David Siddiq's Family Environment
David Siddiq is a thirty-seven-year-old male who grew up in a single parent household where the television was the only commonality that the members of the family shared. His mother was verbally abusive and did not like to be asked questions. She led the household like a dictator and would only speak long enough to shout profanities while giving her children orders. No one could have an opinion or talk-back to her or else there would be corporal punishment. Mr. Siddiq and his family members did not speak to one another unless it was necessary. The Family environment is where a lot of people will experience their first meetings and develop skills from those meetings that will help them in the future meetings. Raines (2013) states, “previous life experiences may create fertile ground for misunderstanding and conflict” (p. 38). Mr. Siddiq understood that he had missed the opportunity to hone leadership and communication skills in his family, so he went to college in hopes of bettering his education and fulfilling those needs. He did not finish college due to the birth of his daughter. Instead, he focused on working to provide for his family. Mr. Siddiq has worked since he was fourteen years old
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and has been in some form of leadership at every single job he has had. He compensated for his very weak leadership and communication skills by achieving his promotions through hard work and a lead-by-example mentality. Acquiring management and supervision positions meant Mr. Siddiq had to communicate with his subordinates and conduct meetings with them. His childhood experiences, along with his lack of knowledge and confidence, had a profound effect on his ability to lead meetings. Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the last meeting Mr. Siddiq led will help to identify areas where he can progress and implement constructive modification to help him in future meetings.
Introduction The last meeting that Mr. Siddiq conducted took place in 2015 at a company where he was employed in middle management. On a normal workday, Mr. Siddiq’s superiors contacted him to ask him to meet them in the company conference room approximately half way through his shift. When he arrived, his superiors asked him to organize and conduct an after-shift meeting with the employees on his shift. He was instructed to speak to the employees about a companywide change that would take place at the end of the day. Mr. Siddiq’s superiors verbally relayed information to Mr. Siddiq and told him the meeting should last approximately one and a half hours. They also informed him that he would be the only representative from management in the meeting and would need to address all questions and concerns. Mr. Siddiq was uncomfortable with the situation, but did not want his superiors to think he could not handle the task he was given. He sent out a mass email and made an announcement over the company communication system. Most of the employees voiced their unhappiness about the short notice and Mr. Siddiq knew some of them would be upset while attending the meeting.
Barriers to an Effective Meeting Raines (2013) states, “Whether you are leading a meeting of five or five-hundred, mastering the skills of facilitation can be key to ensuring productive group performance and decision making” (p.
375). Mr. Siddiq was never exposed to the skills of facilitation and never received any formal training. His work ethic and quite demeanor were enough for his superiors to not worry about assessing Mr. Siddiq’s capability to lead a meeting. Mr. Siddiq’s bosses simply assumed that he would be able to handle the responsibility. According to Balle (n.d.), “Business professionals waste an estimated 31 hours a month at unproductive meetings” (p. 1). This is likely caused by individuals like Mr. Siddiq who are not properly trained, but are directed by their managers to conduct
meetings.
Conflict Style One of Mr. Siddiq’s biggest problems is the conflict style he assumed early in life. As a young man without knowledge or experience he picked up a competitive conflict style from sports and carried that over into his employment. Raines (2013) states that this style, “indicates a preference to win as much as you can, even at the expense of the other side” (p. 17). This mentality is not conducive to good leadership and is not effective for discovering different viewpoints. Mr. Siddiq was told by employees that it was a burden to them to be at the meeting, but his desire to win with his bosses encouraged him to ignore their requirements. He told them he would have to place a write-up in their personnel file if they did not attend the meeting. During the meeting, Mr. Siddiq wanted only to push for what benefited him, which was getting the information to the employees and allowing his bosses to see that he had completed the job.
Problem Solving
The “Characteristics of Successful Facilitators” defined by Raines (2013) provides a list of seven qualities that should be found in anyone who wishes to lead an effective meeting (p. 374). The first four steps were problematic for Mr. Siddiq during his last meeting. According to Raines (2013), the first characteristic is that the facilitator must “Believe in your group’s capacity to solve its own problems” (p. 374). This is an issue for Mr. Siddiq because he had developed a tendency to micro-manage people and was following employees around throughout the remainder of the workday to receive confirmation that they would be at the after-shift meeting. He was telling employees that they needed to make arrangements the way he would and watching their behaviors to make sure they were doing things the way he deemed accurate. Mr. Siddiq did not have faith in his employees to collaborate amongst themselves to resolve attendance problems. He thought he was helping them by being present to interject and tell them how to correct issues that arose.
Communication Skills Raines (2013) defines the second characteristic as someone who can “Use well-developed communication skills” (p. 374). Mr. Siddiq did not communicate well in his last meeting. He spoke the entire time and did not allow for enough time for group feedback. Some of the messages he was trying to relay seemed to inspire confusion in his employees based on their facial expressions. They looked confused times, and completely lost at others.
Group Needs Facilitators should be aware of the needs of those who attend the meetings they conduct. Raines (2013) outlines the third characteristic of a successful facilitator as a person who will “Have knowledge of the group’s needs, expectations, and potentials” (p. 374). In his last meeting, Mr. Siddiq started ten minutes late due to waiting for laggards to arrive. This simple error punishes everyone in the room who was responsible enough to arrive on time. Lipman (2013) suggests that facilitators “Do not wait for latecomers. Start the instant you’re scheduled to. Soon enough people will get the idea” (p. 1). Another need of people who attend meetings is to have a clear objective of what the meeting is about. In Mr. Siddiq’s last meeting he did not provide the attendees with an agenda. Those who attended had no idea what was going to be discussed or how long the meeting would last. Balle (n.d.) suggests that the facilitator “Provide an estimate of how many minutes you will spend discussing each item on the agenda” (p. 1). This makes the entire meeting more efficient and empowers the attendees to see on paper where the meeting is at, and how much time will be spent on each section. Taking into consideration the length of a meeting is additional way that a facilitator should recognize the needs of attendees. According to Lipman (2013) the meeting conductor should “Schedule the meeting for half of the time you originally intended to” (p. 1). At Mr. Siddiq’s last meeting, he was instructed by his superiors to cover certain topics and told that those topics should take an approximate amount of time to cover. Mr. Siddiq was able to cover all the information in an hour but felt like he take as long as his superiors suggested so he stretched topics and repeated several items to extend the meeting time. Balle (n.d.) states that the facilitator should “Transition to each new item on your agenda with finality and do not backtrack” (p. 1). By repeating himself, Mr. Siddiq caused visible frustration amongst the people attending the meeting. They were looking at their watches and checking the clock on the wall. Their full attention was no longer dedicated to Mr. Siddiq. The meeting would have been much more efficient had it been stopped when Mr. Siddiq had covered all the material versus trying to reach a timed goal.
Ability to Work with Diversity The fourth characteristic according to Raines (2013) is for a successful facilitator to “Have the ability to work with a diverse group without forcing your own preferences or beliefs” (p. 374). The company Mr. Siddiq worked for is sparsely diverse and his audience was all Caucasian. Even if there had there been any diversity to Mr. Siddiq’s meeting, he would not have been able to apply this characteristic. He pushed his penchants and did not show regard for the thoughts of others.
and has been in some form of leadership at every single job he has had. He compensated for his very weak leadership and communication skills by achieving his promotions through hard work and a lead-by-example mentality. Acquiring management and supervision positions meant Mr. Siddiq had to communicate with his subordinates and conduct meetings with them. His childhood experiences, along with his lack of knowledge and confidence, had a profound effect on his ability to lead meetings. Exploring the strengths and weaknesses of the last meeting Mr. Siddiq led will help to identify areas where he can progress and implement constructive modification to help him in future meetings.
Introduction The last meeting that Mr. Siddiq conducted took place in 2015 at a company where he was employed in middle management. On a normal workday, Mr. Siddiq’s superiors contacted him to ask him to meet them in the company conference room approximately half way through his shift. When he arrived, his superiors asked him to organize and conduct an after-shift meeting with the employees on his shift. He was instructed to speak to the employees about a companywide change that would take place at the end of the day. Mr. Siddiq’s superiors verbally relayed information to Mr. Siddiq and told him the meeting should last approximately one and a half hours. They also informed him that he would be the only representative from management in the meeting and would need to address all questions and concerns. Mr. Siddiq was uncomfortable with the situation, but did not want his superiors to think he could not handle the task he was given. He sent out a mass email and made an announcement over the company communication system. Most of the employees voiced their unhappiness about the short notice and Mr. Siddiq knew some of them would be upset while attending the meeting.
Barriers to an Effective Meeting Raines (2013) states, “Whether you are leading a meeting of five or five-hundred, mastering the skills of facilitation can be key to ensuring productive group performance and decision making” (p.
375). Mr. Siddiq was never exposed to the skills of facilitation and never received any formal training. His work ethic and quite demeanor were enough for his superiors to not worry about assessing Mr. Siddiq’s capability to lead a meeting. Mr. Siddiq’s bosses simply assumed that he would be able to handle the responsibility. According to Balle (n.d.), “Business professionals waste an estimated 31 hours a month at unproductive meetings” (p. 1). This is likely caused by individuals like Mr. Siddiq who are not properly trained, but are directed by their managers to conduct
meetings.
Conflict Style One of Mr. Siddiq’s biggest problems is the conflict style he assumed early in life. As a young man without knowledge or experience he picked up a competitive conflict style from sports and carried that over into his employment. Raines (2013) states that this style, “indicates a preference to win as much as you can, even at the expense of the other side” (p. 17). This mentality is not conducive to good leadership and is not effective for discovering different viewpoints. Mr. Siddiq was told by employees that it was a burden to them to be at the meeting, but his desire to win with his bosses encouraged him to ignore their requirements. He told them he would have to place a write-up in their personnel file if they did not attend the meeting. During the meeting, Mr. Siddiq wanted only to push for what benefited him, which was getting the information to the employees and allowing his bosses to see that he had completed the job.
Problem Solving
The “Characteristics of Successful Facilitators” defined by Raines (2013) provides a list of seven qualities that should be found in anyone who wishes to lead an effective meeting (p. 374). The first four steps were problematic for Mr. Siddiq during his last meeting. According to Raines (2013), the first characteristic is that the facilitator must “Believe in your group’s capacity to solve its own problems” (p. 374). This is an issue for Mr. Siddiq because he had developed a tendency to micro-manage people and was following employees around throughout the remainder of the workday to receive confirmation that they would be at the after-shift meeting. He was telling employees that they needed to make arrangements the way he would and watching their behaviors to make sure they were doing things the way he deemed accurate. Mr. Siddiq did not have faith in his employees to collaborate amongst themselves to resolve attendance problems. He thought he was helping them by being present to interject and tell them how to correct issues that arose.
Communication Skills Raines (2013) defines the second characteristic as someone who can “Use well-developed communication skills” (p. 374). Mr. Siddiq did not communicate well in his last meeting. He spoke the entire time and did not allow for enough time for group feedback. Some of the messages he was trying to relay seemed to inspire confusion in his employees based on their facial expressions. They looked confused times, and completely lost at others.
Group Needs Facilitators should be aware of the needs of those who attend the meetings they conduct. Raines (2013) outlines the third characteristic of a successful facilitator as a person who will “Have knowledge of the group’s needs, expectations, and potentials” (p. 374). In his last meeting, Mr. Siddiq started ten minutes late due to waiting for laggards to arrive. This simple error punishes everyone in the room who was responsible enough to arrive on time. Lipman (2013) suggests that facilitators “Do not wait for latecomers. Start the instant you’re scheduled to. Soon enough people will get the idea” (p. 1). Another need of people who attend meetings is to have a clear objective of what the meeting is about. In Mr. Siddiq’s last meeting he did not provide the attendees with an agenda. Those who attended had no idea what was going to be discussed or how long the meeting would last. Balle (n.d.) suggests that the facilitator “Provide an estimate of how many minutes you will spend discussing each item on the agenda” (p. 1). This makes the entire meeting more efficient and empowers the attendees to see on paper where the meeting is at, and how much time will be spent on each section. Taking into consideration the length of a meeting is additional way that a facilitator should recognize the needs of attendees. According to Lipman (2013) the meeting conductor should “Schedule the meeting for half of the time you originally intended to” (p. 1). At Mr. Siddiq’s last meeting, he was instructed by his superiors to cover certain topics and told that those topics should take an approximate amount of time to cover. Mr. Siddiq was able to cover all the information in an hour but felt like he take as long as his superiors suggested so he stretched topics and repeated several items to extend the meeting time. Balle (n.d.) states that the facilitator should “Transition to each new item on your agenda with finality and do not backtrack” (p. 1). By repeating himself, Mr. Siddiq caused visible frustration amongst the people attending the meeting. They were looking at their watches and checking the clock on the wall. Their full attention was no longer dedicated to Mr. Siddiq. The meeting would have been much more efficient had it been stopped when Mr. Siddiq had covered all the material versus trying to reach a timed goal.
Ability to Work with Diversity The fourth characteristic according to Raines (2013) is for a successful facilitator to “Have the ability to work with a diverse group without forcing your own preferences or beliefs” (p. 374). The company Mr. Siddiq worked for is sparsely diverse and his audience was all Caucasian. Even if there had there been any diversity to Mr. Siddiq’s meeting, he would not have been able to apply this characteristic. He pushed his penchants and did not show regard for the thoughts of others.