edd/581 action research proposal jay kent 8 january, 2015 dr

EDD/581 ACTION RESEARCH

PROPOSALJAY KENT

8 JANUARY, 2015DR. DONALD MILLS

Problem Statement

Action Research Proposal

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The problem is the lack of leadership and communication

between staff members and management resulting in ineffective

teamwork and mission accomplishment at all levels. Upon

narrowing of the problem, an intervention will be implemented.

Problem Description


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Employees do not feel that management takes responsibility for their actions or the actions of the office. Leaders micromanage and do not allow for independent decision making.

Employees do not perceive that timely information flows to all staff members. The lack of information creates problems when executing

financial programs. Critical information is not passed to the analysts in time to

make good decisions. Analysts often are asked questions about projects of which they are not aware.

Employees struggle to perform required duties without approved local policies and procedures. Results in incorrect or inconsistent information being given

to management. Each analyst performs actions that differ from other analysts in the branch.

Management believes that communication flow is not a problem.

Problem Description


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Management do not engage with the employees consistently.

Teamwork between management and staff is unorganized and ineffective.

Employees feel that management is disengaged with their employees.

Staff members and the branch generally is viewed negatively by upper management and the organization. This creates adverse working relations with management

and the organizational divisions. Analysts do not receive critical information for their

assigned divisions in a timely manner. Divisions go outside the chain of command to obtain

resources without working with their assigned financial analyst.

Resources are not effectively managed.

Purpose of the Project


The purpose of this project is to develop a course of action at the staff member level that energizes management into improving communication, and productivity among the staff members resulting in increased morale and generating respect throughout the organization.

The result of this effort assists management in creating a cohesive team producing high quality products and encouraging an environment that attracts and keeps quality talent.

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Writer’s Role


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As resource management professionals, branch members have a responsibility to provide sound advice to managers and leaders on financial issues. Includes budgeting and executing financial

requirements of the organization. Staff members must have complete and correct

information from leadership. Training is critical for staff members to analyze

problems and use the systems required for the execution of funds management.

Leaders work within their group to effectively build harmony and teamwork. In the absence of leadership, chaos reigns and the mission fails.

Writer’s Role


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The office environment has not improved in six years and four changes in management. Frustration paralyzes the staff into believing that change cannot happen. Staff members believe that addressing these concerns only results in reprisal.

As a staff member for six years and with military leadership experience for 20 years including three years as an instructor in leadership principles, I am qualified to influence positive change. Staff members worry that change will not occur at the leadership level. Change must come from the bottom up for it to happen.

Problem Documentation


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Survey Questions Triangulation method – Questions for

organizational members, leadership members, and staff members

Common set of questions for all groups Provide insight into the intent of organizational

management in making setting policy, and measuring the success of implemented policies. It also measures the perception that staff members have of organization as an institution.

Provide insight into the thoughts and methodology of leadership in making decisions, setting policy, and communicating information to employees. It also measures the perception that leadership has of its staff members and what is expected from staff members.

Provide insight to employee expectations of management and the organization as a whole regarding leadership, policy, and communication. It also provides a general knowledge of the skills of employees in providing leadership and mentorship at the worker level.



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Survey Questions – Likert Scale of 1-5 (1 being disagree and 5 being agree Preliminary question – Identification (organization,

leadership, staff)1. Are performance expectations clearly communicated or

received?2. Does management trust your decisions?3. Do you trust management’s decisions?4. Are you loyal to your employees or co-workers?5. Are you loyal to your supervisors and support their decisions?6. How do you communicate with your staff? 1 – Least likely; 5 –

Most likelya) Face-to-faceb) E-mailc) Telephoned) Staff meetingse) Do not communicate daily



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Survey Questions (cont)

7. Do you receive informative communication daily, both formally and informally?

8. Are policies and instructions clearly communicated and understood by staff members?

9. Does management provide timely feedback on suspenses and instructions?

10. Are training, policies, and instructions clear, complete and current?

11. Do you feel that you are a valued member of the organization?

12. Do you understand your role or place within the organization?

Literature Review


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Authors of the study

Title of the study Purpose of the study Pertinent findings

Col Phillip S. Meilinger

The Ten Rules of Good Followership

Methods for being a good follower

Discusses the qualities of a good follower and how to assist the leader in performing their mission

Kroth, Michael; Boverie, Patricia; Zondlo, John

What Managers Do to Create Healthy Work Environments

Determine what successful managers do to create healthy work environments in a healthcare organization.

Effective managers create healthy work environments in three categories: Setting the Climate, Keeping Performance on Track, and Tapping Employee Potential. A healthy work environment was defined, and a model was developed.

Campo, Miriam A. Leadership and Research Administration

Every single person is in a position to be a leader even if they are not the head of an organization and do not have direct reports.

Being a leader has less to do with position and title and more to do with having or attaining the main characteristics of a great, successful leader, which are: excellent communication skills, being able to build and work in a team effectively, having effective interpersonal skills, and being positive and producing win-win situations. These characteristics are not stand-alone--they interconnect.

Literature Review


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Jowah, Larry Enoch.

Followership: The Forgotten Kingmaker for Effective Leadership

All the effort put on the study of leadership should have been directed toward the study of followership.

Followers are central to the success of any leadership. Followership is voluntary and not coerced. Leadership depends on the followers and their expectations, meaning that followers predetermine the nature of leadership. The effectiveness of leadership is a direct result of the willingness of the followers to be led.

Guttman, Howard M.Guttman, H. M. (2009). The accountable leader. Leader To Leader, 2009(51), 47-51.

The Accountable Leader

Focus is on the high performance leader.

A horizontal organization is characterized by high-performance teams with real decision-making clout and accountability for results. All team members and leaders are held equally accountable for the results of any decision. Discussion includes open dialogue among members, and encouraging members to give an honest feedback about the leader's performance.

Literature Review


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Notgrass, David The Relationship Between Followers Perceived Quality of Relationship and Preferred Leadership Style

This paper answers calls for research leadership, followership, and the follower/leader through the examination of the relationship between followers’ perception of quality of relationship with their leaders and followers’ preferred leadership style from their leaders.

The study determined positive, significant levels of relationship between follower's perceived quality of relationship and follower's preference for transformational leadership style. The study additionally determined that the level of preference for transactional leadership style, at the composite scale level, remained relatively consistent, regardless the quality of relationship.

Antelo, Absael; Prilipko, Evgenia; Sheridan-Pereira, Margaret

Assessing Effective Attributes of Followers in a Leadership Process

Followership, being an understudied concept, raises fundamental questions: How did followership develop? Why do people submit into becoming followers?

Findings indicate that individual worker motivation influences performance and productivity. Results of the study also illustrate that leaders typically rate themselves higher than followers do. The study discusses the need to understand how individual traits are developed, discovered, and how individuals can be formed, nurtured and prepared to become effective leaders as well as effective followers.

Action Goal The goal for the intervention is to increase the

efficiency of the workplace through an improved working relationship between leadership and staff members. Leadership will be energized to develop a vision ,

communicate that vision to staff members, improve lines of communication, and improve morale through employee empowerment.

Staff members will increase productivity and loyalty to leadership as morale increases and a sense of empowerment in the performance of their jobs is obtained. They will also seek for ways to communicate effectively to management.

The result of these goals is improved teamwork and mission accomplishment with the organization.

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Selected Solutions Request a meeting with management to present

the problem statement and action research proposal.

Obtain approval to conduct a survey of key members of the organization, leadership, and staff to measure the breadth and depth of the issue and determine if a problem truly exists. The survey consists of 13 questions that will be

answered by all individuals surveyed. (Slides 8-10) Conduct the survey Analyze survey results using a statistical

correlation methodology to measure information using a triangulation of organization, leadership, and staff members. Also measure results based on the overall results of individual questions.

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Selected Solutions Obtain approval to institute a quality

improvement committee to address concerns and draft actions steps for process improvement. Convene the committee. Committee will consist of leadership and staff

members. Ensure that the committee consists of members

willing to work possible solutions openly and with non-attribution.

Obtain a commitment from leadership that the results of the committee will be treated fairly and openly so that forward progress is achievable.

Committee will prepare a report using survey results, and fair and open discussion that recommends solutions to improve the working relationship between management and staff.

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Selected Solutions Obtain funding approval to hire a professional in

instructing leadership/followership principles. Conduct leadership course for management

personnel. Conduct followership course for staff members.

Suggested items in the report delivered to leadership and staff and to be addressed as actionable are as follows: Leadership to develop a vision of where the

organization is going. Leadership to develop an action plan on how to

achieve the vision. Leadership to provide weekly training in various

aspects of the job that staff members as assigned and ensure that all members can accomplish the tasks as assigned.

Leadership will communicate critical information with staff members in a timely manner.

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Selected Solutions Staff and management will be proactive when seeing

a problem that needs to be addressed. They will provide a workable solution and work the solution.

Staff will provide uncritical feedback to leadership when a problem and possible solution arises.

Staff will solicit feedback rather than waiting for feedback from leadership.

Staff will be less critical of leadership but provide constructive feedback to leadership when problems arise. Do not let them fester.

Staff will foster positive feedback to leadership. Leadership will provide training to the staff members

on effective followership. Leadership will lead by example. Staff will demonstrate loyalty to leadership and the

organization.

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Selected Solutions Management will foster teamwork within the

organization. Management will empower staff members to

accomplish the mission and tasks that are assigned to them.

Management will remove barriers to success and hinders the accomplishment of the mission by staff members.

Leadership will support staff members before organizational leadership. The staff members needs to know that management “has their back.”

Bi-weekly meetings will be conducted to address concerns and issues by leadership and staff members using non-attribution.

Results of the proposed actions will be discussed with management after 30 days, six months, and then yearly as needed. Adjustments to the plan will be made at these

meetings.

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Calendar Plan October 24 – November 6, 2014

Initiate action research proposal. Create problem statement, problem description, and writer’s role. Conducted by the researcher

November 7 – December 4 Develop survey and conduct literature review. Conducted by the researcher

December 5 – 11 Develop action goal, selected solutions, and calendar plan. Conducted by the researcher

December 12 – 18 Prepare expected Outcomes, measurement of outcomes, analysis of results, and references. Conducted by the researcher

January 8, 2015 Present completed action research proposal. Conducted by the researcher

January 12 – 16 Begin action research study. Request a meeting with management to discuss the problem statement. Request permission to conduct a survey. Researcher and leadership


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Calendar Plan January 20 – 23

Conduct the survey. Audience are survey participants and researcher

January 26 – February 6 Analyze survey results. Researcher

February 9 – 13 Obtain approval to establish a committee to discuss issues. Convene the committee. Prepare the findings report. Committee members, researcher, leadership

February 16 – 20 Contract for leadership/followership training sessions. Leadership, researcher

February 23 – March 6 Conduct training sessions on leadership and followership. Leadership, researcher, staff members

March 9 – continuous Implement committee recommendations. Leadership, staff members, researcher


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Calendar Plan From start of program - continuous

Conduct bi-weekly meetings to assess progress and redirect efforts as needed. Audience are leadership, staff, and researcher

July 6 – semi-annual thereafter Conduct semi-annual progress meetings with the intent of providing continuous improvement. Researcher, leadership, organization representative, and staff member representative


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Expected Outcomes Change is expected in the operation of the

organization. This is the aim of the action goal. 1. Leadership will be energized to work with staff

members through interaction, communication, task management, and collaboration.

2. Leadership will develop and communicate a vision that highlights how the organization will move forward. This leads to increased productivity, a sense of purpose, and increased morale.

3. Communication between leadership and staff members will improve leading to higher morale, improved understanding, and increased productivity.

4. Empowered employees will perform their jobs with a minimum of leadership intervention. Results in high job satisfaction and out-of-the-box thinking that improves processes and more efficient mission performance.

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Expected Outcomes5. Staff member loyalty to leadership increases

interaction with leadership and mission accomplishment. Improved communication with management is improved.

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Measurement of Outcomes


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Outcome 1 – Energized Leadership One-on-one discussions with leadership and

staff members will be instituted with questions that ask about staff interaction, motivation, communication, and task sharing.

Surveys will be used every three months to provide statistical measurements that give an indication of job satisfaction and productivity.

Productivity charts will be used to measure mission output within the organization.



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Outcome 2 – Vision One-on-one discussions with leadership and

staff members will be instituted with questions that ask about staff motivation, understanding of the unit’s vision statement, communication, and task sharing.

Surveys will be used every three months to provide statistical measurements that give an indication of job productivity.

An examination of the produced vision statement and strategies will be reviewed and compared with actual productivity of the organization to determine forward movement.



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Outcome 3 – Communication One-on-one discussions with leadership and

staff members will be instituted with questions that ask about staff motivation, and communication.

Surveys will be used every three months to provide statistical measurements that give an indication of job productivity and measured against improved productivity.



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Outcome 4 – Empowerment One-on-one discussions with leadership and

staff members will be instituted with questions that ask about staff motivation, empowerment, communication, and task sharing.

Surveys will be used every three months to provide statistical measurements that give an indication of job productivity and the effect of empowerment on job satisfaction and longevity

An examination of production and financial health of the organization will be made to measure the effect that empowerment strategies have on the actual productivity of the organization and promotion potential of staff members.



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Outcome 5 – Loyalty One-on-one discussions with leadership and

staff members will be instituted with questions that ask about staff motivation, loyalty, communication, and job satisfaction.

Surveys will be used every three months to provide statistical measurements that give an indication of the effect of loyalty on job satisfaction and productivity.

An examination will be made to measure the effect that increased loyalty has on the actual productivity of the organization and promotion of employees.

Analysis of Results


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Surveys will be analyzed using statistical method to determine the statistical relevance of each question.

Comparisons will be made between survey questions to determine if correlations exist and their significance to the expected outcomes.

Each survey result will be compared to previous surveys to determine if a positive trend is occurring. If the results are negative, survey results provide meaningful data for making changes and course corrections as required.

Interviews will be compared to determine if commonalities exist and what their significance could mean in the journey of the organization.

Production and financial reports will be used as a correlation device with survey and interview data.

Analysis of Results


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How will I determine if the solution strategy is effective? Through the comparison of survey data, production reports,

and interview data with the action goal and expected outcomes a determination will be made on the effectiveness of the program.

Comparisons are presented in text and graphical form using charts, text, spreadsheets, and graphs.

Who will I present the results to? Results are presented to the committee of leadership and

staff members involved in the project. Discussions on a quarterly basis will be made to determine if course

corrections are required and what the course corrections should be. These results and changes will be documented in committee minutes

and distributed to committee members.

References


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Antelo, A., Prilipko, E., & Sheridan-Pereira, M. (2010). Assessing effective

attributes of followers in a leadership process. Contemporary Issues in

Education Research, 3(9), 33-44.

Campo, M. A. (2014). Leadership and research administration. Research

Management, 20(1).

Guttman, H. M. (2009). The accountable leader. Leader to Leader, 47-51.

Jowah, L. E. (2013). Followership: the forgotten kingmaker for effective

leadership. Journal of US- china public administration, 10(7), 708-719.

Kroth, M., Boverie, P., & Zondlo, J. (2007). What managers do to create

healthy work environments. Journal of Adult Education, 36(2), 1-12.

References


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Meilinger, P. S. (1994). The ten rules of good followership. Military Review

74(8), 32.

Notgrass, D. (2014). The relationship between followers perceived quality of

relationship and preferred leadership style. Leadership and Organization

Development Journal, 35(7), 605-621.

Attachement


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Glossary


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Chain of command – The flow of decreasing levels of responsibility from

the senior manager to the employee

Division – Organizational level devoted to a specific task consisting of

personnel, contracts, and resources.

Financial Analyst – Functional title of the staff members

Leadership/Management – Immediate first line and second line supervisors

Staff members – Employees assigned to the Resource Management Branch

Suspense – Assignment or project due date

edd/581 action research proposal jay kent 8 january, 2015 dr

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