: this gives the audience a chance to relax, adjust their seating
position, release that cough they have been saving up and generally refocus their
attention.
People have quite a short span of attention, irrespective of how good the
speaker is. The general rule is that the audience can attend for 10 minutes, then
another 7 minutes and thereafter in multiples of 5 minutes.
You can break up the talk by pausing, walking over to one side and back or having a
sip from the essential glass of water in front of you. A touch of humour is also very
good if you have a few relevant throwaway one-liners (as opposed to a formal joke).
They provide a good excuse to pause, when laughing the audience will take the
opportunity to shuffle and cough etc. and if the line fails to elicit much response then
it will be almost unnoticed.
Watch for distracting body language. Excess peripheral body movements are
symptomatic of anxiety so extra care is needed in such a stressful situation. If you
normally scratch your ear, etc. for comfort, then there will be a tendency to exaggerate
this behaviour and the audience may find this more interesting than your talk. Playing
with chalk, pointers or pens will also distract.
Try to appear to be as interested as possible in what you are about to say. If you
pause to yawn or seem to be more interested in what's happening outside the window
than inside the hall, the audience will pick up these cues.
Try to relax, drop your shoulders and keep the weight evenly distributed.
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Telephone communication
From a professional viewpoint, a major problem with any telephone conversation is

that there is generally no record of what was said. Recording conversations on tape is
not the answer as firstly, it is usually not practicable and secondly, the tape would
have little legal standing.
Misunderstandings over both the content and the meaning of telephone conversations
are very common. There are two main reasons for this:
• Firstly, the sound is transmitted over a very much restricted frequency range. What
this means is that large parts of the spoken word do not travel down the telephone.
The range of frequencies which human beings can normally hear is 50Hz to 15kHz.
The telephone system only caters for a bandwidth of approximately 3kHz.
• Secondly, misunderstandings arise because this restricted range of frequencies is all

you receive. We have already seen the importance of non-verbal communication
and there is obviously little scope for this down the telephone lines. The non-verbal
cues which we use to help interpret the spoken word such as the emotion in the
eyes, gestures with the hands etc. are all missing.
Preparation and planning
Before making a call, careful preparation is essential. Decide exactly what is the
purpose of the call. Make a note of the main facts to be transmitted or the questions
to be asked. List these in a logical order. Have readily available any other information
you may require such as the correspondence or telephone call to which you are
responding or your appointments diary if a meeting may be necessary.
Speak as clearly as possible: remember that the other person has only your voice to
respond to. Repeat statements which you think could be misinterpreted and spell out
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words which could be easily misheard. Just because the other party does not ask you
to repeat something, it does not follow that you were correctly understood.
Make a note of approximately what was said and exactly what, if anything, was
agreed. If the call was of any major significance, such as a commission for work or to
arrange a meeting, draw up a letter (or a Memo if internal) and send it to the other
party, setting out the result of the exchange. Keep a copy of this for your files.
If the receiver does not write back dissenting from the contents of the letter, then:
• you can be reasonably sure that the communication was successful, and
• that in any future disagreement you will not have to rely on two different memories
of a disputed telephone call.
When receiving a call, the above factors also apply. If the telephone is not on your
desk, then take pen and paper and/or your diary with you to the telephone.
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Presenting: The Worst Human Fear

It can be a nerve racking experience, as anyone who has ever had to do anything in
public will understand. Even an in-house presentation in front of your colleagues can
be horifically frightening. Research shows that the effectiveness of a presentation is
8% content; 42% structure and format, and 50% delivery.
However there are no ‘tablets of stone’ on delivering effective presentations, except

one, and that is ‘be yourself’. Have a natural style, and then couple it with the ability
to recognise the way in which the audience wants to interact with you. The best
presentations are made by those who retain their natural style but are prepared to
make minor adjustments to their approach depending on the personalities of their
audiences.
It is important to have an understanding of the differences that exist from one person
to the next. To help in this process people can be divided into four types for
presentation purposes:
The thinker, who is reflective, cautious and sorts facts from emotion.
The pusher, tends to be forceful, results orientated and is easily bored.
The stimulator, who is an extrovert, is impulsive, and tends to generalise and over
omit.
The friend, who is a good listener and acts on feelings rather than goal orientation.
In order to create a ‘rapport’ and deliver a winning presentation it is necessary to

adjust your style to your audience in terms of these types, and to provide them with
what they most want. If they are thinkers let them think. If the pushers get bored,
revive them. Get on their wavelength and if you misjudge it, re-adjust.
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Different presenters have different natural styles and should use an approach which
best suits these styles and with which they are most comfortable. Don't ever
apologise for things in your presentation, even with apologetic body language. If you
are the spontaneous type of presenter, you'll need to control your body language
carefully to make sure it says only what you want it to say.
Dominant people, like those you often find in high pressure environments, have short
attention spans and, for example, will absorb visuals impressionistically. More
methodical presenters need to spot this and ramp up their speed.
When presenting to thinkers, you need detail and a slow tempo to give them time to
digest the information. Take a low key approach. Refer to, and supply detailed,
logical fact sheets.
When presenting to pushers, use brief visuals with key issues and benefits clearly
highlighted. Use a results-orientated, factual style.
When presenting to stimulators, employ a fast-moving presentation, with

conceptional visuals. Lots of colour and spontaneity, with interruptions allowed.
When presenting to the friendly use pictures more than text. Humour, a smile and
friendly manner will be welcome and will make your audience feel at ease.
Concentrating on the structure and format for a moment, what you say must, of
course, be carefully structured and will be the result of careful preparation.
Generally speaking, people claim never to have enough time to prepare. Careful
preparation need not take hours and hours. One must also consider the most effective
way to use graphics and visual aids. Here are some key points to think about:
MATCH - make sure that you suit the medium both to yourself and to the audience.
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PREPARE - make sure you know the equipment and the content of your presentation
well.
REHEARSE - practise beforehand and them keep it simple.
PRESENT - if your visual aids dominate, you will become a narrator rather than a
presenter. Ensure that the visuals support, rather than distract from your message.
Make them appropriate to the audience, the occasion and the topic. Focus your eyes
and body on the audience, don't talk to the visuals.
All these lead to one key message: presentations are not carved in tablets of stone.
They must be flexible enough to be changed in midstream. Not only should the
content be varied according to the audience, but also the delivery and the use of visual
aids can make you and the product or service look great. But, they need a lot of
thought. Analyse your own presentation style and analyse your audience. Let your
visual aids bring your message to life.
Things to consider:
• What to talk about
• What you want to achieve
• What are the parameters of the discussion
• What questions can be anticipated
• How was the decision reached and what proof is there to support it; and how to
handle closing questions and conclude with something to be lodged in the audience's
memory.
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Developing Effective Presentation Skills

Introduction
Few people feel happy about their ability to speak in front of groups. The American
Book of Lists claims that public speaking is the number one fear - death comes seventh
with snakes and insects in-between.
In order to give a successful presentation, four key areas have to be addressed:
∗ Preparing the presentation
∗ Delivering it
∗ Using visual aids
∗ Dealing with questions
Preparing a Presentation
Start organising the body of the presentation - build from the centre outwards.
1. Brainstorm the Main Ideas: let the ideas flow and don't edit any. Then begin
eliminating some - try to end up with between two and five main ideas.
2. State the Sub-Points: develop the supporting ideas. This may consist of
explanations, data or other evidence to support the main ideas.
3. State the Benefits: tell the audience specifically what benefits they will
receive.
4. Develop handouts: decide what handouts would add to your presentation.
The following are the 3 major uses of handouts in a presentation:
∗ to reinforce important information
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∗ to summarise action items for the audience to follow up
∗ to supply supporting data you don't want cluttering your visual aids.
If handouts are to be given, you must then decide when you are going to hand them
out. There are 3 alternatives:
∗ before the presentation
∗ during the presentation
∗ at the end of the presentation
Before the presentation: the main problem with this is that your audience may wish
to satisfy their curiosity about the contents of your handout as you are speaking.
When people are reading, they are not listening. Try having the handout in place when
the audience enters the room allowing them to read it before you give the presentation.
During the presentation: use this method carefully. Handouts must be distributed
quickly and be relevant to the point you are making - otherwise they will be a
distraction.
At the end of the presentation: during your presentation inform the audience that
they will receive a handout giving the main points covered at the end of your
presentation. This will ensure that they do not take unnecessary notes.
5. Develop Visual Aids
6. Main Idea Preview/Review Sentence
Preview and review the main points i.e:
∗ tell them what you're going to tell them
∗ tell them
∗ then tell them what you've told them.
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7. Develop the Introduction
Introductions can:
∗ capture the attention of the audience and make them focus on the speaker
∗ provide background information on your topic
∗ allow you to introduce yourself.
8. Develop conclusion
Hints
∗ Introductions and conclusions put the head and tail on the body of your presentation.
Without them, or with them not fully developed, you don't have a complete
presentation and it will be evident to the audience.
∗ Make your presentation people-centred, not media -centred. Too many

presentations rely on the media to carry the message. While the media can certainly
help, it's your interaction and rapport with an audience that makes the difference
between an effective or an ineffective presentation.
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Delivering the Presentation
The Presentation Sequence
1. Introduction
2. Preview sentence - tell them what you're going to tell them
3. Main ideas and sub-ideas - tell them
4. The benefits
5. Review sentence - tell them what you have told them
6. Conclusion
Points to Remember
• Communicate your enthusiasm to the audience - they will then themselves become
enthusiastic about the ideas you present.
• Make sure your non-verbal actions re-inforce your enthusiasm. Standing stiffly
and speaking in a monotone voice without good eye contact will result in the
delivery of a bad presentation.
• Deliver your presentation in a natural conversational style.
• Relate to your audience in a direct and personable manner.
• People best remember what they hear at the beginning and the end of the
presentation, so try to develop dynamic, attention-getting opening statements and
memorable closes that drive home the central message.
Dealing with Anxiety
Anxiety is a natural state that exists any time a person is placed under stress. Almost
everyone experiences some stress before and during presentations. The secret is to
make the stress work for you, so that the presentation is more enthusiastic and
dynamic. The following tips may help reduce some of the anxiety:
Visualise - Imagine walking into a room, being introduced, delivering the presentation
with enthusiasm, fielding questions with confidence and leaving the room knowing you
did a good job. Mentally rehearse this sequence with all the details of your situation,
and it will help you focus on what you need to do to be successful.
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• Practice - rehearse the presentation.
• Breathe! When your muscles tighten and you feel nervous, you may not be
breathing deeply enough. Try taking some deep breaths.
• Focus on Relaxing instead of thinking about tension - focus on relaxing.
• Gestures - learn to gesture in front of an audience exactly as you would if you were
having a conversation with a friend - no more, no less. Natural gestures won't
distract a presentation - but one of the following will:
* Keeping your hands in your pockets

* Or handcuffed behind your back
* Keeping your arms crossed
* Or in a fig-leaf position
* Or wringing your hand nervously
EYE CONTACT
Eye contact in a presentation is vital:
• It opens up the channel of communication between people.

• It helps build and establish rapport - rapport requires a chemistry between speaker and
audience. If it’s not there, you will not persuade people of your point of view.
• It involves the audience in the presentation and makes it more personable.
The rule of thumb for eye contact is 1-3 seconds per person.
• Try not to let your eyes dart around the room.

• Try to focus on one person, not long enough to make that person feel uncomfortable,
but long enough to pull him or her into your presentation. Then move on to another
person.
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USING YOUR VOICE
Make sure your voice works for you:
• There are three main problems associated with voice:
∗ A monotone voice. Most monitone voices are caused by anxiety. As the speaker
becomes more nervous, the muscles in the chest and throat become less flexible and
air flow is restricted. When this happens, the voice loses its natural animation and
a monotone results.
∗ Too fast. The average conversational rate of speech is about 125 words per
minute. When a speaker becomes anxious however, that rate usually increases.
When this happens, slow down.
∗ Volume. The speaker should stay aware of the volume of their voice in case it
becomes too soft.
Therefore, listen to yourself - stay aware of not only what you are saying but also
how you are saying it.
• Pausing during a presentation can be an effective device to allow your important

points to sink in.
Using Visual Aids
Use visual aids when you need to:
• Focus your audience's attention
• Re-inforce your verbal message (but not repeat it verbatim)
• Stimulate interest
• Illustrate factors that are hard to visualise.
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Don't use visual aids to:
• Impress your audience with overly detailed tables or graphs
• Avoid interaction with your audience
• Make more than one point
• Present simple ideas that are easily stated verbally.
Directing your Audience's Focus of Attention
Decide in advance where the audience should focus:
Consider therefore:
• The placement of equipment
• Where and how to stand
To ‘win the audience back’ you will need to redirect their focus. This is usually done
by closing down the visuals and taking a step or two towards the audience.
Placement of Equipment
Do you want the focus divided between you and the visual aid or do you need their
undivided attention?
Where and How to Stand
A major problem is that speakers often give their presentations to the visuals, and not
to the audience. This problem can be easily corrected if you remember to keep
shoulder orientation toward the audience at all times.
Dealing with Questions
Don't view questions as a challenge - instead view them as an opportunity to provide

your audience with more information.
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The following tips may help in dealing with question and answer sessions:
• Prepare - anticipate the questions and prepare for them
• Repeat the Question - restate the question to:

* ensure everyone has heard it
* ensure you understand it if it is complicated
* give yourself some extra seconds to formulate a good answer
• Maintain your style
It is important to maintain the same style you used in the presentation - any change
will suggest that you are not confident.
• Employ the 25% - 75% Rule
Direct approximately 25% of your eye contact to the person who asked the question
and approximately 75% to the rest of the audience.
Avoid ‘Data Dump’. Crowding your presentation with too many visuals and/or too
much information will reduce its effectiveness and you will lose impact. Usually the
fewer, the better.
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Written Communication
The general rule for written communication is that it should be readable. The less
readable it is - the less understandable. What is required is plain language- honest
unsophisticated.
Written communication should also be distinguished from verbal communication by

tone. It is often acceptable to exercise a degree of licence in spoken language in respect
of colloquialism and the use of fashionable words and phrases. In written
communication such elements lower the tone of the document.
Similarly, what is acceptable writing style for the tabloid newspaper may not be so for
formal business communication.
In letters and reports, one should be aiming for objectivity. The case for or against
should be established by reference to evidence; subjective argument, typified by
loaded words and emotional statements, should therefore be avoided.
Writers are often under the illusion that length and complexity increase the authority -
‘this person must know their business, even I can't understand it’.
This problem is further exacerbated by the fact that it is much easier to write long
rambling documents than short concise ones. The skill of the newspaper editor lies in
what is taken out of the journalist's report and the choice of phrase to encapsulate the
story for the headline.
It is easy to fill a report with jargon and ‘technospeak’ to impress a lay client and
justify your essential employment. If such a client exists today, he is certainly not the
norm. Clients pay for professional services and advice and they deserve a
professional product both in presentation and content.
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Jargon is often unavoidable in business communication. If there is any question over

the reader's understanding, then such jargon should be defined when it first arises in
the text. This is not only true of specialist jargon (eg. ‘machine-code’) but also
general words which have a wide variety of meanings depending on their context ( eg.
‘system’).
Letter Writing
Letter writing is a skill which professional people are required to practice on a daily
basis. However it is something which very few people seem to feel is worthy of
serious study. The general feeling would appear to be that ‘if I spend many years
learning my professional skills then people should understand what I write’.
We tend to put the blame for communication failure on the receiver rather than the
transmitter.
The more technical and ‘jargon-laden’ one's area of expertise, then the more vital it is
that one is communicating in a language and form that the reader can both understand
and accept.
Strategy
The strategy one adopts when writing a letter is in many ways more important than
the actual process of writing. The central point about strategy is that you must plan
before you write. Planning ahead takes a little time but writing without planning
invites disaster. An efficient and well-organised presentation requires an outline.
If you are responding to a letter or memo, read and re-read it carefully. Understanding
exactly what is required, whether you are the best person to deal with it and whether
you have the required skills and information to deal with it are major steps towards
successfully dealing with the response.
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Do not rewrite the original letter to mean what you would like to have been asked, or
to suit your interests or specialist expertise.
If there is any ambiguity in what is required do not perpetuate it by simply taking the
most convenient interpretation and proceeding. If practicable clarify the intention of
the writer immediately in a brief letter or telephone call. If necessary proceed with
the letter, clarifying that the ambiguity exists and what the appropriate courses of
action are for each interpretation.
Determine what information you need before you start writing. Investigate which
journals, textbooks, previous correspondence, drawings and the like may be required
and have them available.
Always keep at the forefront of your mind what the reader hopes to receive from you.
The reader's needs must be considered in terms of the type of information you give,
the form of language you use, the timing of the correspondence and the degree of
formality. The technical language appropriate in a response to a fellow professional
will probably not be appropriate for a lay client.
The best way to assess the extent to which you have achieved this goal is to put
yourself in the reader's place.
What sort of letter would you wish to receive? How much detail does the situation
deserve and the reader expect?
There are two main aspects to letter writing :
The content of the letter - ie.what you want to write

and
The style - ie. the way you are going to write it.
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Style
Poor style will seriously, if not fatally, detract from the content of what you have
written. Mistakes in style will colour the recipient's impression of the value of your
writing. It is important to adopt the following basic style rules into your writing.
Short Sentences - research shows that if you write a letter which has an average of
more than 20 words in a sentence, the reader will have difficulty in understanding it.
Parts will require re-reading and understanding will be slow. Obviously this will give a
bad impression. Ideally the average should be between 15 and 18 words per sentence.
This is an average; not a maximum. There will be occasions when sentences will be
considerably longer, but they will be balanced by others. If you were writing to tell a
client that he was in breach of contract but there was a possible solution, it would be
inadvisable to stop the sentence immediately after the words ‘breach of contract’. The
client may panic before they read your solution. There will, therefore, be occasions
when caveats and the like will add considerably to the sentence length.
Short Paragraphs - only a very short letter will have a single paragraph. Take a
separate paragraph for each point which you wish to communicate.
The golden rule is that if the point is not worth a separate paragraph then most
probably it is not worth making the point at all.
Concise - conciseness makes letters much easier to read and saves time for you the
writer. You will not impress the reader by taking the long way round. Brevity is
always a virtue in letters. Do not write things twice; if it is important and correctly
stressed then it will be read as often as necessary.
Spelling/Grammar - careless spelling and glaring grammar mistakes reflect badly on

the writer. Inaccurate use of commas and such like is not critical but elementary
errors, such as the use of double negatives, are more serious. (Double negatives are
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occasionally acceptable - ‘The design of the office was not unattractive’ - but generally
avoid. Careful use is required of words such as ‘hardly’ or ‘scarcely’ as these should
be accompanied by positive verbs - ‘There was hardly any’, rather than ‘There wasn't
hardly any’ or ‘There was hardly none’).
This in turn has a knock-on effect in that the reader will wonder whether your ideas
can be taken seriously if your basic education is so obviously flawed. There is also a
presumption that you were not terribly interested in the letter you were writing or
you would have taken more care. The reader will, therefore, be highly critical on two
counts.
Language however should flow and this is more important than sticking to rigid and
often outmoded grammatical rules.
Plain Langage - do not try to impress the reader with your lexicographical dexterity.
Plain simple unadulterated language is always preferable to convoluted prose. The
vast majority of the written words should be of three syllables or less.
In 1948 Sir Ernest Gower published the famous ‘Plain Words’ (HMSO) [34] and this
is still often quoted as the bible of plain English. In 1952, Gower's work was added to
by Gunning in ‘The Technique of Clear Writing’, wherein he proposed a system of
measuring how easily a piece of writing could be understood. The technique is called
‘Gunning's Fog Index’ and has the following stages:
• take a random sample 100 words of writing
• count the number of sentences, say 4
• divide this number into the original 100 to get the average sentence length
(eg. 100/4 = 25 )
• count the number of words of three or more syllables in the sample and add this to
the previous calculation. eg. 25 + 4 =29.
• multiply this number by 0.4. Answer = 11.6
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The final figure is a measure of how many years of secondary schooling someone
would need in order to easily understand the writing. It is generally safe to assume
that the audience of business letters and reports will have had at least an elementary
education.
A Fog Index of less than 8 (possibly one of the more popular tabloid newspapers)
would, therefore, indicate that the contents may be over-simplified. A Fog Index of
more than about 15 (eg. The Financial Times) would indicate that your sentences are
too long or you are using an excess of polysyllabic words. This will make the writing
less readable.
Precise - always say precisely what you mean. Do not ‘beat about the bush’ or
build-in ambiguities to attempt to hide the fact that you do not know the one correct
response. There may not be a clear answer.
Imprecise language sounds weak and tentative Do not use expressions such ‘If you
proceed along this course you may get into difficulties....’ or ‘...problems may arise’.
If you are of the opinion that a particular course of action will put your reader in
breach of contract, then tell them exactly that in plain language. Clearly spell out the
available options.
If you are giving examples of what may happen or examples of possible courses of
action, do not finish your list with ‘etc. etc.’. This is a ploy often used to finish a list
when the writer cannot think of further examples but assumes that there are some. In
reality you have most probably dealt with the major ones. In any event, the reader is
not going to be impressed with such an imprecise finish.
Legibility - if the reader cannot read the document, then there is little chance of them
understanding it. If circumstances demand a hand-written letter, ensure that it is neat
and clear. If calligraphy is not your forte, try using block capitals and writing slowly.
If using a word processor or typewriter, an unusual typescript may be eyecatching at

first but can obscure the message behind the words. It can also be tiring to read.
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Appearance of the Page - your letter should look good on the page if you practice the
points made so far, particularly regarding legibility and short paragraphs.
Do not write very large or leave two or more extra blank lines between each line of
text. Writing which is too generous with empty spaces gives the impression that you
have not really got anything important to say and just want to fill ‘x’ pages.
Similarly, do not make the writing too crowded on the page. The effect here is that a
cramped letter reflects a cramped mind.
Some other things to avoid in letters are as follows:
Cliches:- hackneyed phrases or even single words that have lost their meaning
through overuse. The original user of the phrase possibly devised a particularly apt
use for the words and subsequent users apply the cliche on every occasion. A typical
example which often appears in letters would be ‘well and truly’.
Sarcasm:- ironically worded bitter or wounding remarks.
Rhetoric:- language designed to persuade or impress by means of such methods as

exaggeration or insincerity. Do not ask rhetorical questions ie. statements which are
phrased as questions but to which only one answer is expected.
Repetition:- usually caused by lack of concentration. e.g. ‘it is also essential that some
other essential steps should also be taken’. The writer will normally pick out the use
of two ‘essentials’ and fail to notice the second ‘also’.
Occasionally you may repeat a word immediately, eg and and or but but. This is
usually because the mind is working ahead of the hand and the latter is struggling to
catch up. Such obvious mistakes may then be missed if the work is read over as soon
as it is written. The reason for this may be that the mind can remember what it
intended to have written down and this is what you are looking at rather than the
actual words on the page.
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To avoid this type of error creeping in, make sure that you let the letter or report cool
off, preferably overnight, before the final read through.
Metaphor:- this is a way of making an idea vivid such as solid foundations, apex of
the pyramid, sapping the life blood or head in the sand. Overuse ruins the effect,
especially if used in groups or mixed, eg. ‘the architect proferred the olive branch but
nothing concrete had come of it’ or ‘he took the bull by the horns and nipped it in the
bud!’
Latin or Greek phrases:- avoid unless they are in common use by all parties and they
precisely fit the situation. Your primary language should be the main language used.
The careful use of ie., eg. and etc. is acceptable as their meaning and use is widely
accepted.
Personal comments:- these tend to be out of place in a technical or professional

letter. Brief introductory or concluding comment or social inquiry is acceptable if the
reader is a social acquaintance.
Jokes:- as a rule these do not translate well onto paper. Even if you are a natural
storyteller, you will probably depend on your audience for feedback. The reader may
not understand the joke or simply may not be in very good form for a laugh when
your letter arrives.
Antiquated form of address and the like:- professional letters do not require you to
remain the reader's most humble servant. Archaic terminology should be avoided.
Yours faithfully or yours sincerely ( depending on whether you started Dear Mr/Ms
.... or Dear Sir/Madam ) will suffice.
Excessive grovelling and humility:- avoid, irrespective of whom the recipient is.
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Content
State your name, address and telephone number at the top right corner. Date the
letter. Put name and address of recipient on left. Quote any reference from previous
correspondence.
State what contract or project the letter is related to, if for example you are carrying
out a commission for a particular building or complex. If you regularly write to this
person on a variety of topics, state what subject this letter is about.
State the exact piece of correspondence, if any, to which you are responding (re your
letter of the 14th March 1996). You may have received several letters from this
source before you were able to answer the current one.
Logical Sequence - the letter should set out the case you are developing in a logical
sequence. Similarly if you are responding to a letter, the order should follow logically
from the initial correspondence.
Finality - if you are responding to a call for information, it is vital that you reach a
conclusion. Preferably when answering a request for help, this answer should come
near the beginning of the letter. You can include plenty of reasons or proofs as to why
that is the correct answer, but these should come after the actual answer.
If there is a large quantity of back-up information ( more than 2 or 3 pages) this is best
attached as an appendix.
Do not make the reader wade through several pages of arguments to try and find the
answer to their question. If they have engaged you as a professional to carry out a
task they will probably have some confidence in your ability. They will assume that
you had some rational basis in arriving at your conclusion and will want this to be
included in the letter or report.
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Their main concern, however, is to get a clear unequivocal answer to the problem. If
the reader has a good on-going relationship with you, they may not even continue to
read on after they get the answer. Especially so if they get the answer they were
expecting or hoping for. Never state, or imply, that the answer is ‘x y or z and take it
or leave it!’
Never give all the evidence, the advantages and disadvantages, and finish with a
comment such as ‘I will leave you to decide upon the most appropriate course of
action’. This is just another way of saying ‘your guess is as good as mine’.
If there is no clear cut answer and strong arguments for and against several courses of
action then this must be made clear. The advantages and the dangers of each viable
course must be spelled out with a firm conclusion as to how you think the reader
should proceed.
Warnings can be included in the form of caveats to your recommendation eg ‘On

balance I think we should proceed with the purchase. However if base rates should
rise to 10% in the next twelve months, the purchase will probably break even or may
even make a marginal loss’.
The fact that one course of action is marginal, is no excuse for ambivalence. If you are
being paid for expert guidance that is what you must provide.
Be diplomatic when writing to a client or fellow professional, particularly if

acceptance of the letter will require some concession or ‘climb-down’ from that
person. There is never any profit in writing to someone to say that he/she is an idiot.
Do not be dogmatic; especially if you are coming to a conclusion which may be

contentious such as ruling on a claim for loss and expense. Diplomacy does not allow
dogmatism.
If your conclusion is based on case law it is fine to say that you believe the ruling on
that occasion may be appropriate to these circumstances. Do not categorically state
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that ‘the same question arose in Kramer -v- Kramer 1963 and that's the way it is!’ If
interpretation of the law was as straightforward as that, very few cases would ever get
as far as the Appeal Courts.
Remember who you are: - if you are a Quantity Surveyor then you are an expert on
aspects of costs and contract administration but you are not an architect or a structural
engineer. Similarly, the architect and engineer have their own spheres of expertise and
must be careful that they do not stray into areas which are best left to specialists.
This is particularly important if, for example, you believe that the client requires
expert legal advice. The advice you give should be limited to your professional
competence and you should direct the reader to consult his legal advisors where
appropriate.
If you appear to take on excess authority and the reader subsequently acts on this, at
the very least you will be open to criticism for unprofessional conduct and possibly
negligence.
Reports
The above notes on letters also apply in general to reports. There are, however, other
additional considerations specific to the report format.
Reports have a structure and this includes definite rules for their preparation.
There are two main types of report which you are liable to be called upon to prepare.
Standard Reports - these are reports which have a pre-determined format. These will
tend to be regular standardised communications which may be based on some pro-
forma documents. In this case much of the work involves filling in the blank spaces
with room for general comments as appropriate at the end.
Even if no pro-forma exists, the fact that it is a regular exercise implies that the
recipient will be expecting a particular type of report in terms of content and layout.
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If, for example, you are responsible for submitting monthly progress reports for a
construction site, do not re-invent the wheel every month. This will be time-
consuming for you and make your report prone to error (mainly by omission but also
by depth of treatment).
Regular reports should be compatible with their predecessors. Standard report

formats are not written on tablets of stone and should evolve as requirements and even
styles demand. If you have ideas for adapting a company standard report format, you
should restrain your creative drive until you have persuaded all concerned that the
change be implemented.
This is particularly important when you are preparing reports which are broadly
standardised for a professional body such as the Royal Institution of Chartered
Surveyors (RICS), the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) or the Royal Institute
of British Architects (RIBA). If you prepare Tender Reports for example use a
layout similar to that shown in textbooks and provide the same information in terms
of content and detail.
Discretionary Layout - assume you are asked to prepare a report on the advantages
and disadvantages of, for example, what Standard Form of Contract is best suited to a
forthcoming project. In this case there is no pro-forma sheet or tick chart to guide you
through the process.
You should start with a blank page and probably a blank mind. The report will be
constructed around a skeleton of rules which determine the underlying structure.
The principal elements of such a report are:
• Title
• Introduction
• Main body of the report
• Conclusion
• Recommendations
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• References
• Bibliography
There are many variations on this, such as an Executive Summary after the Title and
the inclusion of References in the Main Body. We can, however, consider the main
elements involved in this typical layout.
The title should be short but meaningful. ‘Report on Choice of Contract’ is fine,
‘Report No.4’ is not. The title will normally be on a separate page and other
information here might include; a reference number; the name of the author; for whom
it has been prepared; and the date. On a complex report, the title page may be
followed by a list of the contents including pagination.
• The introduction will generally be a short statement of one or two paragraphs.

Typically this will comprise the terms of reference for the report; the subject
matter, the purpose of the report and the reader or readers.
• The main body of the report should be a logical and objective exposition and
interpretation of all of the available information on which your conclusions are
based. Each individual section (eg. Advantages, Disadvantages) should be clearly
identified by the use of headings.
• The conclusions should be brief and conclusive. They should accurately reflect the
content of the main body and should relate back to the title and terms of reference.
Conclusions should be a summary of the preceeding, so new material must not be
introduced at this stage.
• Recommendations if required may come at the end of the conclusions or, in an

elaborate report, may form a separate section.They must follow logically from the
conclusions and be clearly laid out and unambiguous.
• References relate to other authorities mentioned in the report and may be

presented in sequence in a separate section. Normally this reference will be a brief
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statement of what someone else has concluded on a previous relevant occasion or

possibly a quotation from some publication. These are part of the evidence and the
reader should be able to access the source if required.
Alternatively, references may be included in the form of footnotes at the bottom of

each page on which the reference occurs. This makes it much more convenient for
the reader and therefore more likely that the references will be used. This method is
fine if there are only one or two short references on most pages.
However, if there are many or a few long references on most pages, then they are
probably best relegated to a separate section. Otherwise they have the effect of
making the report disjointed; the references become almost a sub-plot of the main
report.
It also makes typing difficult due to the calculation required to decide when to stop
typing each page and still get all the reference material onto that page.This is not a
problem where the reports are prepared on word processors.
• A Bibliography will be a list of other relevant publications which the reader may
wish to consult but which have not been directly used in the report.
• In addition to the use of sections and headed sub-sections, each paragraph within
the report may be numbered using a hierarchical system and indented sub-
paragraphs as follows:
2.0 Advantages of JCT 1980
2.1 The principal cost advantages result from the following xxxxx
2.1.1 xxxxxxxxx
2.1.2 xxxxxxxxx
2.1.3 xxxxxxxxx
2.1.3.1 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
2.1.3.2 xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
2.2 The advantages with regard to contract period are twofold

2.2.1 xxxxxxxx
2.2.2 xxxxxxxx
etc.
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This is the format which I would strongly recommend. It gives the report a
professional look and enhances the structure which you are building up.
A further advantage stems from the fact that each paragraph can be uniquely identified
by quoting its number elsewhere in the report. Thus when summarising or stating
conclusions the writer can quote paragraphs as evidence [eg. The advantages of using
this form of contract (2.1 to 2.2) are clearly outweighed by the onerous penalties for
non-completion (3.5.1)].
Checking the report - after finishing the outline, you will prepare the first draft.
This should be checked for how the report is structured and whether it fulfils your
remit as the writer.
Check that the structure is logical; that the main points in the body of the report
develop the arguments and that each section follows clearly from its predecessor.
Check for ambiguities. These are often difficult to find because you, as the writer,
understand what you meant. You may not even consider other meanings which a
different reader may ascribe to the same words.
If possible it is useful to let someone else read the draft before final typing. Have you
adopted the right tone; have you clarified jargon; have you adhered to the style rules?
A second reader is also useful for spotting mistakes such as glibness and pomposity.
If you were the prospective reader, does the report fulfil your needs?
Illustrations - there is a traditional saying that ‘a picture paints a thousand words’.

An appropriate illustration will make data more interesting to the eye and also more
memorable. When giving verbal presentations or presenting a report, an illustration
serves as a useful interruption to long narratives or lists of figures.
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The illustration enables you to draw on the power of the receiver's sense of sight. The
more senses you utilise then, in general, the greater the understanding.
Illustrations are sometimes essential. You can describe how to get from point A to
point B but a MAP is essential to show how a variety of places relate to each other.
The illustrations may be a necessary element to enable you to understand the task
with which you are dealing. Some form of diagrammattic flow chart will be required to
help prepare a complex algorithm for a piece of computer software.
Similarly, if you wish to describe the complex relationships between an organisation's

management structure and its customers and suppliers, a narrative description would
be difficult to construct and virtually unintelligible to the reader. In a case such as this,
the answer is to use a SYSTEMS MAP. This shows how each component of a
system relates to both the other components and to those factors in the environment
outwith the present system being studied.
By the use of graphs, bar charts, line charts, pie charts, and scatter diagrams, statistics,
technical figures and data and their interrelationships are made more interesting,
memorable and meaningful. All modern spreadsheet packages contain routines for
easily converting tables of data into a variety of pictorial formats.
Note-Taking
There are three main points to remember when making notes:
Notes should have a purpose - in this case you should be actively studying this
Unit. By taking notes you are cognitively interacting with the topic rather than letting
it ‘wash over you’.
Notes should help you to learn - simply writing as much as you can does not mean
you are learning. Note-taking is not dictation; the incoming information should be
structured in your brain and stored on paper in a manner which will help you to learn.
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Notes should be personal to you - as far as possible, notes should be in your own
words. They should be your interpretation of what you have heard or read. If you
are preparing notes for a report, you must analyse the available information in your
own words. Only then will you be able to adequately synthesise these facts into a
complete coherent and concise report. There are several accepted formats for note-
taking.
• Linear notes are where you write your ideas literally line by line, probably
grouped into headed sections and with main sections cross-referenced to other
sections and sub-sections.
• In spray notes you put the main subject (eg. the title of the report) at the centre
and work your way out from this central core. The further you are from the core
the more detailed the ideas.
• Tree diagrams are a compromise between the traditional linear style and the
pictorial spray notes. The idea is that each main point has ‘branches’ for subpoints
and each of these will have a ‘branch’ example.
The following diagram summarises and exemplifies good noting style.
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Negotiation
Benefits of Effective Negotiation
The benefits of effective negotiation include:
• Increased chance of finding win/win solutions
• Increased chance of finding creative solutions
• Imagined conflicts are revealed and resolved
• More meaningful schedules and deadlines are developed.
• More realistic goal setting.
• More problems are confronted and solved
• Fewer problems are bumped upstairs
• Fewer ineffective reorganisations
• Fewer unproductive personnel shifts
The Basic Principles of Negotiation
• Position your case advantageously
• Know the full range and strength of your power
• Know the other party
• Satisfy needs over wants
• Set high aspirations
• Manage information skilfully

· Concede according to plan
Position Your Case Advantageously
Positioning is the naming and framing of the issue being negotiated. One's positioning
should include supportive reasoning and should serve as the recurring theme
throughout the negotiation.
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Know the Full Range and Strength of Your Power
You often have more power than you think.
Know The Other Party
Making assumptions about the other party is common and is often a mistake. A good
negotiator finds out as much as they can about the other party beforehand and then
learns more by asking questions and listening during the negotiation.
Satisfy Needs Over Wants
This concept is the focus of collaborative negotiations and is important for

competitive negotiations as well. Furthermore, the process of identifying needs and
the search for negotiables to satisfy those needs often results in the discovery of a
creative solution to the conflict.
Making presumptions about the wants, needs and expectations of one's ‘adversary’ is
a common mistake.
Set High Aspirations
Research has shown that the person who enters a negotiation with high aspirations
receives more than those who begin with lower expectations, provided his or her
expectations are within the ‘range of reason’.
Most people in North American and European cultures tend to underestimate the
upper limits of this range of reason.
Manage Information Skilfully
Information must be managed in a competitive negotiation to prevent the other side

from gaining a substantial advantage. This often means withholding information that
gives the other party an advantage and communicating information that gives you an
advantage.
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In a collaborative negotiation, however, the emphasis is on sharing or disclosing

information to the other party that will clarify your situation and/or needs and will
assist you in developing ‘win-win’ or mutually beneficial solutions.
Phases of Negotiation
Preparation Phases
1. Identifying the problem issues

2. Collecting the information for the case
3. Assessing the power situation
4. Setting the objectives
5. Planning the negotiation i.e. choosing strategies and tactics.
Negotiating Phases
6. Opening the negotiation

7. Development and tactical judgment
8. Closing the negotiation.
Post Negotiation Phases
9. Following up and carrying out decisions

10. Evaluation of: a) the results, and
b) the skill experience.
The Place of Research in Negotiation
The value of information uncovered during this phase cannot be overstated. Within
the constraints of time and the resources available, one should research:
• all aspects of the problem
• all there is to know about the other party
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Why is this phase important?
The importance of research cannot be emphasised enough. It is critical. Good

negotiators research all aspects of the problem before entering into a negotiation.
They know the answers to these questions:
• What is the history of the problem?
• What are the facts of the situation?
• What are the rules and precedents that might impinge on the negotiation?
• Who are the key players? What are their expectation, perceptions of the problem,
and attitudes toward the negotiation?
• What are the obvious negotiables? Which ones are not so obvious?
• What are my basic needs? How are they represented by what I say I want?
Disadvantage to Buyer of Rejection

Seller's Bargaining Power ___________________________
Disadvantage of Acceptance
Disadvantages to Seller if rejects Buyer's Proposal

Buyer's Bargaining Power ________________________________________
Disadvantages if agrees to Buyer's proposal
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The Parameters of Bargaining
Seller’s Range
FBP RS IS
£x £y
IS RS FBP
Buyer’s range
IS = Ideal Settlement
RS = Realistic Settlement
FBP = Fall Back Position
Diagram XX: The Parameters of Bargaining
Anticipation Phase
You should anticipate the following during this phase:
• the other party's general strategy
• the other party's opening position
• the other party's response to your position
• the negotiables and their probable value
• the other party's wants
• the other party's needs.
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Why Is This Phase Important
This important phase represents the initial element in forming your negotiation
strategy.
Questions that should be asked during the anticipation phase include the following:
Questions about your position:
What do I want to achieve from this negotiation? If possible list your specific
objectives and then examine what needs those objectives meet.
What are my opening, target, and walk-away positions?
How am I going to position the problem?

What are the key words I'm going to use to name my position? What part of
my position am I going to highlight? What part of the problem am I going to
discount?
What are the primary negotiables? The alternative negotiables?
What are the sources of my power?
How can I use this power to support my position?
Questions about the other party's position:
Who are the main players - the people presently affected by the problem?
What do they have to gain or lose by resolving the problem?
What type(s) of power does each of the main players have?
What does the other party want to achieve from this negotiation?
If possible, list their specific objectives and then try to determine what needs
those objectives meet.
What will his/her opening, target, and walk-away positions be?
How will he/she position the problem?
What part of his/her position am I going to support? How?
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Management Unit 1
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Activity (Suggested Time: 10 minutes)
Set out below are some statements about various aspects of negotiating. Consider each statement
carefully and decide whether you agree or disagree with the statement. Make a note of your reasons in
the space provided.
Agree Disagree
a) The aim in negotiation is to gain as much as possible/concede

as little as possible.
Reasons:
b) The most important thing in negotiation is the awareness of

the balance of power.
Reasons:
c) The next most important thing in negotiation is to know

your facts.
Reasons:
d) When fixing your objectives for a negotiation it is best

to be as flexible as possible.
Reasons:
e) Begin negotiation with a non-controversial topic to break

the ice, but then get right to the point by tackling the most
important item first.
Reasons:
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Agree Disagree
f) Encourage co-operation by putting all your cards on the
table.
Reasons:
g) Don't allow the other side to escape by adjourning,

particularly if you've got them in a tight spot.
Reasons:
h) Wear down resistance by insisting that each point is

settled before you move onto the next.
Reasons:
i) Show the other side you mean business right from the
start by making it clear exactly what action you will take
if they don't concede.
Reasons:
j) If the other side make a significant concession, take the

opportunity to improve on it if you can.
Reasons:
k) If you think you've got a good result, reinforce your

position for future negotiations by letting everybody
know how well you've done.
Reasons:
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Summary
Management can be defined as getting things done through other people: successful
managers have a wide range of skill requirements to achieve this objective.
Successful managers are effective communicators in all the media they use.
They understand why human needs result in some styles or actions acting as
motivators whilst others have the opposite effect.
They understand the need to have strong leadership and equitable exercise of power.
They appreciate that they are part of both the problem and the solution; oil is only an
effective and efficient lubricator if it has a willing engine with which to work. (James
C Curran, 1996).
In Unit Two we will look at how organisations work and how management principles
can be effectively applied.
WWW Search
Communication - http://www.fau.edu/divdeht/commcatn/resource.html
Leadership - http://www.birdsalldesigns.com/home pgs/clorox/leadership.html
References
1. Fayol, H, “General and Industrial Management”, Pitman 1949.
2. Pugh, Hickson, Hinings, “Writers On Organisation” (2nd), Penguin 1975.
3. Mintzberg, H, “The Nature of Managerial Work”, Harper Row, NY 1973.
4. Stewart, R, “Managers and Their Jobs”, Pan 1987.
5. Mazlow, A H, “Motivation and Personality”, Harper Row, NY 1954.
6. Alderfer, C P, “Organisational and Human Needs”, Free Press, NY 1972.
7. Herzberg, Mausner, Snyderman, “The Motivation to Work”, Wiley, 1959.
8. McGregor, D, “The Human Side of Enterprise”, MIT Press 1966.
9. McClelland, D C, “The Achieving Society”, VNR, NJ 1961.
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10. Peter, Hull, “The Peter Principle”, Wm Morrow 1969.
11. Fryer, B., "The Development of Managers in the Construction Industry",

MSc thesis, University of Salford, 1977.
12. Fitts, P M and Posner, M I., “Human Performance”, London, Prentice-

Hall International, 1973.
13. Skinner, B F., Science and Human Behaviour, New York, Macmillan,
1953.
14. Higgins, M J and Archer, N S., "Interaction Effect of Extrinsic Rewards

and Socio-Economic Strata", Personnel and Guidance Journal, Vol. 47,
1968, pp. 318-23).
15. Fryer, M and Fryer, B., "People at Work in the Building Industry",
Building Technology and Management, Vol. 18 No 9, 1980, pp.7-9.
16. Bruner, J S., “Towards a Theory of Instruction”, Cambridge, Mass,

Harvard University Press, 1966.
17. Fryer, B., "Managing on Site", Building, Vol. 236 No 24, 1979 pp.71-2.
18. Jahoda, M., "Conformity and Independence - a Psychological Analysis",

Human Relations, Vol. 12, 1959, pp. 99-120.
19. Schein, E H., “Organisational Psychology”, New Jersey, Prentice-Hall,

1980.
20. Rackham, N., Honey, P and Colbert, M., “Developing Interactive Skills”,
Guilsborough, Wellens, 1971.
21. Handy, C E., “Understanding Organisations”, Harmondsworth, Penguin

Books, 1981.
22. Fiedler, F E., “A Theory of Leadership Effectiveness”, New York,

McGray-Hill, 1967.
23. Katz, D., "The Functional Approach to the Study of Attitudes", Public
Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 24, 1960, pp. 163-204
24. Triandis, H C., “Attitude and Attitude Change”, New York, Wiley 1971.
25. Janis, I L and Feshbach, S., "Effects of Fear-arousing Communications",

Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, Vol. 48, 1953, pp. 78-92.
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26. De Bono, E., “Lateral Thinking: A textbook of Creativity”,

Harmondsworth, Penguin Books, 1977.
27. Rickards, T., “Problem Solving through Creative Analysis”, Farnborough,

Gower Publishing, 1974.
28. Davis, G A and Scott, J A., “Training Creative Thinking”, New York,
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1971.
29. Torrance, E P., “Rewarding Creative Behaviour”, New Jersey, Prentice-

Hall, 1965.
30. Taylor, C W and Holland, J., "Preditors of Creative Performance", in

Taylor, C.W., (Ed), Creativity: Progress and Potential, New York,
McGraw-Hill, 1964.
31. Koestler, A., “The Act of Creation”, London, Hutchinson, 1964.
32. Ogilvie, E., "Creativity and Curriculum Structure", Educational Research,

Vol. 16 No. 2, 1974.
33. Guildford, J P., "Creativity", American Psychologist, Vol. 5, 1950, pp.

444-54.
34. Gower, E, “Plain Words”, HMSO 1948.
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Bibliography
Cordiner R J, The work of the chief executive in Moranian, T. et al, Business Policy
and its environment. Holt, Rinehart and Winston 1965.
Drucker P F, The Practice of Management. New York. Harper and Row, 1954.
Fayol H, Administration industrielle et generale. Paris 1916. (Translated in

Storrs, C. General and Industrial Management. Pitman 1949).
Fryer B, The Practice of Construction Management, Collins 1990 (2nd)
Gluick L H, Notes on the theory of organisation in L.H Gluick and L. F Urwick, eds.
Papers on the Science of Administration. New York. Columbia University. 1937.
Mintzberg H, The nature of managerial work. Harper and Row 1973.
Pugh D S, Hickson D J and Hinnings C R, Writers on organisations, Penguin, 1964.
Stewart R, Managers and their jobs. Macmillan. 1967.
Stoner and Frewman, Management, 5th Edition, Prentice-Hall International
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NAPIER UNIVERSITY

School of the Built Environment

Built Environment Postgraduate Programmes

Unit 1: Human Resource Management

Professor Brian Sloan

Author: Professor Brian Sloan

Human Resource Management Professor Brian Sloan

Human Resource Management

Non Verbal Communication 87

Public Speaking & Presenting 94

Written Communications 110

WWW Search 136

Human Resource Management

Suggested Study Time

Section 1: Introduction to Management and

apply management theory on motivation, leadership and behavioural

analyse and synthesise the components necessary for personal

Activity (Suggested Time: 10 minutes)

Set out below your definition of ‘Management’.

Name 3 well known managers:

Why do you think each has been successful?

What qualities do you think are needed to be a successful manager?

What Managers Do - An Introduction

• Organise: ‘building up the structure, material and human, of the undertaking’.

• Command: ‘maintaining activity among the personnel’.

• Co-ordinate: ‘building together, unifying and harmonising all activity and

• Control: ‘seeing that everything occurs in conformity with established rule

• Organising, the establishment of the formal structure of authority through which

• Directing, the continuous task of making decisions and embodying them in

• Reporting, keeping those to whom the executive is responsible informed as to

According to Mintzberg the distinguishing characteristics of managerial work are:-

• much work at unrelenting pace;

• activity characterised by brevity, variety and fragmentation;

• a preference for live action;

• attraction to the verbal media;

• communication between his organisation (own area of responsibility) and network

• blend of rights and duties.

The roles are as follows:-

Liaison Maintains self-developed network Acknowledgements of Largely ignored, except

Spokesman Transmits information to outsiders on Board meetings, handling Generally acknowledged

Negotiator Responsible for representing the Negotiation Largely recognised (or

Managerial Job Type Key Roles

Contact Man Liaison, figurehead

• Committee men: who spend large amounts of time in group discussions.

This briefly introduces an arbitrarily-selected range of authors on what managers do.

Management, Stoner & Freeman, 5th Edition, Prentice Hall International.

Organising - Establishment of the formal structure

Staffing - personnel function

Directing - decision-making, ordering and leading

Co-ordinating - interrelating the various parts

Reporting - keeping everyone informed

Budgeting - accounting and control

SELF ANALYSIS QUESTIONNAIRE

The more important thing to me about a job is:

1. I am likely to make more effort and achieve more if:

B. I can help other people in their jobs

2. My motivation will suffer if:

B. My job is a `one man' job, and there are no colleagues with

3. It is more important to me that:

C. The job makes full use of my skills and abilities

4. With a possibility of promotion I would be concerned about:

D. Whether the new job provides a real challenge through increased

5. I get more satisfaction at work from: