Organizational behavior is the: “the study of behavior in organizational environments, the interaction between people and organizations, and how the latter influences and is affected by the former”. This can be compared with psychology’s study of behavior in personal and professional life. In order to conduct this study, you need to gather information about your employees’ personalities, interests, occupational demands, beliefs, perceptions, motivation, communication, leadership styles, rewards, stress and motivation, personality styles, goals and preferences. You also need to investigate the effects of conflict and change upon organizational behavior.
You should also collect information regarding the attitudes, beliefs, values, motivation, practices, and organizations of your employees. The collected information may include things that employees themselves do not even know. One common error that most managers commit is that they ask their employees about their own behaviors, thinking that the answers they give will give them an idea of how their subordinates are feeling. However, this kind of information is useless because employees’ behavior is not always the same as the way that others see and interpret it.
Aside from collecting information about your employees, you should also know about yourself. What kinds of things do you think that you do well? Are there areas where you are weak? Do you find it hard to make important decisions? You should also find out how your strengths and weaknesses affect your decision-making process.
Once you have collected all the needed information regarding your organization’s organizational behavior, then you can start to study it carefully. One good study method is to set a small research study group and ask your members to complete some questionnaires. This will allow you to gather information regarding many aspects of your organizational behavior without having to read through pages of reports. Questionnaires will also help you analyze your data and compare it with other teams.
Study design depends on the topic that you are going to study. For instance, if you are going to set up a study about organizational behavior in the retail sector, then you should gather information such as the demographics and behavioral characteristics of your employees, your customers’ demographic and behavior patterns, and your company’s competitive landscape. These questions will help you understand the factors that contribute to the observed organizational behavior. In addition, knowing the specific meaning of the terms used in the survey will also be helpful.
Another important aspect of collecting pertinent information about your organizational behavior is to talk to the people who are directly involved in the behavior. Get their feedback. After getting their feedback, you should analyze them based on the observations they gave. Remember to focus on their positive behaviors more than negative ones. It would also be helpful if you could use graphical representations to explain your findings.
The creation of a culture is not easy at all. However, if you really want to create a culture that will serve your business well, you need to pay attention to its behavior. Remember that this kind of behavior influences your company’s productivity, efficiency, reliability, and professionalism. You should also make sure that the changes you have made to comply with the legal requirements of your state. Lastly, your employees are the ones who will take the first steps towards your organizational behavior change agenda.
